This quirky romantic comedy follows Rose (Greta Gerwig), whose life changes after discovering her husband’s affair. Devastated and reeling, she soon crosses paths with a marooned British teenager (Olly Alexander) in a boarded-up Delaware beach town, and the two begin a peculiar friendship. As they drink their way through town, act out dream scenarios, and get to know each other’s pasts, this eccentric and insightful film illustrates how we navigate change and loneliness, for better and worse.

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Video Quality

The Dish & The Spoon comes to Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation that brings the feature to life effectively. This film has a bit of an overcast quality throughout that maintains in all the right ways. All highlights are handled without issue, and the black levels do not appear to struggle with any compression artifacts. There is a fine amount of detail within the frame despite the microbudget aesthetic. You can observe subtle elements of the clothing and production design clearly for the first time on home entertainment. The skin tones appear very detailed and natural all around. This presentation delivers exactly what you want from the experience.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that handles the reserved nature of the material with ease. Dialogue comes through clearly without ever being overshadowed by the sound effects or the score. This is far from an action-heavy film, but there is some activity to be found in the low end. The film uses music to great effect as it fills the room with a rich fidelity. The sound design keeps all of the sounds emanating just right in the mix. The environmental effects create a lived-in soundscape that accurately replicates the world. This is a good release that does a nice job with the material. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.

Special Features

Deleted Scenes & Outtakes: A seven-minute collection of unused material is provided.

SXSW Interview with Greta Gerwig and Olly Alexander: A 20-minute conversation with the two stars of the film conducted by Anne Thompson from Indiewire in which they discuss the act of performing with one another, the direction of Alison Bagnall, the artistic qualities injected into the story, and more.

Location Scouting Featurette: A four-minute look at footage captured during pre-production.

“The Whale” by Olly Alexander: A two-and-a-half-minute song is provided.

Trailer (2:11)

Final Thoughts

The Dish & The Spoon is a movie steeped in the mumblecore ethos, which is a movement that simply does not work for certain audiences. Fortunately, we have a soft spot for character-driven indie dramedies, and this one moves us in all of the right ways. Greta Gerwig is an exceptional force in this feature, and she is supported with great skill by Olly Alexander. The movie may be accused of being too earnest or quirky, but it will strike a chord with those who can get on its wavelength. Music Box Selects has released a Blu-Ray featuring a strong A/V presentation and a cool assortment of special features. If you like the talent involved, this is worth a watch. Recommended

The Dish & The Spoon is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Limited Edition Slipcover exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome/OCN Distribution.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Music Box Films Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.