Tribeca 2025 Review: THE SCOUT Tracks a Film Worker's Day

In Paula González-Nasser's debut feature, a location scout grapples with life.

Contributing Writer; New York City (@Film_Legacy)
Tribeca 2025 Review: THE SCOUT Tracks a Film Worker's Day

That inert bundle under rumpled bedclothes is Sofia, a location scout on a low-budget TV show. Awakened by a roommate we never see again, Sofia sets out on her daily grind: find someplace to shoot the script.

Checking her phone messages in the Midtown Tunnel to Manhattan, Sofia (Mimi Davila) stops by the nearly deserted production offices. Having missed her meeting, she rushes to catch up with the production team, all the while calling homeowners to lock down locations, planting fliers in doorways, and answering questions from prospective clients.

And while dealing with traffic jams, parking tickets, sudden cold feet, and impossible demands from the cinematographer and director.

Writer and director Paula González-Nasser knows all about the day-to-day trials of a location scout, having worked as a scout herself on shows like Broad City. Her film slips into a new Tribeca Film Festival genre of outer-borough New Yorkers who are doing what they think they want to do but still are barely surviving.

In outline, The Scout resembles Isabel Hagen's On a String, another Tribeca feature. Both films put their talented lead characters under enormous pressure, then step back to watch what happens.

What sets González-Nasser's script apart is how she brings a sense of menace to everyday encounters. What seems like a pleasant chat with a homeowner on a porch slides into off-putting conspiracy theories. A stay-at-home dad seems polite enough until he gets Sofia into his "home office," where he keeps insisting on an emotional intimacy that doesn't exist.

The best moments in The Scout focus on Sofia's production team. Byrnes (Jackson Devereux), the hapless, some would say spineless, director, agrees to every suggestion, but keeps avoiding decisions to care for his dog. Jackson (Jesse Ruuttiula), the aggressive cinematographer, rejects locations for furniture that's "too big" or floors that squeak, or because there's no elevator in the building. No one cares about how much effort Sofia has put into the prep.

To keep her job, Sofia has to agree with everyone: the location manager who keeps changing the schedule, the pet shop owner who wants to take her out to dinner, the longtime friend who invites her to a late-night party in another borough.

This last plot strand shows that Sofia essentially has no personal life. If her co-workers bother to acknowledge her, it's to complain about her work. And she's clearly not making enough money to get anywhere.

The Scout ultimately doesn't get anywhere either. It's a smart, sympathetic character study, but the script fails to build to a satisfying ending. It will be interesting to see what González-Nasser comes up with next.

The film enjoyed its world premiere at Tribeca Festival 2025. Visit its official page for more information. 

The Scout

Director(s)
  • Paula González-Nasser
Writer(s)
  • Paula González-Nasser
Cast
  • Rutanya Alda
  • Otmara Marrero
  • Ikechukwu Ufomadu
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Paula González-NasserTribeca FestivalTribeca FilmRutanya AldaOtmara MarreroIkechukwu UfomaduDrama

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