‘Peter Hujar’s Day’ Review – A Simple Glimpse Into The Beautiful Mundanity Of An American Artist [Sundance 2025]

The Sundance Film Festival is known for its unique selection of films, ranging from experimental cinema to the wackiest horror film you’ll see each year. Getting selected for Sundance is extremely difficult and shows that you are pushing the boundaries of the medium in some way with your film. There were many such cases this year, but one took the cake for me: Peter Hujar’s Day. Sundance veteran Ira Sachs returns to the festival that once awarded him the Grand Jury prize and nominated him twice more with this incredibly peculiar film following Peter Hujar (Ben Whishaw) and Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) as the latter conducts an interview with the former about a recent day in his life.

The film’s dialogue is taken directly from Rosenkrantz’s book, which wasn’t released until 2022 when transcripts of their conversation were uncovered after they were thought to be lost. On December 18, 1974, Rosenkrantz asked Hujar to write down everything he did that day, and the following day, he came to her apartment and relayed the details to her. 

I know what you’re thinking: How the hell did they make a movie out of a conversation like this? People may think there isn’t enough here to make a feature-length film, but I would argue against that position. Sachs takes liberties with how the conversation occurs, moving from room to room, with scenes on the balcony, and in an alley outside the apartment building. It’s not your classic camera-pointed-at-the-talking-head type of interview. 

Throughout the conversation, Hall and Whishaw portray often unseen platonic chemistry and intimacy. Their closeness is something we should all strive for—the safeness to share openly and vulnerably the smallest thoughts and details of one’s day. Whishaw carries the film as he is the one primarily talking, but Hall’s interjections and questions help mix things up and show a distinct understanding of Hujar’s character and innermost thoughts. 

The wonder of Peter Hujar’s Day is that it combats our modern ideals of what’s interesting and what makes up a person. We typically think a person’s personality is influenced by a few key moments in their lives, mile markers that point in the direction they’re heading in life. This is true in the sense that bigger events can change someone’s life, but every decision and thought makes up a person as well. Hujar is describing his day in excruciating detail, and it’s not mundane at all – it’s fascinating. 

Instead of holding back certain things in the interest of time, he’s free to say whatever was on his mind throughout that day as well as how he perceived others and interpreted how people acted towards him. This level of self-reflection is beautiful to watch unfold, and he even catches himself misremembering things and correcting himself after Rosenkrantz asks for clarification. Each minute, each decision is both fleeting and in the moment the most important thing on his mind. These are the things that make up humans, not just massive life events.

Given that Hujar is a photographer, we also get a glimpse into the life of an artist trying to make it in the industry. He details trials in getting paid for his work, negotiating deals on exhibits, and procrastinating his work at home. He’s since become one of the more famous American photographers but was still struggling at the time of this interview. In many ways art is glamorous, but it’s also a job just like any other. It has its tedious, monotonous tasks that don’t exactly instill passion in the craft. 

Ira Sachs has created a quiet gem in Peter Hujar’s Day, a film that celebrates the small details of daily life and what it’s like to be an artist who hasn’t quite made it big yet. His simple filmmaking techniques offer enough visual variety and the performances impeccably convey the pair’s conversation with riveting inflection and candor. I was quite moved by this film, and I hope you will be too. 

Peter Hujar’s Day had its World Premiere in the Premieres section of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Director: Ira Sachs

Screenwriter: Ira Sachs

Rated: NR

Runtime: 76m