2026 Sundance Film Festival Movie Review: Josephine

The simplicity of Beth de Araújo’s Josephine is the film’s biggest asset. The film follows 8-year-old Josephine (Mason Reeves), who, while on an early morning run with her father, accidentally gets separated from him and winds up witnessing a woman being attacked and raped. The movie focuses on Josephine after the event, the emotional toll on her and her family, and the push-and-pull advice she receives from her parents.

Josephine is a movie about the complications of parenting. It’s a movie every parent or soon-to-be parent should watch to show the yin and yang of parenting and why communication and being on the same page are important. Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan play Josephine’s parents, Damien and Claire, and the two have different parenting styles, especially in the aftermath of what Josephine saw. Damien, who grew up with tough parents, looks to move on from what she saw, but is prepared for the future in case something like this happens to her. He enrolls Josephine in a self-defense class, tells her to stand up for herself if being bullied, and to be tough and wary of men and boys trying to hurt her. Claire is more nurturing. Having some sort of trauma herself, she leans more to the emotional side. She understands Josephine is only eight. She knows she’s confused and scared and hopes Josephine can talk about it. But Josephine is being pulled in two very different directions and doesn’t know what to do, which causes confusion and leads her to act out at school and at her parents.

Communication is an important piece of Josephine, both in terms of what is communicated and in what way. Josephine is continuously being told what to do, whether by Damien or Claire, or is being asked questions by a social worker or police officer. When Damien and Claire discover that the victim fled the state, and if they want to see the man go to prison, Josephine is the only one who can testify, which only adds more drama, stress, and complications to the whole situation. Josephine is a movie about the importance of communicating with each other before communicating with someone else.

Tatum gives his best performance in years, and Chan gives the best performance of her career. You buy into them as parents and their parenting style. You also always see their love for Josephine, even during some of the darker times. The film rests on the shoulders of Reeves’s performance, and she is simply remarkable. This is one of the best child performances I have ever seen. Reeves shows real skill in her line delivery, her internal emotion, and her physicality. She’s a child who isn’t annoying or precocious, but one who is smart and is simply trying to understand her emotions following seeing something she cannot comprehend. It’s a complex performance for an actor so young and one of the best we will probably see all year.

Josephine is a tough but important movie. Anchored by three spectacular performances and a strong, character-driven screenplay, it’s a layered family drama that deals with real issues, and parents face every day.

Josephine played in the U.S. Dramatic category at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

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