Late Fame is a 2025 American drama film directed by Kent Jones, from a screenplay by Samy Burch; it is based on the novella of the same name by Arthur Schnitzler. The film had its World Premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in August 2025 and was released in the UK last Friday, 4 September. Interestingly, Schnitzler’s story was written in the late nineteenth century, but the manuscript was lost and it was not published until 2014 – I guess that is, in itself, a kind of late fame.

Ed Saxberger (Willem Dafoe), a once-feted but now-forgotten poet from the 1970s, works for the Post Office in downtown Manhattan, where he lives a quiet, uneventful life, splitting his time between his mundane job and the bar where he plays pool with his friends in the evenings. One day he is approached by Meyers (Edmund Donovan), an earnest, rather pretentious young man who found a copy of Ed’s 1970 poems Way Past Go on a visit to England and has become a massive fan of his work. He is a member of a group of equally pretentious young New York writers who call themselves The Enthusiasm Society; they meet regularly at an upmarket bar near to where Ed lives. Meyers tells Ed the whole group are huge admirers of his work and invites him along to meet them. They plan to host a cultural event, basically a reading, and Ed agrees to compose an original poem to be read as the star performance of the evening.

Whilst the changes in Ed create friction with the guys at the local bar, he rather enjoys his ‘rediscovery’ and the potential it brings for a return to the life he once knew. However, he struggles with writer’s block, perhaps brought on from the pressure of having to write to a deadline or perhaps from the continual calls from his sister urging him to visit his estranged brother who is dying in a hospital bed.

Dafoe is just right as Saxberger, allowing the character’s natural humility to be gradually replaced by a burgeoning pride brought on by the apparent hero-worship of the group. Donovan hits the right note as Mayers and Greta Lee is also very good in the supporting role of Gloria, an actress on the fringes of the group. This is the first time I have come across director Kent Jones, although it is only his second piece of fiction (he has previously directed documentaries). I will try to get hold of a copy of his first, Diane, which he made in 2018. I would also like to read Schnitzler’s novella upon which the film was based – I guess the urge to read and see more is a good sign.

Late Fame is a nicely understated and nuanced film. If you enjoy slow-paced gentle films, such as Paterson of Perfect Days, then I suspect this one is for you. If you prefer action moves and a strong narrative drive, you might be better avoiding it.