Late Fame: Dafoe And Lee Dazzle In Schnitzler Indie
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- Late Fame, directed by Kent Jones and written by Oscar-nominated Samy Burch, opens in theaters August 7, 2026 via Magnolia Pictures after premiering at the Venice Film Festival about a year ago and running 1 hour 36 minutes.
- Willem Dafoe stars as Ed Saxberger, a postal worker of 37 years who published a poetry collection in the late 1970s, now rediscovered by a group of twentysomethings calling themselves the Enthusiasm Society.
- Greta Lee plays Gloria, an actress and singer with her own claim to belated recognition, and the review singles out her performance of Brecht and Weill's 'Surabaya Johnny' with Dafoe in the audience as a standout moment.
- The screenplay adapts Arthur Schnitzler's 1890s novella, relocating the setting from Vienna to New York's Soho district and reframing it around a lost creative era the protagonist once inhabited.
- Edmund Donovan plays Meyers, the Enthusiasm Society's leader who tracks down Saxberger's forgotten paperback and recruits him as the group's next project of rediscovery.
- Producers include Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon, Mason Plotts, Danny Roberts, H.S. Naji, Jackie Langelier, Taylor Shung, and Ethan Lazar, with additional cast including Jake Lacy, Clark Johnson, and Luca Padovan.
Why it matters: After debuting at Venice a full year ago, Late Fame reaches U.S. theaters via Magnolia on August 7, 2026, giving Dafoe one of his quietest recent roles and Lee a showcase built around Brecht and Weill — a literary character study from director Kent Jones and writer Samy Burch at a moment when prestige indies are leaning on word-of-mouth pipelines rather than wide releases.
