‘Borges and Me’ Review: Gentle, Nostalgic Literary Road Movie Is More Perky Than Poetic

"Borges and Me," a film by Marc Turteltaub, is described as a pleasant, partially biographical picture that portrays the respected Argentine author Jose Luis Borges as a vibrant, eccentric figure who helps a young writer discover his creativity and romantic inclinations. The review, published on August 29, 2026, at 2:36 PM PT, positions the movie as a gentle, nostalgic literary road trip that is more cheerful than poetic.

The film greatly benefits from the rich, warm beauty of its Scottish filming locations, captured with a fresh, autumnal clarity by cinematographer Christopher Norr. This creates a mellow, subtly emotional viewing experience, which was perfectly suited for its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival. It is expected to charm many more audiences on the festival circuit, leading to international art-house distribution, aided by its transatlantic co-production featuring British, South American, and North American talent. Among these are its intentionally contrasting main actors: Luis Gnecco, known for “Neruda,” who plays the sparkling genius, and Fionn Whitehead, from “Dunkirk,” who, despite his inherently English demeanor, is convincingly cast as an Anglophile American, portraying Borges’ exasperated chaperone.

Whitehead’s portrayal of the young Parini shows him as an English literature doctoral student at St. Andrew’s University in Scotland, suggesting he is academically advanced. However, his slightly askew tortoiseshell glasses and oversized duffel coat give him the appearance of an inexperienced first-year student. Originally from Pennsylvania and still feeling out of place, his modest, sweet sincerity makes him an easy target for good-natured teasing from his relaxed, bohemian supervisor, poet Alastair Reid, played by Alan Cumming in a delightfully characteristic performance. Reid, an expert in South American literature and a key translator of Borges’s works, invites the Chilean writer to stay at his rustic coastal residence. Parini, spending a day with them, finds himself both perplexed and somewhat captivated by the brilliant, eccentric, and blind seventy-year-old visitor.

He is, however, unprepared for the role of Borges's caregiver, which he assumes when Reid embarks on a sudden trip to London. Reid provides some advice regarding the author's medications but little else. This coincides with the week Parini had intended to drive to the Highlands to interview his Ph.D. subject, the reclusive poet George Mackay Brown, played by Peter Mullan in a spirited extended cameo. This sets the stage for an intergenerational odd-couple road trip, which includes more scenic detours than Parini had anticipated. Although Borges cannot see the landscape, he relishes every detail of local culture, which the American, tasked with describing everything to his senior in eloquent terms, finds quite tedious.

Viewers might connect with this sentiment to some degree. Gnecco delivers a lively performance, full of quirky mannerisms, imbuing Borges with a mix of mischievous wisdom, earthy humor, and childlike wonder, seldom allowing a moment of quiet without eager conversation. When the innocent Parini—who previously understood romantic poetry only intellectually—connects with Ailith, an intelligent and kind pub employee wonderfully portrayed by Freya Mavor, and they spend time together, the film truly thrives in the absence of the elderly man.

Borges’s presence sparks several entertaining and even touching escapades, such as a clumsy boat trip on Loch Ness or a whimsical, dreamlike visit to a long-forgotten battlefield. However, the film’s most moving moments are its quieter ones, predominantly focusing on Parini and his personal worries, which include his less academic brother’s experiences as a soldier in Vietnam. Whitehead provides “Borges and Me” with the necessary composure to prevent it from becoming overly sentimental or clichéd. Nevertheless, screenwriter Oren Moverman, adapting from an earlier version by Parini and Ross Clarke, alternates between scenes of graceful poeticism and others of simpler, feel-good emotion.

The film's overall impression leans slightly towards the latter; for instance, there is minimal exploration of Borges’s actual writings. However, audiences interested in this aspect can look forward to the upcoming five-hour-plus documentary, “Life of Jorge Luis Borges.” (Perhaps the distributors of both films could collaborate on a complementary release strategy.) Filled with warmth and a hazy nostalgia for the innocent, knowledge-seeking nature of youth, “Borges and Me” portrays the author as a generally vibrant, heavily imagined presence rather than a historical figure, doing so in an appealing way.