[Tribeca 2024] TREASURE -- Interesting Questions Abound in Poignant Dramedy

Review by Sean Boelman

After debuting at Berlinale earlier this year to mixed reviews, Julia von Heinz’s Treasure is making a stop at Tribeca before its US theatrical release. Although the film is not without its flaws, and one will be left wishing that it would have engaged with its themes in more depth, the film works as a crowd-pleaser, largely thanks to two strong performances in its leads.

Treasure follows an American journalist who takes a trip with her father, a Polish Holocaust survivor, to his homeland in the hopes of regaining touch with her roots, only to make some interesting discoveries while there. The film is based on an autobiographical novel, and while it does feel like some creative license was taken in this cinematic adaptation, it offers a unique perspective on these common themes.

However, where Treasure comes up short is exploring the nuances of its character arcs. For much of the runtime, the new Polish settlers are villainized, and the Holocaust survivor and his progeny are looked at with basic pity. Although the final act acknowledges that the situation is not as black-and-white as it seems, the shift the characters experience to this understanding is incredibly sudden, leaving the audience wanting a more gradual and nuanced development.

Tonally, it’s hard to tell where Treasure wants to fall. Some moments lean into broad comedy, emphasizing comedic hijinks, while other parts feel like they want to be an earnest and meaningful commentary on these issues. The result is generally likable but does suffer from a few moments of significant tonal whiplash.

The film does ask some interesting questions about the ethics of post-Holocaust reparations. At what point is disrupting the lives of the people who have lived in these homes for years now no longer justifiable? Of course, the film does not probe too deeply into this issue, as this would open a whole can of worms that it doesn’t want to explore, given the current state of international politics.

The film’s biggest strength is in the performances by Stephen Fry and Lena Dunham. Fry plays a role not too out of his comfort zone — a lovable, goofy guy with some serious boundary and filter issues. Dunham is much less comedic, giving a performance that doesn’t quite feel as vulnerable as what her role seems to have called for, but that is still emotionally effective nonetheless.

Visually, Treasure is solid, if not particularly special for the genre. The costuming does a solid job of establishing the temporal setting of the ‘90s, and the film uses some of the actual locations in Poland to create a strong effect. Otherwise, it’s a mostly straightforward drama in terms of execution. 

In many ways, it’s unfortunate that Treasure is coming out in the same year as Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, which explores similar themes with much more depth and acuity. However, there’s still something undeniably charming about Julia von Heinz’s exploration of the return of the Jewish people after WWII if you’re willing to look at it as a broad crowd-pleaser.

Treasure is screening at the 2024 Tribeca Festival, which runs June 5-16 in New York City.

​Rating: 4/5