# Lake George (film)
**Lake George** is a 2024 American neo-noir crime comedy written and directed by Jeffrey Reiner, starring [Shea Whigham](https://www.edgepedia.org/shea-whigham) as Don and [Carrie Coon](https://www.edgepedia.org/carrie-coon) as Phyllis. Don, an ex-con, is ordered by a mobster to kill the mobster's girlfriend Phyllis; unable to pull the trigger, he instead sets off with her on a road trip during which the two plot to steal the money of the people who want her dead.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_george) The film premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Festival and was released in the United States by Magnet Releasing on December 6, 2024.[2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/lake-george-2024)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director/writer | Jeffrey Reiner, his first feature since the 1990s[3](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/lake-george-2024-b/) |
| Stars | Shea Whigham (Don), Carrie Coon (Phyllis), Glenn Fleshler (Armen), Max Casella (Harout)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_george) |
| Premiere / release | World premiere, 2024 Tribeca Festival (Spotlight Narrative); US theatrical and streaming release December 6, 2024[2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/lake-george-2024) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_george) |
| Runtime | 107 minutes per the press notes and Rotten Tomatoes; 118 minutes per Tribeca and RogerEbert.com[4](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/576454e629687fb39bd1f977/t/6744e351f0880d2f1fd3b053/1732567889978/LAKEGEORGEfinalnotes.pdf) • [2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/lake-george-2024) |
| Critical reception | 96% Tomatometer from 27 reviews; 80% Popcornmeter from 50+ audience ratings[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_george) |
| Audience score | IMDb 6.5/10 from about 2,500 ratings[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29536384/ratings/) |
| Box office | $14.1K gross in the United States[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_george) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Don is a middle-aged insurance adjuster released after a ten-year prison term for insurance fraud, broke and living in a motel. He tries to collect $60,000 that Armen ([Glenn Fleshler](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenn-fleshler)), an ambitious Armenian gangster living in a Glendale mansion, owes him from their old fraud work together. Armen will pay only if Don "takes care of" Phyllis (Carrie Coon), Armen's girlfriend, who is threatening his business.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lake-george-film-review)
Don, described by reviewers as a fundamentally decent man not capable of murder, instead kidnaps Phyllis with a plan to take her to Washington State. Phyllis, who knows where Armen's money is hidden, proposes that the two team up and take Armen for nearly $200,000, enough for both to start over. The plan goes off the rails, as the film's noir framing implies.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lake-george-film-review) The road trip takes the pair up and down the 101 corridor in [Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-california), and the story ends at the titular Lake George, a small remote spot in the [Sierra Nevada](https://www.edgepedia.org/sierra-nevada), for what one reviewer called a grizzly yet bittersweet finale.[7](https://www.independent.com/2024/12/06/film-review-complications-in-the-offing/)
## Production and style
Reiner returned to feature filmmaking with this film after working mainly in television; his credits include *The Affair*.[3](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/lake-george-2024-b/) The crew includes cinematographer Tod Campbell, editor Brian Beal, and composer Rene G. Boscio, whose minimalist piano score reviewers noted for setting the film's off-kilter tone.[3](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/lake-george-2024-b/) • [8](https://www.thelastthingisee.com/2024/12/lake-george-2024-movie-review.html?m=0) Producers are Reiner, Joey Oglesby, Cleta Elaine Ellington, and Bernie Stern; production companies are Gray Fox Films, Lucky Buck Productions, and Wilhil Productions.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_george)
**Genre placement.** Critics place the film in the neo-noir tradition, with several calling it a "sunshine noir" or black comedy noir rather than a straightforward thriller. Dennis Schwartz, the veteran critic behind Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews, graded it a B and called it "more a black comedy noir than a thriller."[3](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/lake-george-2024-b/) Reviewers noted its self-conscious nods to classic noir: Don's profession and his entanglement with a woman named Phyllis echo [Billy Wilder](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-wilder)'s *Double Indemnity*, and Don's dilemma recalls *Prizzi's Honor*. The final sequence near the Inyo National Forest, and Don's Lone Pine tourist shirt, allude to the eastern Sierra town where noir westerns such as *High Sierra* were filmed.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lake-george-film-review) • [7](https://www.independent.com/2024/12/06/film-review-complications-in-the-offing/)
**Locations.** The film was partly shot in Goleta, California, including scenes in a suburban home and a walk on Ellwood Mesa, and it makes use of Southern California landscapes along the 101, which the RogerEbert.com review described as almost a character in the film.[7](https://www.independent.com/2024/12/06/film-review-complications-in-the-offing/) • [6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lake-george-film-review)
## Reception
The film holds a 96% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes from 27 critic reviews, with an 80% Popcornmeter audience score from more than 50 ratings.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_george) On IMDb it rates 6.5 out of 10 from about 2,500 users.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29536384/ratings/) Its US theatrical gross was $14.1K, consistent with a limited release that also reached streaming on Disney+ and Hulu and digital rental and purchase through Fandango.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_george)
Reviewers singled out the two leads. Marya E. Gates, a freelance film critic whose work appears at RogerEbert.com, wrote that Whigham, in a rare lead role, conveys nuanced emotion with a glance, and that Coon plays Phyllis as a femme fatale who is both violent and shrewd, reading Don and turning on charm or tears as needed.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lake-george-film-review) The New York Times' Brandon Yu credited Coon's "charming performance of the eccentric victim-to-be" with bringing the film into focus as a crime comedy.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_george) Radio Times gave it 4 out of 5, attributing its success to the interlaced playing of Coon and Whigham, two actors usually seen in supporting roles.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_george) The Tribeca Festival program called it "a rollicking, comedic neo-noir" that pushes both leads to exciting places in their performances.[2](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/lake-george-2024)
## Other films of the same name
A separate independent film also titled *Lake George*, written and directed by Hamid Castro and presented by This is NY Pictures, follows two childhood friends on a ransom mission from New York City to Lake George, New York; it is a distinct work from the 2024 Reiner film.[9](https://lakegeorgethemovie.com/synopsis/)
## References
1. [Lake George, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_george)
2. [Lake George, 2024 Tribeca Festival](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/lake-george-2024)
3. [Lake George (2024) B, Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/lake-george-2024-b/)
4. [Lake George final press notes, Magnet Releasing/Lucky Buck Productions/Gray Fox Films/Wilhil Productions](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/576454e629687fb39bd1f977/t/6744e351f0880d2f1fd3b053/1732567889978/LAKEGEORGEfinalnotes.pdf)
5. [Lake George (2024) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29536384/ratings/)
6. [Lake George movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lake-george-film-review)
7. [Film Review: Complications in the Offing, The Santa Barbara Independent](https://www.independent.com/2024/12/06/film-review-complications-in-the-offing/)
8. [Lake George (2024) Movie Review, The Last Thing I See](https://www.thelastthingisee.com/2024/12/lake-george-2024-movie-review.html?m=0)
9. [Lake George synopsis, official movie website (Hamid Castro film)](https://lakegeorgethemovie.com/synopsis/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Thriller and mystery films › Titles F to N*
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