Queens Drive-In: Uncle Frank

In 1973, teenaged Beth Bledsoe (Sophia Lillis, Sharp Objects) leaves her rural Southern hometown to study at NYU where her beloved Uncle Frank (Paul Bettany, The Avengers) is a revered literature professor. She soon discovers that Frank is gay and living with his longtime, loving partner Walid “Wally” Nadeem (Peter Macdissi)—an arrangement that he has kept secret for years. After the sudden death of Frank’s father (and Beth’s grandfather), Frank is forced to reluctantly return home for the funeral with Beth in tow, and to finally face a long-buried trauma that he has spent his entire adult life running away from. In addition to layered character work from the three leads, writer-director Ball (American Beauty, Six Feet Under) elicits strong turns from the superb supporting cast, including Stephen Root, Margo Martindale, Steve Zahn, Judy Greer, and Lois Smith. An Amazon Studios Release.