Peter Hujar's Day

On December 19, 1974, photographer Peter Hujar visits the SoHo apartment of writer Linda Rosenkrantz to participate in an interview for her book project documenting ordinary days in the lives of artists. Sitting on her couch with a cigarette in hand, Peter begins recounting everything he did the previous day after admitting he had forgotten Linda’s request to write it down until she called him. As Linda records the conversation, she occasionally interrupts to ask questions, clarify details, and encourage Peter to remember seemingly insignificant moments.

Peter recalls accidentally sleeping through his 8:30 a.m. alarm before being awakened by a call from Jacqueline de Mornay, an editor from Elle magazine, who was arriving to collect his photographs of model Lauren Hutton. While waiting, he receives a phone call from writer Susan Sontag, who asks for directions to his gallery exhibition before leaving for Paris. Prompted by Linda’s questions, Peter admits he lied to Susan to conceal some earlier name-dropping involving a gallery representative. When Jacqueline arrives, she praises his photographs but cannot tell him how much he will be paid, making Peter suspicious as she departs with the prints. He then calculates the money he is owed, fields calls from neighbor Bob Mony and artist Ed Baynard, and, after venting to Linda about Ed’s lengthy conversation, returns to bed for another hour.

After waking again, Peter buys cigarettes, calls poet Allen Ginsberg to arrange a portrait session for The New York Times, and travels to Ginsberg’s apartment on the Lower East Side. There he meets Peter Orlovsky and several visitors while Ginsberg finishes phone calls and prepares to leave. Their conversation is awkward, and Ginsberg initially resists the assignment, insisting on being photographed outdoors rather than in the conventional style expected by a newspaper. He leads Peter through the neighborhood, posing among abandoned buildings and inside the burned-out remains of the former Peace Eye Book Store while chanting and meditating.

Peter eventually confronts Ginsberg, explaining that he is not representing the newspaper’s corporate interests and that this is his first assignment for The New York Times. Ginsberg’s attitude softens, and he agrees to continue the session inside his apartment. On the way back they stop at a vegetable stand, where Ginsberg buys persimmons, before returning to finish the portraits. They discuss William S. Burroughs, whom Peter is scheduled to photograph the following day, and part on friendly terms. Despite this, Peter later admits to Linda that he believes they never truly connected and that the photographs failed as portraits.

Back at his apartment, Peter eats a simple meal before spending the evening developing film in his darkroom. He avoids socializing by lying to a caller, then receives a phone call from Linda reminding him to write down everything he had done that day. After briefly making his notes, he resumes developing his negatives while receiving calls from Glenn O’Brien, Vince Aletti, and later Fran Lebowitz. As the interview continues in the present, Peter and Linda move around the apartment, preparing tea, smoking, listening to records, and briefly dancing together before returning to the tape recorder.

Peter continues by recalling that Vince visited because his apartment had no hot water, leading them to share Chinese takeout while discussing the Ginsberg session and Peter’s feeling that he spends his days constantly working yet accomplishes very little. Glenn briefly stops by to collect photographic negatives before leaving. After his guests depart, Peter spends the rest of the night printing photographs for a restaurant commission and preparing prints for clients. Although initially disappointed by the Ginsberg contact sheets, he gradually begins to appreciate them while reflecting on his artistic ambitions and his desire for his work to stand on its own rather than depend on the fame of his subjects. As he struggles with failing eyesight while retouching prints, he and Linda discuss aging, physical decline, and the death of a fellow photographer.

Peter concludes by recalling how he finished preparing his prints for the following day, practiced a Bach piece on his harpsichord, brushed his teeth, and went to bed feeling exhausted from work and heavy smoking. Linda scolds him for smoking, while Peter admits he wishes he could quit. Shortly after falling asleep, he is awakened by sex workers talking outside his apartment and watches one woman apply her makeup in the reflection of a parked detention-center truck before returning to bed. Having reconstructed every significant and trivial moment of the previous day, Peter falls silent as he and Linda look out at the river, bringing the interview to an end.

• Ben Whishaw as Peter Hujar
• Rebecca Hall as Linda Rosenkrantz

The film is written and directed by Ira Sachs. The producers on the film are Jordan Drake and Jonah Disend.^[3] The cast is Ben Whishaw, portraying photographer Peter Hujar, and Rebecca Hall as the writer Linda Rosenkrantz.^[4][5]

Rosenkrantz produced a book in 2021 of the same name which documents Hujar's life and activities over 24 hours in 1974.^[6] Sachs was initially unsure if the project would be a short film or a feature, but was convinced to produce a feature-length film in response to Whishaw's passion and insight into the language.^[7][8]

Filming was scheduled for New York in November 2023.^[9]

The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2025.^[10][3] Shortly after, Janus Films and Sideshow acquired distribution rights to the film, with Janus releasing it on November 7, 2025.^[11][12] It screened at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2025.^[13]

The film was screened in non-competitive section 'Freestyle' of the 20th Rome Film Festival in October 2025.^[14]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 95 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Confined to a limited setting, Peter Hujar's Day proves surprisingly expansive as director Ira Sachs insightfuly captures the repartee between Rebecca Hall and Ben Whishaw at the top of their game."^[16] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[17][18]

In a review for Rogerebert.com, critic Monica Castillo writes that the film "is a masterclass in composition, creating movement where there is little and finding an unconventional way to film two people talking."^[19]