Queens, NY, in early the 1980s as Reagan begins his accent to the precedency, ushering in a new era of change in America, but for Paul Graff (Banks Repeta), none of that really matters.  He is more preoccupied with his dreams of being an artist, building rockets with his grandpa (Anthony Hopkins), and getting into trouble with his friend from school, Johnny (Jaylin Webb).  Paul learns, however, that change comes for everyone when his parents, Esther (Anne Hathaway) and Irving (Jeremy Strong), announce that they will transfer him to the prestigious Castlerock Private School to finish his education.  Despite the boy’s protesting, once enrolled he begins to realize the harsh reality of the divide in society caused by privilege and unequal opportunity in the land of the free. 

James Grey returns to the New York of the past to examine another facet of the immigrant experience in his semi-autobiographical coming-of-age piece, Armageddon Time, released by Focus Features after an opening bow at Cannes.  Forgoing a writing partner for this deeply personal reflection, Grey delivers a frank-at-times, slight-at-others examination of his own childhood that feels as if his conscience was poured out, unfiltered, onto the screen given the amount of sheer detail packed into every frame and the incredibly careful construction and delivery of the story being told.  The arrived at conclusion of the 114-minute confession when viewed through a disingenuous lens, may feel a little too simple given the air of importance that the film ascribes to its themes, but viewed through the eyes of its young teenage protagonist, it signals the end of innocence and a call to action.  Paul has not solved the problems of inequality, and by that same token neither has Armageddon Time, but Grey’s film when viewed as a complete work never claims to fix the injustices of society, but rather presents the turning point of understanding in his own life when he made the choice to strive to do better. 

Repeta does not crack under the weight of carrying the film. Being present in almost every scene is no easy task to ask of a seasoned actor let alone one whose CV is filled mainly with the younger versions of the leading characters.  One of the most interesting choices here is that Grey does not succumb to any revisions like painting his younger stand-in as a little cherub living in a fantasy world as Kenneth Branagh did with his sugar-coated pseudo-memoir Belfast (2021), but rather makes it quite clear from the beginning that Paul has a streak of menace running through him.  Initially abrasive, it takes a little while before audiences warn up to Paul, further complicated by the meandering narrative, but as the pieces slowly begin to come together and the bond between Paul and his grandpa, as well as with Johnny as he is bullied at school by students and teachers alike, begin to reveal themselves, audiences are able to start anchoring themselves to the emotion of the scene, even if the story has not yet shown itself.  Grey, true to form, is seemingly at home when he works in evocative and affecting imagery, casting structure and conventions to the winds, to instead focus on people, living, breathing, and existing with each other in an oftentimes cruel, cold world.  

Inhabiting this world as the authoritarian figures whose actions wreak havoc despite their good intentions are Ester and Irving, an upper-middle-class family with aspirations for their own status and their children’s future.  Grey’s writing of these parental figures through the lens of childhood is some of the finest around aided by the smart casting of larger-than-life performers.  Paul learns throughout the film that his parents are not these impenetrable forces as he once thought and begins to see them as people; a startling revelation we all have in our own lives.  There is a tenderness in this growth, however, that is so carefully nurtured through the dialogue and the revelations in the script that the façade does not disappear all at once, but it is a slow and painful reckoning of Paul’s impending adulthood.  As far as his childhood is concerned, the few months covered in the film truly are an armageddon as his mother, in no uncertain terms, places the entire responsibility of his and the family’s future on the shoulders of him and his older brother Ted (Ryan Sell). 

Hathaway is not given much to do in the film, unfortunately, but what screentime she does inhabit she dominates, and yet she is ever so graceful in her power.  She is a woman at her wit’s end, trying to do her best to keep the house running smoothly and through the machinations of the plot, she gets worn down over and over again.  It is a truly tragic arc, but there is one moment that stands out late in the film because even though she has gotten knocked down over and over again, the glimmer of hope – a dream – to provide a good life to set her children up for success is still there as they drive through a neighborhood and a Tudor style house fills her with wonder, but behind those eyes looms the fear from the nightmare of stagnancy.  It is notable that this moment is the only one Grey allows for Hathaway’s Esther to totally own the frame.  It is the hope for a better future.  

