The Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler, will be the secret screening at the New York Film Festival, it was revealed Thursday.
The A24 film, from Josh and Benny Safdie, will make its New York premiere on Thursday, Oct. 3 at the fall event, after premiering at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals.
In the thriller, Sandler plays a New York City diamond dealer who owes money to angry racketeers and is getting in over his head in an escalating scheme to sell an Ethiopian diamond to Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, who plays himself in the film. Sandler’s character is also dealing with a tumultuous relationship with his wife, played by Idina Menzel. A24 will release the movie on Dec. 13 in select cities and nationwide on Christmas Day. The Safdie brothers wrote the script with Ronald Bronstein.
In his review out of Telluride, The Hollywood Reporter‘s chief film critic Todd McCarthy writes, “Many will agree that this is Sandler’s best performance, and the Safdies will finally move from the fringes of the commercial film scene to somewhere closer to the center.”
He calls the New York-set film “a real gem itself, a sparkling comedy-drama about a compulsive gambler and risk-taker who never knows when to quit.”
The 57th annual New York Film Festival is set to run from Sept. 27-Oct. 13, kicking off with the world premiere of The Irishman on Friday.
