The Basics of Philosophy

John Jorissen (Jack Huston) is a self-admitted overthinker, just like the great minds he teaches and writes about. The professor of philosophy is shaken from his quiet Midwestern existence when his father (Bill Pullman) passes and a mysterious guest (Daniel Zovatto) at his funeral unearths dark secrets from John’s past.

Paul Schrader considers his films since Taxi Driver all part of the same story, as the umbrella theme of guilt permeates the lives of these men following various occupations. The fact that this specimen lectures about ideas of morality, works on a book about rationalist Spinoza, creates the tangible environment of a man who is hyper-aware of his past transgressions. Has such a person, whose own mind tortures him on a daily basis, served enough penance to be granted forgiveness?

There are some very facile meditations on change, whether it is possible for a human being to stop making the same mistakes, that hint at something interesting only for the film to leave them hanging in the air. At the feature’s press conference in Venice, the team spoke about the fact that the final scene is not what happens on screen but rather the conversation on the way out of the cinema. Yet, without concrete evidence to give both sides a basis for argument, this concept doesn’t hold up: vagueness alone offers little grounds for debate.

Older generations tend to have different understandings of what exactly constitutes abuse and Schrader’s script doesn’t just remain ambiguous about the pivotal incident’s causality, it genuinely feels like it doesn’t know. While a film should leave its audience with questions, the impression of not knowing what these amount to is hardly beneficial.

Around halfway through there is an unsettling influx in tension, where the piece almost starts to feel like a thriller, only for it to soundlessly deflate and make way for an absurd soap-opera feel in its final stretch. The camerawork is uncharacteristically polished for Schrader, and its “made-for-streaming” cleanliness clashes with the uneasy way the subject matter is dealt with.

Jack Huston feels a little too elusive as a load-bearing protagonist, despite his undeniable charm that works in favour of the idea of a “monster next door”. A rather unexpected highlight is Shiloh Fernandez’s brief guest appearance as a dancing, scheming patron of a gay saloon.

The Basics of Philosophy reveals quite a number of Schrader’s shortcomings and definitely ranks in the bottom half of his filmography. Nevertheless, it provides sufficient material for reflection to justify the time spent watching it.

Selina Sondermann

Read more reviews from our Venice Film Festival 2026 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Venice Film Festival website here.