The Gallerist Review: Natalie Portman and Jenna Ortega Try to Sell a Dead Body in Deliciously Campy Art World Satire
Boasting a star-studded cast, Cathy Yan’s dark comedy satire follows a gallerist and her assistant as they try to pull off an absurd feat at Art Basel Miami: auctioning a corpse
Words by Alex Secilmis 25 January 2026
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
In 2019, a banana plastered to the wall with duct tape sold for up to $150,000, while becoming a viral hit that prompted Art Basel Miami Beach after drawing unsafe crowds. Another edition Comedian, the conceptual piece from tongue-in-cheek artist Maurizio Cattelan (also known for his fully functional gold toilet sculpture) sold in 2024 for $6.2 million to cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun.
Its this kind of phenomenon, which director Cathy Yan (Birds of Prey) and her co-writer James Pederson directly reference and sharply lampoon, that legitimises the absurd logline of The Gallerist: when a gruesome accident becomes a viral art piece, Natalie Portman’s titular character must sell a dead body before it decomposes. Often horror-tinged and always hilarious, Yan’s art world satire is a zany thriller unfolding in electric tracking shots set to a propulsive string score. It’s gleeful, alluringly precise filmmaking.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
The film works because of its light-hearted, deftly intricate script and the fact that its starry ensemble wholly commits to the bit—the evident fun they have matching Yan’s heightened tone is infectious. Portman is the neurotic Polina Polinski, who manages a struggling gallery funded by the divorce settlement from her husband, Tom (a smooth Sterling K. Brown), who has made a fortune in canned tuna. Aided by her finicky assistant Kiki (Jenna Ortega), who has stalled her career after believing that she would be equal partners with Polina, the pair are promoting the work of emerging artist Stella (Da’Vine Joy Randolph in an amusingly blunt performance). Polina is desperate for a sale—her gallery has only recorded four in the last two years—so much so that she desperately tries to persuade a smug art influencer (Zach Galifianakis) to post about it. But she somehow gets the attention she craved when a Final Destination-esque accident finds a man impaled on one of Stella’s pieces. Thinking quick, she curates the crime scene and renames it “Emasculator” seconds before a crowd walk in, who soon deem it a hyperrealist masterpiece. With the buzz too good to deny, and photographs of the piece already trending online, Polina convinces a reluctant Kiki and Stella to help her sell “Emasculator” against the ticking clock of the rotting corpse.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Flanked by a stellar cast, the film’s lynchpin is Natalie Portman. Sporting a platinum bob and bright white Margiela pumps, her magnetic high-camp performance is defined by quirky comic flair and the occasional Black Swan-level breakdown. Meanwhile, the critique-turned-meme that Jenna Ortega is a cinephile who ironically chooses poor roles is surely put to bed here. As Portman’s high-strung assistant, she is superb in a manic comedic performance that requires a fair share of shrieking and vomiting. Catherine Zeta-Jones also delights as an elegant art consultant with a witty, vicious tongue (“spouting happily like an enthusiastic bidet”, she says of Ortega after interrupting her over-zealous presentation of the piece), while Charli XCX impresses as Galifianakis’ aspiring artist situationship in the best of her three performances at Sundance (she also stars in I Want Your Sex and The Moment) and Daniel Brühl chews scenery as a sleazy potential buyer.
Another winning element worth underlining is Andrew Orkin and Joseph Shirley’s eclectic score. Vacillating between swelling horror movie strings and flamboyant electropop, the duo rely on playful keys, heavy percussion, and a thrilling sense of experimentation that holds the film’s chaos together.
Breezing by in a packed 90 mins, The Gallerist is a riotous Sundance highlight and the product of a creative team working with the winning combination of meticulous craft and a joyous sense of play. It’s an endlessly fun crowd-pleaser that warrants a theatrical release.