There is a moment in Blue Heron where the camera holds on a child just long enough to make you look away, and that is the film in miniature. Sophy Romvari's debut feature—the follow-up to her 2020 TIFF graduate short—announces a real voice. It follows an unnamed Hungarian immigrant family settling on Vancouver Island in the early 1990s as they try to manage a son, Jeremy, whose oppositional defiant disorder pulls the family apart. The film is in UK and Irish cinemas now.
Key facts
- Director: Sophy Romvari
- Starring: Edik Beddoes as Jeremy, Iringó Réti and Adam Tompa as the parents, Amy Zimmer as adult Sasha
- Setting: Vancouver Island, early 1990s
- Comparisons: Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver's source novel
- Release: in UK and Ireland cinemas now
What works
The craft is the story. Cinematographer Maya Bankovic's slow zooms turn Jeremy from a kid with a behavioural label into a specific, opaque presence at the family dinner table. Bespectacled, mostly non-verbal and street-cast from the neighbourhood, Beddoes plays Jeremy with an otherworldly energy that upends domestic life. The parental performances carry the emotional weight. Réti and Tompa are drowning, and the film never punishes them for it.
The meta ending—in which an adult Sasha travels back to interact with her younger self—is the move that lifts the film from family drama into something else. It earns its sentimentality rather than borrowing it.
Our analysis
A first feature about parenting a child in crisis is a hard sell. Romvari's bet is that specificity will travel: the Hungarian-language dialogue, the early-90s Vancouver Island setting, the island isolation that magnifies their sense of being left alone. It works because the feeling is not generic. Anyone who has watched a child spiral and felt the system offer only blunt solutions will find a register here that louder films miss.
The Kevin comparison is fair but unflattering to both. Where Ramsay weaponised dread, Romvari sits inside grief. Blue Heron is gentler, slower, more patient—it trusts the audience to keep watching without being told what to feel. That is a confident choice for a debut.
The release pattern reveals the trade-off. Landing in UK and Irish cinemas as a small Canadian-Hungarian co-production is a tight commercial bet. The TIFF pedigree and Kevin-adjacent positioning give it a fighting shot at cult-favourite status and festival afterlife—but not a wide release.
Worked example for a reader
If you watched We Need to Talk About Kevin and have been looking for a film that takes the parental perspective seriously without sensationalising the child, this is your film. Plan for a quiet weeknight rather than a group outing. The film does not reward distraction. If you go with a partner, leave time after to talk—the ending earns a conversation.
What to watch next
Watch Romvari's next project. A debut this controlled almost always precedes a sharper second film, and the TIFF-to-feature pipeline tends to fund the next step quickly. Also watch whether the film picks up U.S. And continental European distribution; the UK and Ireland release is the first test of cross-Atlantic appetite.
Key takeaways
- Blue Heron is Sophy Romvari's debut feature, in UK and Irish cinemas now
- The film follows a Hungarian immigrant family managing a son's behavioural disorder on Vancouver Island
- Cinematographer Maya Bankovic's slow zooms anchor the visual style
- The meta ending reframes the entire story through memory and trauma
Frequently asked questions
Who directed Blue Heron?
Sophy Romvari directed Blue Heron, her debut feature, following her 2020 TIFF graduate short.
Where is Blue Heron set?
The film is set on Vancouver Island in the early 1990s.
Is Blue Heron similar to We Need to Talk About Kevin?
The comparison to Lynne Ramsay's film is fair, but Blue Heron is gentler and more focused on memory than dread.
Where can I see Blue Heron?
Blue Heron is in UK and Ireland cinemas now.
Source: timeout.com
