UNCLE FRANK (Sneak Preview Drive-In)

Academy Award-winner Alan Ball’s heartfelt and hilarious road movie travels from the bohemian scene of post-Stonewall New York City to rural South Carolina, following Frank’s journey from hitting rock bottom to acceptance and forgiveness and, finally, reintegration into his family and into life itself.

This film exclusively played at The Queens Drive-In, Corona Park, and included dinner from C Bao, generously provided by Amazon Studios.


Part of The 32nd Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival

In 1973, teenaged Beth Bledsoe (Sophia Lillis, SHARP OBJECTS) leaves her rural Southern hometown to study at NYU where her beloved Uncle Frank (Paul Bettany, THE AVENGERS) is a revered literature professor. She soon discovers that Frank is gay and living with his longtime, loving partner Walid “Wally” Nadeem (Peter Macdissi)—an arrangement that he has kept secret for years. After the sudden death of Frank’s father (and Beth’s grandfather), Frank is forced to reluctantly return home for the funeral with Beth in tow, and to finally face a long-buried trauma that he has spent his entire adult life running away from. In addition to layered character work from the three leads, writer-director Ball (AMERICAN BEAUTY, SIX FEET UNDER) elicits strong turns from the superb supporting cast, including Stephen Root, Margo Martindale, Steve Zahn, Judy Greer, and Lois Smith.

Academy Award-winner Alan Ball’s heartfelt and hilarious road movie travels from the bohemian scene of post-Stonewall New York City to rural South Carolina, following Frank’s journey from hitting rock bottom to acceptance and forgiveness and, finally, reintegration into his family and into life itself. In 1973, teenaged Beth Bledsoe (Sophia Lillis, SHARP OBJECTS) leaves her rural Southern hometown to study at NYU where her beloved Uncle Frank (Paul Bettany, THE AVENGERS) is a revered literature professor. She soon discovers that Frank is gay and living with his longtime, loving partner Walid “Wally” Nadeem (Peter Macdissi)—an arrangement that he has kept secret for years. After the sudden death of Frank’s father (and Beth’s grandfather), Frank is forced to reluctantly return home for the funeral with Beth in tow, and to finally face a long-buried trauma that he has spent his entire adult life running away from. In addition to layered character work from the three leads, writer-director Ball (AMERICAN BEAUTY, SIX FEET UNDER) elicits strong turns from the superb supporting cast, including Stephen Root, Margo Martindale, Steve Zahn, Judy Greer, and Lois Smith.

Runtime: 95 minutes. An Amazon Studios Release.

Cast: Paul Bettany, Sophia Lillis, Peter Macdissi, Judy Greer, Steve Zahn, Lois Smith, Margo Martindale, Stephen Root

Writer: Alan Ball

Alan Ball