Kornél Mundruczó’s ‘At the Sea,’ Starring Amy Adams, Panned at Berlin

Things haven’t been so rosy for Amy Adams, a six-time Oscar nominee, a talented actress — I’d go as far as to say she’s reached greatness a few times in her career, but lately she’s been in a major slump.

Adams, whose last impressive lead role was in 2016’s “Arrival,” has been stuck in a string of misfires over the last decade, including “Hillbilly Elegy,” “The Woman in the Window,” “Sam & Kate,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Disenchanted,” and “Nightbitch.”

This morning, Kornél Mundruczó‘s “At the Sea,” which stars Adams as a woman readjusting to the complicated life she left behind after entering rehab, screened for press at the Berlin Film Festival. The reviews are not good.

So, far pans across the board: IndieWire (C), THR (“no payoff”), Variety (“forgettable”), Screen (“uneven”), The Guardian (1/5), The Wrap (“wafer-thin”), IONCINEMA (2/5) and Deadline (“dreary”).

“At the Sea,” shot in early 2024, was directed by Mundruczó, the Hungarian filmmaker behind “Pieces of a Woman” and “White God.” Kata Wéber, who wrote Mundruczó’s best films, penned the screenplay. The more worrying thing is that the film was supposed to debut at a festival last year but got delayed.

Adams has been fairly busy of late: she has a supporting turn in Shawn Levy’s upcoming “Star Wars: Starfighter,” is slated to co-star alongside Javier Bardem in a “Cape Fear” remake series, and shot Taika Waititi’s “Klara and the Sun” in 2023, which still hasn’t been dated for release.