The Gallerist, a new satire directed by Cathy Yan, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film follows struggling gallerist Polina Polinski (Natalie Portman), who is betting everything on a one-artist debut at Art Basel Miami Beach. After an obnoxious art influencer, Dalton Hardberry (Zach Galifianakis), dies accidentally by impalement on a sculpture titled The Emasculator, Polina and her assistant Kiki (Jenna Ortega) conspire to pass off his corpse as part of the artwork, duping wealthy clients. The ensemble cast also includes Catherine Zeta-Jones as a legendary dealer reminiscent of Marian Goodman, Da'Vine Joy Randolph as the earnest artist Stella Burgess, and Sterling K. Brown as Polina's ex-husband.
The film matters because it is the most high-profile art world satire in recent years, offering a rare mainstream depiction of the contemporary art market's excesses, including insider terms like freeports and the dynamics of art fairs. However, the review criticizes the film for being psychologically vacant and failing to show genuine passion for art in its protagonist, despite the premise. While entertaining and visually polished, the story's shortcuts and lack of character development may irk art world insiders, though general audiences might enjoy the screwball comedy. The film's premiere at Sundance signals its potential to spark broader cultural conversation about art world satire.