Eephus#Critical reception

{{Infobox film

| name = Eephus

| image = Eephus poster.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Film poster

| director = Carson Lund

| screenplay = {{Plainlist|

Michael Basta
Nate Fisher
Carson Lund

}}

| producer = {{Plainlist|

Michael Basta
David Entin
Tyler Taormina
Michael Richter

}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| cinematography = Greg Tango

| editing = Carson Lund

| music = {{Plainlist|

Carson Lund
Erik Lund

}}

| studio = {{Plainlist|

Omnes Films
Nord-Ouest Films
Through The Lens Entertainment
A Major Production

}}

| distributor = Music Box Films

| released = {{Film date|2024|05|09|Cannes|2025|3|7|United States}}

| runtime = 98 minutes

| country = {{Plainlist|

France
United States

}}

| language = English

| budget =

| gross = $494,619{{cite Box Office Mojo|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3257237505/weekend/|title=Euphus (2025)|access-date=21 April 2025|publisher_hide=yes}}{{cite The Numbers (website)|id=Eephus-(2025)|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Eephus-(2025)#tab=summary|title=Eephus (2025)|access-date=21 April 2025|publisher_hide=yes}}

}}

Eephus is a 2024 sports film directed by Carson Lund about the final game of an amateur New England baseball league before their stadium is demolished. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it was eligible for the Caméra d'Or award. The film stars Keith William Richards in his first lead role.

Premise

In a small Massachusetts town in the 1990s, the Adler's Paint baseball team, led by Ed Mortainian, face the Riverdogs, led by Graham Morris, in one last game before their ballfield is demolished to make room for a new school.{{Cite web |last=Kiang |first=Jessica |date=May 21, 2024 |title='Eephus' Review: A Wry and Lovely Baseball Movie That Pitches Slowballs of Quiet Wisdom |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/eephus-review-1236009056/ |access-date=August 6, 2024 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Zilko |first=Christian |date=May 19, 2024 |title='Eephus' Review: Not Even Beer League Baseball Is Spared the Cruel Passage of Time |url=https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/eephus-review-1235006424/ |access-date=August 6, 2024 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}

Cast

{{Cast listing|

Keith William Richards as Ed Mortanian
Frederick Wiseman as Branch Moreland
Cliff Blake as Franny
Ray Hryb as Rich Cole
Bill "Spaceman" Lee as Lee
Stephen Radochia as Graham Morris
David Pridemore as Troy Carnahan
Keith Poulson as Derek Dicapua
John R Smith Jnr. as John Faiella
Pete Minkarah as Glen Murray
Wayne Diamond as Al
Theodore Bouloukos as Chuck Poleen
Joe Castiglione as Mr. Mallinari
Russell J. Gannon as Bill Belinda
David Torres Jr. as Dilberto D. Torres
Nate Fisher as Merritt Nettles
Chris Goodwin as Garrett Furnivall
Conner Marx as Cooper Bassett
Brendan "Crash" Burt as Bobby Crompton
Tim Taylor as Kevin Santucci
Ethan Ward as Tim Bassett
Jeff Saint Dic as Preston Red
Patrick Garrigan as Logan Evans
Ari Brisbon as Wilton Palacios
Johnny Tirado as Adrian Costa
Joe Penczak as Louis
Paul Kandarian as Clark
Isabelle Charlot as Melanie
Lou Basta as Howie
Timber Holmes as Linda Belinda
Annie Tisdale as Julie Belinda

}}

Production

Eephus was filmed on location at Soldiers Field in Douglas, Massachusetts. While the film's story centers on this real-life baseball field, the plot concerning the demolition of the field and the construction of a school was fictional. Lund cited Goodbye, Dragon Inn as an influence on the film's story.

Lund co-wrote the screenplay for Eephus with Michael Basta and Nate Fisher. Due to his experience as a director of photography, Lund had hoped to serve as cinematographer on the film, but chose Greg Tango for the role when this proved impractical.{{Cite web |last=Goi |first=Leonardo |date=May 19, 2024 |title="I've Always Been Interested in Making My Own Version of Goodbye Dragon Inn: Director Carson Lund on His Cannes-Premiering Eephus |url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/126076-eephus-carson-lund/ |access-date=August 6, 2024 |website=Filmmaker Magazine |language=en-US}}

Eephus was co-produced by members of Chapo Trap House, a prominent left-wing podcast known for its political commentary. Two of its hosts, Will Menaker and Amber A'lee Frost, have voice acting roles in the film.{{Cite web |last=Fedorov |first=Andrew |work=Vanity Fair |date=January 23, 2025 |title="Chapo Trap House Isn't Going to Save the Democrats |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/chapo-trap-house-democrats-joe-rogan?srsltid=AfmBOopj1NaggNFnQ_NFLpy81D3kMiA4dE1NVmZ8vSH-11A6pIgIq7gc |access-date=March 25, 2025 |language=en-US}}

Release

Eephus world-premiered on May 9, 2024, in the Director's Fortnight section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.{{Cite web |last=Galuppo |first=Mia |date=May 16, 2024 |title=Cannes Hidden Gem: Elegiac ‘Eephus’ Captures the “Meditative” Quality of Baseball |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cannes-hidden-gem-eephus-baseball-1235899739/ |access-date=October 1, 2024 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}} The film also screened at Filmfest München on June 30, 2024,{{Cite web |title=Eephus |url=https://www.filmfest-muenchen.de/en/program/films/film/?id=7743&f=118 |website=Filmfest München |access-date=August 6, 2024}} and was selected for the Meeting Point section of the 69th Valladolid International Film Festival.{{Cite web |last=Liébana |first=Nerea |date=September 11, 2024 |title=Meeting Point: unique cinema, pure cinema |url=https://www.seminci.com/en/2024/news/meeting-point-unique-cinema-pure-cinema/ |access-date=October 1, 2024 |website=SEMINCI |language=en}}