Despite having only a little more screen time, Stong’s Irving has a much more active role in the film.  Benefiting from the gender roles of the period, he is not in the background preparing dinner or dotting over the guests; instead, he sits at the center of the table.  In his role as the father, with strong knowledge and passion for engineering, he is able to commandeer.  Grey wastes little time making Irving a threatening force who is unafraid of using the belt to correct transgressions in a truly horrific scene right before the turning point into the second hour.  That second hour, however, is where Strong can finally begin to humanize Irving in some poignant scenes with his sons. 

While Hathaway and Strong are sublime in Armageddon Time, when up against Hopkins as Grandpa Aaron, it is hard to say he does not run away with the film.  His warmth and charm wins audiences over the second he arrives on screen. In the late stages of a storied career, it is impossible not to connect when Hopkins plays these grandfatherly roles and feel, especially here, that he speaks directly to the audiences, charging us as he charges Paul to do better in the face of adversary and to stand up for what is right, even when the people in power seek to push down the members of society that need help the most. Having lived through, if not the Holocaust as it was happening, then the residual antisemitism that was still coursing through Europe at the close of WWII, it creates a poignant starting point for this multi-generation household where the viewpoints of progress and success are constantly swirling around at the dinner table or the living room, wherever the family is gathered. It is a historical coincidence, yet no accident in the script, that Grey includes a sequence revolving around Fred (John Diehl) and Maryanne Trump (Jessica Chastain) who provide the arguments against Aaron’s sentiment of rejecting leaders who seek to divide and instead begin to promote ideas that color compassion and equality as handouts at the dawn of the Regan era. 

Running concurrently with Paul’s story is his friendship with Johnny, the only person of color in the public school’s overfull classroom. Grey is quick to point out the inequity at play here, still some 10+ years after the formal end of segregation, with how the teacher, Mr. Turkeltaub (Andrew Polk), harshly treats the young boy. Paul is not blind to this treatment, and at times, when the infractions are minor, will stand up for Johnny, and that same courtesy is returned, but as the story unfolds, Johnny finds his story written off deeper and deeper into the subplot and unfortunately teetering on stereotype given the lack of supplemental details which Grey provides to Paul. As it is Paul’s story, it is understandable that it never switches over to follow Johnny in the same way, but as he is the key to unlocking the deeper message of the film, it is a shame that when the pieces come together that his character ends up being a little too conveniently written when compared to the secondary characters seen in Paul’s extended family. Webb, however, elevates the role with a very touching performance, and to see the boy never give up hope is inspiring all the way up until it becomes heartbreaking when his dreams are replaced by the harsh acceptance that society is stacked against him. Sure, Paul might never be a famous artist with a permanent exhibit in the Guggenheim Museum, but his life is still one full of possibility. Johnny knows, even at only twelve or thirteen, that he is almost destined to be stuck and that not only NASA, but even just that same opportunity to try and fail and try again that Paul has, is impossibly out of reach for him. 

Armageddon Time is not an easy film to digest as it points to the not-so-distant past to criticize the present, yet despite its bitter truths, there are few warmer films out there today. Everything feels so lived in and even during the more tempestuous sequences at the New York home, it always feels like a place of love – a sanctuary – come the morning light. It would be nice to see the family reckon a little more with their own success, and how that progress means that Paul and Ted need to surpass what Esther and Irving have built. Thankfully the film is not devoid of that notion, it just does not expound on it in any extended or important way. Like much of Grey’s previous works, it takes a while for everything to come into focus, and that meandering pace can at times be alienating without a clear goal established, but audiences will find themselves welcomed wholeheartedly into the Graff family and with stellar performances across the board, our investment quickly takes root. Even when the themes reveal themselves, Grey’s unconventional approach to storytelling is present, and he concludes this trip back in time poignantly, yet triumphantly. Notably, though, it does not feel like a victory in the traditional sense, but rather it is the firmest step forward seen from Paul who has finally found the resolve within himself needed to follow his grandpa’s advice to raze that which will divide, and sow seeds of equality and justice in its place.