“I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of the peace.” –Baruch Spinoza. I’m not a fan of writing negative reviews, but when I sit through something this despicable, this exceptionally awful, this disgusting in every way, I must “disturb the peace” and call it for what it is: one of the worst films I have ever seen. Paul Schrader’s latest film The Basics of Philosophy is an atrocious, heinous, stinking pile of excrement. Not only should they throw every DCP into the trash immediately, this film should be forgotten immediately and never shown in any cinema. There is nothing provocative or interesting about it, there is nothing philosophical or contemplative found within, there is no point to this story and no talent found in any frame of it. It is simply an old fart ruminating on how he “can’t change” and instead blaming everyone around him for his own idiotic troubles and his misfortunes. It made my sick to my stomach sitting through this drivel. Every scene is trash, every moment is laughable nonsense. Yes it’s THAT excruciatingly bad. I’m sorry to be so negative, but every once in a while this happens, and these words just pour out of me.
Paul Schrader is an 80 year old American filmmaker who has been making movies for decades – as both screenwriter and director. Now it’s time for him to hang up the hat and call it a day and retire. His time is over, his era is finished, and this film is an irrefutable indication that he has lost his mind and is no longer capable of producing coherent work. The Basics of Philosophy is both written and directed by Schrader and it’s a pathetic screenplay that is him responding to his own situation, attempting to shift the blame and not reflect on his own decisions. Schrader has been accused of sexual assault and hates cancel culture because it means he must finally think about his own actions. This film, as expected, twists the narrative and turns the person who was abused (a young boy) by an older man into the villain of the story. Of course it does. Instead of dealing with any of this or contemplate that he’s in the wrong, Schrader blames everyone else around him for his own problems. Maybe it was his father! Maybe it was that guy! Maybe it was this woman! It’s anyone but him. He attempts to consult philosophers to make sense of this but fails to do so in any rational way. He brings up basic quotes then posits that “maybe man can’t change.” No, Mr. Schrader, maybe you can’t think.
In the film, Jack Huston stars as John Jorrisen, a professor teaching philosophy who seems content with his basic life teaching uninterested students. He’s in a weird situationship with his fellow professor Rebecca, played by Sofia Boutella, who does not act or like or perform in any way like a real professor. John gets in trouble with a past incident, where he abused a 14 year old boy, comes up again for some strange reason. It turns out that his father, Melvyn Jorrisen, paid off this kid and gave him tons of money to shut him up. The most disgusting and offensive part of this script is that John gets upset & jealous that just because this kid was paid all this money by his father he got to have a great life and now he’s very well off, and thus he has no right to complain or bring up this past abuse again. One of the most shameful & repulsive narratives I’ve ever encountered in any film I’ve ever seen. To top it off, the acting is blatantly terrible. Everyone is wooden & obvious, not a single character is halfway believable. Schrader has clearly lost his ability to direct as well. Bad sets, bad filmmaking, bad dialogue, bad costumes, bad editing, bad in every way. Even if you ignore the bad script, it’s impossible to ignore everything else that is so amateur and grating and careless throughout.
Anyone who claims that this film brings up some provocative questions or intriguing ideas to consider about humanity did not actually watch this film and did not pay attention to any of the dialogue. There is simply no way any one can actually say this about this film. It’s not there, in any scene. There is no debate within, there is nothing to consider about change or choices, there is no actual philosophy or big ideas or legitimate questions about morality. None. The philosophy comes down to him bringing up a simple quotes in a scene, that “so and so said this”, then the scene ends and it’s never discussed or considered or thought about again. There is no conversation. There’s simply an old man shoving his problems into a fantasy professor character that he thinks he is similar to, attempting to refute any claim anyone has ever made about him, because he is pathetically incapable of any self-reflection. This doesn’t make for good cinema, but does prove Schrader has surely lost his marbles. To quote Wittgenstein: “A philosopher always finds more grass to feed upon in the valleys of stupidity than on the arid heights of intelligence.” It is, undeniably, one of the most absurdly idiotic, blatantly demeaning, exceptionally horrible films I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through.
Alex’s Venice 2026 Rating: 0 out of 10
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