Rob Lowe and James Franco's Confession Gets a Brutal THR Verdict

Rob Lowe and James Franco face off in Stalin's Moscow — and The Hollywood Reporter does not hold back. The review calls Ben Shapiro's prison drama Confession "a dull, turgid slog," with the brutal bottom line: "Torture, onscreen and off." Confession is set in 1938 Moscow, where disgraced literature professor Alexei, played by Rob Lowe, is arrested and dragged to the infamous Lubyanka Prison, charged with being a counterrevolutionary. His interrogator is Vladimir, played by James Franco — Alexei's own former prize student — pressing him to betray Father Mikulski, a dissident priest played by Brad Dourif. The film barely leaves two rooms: the interrogation chamber and the prison cell Alexei shares with three other men. Nick Nolte plays a Jewish inmate delivering a harrowing monologue about atrocities he witnessed. Richard Brake, the review says, gives the film's most effective performance as a hardened prisoner coaching Alexei how to survive. Emile Hirsch plays a former concert pianist, and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Alexei's estranged son. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays his bitter ex-wife, and Dean Norris rounds out the ensemble. Written by Ben Shapiro in his screenwriting debut and directed by Václav Marhoul, the filmmaker behind The Painted Bird, Confession runs two hours and twelve minutes. The Hollywood Reporter reads Franco's casting as a deliberate provocation toward the studios that shunned him, and says the endless name-drops of Dostoevsky, Pushkin, and Tolstoy turn the interrogation into a literary salon. Confession premiered at the Warsaw Film Festival on October 15, 2026. It arrives today, November 11, 2026, in about one hundred theaters for one night only, and streams the same day on DailyWire+. Topics Covered: - The Hollywood Reporter's verdict on Confession - Rob Lowe as Alexei, the disgraced professor - James Franco as Vladimir, the interrogator - Father Mikulski and the dissident priest - The Lubyanka Prison setting - Nick Nolte's harrowing monologue - Richard Brake's most effective performance - The Dostoevsky, Pushkin, and Tolstoy name-drops - Ben Shapiro's screenwriting debut - Václav Marhoul's direction - The Warsaw Film Festival premiere - The November 11 theatrical and streaming release What do you think of the verdict — is the review fair, or is Confession worth watching for yourself? Tell us in the comments, and subscribe to NextTrailers for movie news, first looks, and episode breakdowns every day. #Confession #RobLowe #JamesFranco #BenShapiro #TheHollywoodReporter #DailyWire #MovieNews #FilmReview #Stalin #Lubyanka #WarsawFilmFestival #DailyWirePlus