PremiumThe Fabelmans OTT release date: When and where to watch Steven Spielberg's intimate family tale
The 2022 film won a lot of praise for its anecdotal nature and how it drew a portrait of a significant era of suburban America, with many critics even opining that it was one of Spielberg's best.
Last Updated: 02.15 PM, Aug 09, 2023
With The Fabelmans, Hollywood icon Steven Spielberg sprung a pleasant surprise on the cinematic world when he chose to revisit his own formative years in a tender and intimate drama, consciously removing himself away from the spectacles he is known to direct. The 2022 film won a lot of praise for its anecdotal nature and how it drew a portrait of a significant era of suburban America, with many critics even opining that it was one of Spielberg's best and most personal from his vast repertoire. And yet, The Fabelmans ended up faring poorly at the box office, emerging as one the veteran's lowest-grossing films.
The critics, however, lauded Steven Spielberg's efforts to turn the gaze onto himself and for taking an atypical autobiographical route. Though the film opted to modify a few details from his personal life by telling the story through a fictional character named Sammy Fabelman (played by Gabriel LaBelle). Sammy grows up in a Jewish household in the 1950s and the film chronicles his early adolescence and the journey towards becoming a filmmaker, borrowing all the ethos and even events from Spielberg's own journey.
Paul Dano and Michelle Williams star as Sammy's parents, Burt and Mitzi Fabelman, with the principal cast also including actors Seth Rogen, Keeley Karsten, Julia Butters, Jidd Hirsch and others.
A mega collaboration
The film also saw Steven Spielberg reuniting with playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner for the fourth time, after Munich (2005), Lincoln (2012) and West Side Story (2021). Spielberg is said to have first flirted with a 'semi-autobiographical' idea back in 1999 but it was during the making of Munich that it would get a new lease of life. Almost 15 years, later Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg would work on an 80-90 page plotline during the filming of West Side Story.
The Fabelmans also features two of Spielberg's most famous collaborators, music composer John Williams and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński.
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When and where to watch The Fabelmans on OTT
The Fabelmans had its first world premiere at the Princess of Wales Theatre on September 10, 2022, at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it received two massive standing ovations. The film would then reach the Rome Film Festival, the 20th Morelia International Film Festival, the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival (the Homage section) and multiple other film festivals between September 2022 and February 2023.
The Fabelmans was released in theatres by Universal Pictures on November 23, 2022. It received seven nominations at the 95th Academy Awards , including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress (Williams), but failed to win any award that night.
And now, nearly eight months after its theatrical run began, The Fabelmans is set to arrive on OTT this Friday. Steven Spielberg's odyssey into his own life will premiere on Sony LIV on August 11.