This Must Be the Place (2011)

August 24, 2011 (IT) • Drama • 118m

Overview

A bored, retired rock star living in Ireland sets out to find his dead father's tormentor, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the U.S.

Director

Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contarello

Top Billed

Sean Penn

Keywords

rock 'n' roll michigan parent child relationship rock star new mexico surrealism dublin, ireland holocaust (shoah) survivor relationship revenge motive ex-nazi teen suicide jewish family concentration camp survivor jewish community former musician

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Top Billed Cast

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Reviews

Wuchak

⭐ 7/10

June 27, 2026

**_Penn as a soft-spoken Socrates-like retired Goth rocker, not to mention Nazi hunter_**

His character is named Cheyenne, a weirdo-genius modeled after Robert Smith of The Cure with a dash of Ozzy and Edward Scissorhands. CC DeVille with a black wig is another comparison. Meanwhile, the band ‘Cheyenne and the Fellows’ was inspired by Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Cheyenne is 20 years past his prime but is able to live off royalties in Dublin with his firefighter wife (Frances McDormand). While he’s sorta bottled up and fears flying, he’s compelled to take a sojourn to America due to his dying Jewish father and attend to his unfinished business. As he travels from state-to-state he unconsciously helps others, as well as personally grows.

Highlights include: Cheyenne’s curious friendship with a young female that people mistake for his daughter (Eve Hewson); his softly spoken insights, which show that he’s in tune more than most, except when he talks with David Byrne and vents his buried issues; his brief relationship with a woman & her boy in rural New Mexico (Kerry Condon) and his corresponding respect for marital parameters. This is just a taste of the gems in this quirky, lyrical oddity.

There are a couple of issues, however, such as the insinuation that smoking cigarettes is a sign of majority. I would offer that it’s a sign of nicotine addiction and folly, even immaturity. Then there’s the dubious closing message, which I’ll leave for you to discover.

The eccentric flick’s not for everyone, but if you appreciate movies like “Easy Rider,” “Paris, Texas,” “Buffalo '66,” “Almost Famous” and “The Lucky Ones,” it’s worth checking out.

It runs 1h 51m and was shot Aug-Oct 2010 in Ireland (Dublin,); Michigan (Bad Axe, Ubly, Kinde and Sterling Heights); and New Mexico (Bingham, Alamogordo, Carrizozo, Eagle Nest, Red River and Questa). Post-production work was done in Rome.

GRADE: B/B-

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Status

Released

Original Language

Budget

$25,000,000

Revenue

$11,790,979

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