Trish is a young American journalist stranded in Nicaragua during the COVID-19 pandemic and amid a period of severe governmental instability.

She is a travel writer whose coverage of brutal extrajudicial killings has alienated both her superiors and the ruling party; her passport has been confiscated and she is living in a flophouse paid for by a sympathetic cabinet minister.

She has sex with government officials for money and basic necessities (largely unavailable due to the political crisis) while searching desperately for a way out of the country.

When questioned about the meeting, Daniel is surprised to hear of the man's true identity, eventually realizing his hostile intentions after the officer chases the two through a market.

Claire Denis had read Johnson's novel a decade earlier and assessed it as a love story between two people who develop a relationship solely within the heightened context of the revolution.

[3][4] It was announced in February 2020 that A24 had acquired North American distribution rights to Claire Denis's next directorial effort, with Robert Pattinson and Margaret Qualley as leads.

The website's consensus reads, "Short on romantic sparks and frustratingly sedate, Stars at Noon is carried by a talented cast and Claire Denis' formidable control of her craft.

[24] Guy Lodge of Variety wrote, "The American setting and perspective may be new for her; the rest, from the film's bristling, dust-licked atmospherics to its frank, corporeal eroticism to yet another shivery, enveloping score by longtime collaborators Tindersticks, is vintage Denis."

Lodge reserved praise for Qualley's "wry, whirling performance" and the "hardboiled dialogue she delivers with just the right touch of affected cool".

Lodge also commended Alwyn for playing the "deliberately gauzy, hard-to-hold" character of Daniel in an "aptly, alluringly secretive fashion".

[26] Ben Croll of TheWrap praised Denis' "tonal control" and Qualley's "non-verbal tics" for elevating the dialogue.

[27] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph wrote, "Stars at Noon is at its best when it has Trish and Daniel suspended in horny limbo, with Denis building an atmosphere of sultry languor that makes the film feel as if it's constantly stretching and circling, like a sleepy cat."

[28] In a 4 out of 5 star review, Nicholas Barber of BBC praised the film's "beguiling, immersive" quality and Qualley's "firecracker energy" but found the dialogue confusing and the plot drifted too much.

[30] Charles Bramesco of The Playlist called it "marred by compromise at every phase of its production, it's a rare misfire from one of our most accomplished living auteurs, excusable only on merit of her past successes.

"[31] In a 3 out of 5 star review, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian felt the film was "reasonably acted" but concluded that "the romantic passion and duplicity don't come across as strongly as they might have done with leads who had a stronger chemistry."

"[33] Paste's Natalia Keogan held similar criticism, writing, "Alwyn's performance is commendable [...] but he can’t quite keep up with Qualley, and their chemistry is practically non-existent.