The first film of the new year is always an exciting moment. Why this specific movie to kick off 2026? The answer is simple: Daisy Ridley. Despite being familiar with some of the previous work by filmmaker Zak Hilditch (1922), my interest in this feature resided 100% in the lead …
A sweet young girl with a dark past becomes the live-in help for a troubled couple and ends up being exactly what the husband needs to heal his broken heart. Sounds like a classic Hallmark movie, doesn’t it? But turns out this story is closer to Hitchcock than Hallmark because …
I’ve always supported the idea that entering a movie theater without the weight of preconceived expectations is one of the greatest and rarest luxuries. In the case of The Housemaid, I didn’t read the source material, nor did I seek out details about the premise, allowing my interest to be …
Jeff Nichols is one of the best directors that America has to offer and Midnight Special was a delight to revisit for its timely science fiction themes rooted in immigration and fear of a controlling government. A father and son are forced on the run when the father learns his …
This clever no-budget thriller is automatically recommended by me because it’s in the Irish language. Its aspirational depiction of life entirely inside the Irish language, which rarely happens in real life, is just wonderful to see. It is also a heist movie, with three women (two of whom are middle-aged) …
I watched Dust Bunny without much baggage. I read the premise, knew this marked the feature directorial debut of Bryan Fuller, but I don’t carry with me a deep familiarity with his acclaimed television work. Thus, I was motivated solely by curiosity to see a film that attempts to balance …
The year was 2003, one of the most formative years of my life as someone trying to discover their own taste in movies. The Matrix Reloaded overwhelmed the cinema zeitgeist for months. Michael Bay arguably made one of his best action films, Bad Boys II, before throwing himself into the …
Horror films have been one of the most interesting genres to watch in 2025. While not a self-proclaimed horror fan myself, it is hard to deny how enjoyable they have been to watch this year. One of the best films of the year, 28 Years Later (the third film in …
Following its Sundance world premiere in early 2025, The Things You Kill, the third feature from Iranian filmmaker Alireza Khatami, is set to screen in Philippine theaters as part of the 2025 QCinema International Film Festival. Selected as the Canadian submission for the 2026 Oscar Best International Feature Film category, …
It’s so ordinary nowadays for crime stories to have an absolutely terrific setup leading to a whimper of an ending, so when one plays its cards as well as A Private Life does it should be praised from the rooftops. In the last twenty or so years Jodie Foster has …
Selected as Italy’s official contender for best international feature film at the 2026 Oscars, Francesco Costabile’s sophomore feature Familia carries the thematic preoccupations of their directorial debut Una Femmina: The Code of Silence, a crime drama loosely based on Italian journalist Lirio Abbate’s investigative book, which wrestles with women victims …
The Secret Agent won two major awards at this year’s Cannes film festival, Best Director for Kleber Mendonça Filho and Best Actor for Wagner Moura, an unusual and enormous compliment. The Secret Agent is a lot like Waiting for Godot, as it is two and a half hours of set-up …
Rosemead deals with one of life’s most significant challenges. What happens to our loved ones after we leave? Will they be in a safe position as we depart? The film focuses on a mother played by Lucy Liu, who sees the world that she knows coming to a close. But …
Expectations were low. My relationship with this saga has been, I admit, troubled: mixed feelings regarding the original film and manifestly negative regarding the second chapter. Despite being aware that this third entry, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, has received the warmest reception of the entire franchise so …
Director Stephen Shimek recently sat down with us to discuss Murder at the Embassy, his new film that’s out now in theaters and on demand. It’s a murder mystery set in 1930s Cairo starring Mischa Barton along with Mido Hamada and Richard Dillane. It’s the second installment in the Miranda …
Rose Byrne’s magnificent performance grounds this takedown of modern motherhood (not parenthood) under capitalism, but If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is really about the flaws of modern American society. Its unmissable message is that America is completely ruled by its addictions and its impossible desire to get without …
Dragonfly is based on a simple idea: how dangerous it is to trust anyone while you’re weakened, whether through old age, disability or both. Unfortunately it is also so worried that we won’t understand the nuances of this very good idea that it overdoes things, and collapses. This is very …
Travel back to 1930s Cairo in this exclusive interview with Mido Hamada, who discusses his role as the skeptical Head of Security Mamoud in the new murder mystery film Murder at the Embassy with Mischa Barton. It’s the second installment in the Miranda Green series and is a delightfully fun …
My viewing of The Running Man was, honestly, one of the “blindest” I’ve had all year. I wasn’t familiar with the original novel by Stephen King, nor the first 1987 film adaptation. I managed to completely avoid any images, clips, or even reactions to this new release. My expectations, however, …
Following his 2021 Filmmakers of the Present debut Streams, Tunisian director and screenwriter Mehdi Hmili made his return at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, with the out-of-competition title Exile, which functions as part revenge thriller and part grief and social drama stylized in a way that evokes visual poetry and …