All Saints Day
July 24th, 2026
MOVIE: ALL SAINTS DAY
STARRING: DON SWAYZE, JEFF BERG, CHAD DÖRECK, ALY TRASHER
DIRECTED BY: MATT AARON KRINSKY
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS (Out of 4)
RATED: R
RUN TIME: 99 MINUTES
All Saints Day is a stage play turned into a movie. It’s easy to pick up on that from the film’s singular location, small cast, and heavy emphasis on dialogue. It’s also one of those rare cases where, judging by how the film plays, you get the sense that seeing it on stage would be a significantly better experience. That’s not to say there aren’t flickers of light in this rich family drama, filled with layered characters and an engaging script. Sadly, All Saints Day often undercuts itself by constantly reminding us that we’re watching a story better suited for the theater.
Based on the play All Saints in the Old Colony, written by Julianne Homokay and directed by Matt Aaron Krinsky, the film follows an estranged family as they reconnect under dire circumstances. Set in Chelsea, Massachusetts, we meet the Connolly family, Irish immigrants whose mother abandoned them at a young age. Kier (Don Swayze) is now suffering from depression, schizophrenia, and alcoholism. Brother Ronan (Jeff Berg) has taken on the responsibility of caring for him, while brother Mickey (Chad Döreck) escaped to California to become a priest. Their youngest sister, Fiona (Aly Trasher), was given up for adoption as a child, but Kier’s deteriorating condition has brought them all back together for an intervention, hoping to put years of family resentment aside before their oldest brother loses everything.
From the start, it’s obvious everyone in the cast is committed, and the writing has a strong grasp of family dynamics and the toxicity that stems from generational trauma. The standout performance belongs to Swayze, but it’s also clear that, as a first-time filmmaker, Krinsky doesn’t know when to ask his lead to pull things back. The result is a performance that feels too theatrical- a role written for the stage, where every line has to reach the back row. Over the course of 99 minutes, however, the intensity becomes exhausting. Swayze is given endless monologues about his “Da” and emotional lamentations over the loss of his sister, leaving little room for restraint or nuance.
It’s not all bad. The film’s greatest strength lies in the performances from Berg, Döreck, and Trasher, who are unfortunately too often limited to either shouting back at Kier or simply witnessing his disintegration. Ironically, it’s the quieter conversations that resonate most, taking place after the arguments have finally subsided. Beyond the larger issues, it’s the smaller details that begin to wear the film down. I found myself distracted by the number of times each actor yells “KIER!” in such exaggerated Boston accents that it makes The Departed sound Shakespearean by comparison. There’s also a subplot involving Fiona and Ronan’s relationship that feels so uncomfortable and unnecessary that it leaves the audience feeling traumatized as well.
In the end, I was ultimately disappointed with All Saints Day. It has the ingredients to resonate alongside other great stage-to-screen family dramas like August: Osage County or Fences, but it desperately needed a gentler, more cinematic approach. All families are complicated- that much is certain. All Saints Day simply makes them more exhausting than they need to be.
2 STARS
ALL SAINTS DAY IS NOW STREAMING FOR FREE ON TUBI.
Written by: Leo Brady
