''Val'' is a 2021 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in ter ...

directed and produced by Leo Scott and Ting Poo. It follows the life and career of actor

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...

. The film had its world premiere at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

on July 7, 2021, and was released in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on July 23, 2021, prior to digital streaming on

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pri ...

on August 6, by

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

Synopsis

The film follows the life and career of actor

, including footage of Kilmer shot by himself throughout his career, footage of his childhood, and home movies. The film showcases his battle with throat cancer and gives a behind the scenes view of his personal life, including the childhood death of his brother Wesley, his eight-year marriage to actress

Joanne Whalley Joanne Whalley (born 25 August 1961) is an English actress who began her career in 1974. She has appeared primarily on television, but also in nearly 30 feature films, including '' Dance with a Stranger'' (1985), ''Willow'' (1988), ''Scandal'' ( ...

, and their children Mercedes and

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

Production

Leo Scott initially began working as an editor with

Harmony Korine Harmony Korine (born January 4, 1973, some sources report September 1, 1974)
" Retrieved on 2009-10-26. is an Ame ...

on his short film ''The Lotus Community Workshop'', where he came across

's archive, digging through 800 hours of footage, with Ting Poo boarding the project later on. The footage, which Kilmer had shot for years, featured him growing up, attending school, auditioning, his career, and family. Previously the footage had sat in boxes for years, and once Kilmer was diagnosed with cancer and began losing his voice, it made him want to tell his story. The film is narrated by Kilmer's own words, through his son

Jack Kilmer John Wallace Kilmer (born June 6, 1995) is an American actor. He is known for starring in the 2013 film ''Palo Alto (2013 film), Palo Alto'', for playing Dead (musician), Pelle "Dead" Ohlin in the 2018 Norwegian black metal biopic ''Lords of Chao ...

. In May 2021, it was announced that

had acquired the US and Latin American rights for ''Val''.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on July 7, 2021. It had a

in theaters on July 23, 2021, prior to digital streaming on

on August 6, 2021.

Reception

On the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 123 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "An absorbingly reflective documentary that benefits from its subject's self-chronicling, ''Val'' offers an intimate look at a unique life and career." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc D ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links