A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

Kogonada’s romance fantasy has charm and color, but no heart beneath the sheen

Love is the most covered subject in the arts—be it in songs, books, painting, or dance. This most intense of human emotions is one that artists consistently return to for inspiration. Yet this also means that explorations of love often feel tired and worn. Only by tapping into an artist’s vulnerable personal experience can a work truly connect with audiences. Too often, creators mime through the motions of romance, leaving only a cold replication behind. Such is the case with A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025).

The film tells the story of cynical, lonely David (Colin Farrell) and Sara (Margot Robbie), who meet at a wedding. Though they don’t hit it off, the rebellious GPS systems in their rental cars rope them into the eponymous adventure. Along the way, they are led to mysterious doors that open onto each other’s pasts.

Directed by Kogonada, in his follow-up to After Yang (2021), the film bears many of the director’s trademarks: a gentle touch, a beautiful aesthetic, and a meditative pace. Yet Kogonada too often remains distant from his subjects, as if afraid to get close or vulnerable with viewers. “Art has to cost you something,” as is said—surprisingly—in Better Man (2024). Kogonada seems unwilling to sacrifice a piece of himself, and as such his works, from Columbus (2017) to A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, feel impersonal and remote. This film, in particular, suffers from that detachment because its story centers on revealing one’s deepest self at the risk of rejection.

The plot unfolds as a fable-like walkthrough of what falling in love feels like, but the film merely mimes through the actions of its otherwise inventive setup. Kogonada wavers in his use of semi-magical realism, never committing to whether the characters live in our ordinary world and are startled by their supernatural adventure, or whether they accept it in stride. This tonal indecision cheapens the premise instead of elevating it.

Still, Kogonada benefits from two strong leads. Farrell and Robbie share genuine chemistry, their ebullient charm making the film watchable. Their skill and commitment manage to salvage dialogue that is otherwise embarrassingly generic. Seth Reiss’s script delivers some of the most stock romantic exchanges in recent memory—every other line feels lifted from a Hallmark card.

In the end, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey fails to live up to its title. It lacks boldness, specificity, and authenticity, settling instead for a generic walkthrough of romance tropes that never reach the viewer’s heart. Kogonada retains his beautiful visual style, but it remains a colorful sheen over an empty interior. Two charismatic leads salvage more from the bland script than it deserves, but their efforts aren’t enough to rescue the film from becoming just another cheap love story.

4.9/10