In Armageddon Time, director James Gray (The Immigrant, Ad Astra) returns to the setting of his childhood in Queens, New York, in the 1980s with a coming-of-age story about the hard lessons and comforts of growing up in a fractious-but-loving family.

The film focuses on the relationship between 12-year-old Paul Graff (newcomer Banks Repeta) and his African-American best friend, Johnny (Jaylin Webb), who are inseparable. But after an unfortunate incident, Paul’s parents (Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong) decide to transfer him to a private – and very prejudiced – prep school. Determined to live his own life, and buoyed by advice from his grandfather (Anthony Hopkins), Paul concocts a risky scheme to escape and run away with Johnny to Florida.

The result is a truly poignant, troubling, and ultimately brilliant work of memory and self-implication which garnered a seven-minute standing ovation at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.