If there's one working actor I love, it's Willem Dafoe, whose willingness to say yes to seemingly any role and then give that role two hundred and ten percent is extremely admirable. Such is the case with the upcoming The Birthday Party, a fairly obscure film adaptation of a fairly obscure novel that, to be honest, probably wouldn't be on my radar if it weren't for Dafoe taking on the starring role.
It's been received well on the festival circuit, and its themes of sun-soaked hedonism on a private island are, needless to say, suspiciously timely. The central role — an eccentric billionaire struggling to form a genuine human connection with his daughter amidst her lavish birthday celebrations — seems almost purpose-made for Dafoe, despite originally being based on Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. You'd never have guessed from the casting, I'm sure.
Dafoe specializes in playing men who are simultaneously frightening and pitiable, which sounds about right for an unhappy billionaire trying to connect with his daughter on her birthday.
It may not be a blockbuster in the vein of Dafoe's Spider-Man movies, but I'll be seated nonetheless when it releases on June 5th.
Previously:
![By [1], Fair use, Link](https://i0.wp.com/boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Italian_Spiderman.jpg?fit=300%2C425&quality=60&ssl=1&resize=250%2C190 "Marvel wouldn't let Italian Spiderman into a real Spider-Man movie")
