'Borges and Me' review: gentle road movie, more perky than poetic
Variety's 'Borges and Me' review calls Marc Turtletaub's film a charming but thin adaptation of Jay Parini's 2020 memoir—a gentle, nostalgic literary road movie through the Scottish Highlands that wins on warmth and scenery more than poetic depth, with Luis Gnecco and Fionn Whitehead leading the odd-couple cast. Critics say the 109-minute feature feels extended beyond its natural anecdote, leaning feelgood over literary engagement.
Key Takeaways
- Based on Parini's memoir about road-tripping with Jorge Luis Borges in the 1970s Scottish Highlands.
- Variety praises dewy Scottish cinematography and strong performances, especially from Gnecco and Whitehead.
- The film premiered at Edinburgh Film Festival and targets festival and arthouse crossover audiences.
- Reviewers find it more perky and sentimental than poetic, with limited engagement with Borges' actual writing.
- Screenplay by Oren Moverman; running time 109 minutes in a U.K.-U.S.-Belgium-Netherlands co-production.
What Is 'Borges and Me' About?
American author Jay Parini's 2020 memoir "Borges and Me: An Encounter" recounts how, as a college student in the 1970s, he was paired on a winding road trip through the Scottish Highlands with Argentine literary icon José Luis Borges. Director Marc Turtletaub's screen adaptation builds on that healthily embellished anecdote into a cross-generational odd-couple story.
Young Parini (Fionn Whitehead), an English literature doctoral student at St. Andrew's University, becomes Borges' reluctant babysitter when his supervisor Alastair Reid (Alan Cumming) leaves for London. Parini had planned to drive into the Highlands to interview poet George Mackay Brown (Peter Mullan)—but Borges, sightless yet delighted by local color, insists on sightseeing detours instead.
Who Stars in 'Borges and Me'?
Chilean veteran Luis Gnecco ("Neruda") plays Borges with impish wisdom, earthy vulgarity, and childlike wonder. Whitehead, eternally English in his uprightness, portrays the shy Pennsylvanian Parini as a fish-out-of-water Anglophile American in tortoiseshell glasses and an oversized duffel coat.
Freya Mavor shines as pub worker Ailith, who connects with the virginal Parini during a stolen-away interlude. Alan Cumming delivers breezy bohemian charm as Reid, while Peter Mullan appears in a mischievous extended cameo as Brown.
Is 'Borges and Me' Worth Watching?
Variety's 'Borges and Me' review is largely positive on charm, if cautious on depth. DP Christopher Norr captures the Scottish locations with "dewy autumnal crispness," and the film breathes during its quietest moments—especially Parini's interior anxieties about his brother serving in Vietnam.
Yet the balance tilts toward simpler feelgood sentiment over graceful poetry. Gnecco's Borges rarely stops talking, which some viewers may find wearisome. There is little engagement with Borges' own writing; Variety notes audiences seeking that may prefer the upcoming five-hour documentary "Life of Jorge Luis Borges."
Whitehead gives the film the stillness it needs to avoid feeling mawkish. Screenwriter Oren Moverman pivots between poetic grace and perky nostalgia, treating Borges as a buoyant, heavily imagined spirit rather than a strict historical subject—and likably so.
Where Can You See 'Borges and Me'?
The film had its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival (Out of Competition) and was reviewed at a Charlotte Street Hotel screening in London on July 30, 2026. Variety expects it to travel the festival circuit before global arthouse-crossover distribution, backed by British, South American, and North American drawcards in a transatlantic co-production.
For more streaming and festival coverage, browse our Streaming & TV Alerts hub. Read the full critical assessment in Variety's original review.