The Birthday Party

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2:02

The Birthday Party

Aug 2026

1h 43m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

30%

Tomatometer

30 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

The story is set in the late 1970s somewhere in the Mediterranean, where Marcos Timoleon, an Aristotle Onassis-like tycoon, is throwing a lavish, extravagant birthday party for Sofia, his daughter and sole heiress, on his exclusive private island. The party is a perfect excuse for various people in his life to approach him with their own agendas. But Marcos, who is used to ruthlessly controlling everything and everyone around him at whatever cost, is also secretly plotting a big decision on his daughter's behalf. Sofia, however, has come to share some important news of her own. As guests start pouring in and night falls, the party grows rowdier and more decadent, while the inevitable clash between Marcos and Sofia reaches a heartbreaking climax.

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Robert Daniels

RogerEbert.com

4d

1/4

Sometimes you see a movie so dull, it’s a struggle to string words together about it. "The Birthday Party," Miguel Ángel Jiménez’s meandering snooze fest, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival last year, is the prime example of one such movie.

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Guy Lodge

Variety

08/12/2025

Brooding, glowering and sometimes even speak-singing his way through proceedings, Dafoe is rarely less than compelling; the same cannot be said, however, for the leaden film around him.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

08/11/2025

3/5

This is a strong, confident picture that hits its measured stride early on. Its pace and style and language are dictated by a charismatic Dafoe; however, he gives the impression that this performance is not exactly a stretch for him.

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Erik Childress

Movie Madness Podcast

18h

1.5/4

Rich people talk on the phone nude. They are not like us and despite getting to hear Willem Dafoe sing you can practically see the meme of Mark Ruffalo from Zodiac saying ‘sounds like a terrible party.’

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Michael Clark

Epoch Times

18h

2.5/5

This isn’t something you need to rush out and see, unless you’re a Dafoe completist. If not for Dafoe’s commanding presence as lead character Marcos Timoleon, the movie probably wouldn’t work, although it looks splendid.

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Josh Bell

Crooked Marquee

1d

C

There are a lot of hushed, cryptic conversations involving the geopolitics of the 1975 setting, but none of it amounts to anything.

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Miguel Ángel Jiménez

Director

Willem Dafoe

Marcos Timoleon

Vic Carmen Sonne

Sofia

Joe Cole

Journalist

Emma Suárez

Olivia

Carlos Cuevas

Actor

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The Birthday Party: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

The story is set in the late 1970s somewhere in the Mediterranean, where Marcos Timoleon, an Aristotle Onassis-like tycoon, is throwing a lavish, extravagant birthday party for Sofia, his daughter and sole heiress, on his exclusive private island. The party is a perfect excuse for various people in his life to approach him with their own agendas. But Marcos, who is used to ruthlessly controlling everything and everyone around him at whatever cost, is also secretly plotting a big decision on his daughter's behalf. Sofia, however, has come to share some important news of her own. As guests start pouring in and night falls, the party grows rowdier and more decadent, while the inevitable clash between Marcos and Sofia reaches a heartbreaking climax.

Director: Miguel Ángel Jiménez
Producer: Giorgos Karnavas, Adria Mones, Erik Glijnis, Leontine Petit, Kurban Kassam
Screenwriter: Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Giorgos Karnavas, Nicos Panayotopoulos
Distributor: Quiver Distribution
Production Co: Heretic
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 14, 2026, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 14, 2026
Runtime: 1h 43m

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