Andrew Scott's new movie Blue Moon, which premiered at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival, has debuted with a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes rating.
Described as "witty" by IndieWire critic David Opie, Blue Moon tells the story of American lyricist Lorenz Hart as he struggles with alcoholism and attempts to save face during the opening night of Oklahoma! in 1943.
Ethan Hawke stars as Hart and is joined in the cast by Scott who plays his former collaborator Richard Rodgers. The Substance's Margaret Qualley and Ant-Man actor Bobby Cannavale also star.
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Directed by Richard Linklater, Blue Moon has proved popular among critics, who, at the time of writing, have given the movie a 94% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes from 18 critic reviews.
Here's what's been said about the film.
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IndieWire
"Ethan Hawke is charming and “overwhelming” in equal measure, a force of audacious, vibrating energy that thrums like a choir line vibrato. A witty, salacious biopic... Richard Linklater could attract award buzz for Hawke's witty, theatrical performance."
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The Independent
"Very much a minor effort in the Linklater canon... [Blue Moon] boasts a fine, quirky and courageous performance from Ethan Hawke, but it's a stagey affair which at times becomes very stilted."
Variety
"Like a backstage pass for Broadway buffs, it’s one hell of a show for those in the know, and a sparkling introduction for the uninitiated."
The Hollywood Reporter
"Blue Moon is a deceptively modest project, but it’s beautifully executed and fascinatingly nuanced despite being quite straightforward in terms of plot."
The Wrap
"Running a brisk 100 minutes, “Blue Moon” is an unreservedly stagey affair – matching form with content to follow an unhappy man for whom all the world’s a stage right before his curtains fall."
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The Daily Telegraph
"While a visual flair for deep period will never really be Linklater’s forte, there’s plenty of strong work from the cast."
The Lamplight Review
"Hawke, ever a master of his craft, captures Hart’s sharp humor and bruised ego in equal measure, turning him into both the life of the party and its saddest spectacle... even the character’s most acidic moments feel deeply human."
The Times
"One of the most committed performances of Ethan Hawke’s career is cruelly undercut by some ridiculous “shrinking” tricks in this biopic about the Broadway songwriter Lorenz Hart."
Blue Moon will be released in cinemas later this year.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV and movies at Digital Spy.
A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.
In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.
