The film had its world premiere in the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 27. It was theatrically released in the United States on November 7 by Janus Films and Sideshow.
Premise
The film is set in December 1974 in New York City and is about the photographer Peter Hujar and his friend Linda, with Sachs telling IndieWire it is "a film about what it is to be an artist among artists in a city where no one was making any money".[3]
The film is written and directed by Ira Sachs. The producers on the film are Jordan Drake and Jonah Disend.[4] The cast is led by Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall.[5] Whishaw portrays photographer Peter Hujar with Hall featuring as the writer Linda Rosenkrantz.[6] Rosenkrantz produced a book in 2021 of the same name which documents Hujar's life and activities over 24 hours in 1974.[7] Sachs was initially unsure if the project would be a short film or a feature, but was convinced to produce a feature-length film in response to Whishaw's passion and insight into the language.[8][9]
Filming was scheduled for New York in November 2023.[10]
The film was screened in non-competitive section 'Freestyle' of the 20th Rome Film Festival in October 2025.[15]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 77 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "Confined to a limited setting, Peter Hujar's Day proves surprisingly expansive as director Ira Sachs insightfuly captures the repartee between Rebecca Hall and Ben Whishaw at the top of their game."[16]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[17]
In a review for Rogerebert.com, critic Monica Castillo writes that the film "is a masterclass in composition, creating movement where there is little and finding an unconventional way to film two people talking."[18]
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