Via Negativa
A priest's crisis of faith becomes a strange road trip across America
Via Negativa premieres at Tribeca in June 2026, and it's already the kind of film that's hard to pin down — which is exactly the point. Father Dan, a young priest played by Young Mazino, abandons his conservative diocese after learning his childhood friend Paul is dead. That alone would be heavy. But Paul didn't just die — he was abused years ago by a senior priest during seminary, and that knowledge cracks something open in Dan. He gets in a car with a wounded coyote in the back seat, steals a gun, sings Prince songs, and drives toward the man he blames. It's not quite a revenge story. It's not quite grief either. It's something weirder — a man who can't pray anymore learning how to live without faith.
The film doesn't resolve neatly. That's not what it's trying to do.
Who's in it and why the cast matters
Director Hannah Peterson cast this like she was building a repertory company, not filling roles. Young Mazino carries the weight — his breakthrough in Beef season two proved he could do quiet devastation, the kind where you're watching someone implode from the inside. That's Father Dan exactly.
Tony Hale shows up here in dramatic work that surprises people who know him mainly from comedy. Here's the thing nobody mentions: the best dramatic turns often come from comedic actors who've spent years studying discomfort. They know how to hold a moment. Zoë Winters and Mamoudou Athie round out an ensemble that leans hard into texture over star power — MiMi Ryder, Keith Kupferer, Stanley Simons, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, and Jee Young Han fill out the cast. These aren't pit stops between Dan's interior monologue. They push back.
Peterson's debut feature, shot on location in Oregon, keeps the tonal balance that Hornsby's 2020 novel had — a balance that could've tipped into heavy symbolism (a wounded coyote, a gun-stealing priest) but instead becomes genuinely strange and funny. That's the hardest thing to pull off with this material, and reportedly, they did.
Based on a 2020 novel — and why the source matters
Daniel Hornsby wrote the original novel in 2020, and he co-wrote the screenplay with Peterson. That collaboration usually means the adaptation doesn't strip-mine the book for plot — it preserves the book's interior logic. The road trip, the eccentric travelers, the stolen trophies, the Prince songs: those aren't just texture. They're how Dan moves through the world when faith stops being an anchor.
If you've read the novel, you'll recognize the DNA. If you haven't, that's fine — the film stands alone. But there's something useful about knowing that Hornsby was involved in the adaptation. It's a signal that Peterson and Hornsby cared about keeping the thing strange rather than making it palatable.
Where to watch — and when it's coming
Right now, Via Negativa is a festival title. The Tribeca premiere in June 2026 is the world debut. Streaming availability on major services will follow after distribution is finalized, which typically happens in the weeks after a festival premiere.
Check Movie OTT's where-to-watch tracker — it pulls real-time data across platforms and updates the moment deals are confirmed. You won't have to dig through five tabs to find out whether it's on Hulu, MUBI, or heading to theaters. Bookmark the page now. The widget at the top will show live availability as soon as rights are locked in.
No MPAA rating or runtime has been announced yet, but that's normal for pre-release festival films. The Tribeca reception will tell us a lot about where this lands critically and whether it goes theatrical or straight to streaming.
The tonal problem this film solves
What strikes me is how much the premise resists easy categorization. Road movies usually promise freedom or self-discovery. This one promises reckoning — and it's not sure Dan survives it emotionally intact. A priest who steals a gun and sings Prince isn't a contradiction so much as a portrait of someone whose faith has curdled into something more desperate, more human.
The wounded coyote in the back seat could've been lazy symbolism. Instead — and I keep coming back to this — it becomes a strange, quiet companionship. The animal needs Dan. Dan needs the animal. Neither of them is whole. That's the film's logic: you don't heal in isolation, and you don't heal by hunting the person who hurt someone you loved.
Peterson reportedly kept Hornsby's script close to the novel's tone, which means the film doesn't wrap everything in redemption. It leaves Dan where many of us actually live: uncertain, still moving, not sure what comes next.
Who should watch this
You'll want to watch Via Negativa if you're drawn to films that treat faith as a live wire rather than a backdrop. Or if you're following Young Mazino's career after Beef. Or if you just like strange, slow-burn road movies that don't explain themselves.
You probably won't want to watch it if you need resolution. If you need things to get better. If you need your priest to find God again.
The June 2026 Tribeca premiere will be the first real test. Movie OTT will be tracking critical coverage and availability updates as soon as distribution is confirmed. Add it to your watchlist now, and check back once the festival wraps.
