SEBERG (15)
IN MAY 1968, starlet Jean Seberg (Kristen Stewart) leaves Paris, her screenwriter husband Romain Gary (Yvan Attal) and young son Diego (Gabriel Sky) to travel to Los Angeles to audition for the role of Elizabeth in Paint Your Wagon.
She’s indifferent to the role, but hard-nosed agent Walt Breckman (Stephen Root) knows it’s a savvy move for Jean’s career.
Their flight is interrupted by outspoken black civil right activist Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie), who argues that Malcolm X’s widow should be given a seat in first class.
His impassioned rhetoric impresses
Jean, who raises a fist in solidarity with the Black Panthers on the airport runway as photographers swarm.
Soon after, Jean becomes romantically entangled with Hakim, who has a wife (Zazie Beetz), which brings her to the attention of the FBI.
Los Angeles division chief Frank Ellroy (Colm Meaney) intends to exploit Seberg’s sympathy for Hakim to gain valuable intelligence on the Black Panthers.
FBI agent Jack Solomon (Jack O’Connell) and partner Carl Kowalski (Vince Vaughn) are tasked with closely monitoring Seberg. Their interference has a profound effect on the actress’ mental well-being and she slides inexorably towards self-destruction. In real life, the FBI’s persecution of Seberg pushed her to attempt suicide. Sadly, director Benedict Andrews fails to tap into the drama of her story, choosing instead to speculate about Seberg’s emotional turmoil in the most simplistic terms.