East Coast Premiere

After suffering a stroke in the courtroom, a curmudgeonly judge (the great Geoffrey Rush) is forced to live in a nursing home. As if that’s not bad enough, a psychotic fellow resident (John Lithgow in pure beast mode) pays him nightly visits where he terrorizes him both physically and via devious mind games. Who will win the ensuing battle of wits? We, the viewers, definitely win in James Ashcroft’s brilliantly acted and altogether excellent sophomore feature, adding unhinged black comedy to the nihilism seen in his Sundance-premiering 2021 debut, Coming Home in the Dark. -Matt Barone