Queens, 1986. Middle-class engineer Irwin Pearl (Miles Teller) and his wife Hester (Scarlett Johansson) are coaxed into a high-stakes business scheme along the Gowanus Canal by Irwin’s charismatic older brother, Gary (Adam Driver). Seeking to capitalize on a lucrative development opportunity, the brothers partner with a ruthless Russian syndicate filling the void left by the Italian mob. But when an innocent misstep ignites deadly paranoia among the gangsters, the Pearls find their family terrorized and their bond tested by the threat of violence.
Returning to the atmospheric crime territory of Little Odessa and We Own the Night, writer-director James Gray explores family, loyalty, and American ambition through another intimate crime story. Joaquín Baca-Asay’s dark, moody cinematography gives the film a constant sense of threat, while the volatile dynamic between Teller’s cautious Irwin and Driver’s more reckless Gary keeps the story grounded in the brothers’ increasingly dangerous choices. Gray has a gift for making criminal worlds feel both intimate and inevitable, and Paper Tiger gradually tightens its grip as a family trying to get ahead finds itself caught in circumstances far beyond its control.
Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller
USA
2026
English
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Credits & Director
Screenwriter
James Gray
Cinematography
Joaquin Baca-Asay
Editor
Scott Morris
Production Design
Happy Massee
Original Music
Christopher Spelman
James Gray
Filmography: The Lost City of Z (2016); Two Lovers (2008); The Immigrant (2013); Armageddon Time (2022)
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