‘The Loneliest Man In Town’ Review – Real Life Musician Alois Koch Anchors This Look Into the Past While Preparing For An Unknown Future [NYFF 2026]

After premiering at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s The Loneliest Man in Town had its North American premiere at NYFF. The film follows Al Cook (real-life Viennese musician Alois Koch), an Austrian blues musician whose life is uprooted after a property management company marks his apartment building for demolition. Al is the final tenant left in the building, putting up with just about every scheme they throw at him. As the odds get longer for him to feasibly live in his home, he begins to reminisce about his past and think about what’s next for him.

Al is a simple man. He lives by himself in the same apartment he lived in as a boy. He listens to records, plays guitar, and decorates his cozy space for holidays. Every few days, the company shuts something off to entice him to accept their cash settlement and move, but he just keeps carrying on. No power, no water, no problem for Al. He goes on for a bit like this, and you think the movie is just going to be him fighting back against the company, but it gets much more introspective and intimate than that.

Slowly but surely, Al begins to accept his fate and starts going through his possessions. Records, pictures, all leading to memories of his past as a more active blues singer in the area and a richer life in Vienna. For the first time in his life, Al has to reckon with the past he’s been holding so tightly to in order to embrace an inevitable future he’s been stiff-arming for decades. It’s not as emotional as you might expect it to be, but touching nonetheless. As he begins selling his things to folks around town, he shares his memories with them and reveals there’s much more to the enigmatic singer than meets the eye.

Al’s fascination with blues music doesn’t just end with Elvis, but dives deep into its roots in the Mississippi Delta, finding ways to relate to the timeless songs of suffering and pain with himself and the people he performs for throughout his life. A quiet man, he saves all of his strength and soul for singing. The first time we hear Al sing, you could close your eyes and envision a version of Elvis there in his stead. His voice is penetrating and haunting. Koch isn’t a professional actor, which makes his subtle performance all the more stunning. It’s truly a delight to see him on screen living the simple life, living for his music.

The Loneliest Man in Town is a slow burn, taking its time as Al realizes a new freedom he has in getting out of the past and moving towards a future he can create for himself rather than one handed to him. We’ve all had times where we are paralyzed by different aspects of life, whether that be due to choices we’ve made or choices others made for us. It’s rare we get a chance for a truly fresh start, nothing tying you to any one person or place. Al can do whatever he wants after releasing himself from his lifelong stay in his apartment. We often don’t give ourselves the same grace to be free of things holding us back, but this film is a great reminder that it’s okay to choose something that’s best for you rather than do what you think you should do.

Covi and Frimmel’s film is a fascinating use of fictional storytelling to show off a real-life personality like Koch, a local celebrity to some in his region, but likely an obscure blip for those in his building and the taverns just around the corner. Everyone around us contains a whole life worth exploring, and each of us has the capacity to be free of our past and build a future we want for ourselves.

The Loneliest Man in Town held its North American Premiere as part of the Main Slate section at the 2026 New York Film Festival.

Directors: Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel

Rated: NR

Runtime: 86m