Hannah, along with her nonbinary teenager, Frances, travel to Amsterdam to visit her gay father Jim (known as Jimpa). When Frances wishes to stay with their grandfather for a year, Hannah is forced to re-examine her parenting and her past.[2]
Jimpa is directed by Sophie Hyde, written by Matthew Cormack, and co-produced by Liam Heyen, Bryan Mason, and Marleen Slot. The film is a co-production between Australia, the Netherlands, and Finland.[2][3][4]
Some filming took place in Adelaide in March 2024,[3] including one scene at a café in the East End, which stands in for Amsterdam.[5] Further scenes were shot in Amsterdam and then Helsinki, Finland.[3][6][7]Post-production took place in Adelaide.[8]
The story is partly based on Hyde's own family history,[9][10][11] with Colman's role as Hannah playing a fictionalised version of Hyde, of which Hyde has said, "In some ways, that was the character that I always felt was least taken from life – but maybe that's just because it's me". Hyde said that Jimpa is in some ways a companion film to her debut feature, 52 Tuesdays (2013), which charts a relationship with her father as they undergo gender transition.[5] At its Australian premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival, Hyde revealed that her father (who died in 2018) had never gone to live in Amsterdam.[12] He had, however, left his family. Aud Mason-Hyde, who plays Frances in the film, is the child of Hyde and Bryan Mason (who edited the film), and is non-binary.[13][5]
The score was composed by Sydney-based singer, songwriter, producer, and composer Nick Ward.[14][15] Matthew Chuang was cinematographer, and Bryan Mason edited the film.[1]
The closing credits are accompanied by a cover of MUNA's "I know a place", sung by Australian singer-songwriter Brendan Maclean and Aud Mason-Hyde. Mason-Hyde also sings solo during the film.[12]
Following the Sundance premiere, it was reported that the film was struggling to find a US distributor, with some citing the rise in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in the country following the second inauguration of Donald Trump as a reason for the lack of studio interest.[19]
The film is being distributed in Australia by Sydney-based Kismet Movies,[20] and in Europe by Netherlands-based Cinéart.[21]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 54% of 28 critics' reviews are positive.[22]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[23] Critics' reviews after Sundance were mostly lukewarm, praising the performances of Colman and Lithgow, but suggesting that Hyde tries to cover too much ground, resulting in a meandering plot.[24][9][10][11] Robert Daniels writing on RogerEbert.com, criticised the film's lack of nuance and subtlety, and called it a "sprawling endeavor" that lacks focus.[25]
Peter Debruge, writing in Variety, calls the film "category-defying", and said that Lithgow's role was his richest since The World According to Garp.[26] Chase Hutchinson, writing for TheWrap, wrote that Hyde "capture[d] a life...about as fully as one could ever hope to do", and that the film is "not just incisive and compassionate, but fully attuned to the rhythms of this modern family". He writes that Olivia Colman and John Lithgow "soar" in the film, but reserves particular praise for Aud Mason-Hyde, saying that they are "a breakout star". He also praises the cinematography by Matthew Chuang.[27]
After the film's Adelaide premiere, Stephen A. Russell, writing in ScreenHub Australia, gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, praising the acting (Mason-Hyde is "revelatory"; "the brilliant Box exaggerates her brassy Australianness with fizzing fabulousness") as well as many aspects of the film production, including direction, cinematography, musical score, and editing. He writes that Hyde "explores family dynamics with sensitivity and subtlety", in this "meta-textually sumptuous reckoning with [her] upbringing, which freely and fictiously rewrites that narrative". [12]
Heather Taylor Johnson, writing in InDaily, says that the writers (Hyde and McCormack) are "interested in spotlighting an intergenerational queer family in which people love one another unconditionally and are proud of one another, where they choose how to live their lives fearlessly, with openness and love and boundless support". She highlights one of the questions posed by Hannah, whether drama can exist without conflict, and concludes that it can.[13]
References
1 2 "Jimpa". Adelaide Film Festival. 23 September 2025. Archived from the original on 23 September 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
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