The film made its North American premiere in the Main Slate of the 62nd New York Film Festival on October 2, 2024.{{Cite web |date=August 6, 2024 |title=62nd New York Film Festival Main Slate Announced |url=https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2024/daily/62nd-new-york-film-festival-main-slate-announced/ |access-date=October 1, 2024 |website=Film at Lincoln Center |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Eephus |url=https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2024/films/eephus/ |access-date=October 1, 2024 |website=Film at Lincoln Center |language=en}} It also screened at AFI Fest on October 25, 2024.{{Cite web |last=Olsen |first=Mark |date=October 1, 2024 |title=AFI Fest brings the best from other festivals to L.A. film fans |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-10-01/afi-fest-brings-film-highlights-to-los-angeles |access-date=October 2, 2024 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=EEPHUS |url=https://fest.afi.com/2024/discovery-2024/eephus/ |access-date=October 2, 2024 |website=AFI FEST |language=en}} It was released in the United States on March 7, 2025.{{Cite web |last=Zilko |first=Christian |date=October 2, 2024 |title=Cannes Baseball Hit 'Eephus' Sets March 2025 Release Date from Music Box Films |url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/eephus-movie-release-date-march-2025-1235052935/ |access-date=October 2, 2024 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}

Reception

= Critical reception =

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|100|8|62|Revealing character through the rules of the game, Eephus is a bittersweet baseball outing thrown at a perfect pitch.|ref=yes|access-date=April 17, 2025}} Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100, based on 21 critics.{{citeweb|url= https://www.metacritic.com/movie/eephus/|access-date=13 April 2025|title=Eephus }}<

In a review for IndieWire, critic Christian Zilko praised how Eephus approached social relationships between men. He lauded the filmmakers' choice to make a school the cause of the stadium's demolition, arguing this decision takes the focus off of a potential villain eroding social space and keeps the emphasis on the passage of time. Echoing these sentiments, Jessica Kiang of Variety characterized Eephus as an "adorably existential, off-kilter take on the sports movie".

= Accolades =

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" ! scope="col" \| Award ! scope="col" \| Ceremony date ! scope="col" \| Category ! scope="col" \| Recipient ! scope="col" \| Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| {{Abbr\|Ref.\|Reference(s)}}
scope="row" \| Cannes Film Festival \| May 25, 2024 \| Camera d'Or \| rowspan="2" \| Eephus \| {{nom}} \| align="center" \| {{Cite web \|title=Eephus \|url=https://www.quinzaine-cineastes.fr/en/film/eephus \|access-date=August 6, 2024 \|website=Quinzaine des cinéastes \|language=en}}{{Cite web \|date=May 8, 2024 \|title=The 2024 Caméra d’or: who are the contenders? \|url=https://cinemadedemain.festival-cannes.com/en/2024/the-2024-camera-dor-who-are-the-contenders/ \|access-date=October 1, 2024 \|website=Cinéma de Demain \|language=en}}
scope="row" \| Filmfest München \| July 6, 2024 \| Cinevision Competition \| {{nom}} \| align="center" \|
scope="row" \| {{ill\|Silk Road International Film Festival\|zh\|絲綢之路國際電影節}} \| September 25, 2024 \| Best Screenplay \| Michael Basta, Nate Fisher, Carson Lund \| {{won}} \| align="center" \| {{Cite web \|title=第十一屆絲綢之路國際電影節閉幕張藝謀獲「電影藝術終身成就獎」 \|url=https://www.wenweipo.com/a/202409/26/AP66f4bd1ce4b0f872b72535b8.html \|access-date=October 1, 2024 \|website=Wen Wei Po \|language=zh-Hans-HK}}

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" | Award

! scope="col" | Ceremony date

! scope="col" | Category

! scope="col" | Recipient

! scope="col" | Result

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}

scope="row" | Cannes Film Festival

| May 25, 2024

| Camera d'Or

| rowspan="2" | Eephus

| {{nom}}

| align="center" | {{Cite web |title=Eephus |url=https://www.quinzaine-cineastes.fr/en/film/eephus |access-date=August 6, 2024 |website=Quinzaine des cinéastes |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=May 8, 2024 |title=The 2024 Caméra d’or: who are the contenders? |url=https://cinemadedemain.festival-cannes.com/en/2024/the-2024-camera-dor-who-are-the-contenders/ |access-date=October 1, 2024 |website=Cinéma de Demain |language=en}}

scope="row" | Filmfest München

| July 6, 2024

| Cinevision Competition

| {{nom}}

| align="center" |

scope="row" | {{ill|Silk Road International Film Festival|zh|絲綢之路國際電影節}}

| September 25, 2024

| Best Screenplay

| Michael Basta, Nate Fisher, Carson Lund

| {{won}}

| align="center" | {{Cite web |title=第十一屆絲綢之路國際電影節閉幕張藝謀獲「電影藝術終身成就獎」 |url=https://www.wenweipo.com/a/202409/26/AP66f4bd1ce4b0f872b72535b8.html |access-date=October 1, 2024 |website=Wen Wei Po |language=zh-Hans-HK}}