Love, Brooklyn
is unlike any other romance of the last several years. Directed by Rachael Holder from a screenplay by Paul Zimmerman, the film is a love letter to Brooklyn and its changing topography. It’s also a love letter to letting go and dynamic, layered relationships — romantic and platonic. With most romantic dramas, we typically know that a couple will get together, but Love, Brooklyn explores a more nuanced take and how the changes around the characters affect their personal lives. It’s an intricate and beautifully crafted work of art that’s quietly meditative and lovingly told.

Roger (André Holland) is a writer who’s struggling to write his piece about Brooklyn’s “evolution,” which he no longer believes is a good thing. He complains, in one of the film’s first scenes, to his friend and ex Casey (Nicole Beharie) about how Brooklyn is actually regressing. Casey is used to Roger’s complaints, often rolling her eyes at him, as though he’s been stuck before and she’s merely tolerating it. The truth is a bit different, however; they’re both lonely, maintaining this friendship because they care about the other, while also dancing around everything that goes unsaid.

Casey is also struggling with maintaining her art gallery in a changing neighborhood, with a company persistently calling her in a bid to buy her out. We find out information about Roger and Casey’s lives through natural dialogue between the characters or issues they must deal with. Their relationship is also complicated amid Roger’s connection with Nicole (DeWanda Wise), a widowed mother dealing with her own hardships. Roger isn’t fully willing to commit and neither is Nicole, but as Love, Brooklyn progresses, they find themselves having to face the things that are holding them back.

Love, Brooklyn Is Vivid In Its Storytelling

Love, Brooklyn is moving. It paints a vivid picture of Brooklyn and its three main characters, whose personal lives directly connect with their surroundings. They’re affected in poignant ways and a big part of their arcs is coming to terms with it. But it’s certainly not in the way you’d expect. Rather, the film weaves a tapestry of challenges the characters have to face without being too obvious. It’s in this subtlety that the romantic drama finds its beating heart.

It’s a contemplative film first and foremost, with many of the scenes featuring Roger riding his bike through car-filled streets and the characters visiting the local park as life happens around them. Brooklyn is just as important of a character as the human ones and it really drives home the emotional effect of the story. The film is just about what’s gained in the changes happening in Brooklyn as it is about what is lost. Roger is in a transitional period. He’s hesitant to let go of the Brooklyn he once knew, and afraid to take any next steps, and that extends to Casey, too.

It’s almost as though he’s afraid that if he moves on with his life and puts the past in his rearview mirror he’ll be losing a part of him that was so integral in shaping him as a person. But Love, Brooklyn is thorough in exploring what that means for him and getting his character to the place he needs to be in such a gentle and authentic way. That’s certainly a testament to Zimmerman’s script, which is meaningful in the way it handles its subject matter and characters. Holder’s direction only amplifies the complexities built into the script.

Love, Brooklyn’s Cast Intensifies The Central Story

Holland was at last year’s Sundance Film Festival with the underrated and overlooked Exhibiting Forgiveness and his performance is no less skillful in Love, Brooklyn. The actor masterfully plays Roger as a one-foot-out-the-door man and that bleeds into his demeanor. Holland’s body language is hesitant and his facial expressions relay Roger’s feelings at every turn. In his eyes, we see the conflicting emotions he has about his relationships and the piece he’s writing. It’s another strong role for the actor who always gives so much dimension to his characters.

Beharie is on the same level as Holland as Casey, though she infuses more irritation into her character. Beharie is more straightforward than Roger but also hides a lot emotionally. She faces similar challenges and is able to get through them by falling back on her relationship with Roger. Beharie efficiently delves into the depth of her character, the reasons for her unwillingness to move forward, and where her transformational relationship with Roger is going. A radiant Wise brings a groundedness to the film, with Nicole’s arc underscoring a different reality from the other characters that is no less important.

The analysis of the core relationships is where Love, Brooklyn especially excels. It’s a thorough examination of a transformational time for the characters amid a changing landscape. Holder is adept at layering the film with emotion and an intricate depth that draws us to the characters and their individual stories. There unsaid is just as worth engaging with as what is said aloud. In the quiet moments, we’re allowed to reflect on what the characters are going through while highlighting the turmoil that comes with a fluctuating environment. It’s an effective, touching, brilliantly evocative film that takes the romantic drama genre to new heights.

Love, Brooklyn premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.