Several filmmakers have churned out such remarkable work that it’s hard to review their projects properly. I end up just not reviewing them at all, which I regret. Alex Thompson and Kelly O’Sullivan are top of the list. They’re like Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig if L.A. and NYC were Chicago and they spotlighted normal people. The human connection leads to growth through life’s greatest hurdles, usually resulting in me in a puddle of my own tears. Alright, add “hint of Chloé Zhao” with that then.
Their first feature, Saint Frances, made my top 25 best films of 2020, and their soulful follow-up Ghostlight was one of 2024’s finest dramas. Since its premiere at Berlinale earlier this year (God, I want to go to this festival so badly), I’ve been looking forward to their third movie, Mouse. For a movie about a quiet teen coming out of the shadows to deal with her grief, I can’t help but scream that this is one of the best movies of the year.
MPA Rating: R (for language, some sexual references and teen drinking.)
Runtime: 2 Hours (120 minutes)
Language: English
Production Companies: Runaway Train, Metropolitan Entertainment, Rosalind Productions, Little Engine
Distributor: IFC Entertainment Group
Director: Kelly O'Sullivan, Alex Thompson
Screenwriter: Kelly O'Sullivan
Cast: Sophie Okonedo, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Chloe Coleman, Tara Mallen, Iman Vellani, David Hyde Pierce, Beck Nolan, Addisyn Cain, Audrey Grace Marshall, Christopher R. Ellis
U.S Release Date: November 6, 2026 (Limited)
In 2003 North Little Rock, Arkansas, shy Minnie Dunn (Katherine Mallen-Kupferer) is content as the quiet background bestie to her star friend Callie Bell (Chloe Coleman) — resenting her own life with her divorced veterinarian mom, Barbara (Tara Mallen), whose cluttered, pet-filled home offers only takeout and microwavable dinners, and her infant baby brother, rebuffing her mom’s interest in her — while Callie has it all. She’s the popular girl everyone loves, has a steady boyfriend (Beck Nolan), dreams of NYC theater, and comes from a middle-class family with her mom, Helen (Sophie Okonedo), a former pianist turned stay-at-home PTA mom who trains her as her vocal coach. After junior year, Minnie’s world shatters when Callie dies in a car crash. At the funeral, everyone speaks of Callie except Helen and Minnie, who stay silent yet look toward each other. When senior year begins, Callie’s judgmental friend Cara (Audrey Grace Marshall) co-opts drama teacher Mr. Murdaugh’s (David Hyde Pierce) planned fall play and suggests a talent show in Callie’s honor. Minnie, who has never shown any talent or interest, signs up to do… something. After running into Helen, she forms a familial grief-bond with her and a romance with video store clerk/wannabe magician Kat (Iman Vellani), who lost her own mother a year prior. As Minnie’s limelight grows and she shows signs of confidence, things get complicated with Helen, and she oversteps her boundaries, having to deconstruct her codependent attachment to Callie.
Mouse finds a refreshingly unconventional perspective on grief and friendship.
Sophie Okonedo and Katherine Mallen Kupferer in MOUSE - Credit: Nate Hurtsellers and Luke Dyra
With Mouse, Thompson and Sullivan effortlessly transport us to the early aughts, without any nostalgic key-jingling. They focus on using the surroundings and the grounded lifestyle culture to shape the time period — Callie and Minnie losing their voices by singing Michelle Branch while Callie drives across the rural barren road to school, friends gathered watching movies at Callie’s sleepover off her CRT TV VHS, the small-town Christian undertones in Cara’s remarks, and cell phones being so prevalent in their early days that when tragedy strikes, the shock settles by face-to-face interactions. Only one throwaway line addresses the post-9/11 freshness.
O’Sullivan’s script — developed at the same time as Saint Frances — is flawless and offers a unique dissertation on grief. O’Sullivan employs Ghostlight’s themes and motifs of grief and art, but the unique perspective of the film is its star playing second fiddle to their best friend. The differences in Minnie and Helen’s socioeconomic backgrounds and their complex relationship with Callie guide their shared grief in unexpected, novel ways. Their bond is heartwarming, especially as Minnie sheds her skin for the first time. Moreover, Mouse is well-rounded with genuine warmth and organic humor, especially in Minnie’s developing relationship with Kat (Iman Vellani is so good here) and in exploring her burgeoning lesbian identity.
That said, Mouse captures the intensity of fresh grief and the reckless actions that follow. It explores realistic dilemmas that traverse into uncomfortable, cringe-inducing areas regarding how vulnerable grief can make a teen and a single mother. It shows how easily their relationship can become damaging, with one enabling overstepped boundaries and the guilt that comes from living in their absence. It becomes more personal when inspecting Minnie’s complicated psyche and her uncontrollable behavior as she expresses herself as an independent person for the first time. Mouse and Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut would make a perfect double feature; both center on people operating in the shadows finally shedding their skin through art, to the point they floor it and go overboard.
Thompson and O’Sullivan reach Ryusuke Hamaguchi levels in their dissertation on this specific tale of loss, carefully covering all of its bases with heartfelt truthfulness. When I say Hamaguchi levels, I mean that (and I say this later in my upcoming All of a Sudden review) Drive My Car was the first time I deeply felt the visceral definition of the word “grief,” shortly before I experienced it firsthand. Again, they did this before with Ghostlight.
Mouse is another triumph for two of independent cinema’s most exciting filmmakers.
Katherine Mallen Kupferer in MOUSE - Credit: Nate Hurtsellers and Luke Dyra
Katherine Mallen-Kupferer, spectacular in Ghostlight, beams a brighter flare in Mouse. Taking center stage, she powerfully anchors the film, exploring every daring turn the story takes in a riveting, star-making performance for the ages. For such a mousy character, Mallen-Kupferer exudes conviction, making her complicated emotions feel visceral and tangible. Sophie Okonedo is astonishing, organically conveying every ounce of Helen's pain and heartfelt maternal instinct in her friendship with Minnie. In addition to her exceptional yearn-heavy performance in the upcoming Clarissa, she’s one of the best we have working today.
While Mallen-Kupferer’s collab with the filmmakers had her working with both her real-life father and mother, it’s more on Tara Mallen. She’s among the standout performances, as Barbara is established as a neglectful but empathetic figure trying to do the best she can. Minnie’s two moms churn out naturalistic, unsettling, devastating, and soulful work that left my heart shattered yet ablaze.
Alex and Kelly are 3 for 3, with Mouse surpassing their storytelling expertise, continuing their exciting rise, and also cementing them as some of the best filmmakers working today. With career-defining performances from Katherine Mallen‑Kupferer, Sophie Okonedo, and Tara Mallen, and a script that sidesteps every cliché in favor of raw, uncomfortable truth, Mouse is one of the year’s best films, and another triumph for two filmmakers who just keep building their gains.
