A woman and her bird go on adventure to New York City and back. One of the oddest films included within the 2026 Venice Film Festival line-up is this enjoyable road trip comedy called Place to Be, made by the Hungarian filmmaker Kornél Mundruczó. This is actually his second feature film premiering in 2026 – he also directed At the Sea from Berlinale earlier this year (read my review of that one). Thankfully this one is much better, and much more uplifting, which is the kind of cinematic balm we could use right now. It’s also much more conventional, and much more formulaic, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t mostly entertaining as well. Place to Be is a road trip movie about an elderly woman, played by the exceptional Ellen Burstyn, who ends up running away with a pigeon that flies in through her window. Along the way she connects with an alcoholic divorced dad and learns about the sport of pigeon racing while rediscovering the world anew. Something exciting to praise: this has one of the best bird character performances I’ve ever seen in any film.
Place to Be is the latest film made by husband & wife team of director Kornél Mundruczó and screenwriter Kata Wéber (known for the films White God, Jupiter’s Moon, Pieces of a Woman). There are more & more of stories being told in cinema recently about people growing old, dealing with not only all the physical and mental challenges of getting old, but also with the very common yet nonetheless important desire to not be sent to a care home, living on freely in their own way. Place to Be is also quite similar to the Brazilian film The Blue Trail – both about an elderly woman who flees and goes on the run, rediscovering the joys of life while on the road meeting people. Ellen Burstyn stars as Brooke and she is absolutely magnificent in this. She’s almost always entrancing to watch, but this role let’s her shine all over again and command the screen with this character. Similar to watching June Squibb in her wonderful recent films (like Thelma & Eleanor the Great), Burstyn proves that she’s not only spry, she’s still intelligent and witty and brave and funny. And can take on anyone! While on the train from Chicago to New York City, she meets an extra cocky, annoying, arrogant man named Nelson, starring Taika Waititi with an American accent (that doesn’t always work). The two end up becoming unlikely friends, while she tries to return the white pigeon to its owner in the city.
Along the way they encounter a number of fascinating folks including Lena Waithe as Shy, another pigeon lover in NYC and David Wenham as Chad Landman, the white pigeon’s owner who is actually a wealthy pigeon racing champion. But mainly it’s about the strange relationship between Burstyn’s Brooke & Waititi’s Nelson. They’re not really a good fit, and Waititi acts like a jerk for most of the film, but that’s because he’s a problematic divorced dad trying to sell fancy real estate in the big city now because his umbrella business went under. Burstyn’s no-nonsense attitude is what begins to straighten him out, but he also keeps yelling at her most of the time. And when he gets drunk, he gets dangerously belligerent. At times it can be annoying to watch, but thankfully Taika establishes a good balance between wholesome & idiotic for most of it. I don’t find his character endearing in any way, but he’s along for the ride anyway. Burstyn, on the other hand, is absolutely brilliant in this and I could watch her go one even more adventure wherever she wants to stroll. There are brief appearances by Pamela Anderson & Murray Bartlett as Brooke’s kids, but they don’t matter much to the overall experience of watching this film. The real most important character is the white pigeon, named “Intruder” by Brooke, and yes this lil guy is in almost every scene of the film. He’s hanging out in each shot somewhere, cooing or just quietly sitting around, sometimes fluttering & ruffling feathers.
Of course we’ve seen all kinds of trained animals in movies – but I’ve never seen a pigeon act this way and perform so nicely for the camera. He’s a cutie! Either it’s utterly amazing CGI or they actually had a trained pigeon on set (probably the latter). His favorite place to sit is on top of their heads, which always gave me a laugh, but he also likes to hang out on shoulders and on top of his cage as well. At first it seems like Brooke is just going to give him back & move on, but she realizes this freedom mirrors her own desire to get away and fly freely around with others like her. Place to Be is a bright, splashy, amusing comedy movie with heart and humor aplenty. One of my favorite aspects of the screenplay is the way Burstyn’s Brooke character loves to use old words that we rarely ever hear anymore. Many of them are great words that I’ve now added to my vocabulary (and you should, too). Place to Be is a simple yet clever spin on the classic story of getting old & rediscovering yourself, but it’s still worth your while. Mostly to watch Brooke and her Intruder bird friend conquer NYC and make fun of Nelson’s absurdities. Best of all, Ellen Burstyn is a genuine legend who always rocks her roles. After this adventure you’ll never forget how much fun it was hang out with her & her pigeon.
Alex’s Venice 2026 Rating: 7 out of 10
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