Paul Schrader opens up about his recent movie rejected by film festivals. The screenwriter and film director is famed for unhesitatingly diving into complicated ideas and subject matter and curating deeply layered characters. His latest work, The Basics of Philosophy, only adds to the list.
When Interview Magazine‘s Rebekah Sherman-Myntti asked whether it is harder to make genuinely provocative work today or if the consequences have simply changed, Schrader replied, “I think people are more easily offended today than they used to be. People get offended at things that they would have shrugged off in the past.”
Sherman-Myntti reflected on his comment, mentioning, “Film festivals have historically been spaces for experimentation and discovery, but I think that, right now, many are tied to these commercial machines.”
Why is Paul Schrader’s latest film dividing film festivals?
During the interview, the filmmaker also expressed surprise that three particular film festivals that have historically embraced his work turned down his latest project. He said, “I was surprised when the film was not accepted into Telluride, Toronto, and New York—three festivals that I have had work in. I was told in the case of both Telluride and Toronto that it was about subject matter.”
Schrader’s The Basics of Philosophy has divided film festivals over its plotline and subject matter. Spoiler alert for those who might not know it already: the film’s leading philosophy professor, Dr. John Jorissen (played by Jack Huston), is revealed to be a pedophile stuck between the future he is trying to build and a past he can’t shake.
Nonetheless, the film was wholeheartedly welcomed at its world premiere at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival in September 2026. It then played to a sold-out and highly engaged crowd at its US premiere at The Downtown Festival. The Basics of Philosophy holds an approval rating of 56% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Originally reported on ComingSoon.
