{ "id": "ep23j3m5yb", "slug": "our-souls-at-night", "title": "Our Souls at Night", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019", "label": "Drama films 2015 to 2019", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019.drama-films-2017-and-2018", "label": "Drama films 2017 and 2018", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019.drama-films-2017-and-2018" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019.drama-films-2017-and-2018", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020: Drama films 2017 and 2018", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019.drama-films-2017-and-2018", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019", "label": "Drama films 2015 to 2019", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019.drama-films-2017-and-2018", "label": "Drama films 2017 and 2018", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019.drama-films-2017-and-2018" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Our Souls at Night: 2017 Netflix romantic drama directed by Ritesh Batra, adapted from Kent Haruf's final novel, starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford as widowed Colorado neighbors who share a bed platonically; fourth Fonda–Redford film, Venice 2017 premiere, Metascore 69.", "snippet": "Our Souls at Night: 2017 Netflix romantic drama directed by Ritesh Batra, adapted from Kent Haruf's final novel, starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford as widowed Colorado neighbors who share a bed platonically; fourth Fonda–Redford film, Venice 2017 premiere, Metascore 69.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019.drama-films-2017-and-2018", "markdown": "# Our Souls at Night\n\n**Our Souls at Night** is a 2017 American romantic drama film directed by Ritesh Batra, adapted from Kent Haruf's final novel of the same name, in which two widowed neighbors in a small Colorado town begin sharing a bed platonically to ease their loneliness and gradually fall in love. It stars [Jane Fonda](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-fonda) as Addie Moore and [Robert Redford](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-redford) as Louis Waters, their fourth film together, and was produced by Netflix, which released it worldwide on streaming after a premiere out of competition at the 74th Venice International Film Festival.[1](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-venice-review/5121907.article) • [2](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80104068)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Source | Adaptation of Kent Haruf's novel *Our Souls at Night*, his last book, completed weeks before his death in 2014[1](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-venice-review/5121907.article) |\n| Director and writers | Directed by Ritesh Batra (*The Lunchbox*); screenplay by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (*The Fault in Our Stars*)[1](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-venice-review/5121907.article) • [2](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80104068) |\n| Leads | Jane Fonda as Addie Moore, Robert Redford as Louis Waters; their fourth on-screen pairing after *The Chase* (1966), *Barefoot in the Park* (1967), and *The Electric Horseman* (1979)[2](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80104068) • [3](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/08/jane-fonda-robert-redford-netflix-movie-trailer) |\n| Release | Premiered out of competition at Venice on 1 September 2017; began streaming on Netflix on September 29, 2017[4](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2017/program-cinema-2017/ritesh-batra-our-souls-night) • [5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-2017) |\n| Runtime and rating | 101 minutes; TV-14[4](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2017/program-cinema-2017/ritesh-batra-our-souls-night) • [6](https://www.netflix.com/na/title/80104068) |\n| Reception | Metascore 69 (15 critic reviews, none negative); Rotten Tomatoes 91% from 44 reviews[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/our-souls-at-night/critic-reviews/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/our_souls_at_night) |\n| Production | Wildwood Enterprises and Wildgaze Films; producers include Robert Redford, Finola Dwyer, Ted Sarandos, and Erin Simms[1](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-venice-review/5121907.article) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot and premise\n\nThe story is set in Holt, a small Colorado town, and opens with a single proposal. Addie Moore, a widow, knocks on the door of Louis Waters, a widower who has lived near her for decades though they hardly know each other, and asks whether he would come to her house to sleep. She is explicit that the arrangement is not about sex; as she puts it, \"It's about getting through the night.\" Both are lonely, neither sleeps well, and their adult children live far away.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-2017) • [9](https://www.netflixmovies.com/our-souls-at-night-2017)\n\nLouis is startled and asks for time to think before agreeing. Their first nights are awkward, but conversation follows: he confesses an old extramarital affair and his abandoned ambition to paint, and she tells him about her young daughter, killed in a road accident, a loss that shaped her relationship with her son Gene. As the two begin walking openly through town, scandal among the gossipy neighbors gives way to acceptance.