Critics are over the moon for Richard Linklater’s new movie, Blue Moon. The biopic, about lyricist Lorenz Hart, features Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley in lead roles and is set for a theatrical release this Friday, October 17.

Now, ahead of theatrical release, Blue Moon has debuted with a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics. The movie has 57 reviews at the time of writing, so its score could fluctuate as more are published. Its audience score should also begin to take shape once it releases in theaters.

From the five-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker, Richard Linklater (Before Sunset, Boyhood), with a script written by Robert Kaplow, the film follows songwriter Lorenz Hart (played by Ethan Hawke) as he looks back on his life during the opening night of Oklahoma!, the latest musical from his former collaborator Richard Rodgers (played by Andrew Scott), taking place mostly in a bar.

In addition to four-time Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke (Training Day, Boyhood) and three-time Emmy nominee Andrew Scott (Black Mirror, Ripley), the cast also includes two-time Emmy nominee Margaret Qualley (Fosse/Verdon, Maid), two-time Emmy winner Bobby Cannavale (Will & Grace, Boardwalk Empire), Simon Delaney, and Patrick Kennedy.

Blue Moon premiered at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival this past February, where Andrew Scott won the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance. General audiences will soon be able to see the film, as it’s set for a theatrical release in the United States on October 17.

With a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie is receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. In ScreenRant‘s Blue Moon review, Rachel Labonte writes, “After a shaky start, Richard Linklater’s biopic pulls off something remarkable… Blue Moon, centered on lyricist Lorenz Hart, gets off to a grueling start, but later comes together for something heartfelt.”

Otherwise, most critics are swooning over Blue Moon, hailing it as one of Richard Linklater’s most intimate and emotionally layered works yet. They are praising Ethan Hawke’s transformative turn as Lorenz Hart, calling it a career-defining performance, funny, fragile, and deeply human. The film’s single-location and dialogue-driven style is seen as a lyrical meditation on art, friendship, and melancholy, elevated by Linklater’s steady direction and Robert Kaplow’s witty script.

A few reviewers, though, found Blue Moon too talky or theatrical for its own good, arguing that it sometimes feels too stage-bound or self-indulgent. Yet even dissenters admit that Hawke’s performance is magnetic, and that the film’s compᴀssion for its flawed subject is undeniable. Overall, critics agree that Linklater delivers a poignant and poetic character study that glows like its тιтle – rare, wistful, and beautifully blue.