Peter Hujar’s Day
(2024 | USA | 76 minutes | Ira Sachs)

Rather than directly recreate a day-in-the-life of New York photographer Peter Hujar, Ira Sachs recognizes that watching two dear friends converse is among the most fascinating things you can put on screen.

This is especially true when the pair is portrayed by the likes of Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall. Together the two actors interpret the transcript of a 1974 conversation between Peter Hujar and his friend Linda Rosenkrantz over the course of one beautifully-lit day in her apartment. The day he recounts, in intricate detail, is full of both outstanding name-dropping (Susan Sontag, Allen Ginsburg) and juicy gossip. Yet it’s amidst the recollections of errands and visitors that they digress into the seemingly mundane but ultimately meaningful details of what constitutes a day, or a life.

As the light fades past the magic hour, the shadows grow long, and the table candlelit, they ponder that paradox of how one can both feel that a day was spent doing nothing while also recognizing that you were busy from sunrise until well beyond midnight. Whishaw’s ability to monologue through the imperfections of an improvised conversation is an enormous feat of acting; conversely Hall finds remarkable depth in the sparse words of someone listening (and longing) intensely. Sachs occasionally lets the reality of their facsimile break through, reminding us that everything that we’re seeing is itself an artistic interpretation of another artist’s unfinished art project.

That their conversation passes so fleetingly to leave us wanting more is a testament to the actors’s magnetic talents as well as triumph of cinematography and set design. Although they’re confined to a single apartment, there are no shortage of interesting permutations of angles, settings, and costume changes. Always finding the most interesting patterns of light, set design, and meaningful looks makes it a privilege to be a fly on the wall while these friends pass the hours chattering away.

Peter Hujar’s Day played as an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It has additional screenings in Park City and Salt Lake City throughout the festival.