[10](https://thecriticalcritics.com/reviews/movie-review-our-souls-at-night/) • [11](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/01/our-souls-at-night-review-robert-redford-jane-fonda-romance-kent-haruf)\n\nFamily complications drive the second half. Gene ([Matthias Schoenaerts](https://www.edgepedia.org/matthias-schoenaerts)), whose marriage and furniture business have failed, leaves his seven-year-old son Jamie ([Iain Armitage](https://www.edgepedia.org/iain-armitage)) with Addie. Louis, who never had a son, bonds with the boy, weaning him from smartphone games with an old model train set, a dog from a shelter, and a camping trip to the Rockies. An accident, a house sale, and a decision by Addie to move in with her son and grandson test the couple's arrangement, though the film leaves their story open rather than resolved.[1](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-venice-review/5121907.article) • [5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-2017)\n\n## The source novel\n\nKent Haruf, a Colorado writer known for *Plainsong*, *Eventide*, and *Benediction*, completed the novel weeks before his death in 2014, and it is the only one of his novels to receive a feature film adaptation; his 1999 book *Plainsong* was previously made into a television movie.[1](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-venice-review/5121907.article) • [12](https://m.thewire.in/article/film/our-souls-at-night-ritesh-batra/amp) Batra, in his director's statement at Venice, called it an honor to adapt Haruf's last novel and described the story as one of \"ordinary people so intensely specific and local, and that's what makes it universal,\" noting extensive local casting and the use of Eastern Colorado's landscape.[4](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2017/program-cinema-2017/ritesh-batra-our-souls-night)\n\n## Production and casting\n\nThe film was shot in Colorado between September 12 and November 12, 2016, with scenes filmed at a hospital in Colorado Springs.[13](https://www.backstage.com/resources/detail/productionlisting/our-souls-at-night-85925/) • [14](https://gazette.com/2016/10/21/redford-fonda-shoot-movie-scene-at-colorado-springs-hospital-c853aa35-733b-5a4d-8449-0e04f1c11129/) Behind the camera were cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt, composer Elliot Goldenthal, editor John Lyons, and production designer Jane Ann Stewart.[4](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2017/program-cinema-2017/ritesh-batra-our-souls-night)\n\n**Casting the leads.** Fonda was 79 and Redford 81 when the film was released, and reviewers noted that the pairing traded on decades of shared screen history while still giving both actors room to work. The supporting cast includes [Judy Greer](https://www.edgepedia.org/judy-greer) as Louis's daughter Holly, Phyllis Somerville as Ruth, and [Bruce Dern](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruce-dern) as Dorlan Becker, leader of Louis's circle of elderly breakfast companions.[15](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/our-souls-at-night) • [5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-2017)\n\n## Release and reception\n\n*Our Souls at Night* screened out of competition at the [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival) on 1 September 2017 and went directly to Netflix, streaming from September 29, 2017, with no conventional theatrical run beyond a limited release.[4](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2017/program-cinema-2017/ritesh-batra-our-souls-night) • [10](https://thecriticalcritics.com/reviews/movie-review-our-souls-at-night/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/our_souls_at_night) Critics responded warmly to the two leads. The film holds a Metascore of 69, with 10 of 15 reviews positive and 5 mixed, and a 91% Tomatometer at Rotten Tomatoes.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/our-souls-at-night/critic-reviews/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/our_souls_at_night) [Richard Roeper](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-roeper) of the *Chicago Sun-Times* observed that about half the film consists of Fonda and Redford simply talking to each other, and found those scenes more memorable than most big-budget action sequences; Deborah Young in *The Hollywood Reporter* praised both actors as \"charming, delicate and convincing\" and Batra's direction as free of melodrama.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/our-souls-at-night/critic-reviews/) More reserved critics, including [A. O. Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-o-scott) of *The New York Times*, found the film too cautious, while crediting the stars with \"humanity to spare.\"[16](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4893-the-daily-venice-2017-batra-s-our-souls-at-night)\n\nThe film received two nominations: a Golden Trailer Award for Best Romance and an AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Grownup Love Story, both in 2018.[17](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5034266/awards/) [A minor](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-minor) transatlantic wrinkle accompanied the release: Netflix faced calls to retitle the film for the United Kingdom because the first two words, read aloud, resemble a British obscenity, and the company said it had no intention of retitling it.