Brooklyn love stories aren’t new — but Love, Brooklyn feels like one we’ve been waiting for. Tender, layered, and unapologetically honest, the film captures love, grief, and the everyday messiness of being human.
Written by Paul Zimmerman and directed by Rachael Abigail Holder in her stunning debut, Love, Brooklyn stars André Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise, Cassandra Freeman, Roy Wood Jr., and newcomer Cadence Reese. Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, the film made its world premiere at Sundance 2025 and opens nationwide this fall.
At its center is Nicole (Wise), a woman navigating new love after loss, who finds herself drawn into a romance with a writer (Holland) while still shadowed by grief. Their story unfolds alongside Beharie’s gallery-owning ex and a Brooklyn community in transition — reminding us that everyone in this film is grieving something, whether it’s a person, a culture, or a way of life.
In our conversation, DeWanda Wise reflects on channeling lived truths into Nicole, her personal connection to Brooklyn, the beauty of working with Holder on her first feature, and why stories like this — that allow Black women to be complex, flawed, soft, and full of color — matter so deeply right now.