Some films win you over not with perfect storytelling but through the genuine humanity of the characters onscreen, and Jimpa belongs to this category. Directed by Sophie Hyde, this Australian drama feels sincere and deeply personal. The story follows Hannah, a filmmaker played by Olivia Colman, who travels to Amsterdam with her trans nonbinary teenager, Frances, to visit her grandfather.
What starts as a simple visit gradually becomes more complex when teenager Frances requests to stay in Amsterdam for a year with her queer grandfather, who has left his marriage and children to live authentically. This wish prompts Hannah to face long-avoided questions about how to parent a child eager for freedom and how to reconcile with a father who prioritized his happiness over his family. The film alternates between moments of joy and grief, celebrating a family that loves openly and continues to choose each other despite their differences.
At its center is Olivia Colman, and there is a reason audiences trust her before a single frame plays. As Hannah, she delivers some of her most delicate work yet, building the character out of small, precise moments — a flicker of doubt behind a smile and a breath held just a beat too long. She never reaches for big, showy emotion and instead trusts restraint, letting silence and stillness carry the weight.
If Colman is the film’s anchor, Aud Mason-Hyde is its quiet revelation. As Frances, they bring a lived-in authenticity that no script could manufacture. What makes the performance so compelling is its ordinariness — in the best sense. Frances isn’t reduced to a single struggle. They are a full person, and the film treats their identity as just one part of a rich inner life rather than the whole story.
John Lithgow clearly relishes his role as Jimpa, playing him as charming, self-absorbed, and impossible to ignore, while also revealing the tenderness beneath the ego. The supporting players add texture, with Kate Box bringing sharp energy as Hannah’s sister, and the wider ensemble creating a sense of a real family.
What lingers after Jimpa is not a tidy plot or a neat resolution but the warmth of a family willing to keep showing up for one another. Sophie Hyde has made something generous and emotionally intelligent, a film that values listening over judgment and finds quiet beauty in honest connection. At its heart is Olivia Colman, reminding us yet again why she is among the most gifted actors today.
