109 Palindromes

[Finch]

Released in the UK and US: June 23rd/24th

Ever since she was small, Aviva has desperately wanted a baby. Now a teenager - with thoughts and feelings her well-meaning parents Joyce (Ellen Barkin, Drop Dead Gorgeous) and Steve (Richard Masur, The Thing) don’t quite know how to handle - she’ll stop at nothing to make that dream a reality. Played by a cast of rotating actors, including Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) and Sharon Wilkins, Aviva’s journey towards motherhood never would run smooth. Bringing his trademark dry wit to another series of taboos, Todd Solondz’s portrait of middle-American girlhood interrogates the naivety and hypocrisy of the post-9/11 psyche that continues to shape US public life and policy.

4K UHD & BLU-RAY DUAL FORMAT LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES

4K restoration from the original negative by the Museum of Modern Art approved by writer-director Todd Solondz
4K UHD with Dolby Vision HDR and Blu-ray presentation of the feature
Uncompressed stereo PCM audio
New interview with Todd Solondz by critic Hannah Strong (2025)
Todd Solondz and His Cinema of Cruelty, a new video essay by critic Lillian Crawford (2025)
Trailer
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Bence Bardos, extracts from the original press book, plus archival interviews with Solondz and composer Nathan Larson
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

[reaky]

“Played by a cast of rotating actors, including Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) and Sharon Wilkins, Aviva’s journey towards motherhood never would run smooth.”

Radiance could use a copyeditor on their obi blurbs.

[Walter Kurtz]

The went Byron or Shelley instead of Yankee colloquial. O brave soul! O brave lad! (I rather fancy it.)

[Mr Sausage]

They went plain old ungrammatical. Unless the journey Aviva takes is being represented symbolically by a bunch of different actors or something.

[Walter Kurtz]

That's the assumption I was operating under. Like Bunuel's Object... or the Dylans in I"m Still Here. Diff actors. Same role. But you must know my post was jesting.

[Mr Sausage]

That's the assumption I was operating under. Like Bunuel's Object... or the Dylans in I"m Still Here. Diff actors. Same role. But you must know my post was jesting.

No, I mean literally the grammar's all fucked. I also assume that multiple actors are playing the role of Aviva, but in the sentence the grammar makes it sound as though these different actors are playing the journey, somehow, rather than the character Aviva. A participle clause needs to have the same subject as the sentence's main verb, and here it just doesn't. I'm assuming the writer revised part of the sentence but forgot to go back and change the rest to match, which happens to me sometimes. Hence the need for proper copy editing.

(I assumed your joke was about the old-timey "never would" inversion).

[reaky]

I’m also enjoying the concept of a cast of rotating actors. Sounds circus-worthy.

[swo17]

Yeah, he did the same thing moving from Happiness to Life During Wartime and from Welcome to the Dollhouse to Wiener-Dog, but here it's all within one film.

On a side note, subscribers will receive the UHD/BD combo of this title by default. If for some reason you want the BD-only version instead you can reach out to request it

[Walter Kurtz]

(I assumed your joke was about the old-timey "never would" inversion).

Correct! Look on my works, ye Mighty!

[ryannichols7]

not sure if the bigger surprise if that this ended up being the first 4K title or that it's also a US release, since Solondz even said he thought Criterion was releasing it. am very pleased this is the first 4K - both the 4K hints ("new french extremity", "70s horror classic") are less up my alley than a Solondz title is. so this paid off!

wild that MoMA was the one who restored this. also like how expansive the booklet seems to be

[Finch]

I suppose the 4Ks this year at least are likely to be UK and US releases to minimise the production risks a little. That's why I don't think the other UHDs will be titles that already had a US 4K either so that would rule out Deaf Crocodile (which I'm not upset about because none of their announcements over the last 3 months have appealed to me). If they did do a UK only UHD it could obviously be done as a lower print run.

[ryannichols7]

I suppose the 4Ks this year at least are likely to be UK and US releases to minimise the production risks a little. That's why I don't think the other UHDs will be titles that already had a US 4K either so that would rule out Deaf Crocodile (which I'm not upset about because none of their announcements over the last 3 months have appealed to me). If they did do a UK only UHD it could obviously be done as a lower print run.

it seems likely that In My Skin and Daughters of Darkness are two of the four 4Ks though, given the other hints we have ("IMS" = New French Extremity 4K, "DAU" = 70s horror classic 4K). both would be UK only releases. I'm sure Radiance will have no problem selling through Daughters of Darkness, and apparently In My Skin is a bigger deal than I thought given that it's getting a US 4K too

[nicolas]

People who received early copies of the new Palindromes 4K revealed that the master does NOT come with HDR/DV and a PCM 2.0 mix contrary to the initial announcement. They were caught off guard as that wasn’t announced by Radiance before release. Radiance added 5.1 sound and quietly removed the HDR paragraph from their website. Here’s their statement to a BR user:

Thanks for reaching out. In this case we were initially told the master for PALINDROMES would have DV/HDR, but upon receiving the master we found this was not the case and had them removed. The same is true for the stereo PCM track, although we forgot to update the website copy, which has now been done. Thanks for pointing that out.

BDInfo was also posted:

Disc Label: Palindromes
Disc Size: 65,549,245,024 bytes
Protection: AACS2
Playlist: 00000.MPLS
Size: 65,516,881,728 bytes
Length: 1:40:26.937
Total Bitrate: 86.97 Mbps
Video: MPEG-H HEVC Video / 81392 kbps / 2160p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / Main 10 @ Level 5.1 @ High / 10 bits / BT.709
Audio: English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1698 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitle: English / 34.512 kbps

[therewillbeblus]

So for those of us laymen, does that mean it's an SDR 4K?

[mfunk9786]

Considering the previous way this movie had to be exhibited, I'm willing to not split hairs over HDR.

So for those of us laymen, does that mean it's an SDR 4K?

Yes, like The Brutalist, for instance. Likely different reasoning here (the budget MoMA had for the restoration likely was a contributing factor).

[CSM126]

Beavendromes, with the added bonus of a random paragraph about Killer of Sheep’s lack of HDR (because lazy copy and paste).

[Finch]

I feel sorry for Fran to have to discover this close to the release date that the HDR/DV grade wasn't done after all because without it, the 4K loses its biggest selling point. Either Solondz didn't want it or it was too expensive to warrant the effort. I imagine that on better caps than Beaver's, you might see better resolved grain than on the BD but I don't blame people thinking the Blu-Ray will do them just fine with this particular film.

[Aunt Peg]

Received my Palindromes today and the Blu Ray looks great.

However, I could not get the 4K disc to play, despite numerous efforts including removing the disc and trying again.

I do suspect it is the player simply because the number of discs I've had trouble with is way more than I have ever had with DVD or Blu Ray over the years. I will need to get a new better player but this highlights why I prefer 4K/Blu Ray editions of films.

If the 4K is troublesome I still have the Blu Ray and it is also why I rarely purchase 4K only releases and on those occasions I keep my older Blu Ray.