[9](https://www.netflixmovies.com/our-souls-at-night-2017)\n\n## The Fonda–Redford pairing\n\nThe film marked the fourth and final screen pairing of Jane Fonda and Robert Redford, who first appeared together in [Arthur Penn](https://www.edgepedia.org/arthur-penn)'s *[The Chase](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-chase-1966-film)* (1966), followed by *Barefoot in the Park* (1967) and *[The Electric Horseman](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-electric-horseman)* (1979); *Our Souls at Night* reunited them as romantic leads for the first time in nearly four decades.[3](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/08/jane-fonda-robert-redford-netflix-movie-trailer) • [18](https://pages.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ac/ac1217/offline/ac_ac1217.pdf) Reviewers repeatedly framed the film as a late showcase for the two: Anthony Lane wrote in *The New Yorker* that much of it is \"too hokey by half, yet the two leading actors, their skills unfaded, command your attention to the end,\" and Xan Brooks in *The Guardian* called it \"a graceful, easygoing September song of a film\" in which both give performances of such quiet conviction that \"it scarcely looks like acting at all.\"[19](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/our-souls-at-night) • [11](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/01/our-souls-at-night-review-robert-redford-jane-fonda-romance-kent-haruf)\n\n## References\n\n1. ['Our Souls At Night': Venice Review, Screen Daily (Lee Marshall, 1 September 2017)](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-venice-review/5121907.article)\n2. [Our Souls at Night, Netflix Media Center](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80104068)\n3. [See Jane Fonda and Robert Redford Fall in Love Again in Our Souls at Night, Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/08/jane-fonda-robert-redford-netflix-movie-trailer)\n4. [Biennale Cinema 2017: Ritesh Batra – Our Souls at Night, La Biennale di Venezia](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2017/program-cinema-2017/ritesh-batra-our-souls-night)\n5. [Our Souls at Night movie review, RogerEbert.com (Susan Wloszczyna, 29 September 2017)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/our-souls-at-night-2017)\n6. [Our Souls at Night, Netflix Official Site](https://www.netflix.com/na/title/80104068)\n7. [Our Souls at Night critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/our-souls-at-night/critic-reviews/)\n8. [Our Souls at Night, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/our_souls_at_night)\n9. [Our Souls at Night (2017) on Netflix, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/our-souls-at-night-2017)\n10. [Movie Review: Our Souls at Night (2017), The Critical Movie Critics](https://thecriticalcritics.com/reviews/movie-review-our-souls-at-night/)\n11. [Our Souls at Night review, The Guardian (Xan Brooks, 1 September 2017)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/01/our-souls-at-night-review-robert-redford-jane-fonda-romance-kent-haruf)\n12. ['Our Souls at Night' Is a Beautiful Tribute to the Power of Second Chances, The Wire](https://m.thewire.in/article/film/our-souls-at-night-ritesh-batra/amp)\n13. [Our Souls At Night – Production Listing, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/resources/detail/productionlisting/our-souls-at-night-85925/)\n14. [Redford, Fonda shoot movie scene at Colorado Springs hospital, The Gazette (21 October 2016)](https://gazette.com/2016/10/21/redford-fonda-shoot-movie-scene-at-colorado-springs-hospital-c853aa35-733b-5a4d-8449-0e04f1c11129/)\n15. [Our Souls at Night – Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/our-souls-at-night)\n16. [Venice 2017: Batra's Our Souls at Night, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4893-the-daily-venice-2017-batra-s-our-souls-at-night)\n17. [Our Souls at Night (2017) – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5034266/awards/)\n18. [Timeless Romance, American Cinematographer (December 2017)](https://pages.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ac/ac1217/offline/ac_ac1217.pdf)\n19. [Our Souls at Night, The New Yorker (Anthony Lane, 5 October 2017)](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/our-souls-at-night)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2015 to 2019 › Drama films 2017 and 2018*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/our-souls-at-night", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/our-souls-at-night.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Our Souls at Night\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/our-souls-at-night. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Our Souls at Night](https://www.edgepedia.org/our-souls-at-night)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/our-souls-at-night](https://www.edgepedia.org/our-souls-at-night). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Our Souls at Night\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/our-souls-at-night. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Our Souls at Night: 2017 Netflix romantic drama directed by Ritesh Batra, adapted from Kent Haruf's final novel, starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford as widowed Colorado neighbors who share a bed platonically; fourth Fonda–Redford film, Venice 2017 premiere, Metascore 69." }