Cathy Yan's The Gallerist: Natalie Portman in Stylish but Shallow Art-World Satire
A Movieweb review by Zachary Lee says Cathy Yan’s The Gallerist, released Jan. 24, 2026 and starring Natalie Portman, is a chaotic, stylish chamber piece whose colorful surface masks a shallow inner core. The review summarizes the plot: Portman plays gallery owner Polina Polinski, whose first look for emerging artist Stella Burgess (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) turns catastrophic when a leaking pool around a large sculpture called 'The Emasculator' and a pointed tool lead to a dead body skewered on the installation.
Polina and her assistant Kiki (Jenna Ortega) try to cover it up as social media and influencers, led by Dalton Hardberry (Zach Galifianakis), turn the piece into a viral spectacle. Lee praises Federico Cesca’s cinematography and the cast’s commitment to the material, noting sequences such as an unbroken take that follows the gallery’s chaos, but questions choices like a Radiohead needle drop.
He also highlights late entrances from Sterling K. Brown and Daniel Brühl, whose bidding war over the altered work underscores the film’s critique of performative, status-driven collecting. The review argues the film leans more toward a preachy treatise than an entertaining satire, raising familiar ideas about art being inflated by commerce and visibility without deepening them.
Lee gives the film an overall 2.0 score in his summary, with Story 3, Performances 3, Execution 2 and Entertainment Value 2, and calls it a work that often feels like a movie-sized lecture.
cathy yan, the gallerist, natalie portman, jenna ortega, da’vine joy randolph, zach galifianakis, sterling k. brown, daniel brühl, catherine zeta-jones, federico cesca cinematography, polina polinski, stella burgess, the emasculator sculpture, art basel miami, art-world satire, viral art spectacle, performative collecting, bidding war scene, radiohead needle drop, unbroken take sequence, gallery owner cover-up, murder at gallery, release jan 24 2026, runtime 88 minutes, zachary lee review, movieweb review, james pedersen, art inflated by commerce