JIMPA

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Storyline (warning: spoilers)

Hannah (Olivia Colman) is an Australian filmmaker who, with her non-binary teenager Frances, travels to Amsterdam to visit her estranged father “Jimpa” (John Lithgow). He’s an ageing gay activist who never quite left the radical politics of the 1970s behind.
Frances, drawn to Jimpa’s bohemian world of bicycles, protests and canal-side philosophy, announces a desire to stay on in Europe for a year. What begins as a family visit gently morphs into a generational standoff: a mother worried about stability and schooling; a teenager certain of their identity and autonomy; and a grandfather who champions freedom but may not be as attuned to the practicalities as he thinks.
Hyde’s film feels (and is) unmistakably biographical. Frances is played by the director’s own child, and the film’s exploration of non-binary identity, not as crisis but as lived reality, carries an intimacy that rarely feels manufactured. There’s no melodramatic revelation here; gender is part of the texture of family life, discussed, debated and occasionally weaponised in the way families do best.
In the title role, Lithgow is excellent and gives his character both theatrical flourish and genuine vulnerability. He avoids caricature while letting flashes of ego and selfishness to peek through the charm. Colman, meanwhile, is one of the film’s great strengths. She balances humour and maternal anxiety with effortless precision, making Hannah’s conflict both relatable and quietly moving.