- Fantastic Fest 2026: Into the Sky, Play House, Posthumous (September 22, 2026)
There’s an amazing bit of trivia about how there are so many possible shuffles of a deck of cards that it’s almost certain that every single one ever shuffled has been as distinct as a snowflake. I thought of this when considering the panoply of meet-cutes in cinema history: There’s always a new one for some writer to devise. The meet-cute in writer/director duo Evan Buxbaum & Drew Mylrea’s “Into the Sky” is certainly not one I’ve seen before: A man meets the woman living in his house after being returned from his abduction by aliens. Sci-fi-rom-com “Into the Sky” is a quirky, funny movie, one that’s buoyed greatly by a likable cast. Fantastic Fest was full of doom and gloom this year that reflected the general anxiety of the world in 2026; this was a wonderful reprieve from all the terror.
The naked man covered in blue goop who falls back into his life after being away long enough that his divorcing wife rented out their house? It’s poor Bobby (Sam Richardson), a guy who apparently has become the favorite target of some experimenting interstellar visitors. We slowly learn that his alleged abductions actually led to hospitalization, and there’s an interesting mystery for a bit as to whether or not Bobby should be taken seriously at all. Is he really being taken into the sky or is he mentally falling apart under the weight of a broken relationship?
Helping him answer these questions are his tenant Nico (Sofia Black-D’Elia) and another alien abductee named Jaden (David Cross). Nico agrees to help Bobby find his ex-wife if he helps her through helping plan and execute her brother’s wedding. One of the reasons that “Into the Sky” works is that Buxbaum & Mylrea also worked from a traditional rom-com formula: New guy helps woman find her confidence by being the decent dude by her side. It just happens to possibly be about the end of the world.
The whimsy of “Into the Sky” can sometimes feel a little forced and the set-ups a tad sitcomish, but Buxbaum & Mylrea are assisted greatly by their excellent cast. Richardson makes for a great everyman, Black-D’Elia is effortlessly charming, and Cross is having a blast as the obvious comic relief. In the end, it’s not a perfect comedy, but a nice reminder that a fest like Fantastic doesn’t always have to be about body horror and the end of the world.
The very existence of Nicolas Curcio’s “Play House” is one of the coolest things about Fantastic Fest 2026. The film is the result of a new annual project called “Fantastic Pitches,” wherein ambitious creators use an event on the fest weekend to pitch their films, and a winner is chosen for production, with the requirement that it’s done and ready to premiere the next year. 2025’s winner was this clever ghost story that centers lost media, and the contest was so successful that two of the runner-ups are also currently in production. The idea that a fest that’s built its reputation on the work of indie filmmakers could be the launchpad to create indie movies itself? Very cool.
And it helps that Curcio’s debut is quite good, even great for about an hour. Curcio understands the pull of found footage as message boards have been flooded with people looking for some curiosity they remember from their childhood or stumbling upon some old recording that looks downright haunted. That’s what happens to Elliot (Will Harrison), who finds a bag of VHS tapes in the basement of a house that’s he just bought for renovation, kinda hoping that the “grown-up” decision will bring his ex Cath (Jessica Sula) back to their relationship. When he pops in a tape with his buddy Alden (Jordan Gonzalez), he sees grainy footage of an old children’s TV show hosted by Mr. Morton (James Urbaniak). The only person on screen, Morton interacts with puppets that look like monsters who are being voiced by what sounds like terrified, possibly crying children. It’s a chilling creation, the kind of stuff that actually gets under your skin while watching it.
Elliot and Alden scour the internet for information about Mr. Morton, but no one remembers the show, which leads them to the terrifying, inevitable conclusion: These were home movies. While Alden suggests they go to the authorities, Elliot insists that they don’t actually have any footage of a crime yet, and there’s an interesting subtext in how he ignores what actually might literally be buried in his new basement as the situation with Cath improves. He’s willing to repress to “play house” with his girlfriend.
The first hour of “Play House” is so strong that the ways in which it kinda falls apart in the third act are all the more disappointing. It’s one of those classic projects wherein the questions or the mysteries are always more interesting than the resolutions, but there’s still so much to admire here, especially given the film’s unique origins. Strong production design, incredibly believable lo-fi VHS cinematography, and even a few impressive ghost story beats work alongside uniformly solid performances. That none of this existed without a pitch contest in an Austin bar is remarkable, and indicative of the heights to which this new pipeline could rise.
VHS tapes are also centered in Josh Tanner’s “Posthumous,” a movie that feels deeply inspired by the “Insidious” franchise and how it details how ordinary households can become portals to supernatural worlds. This Aussie flick ultimately feels too reliant on manufactured emotion and flat dialogue to strike the emotional chords it intends to hit, leaving viewers more curious about how it’s going to end than truly engaged in its storytelling. It’s too slow and too devoid of cinematic personality (other than a fantastic bit of haunted creature design) to stand out in a crowded Fantastic Fest lineup.
Sophie Lowe plays Zoe, who has come home for her 30th birthday, which happens to be the same age her mother was when she died in childbirth. Zoe’s mom was dying while she was pregnant, and so she made VHS tapes for her unborn child to watch on every birthday. This will be the last, and it will open doors to what really happened to mom and how the evil that took her might still be around today.
So much of “Posthumous” works on Zoe finding the right tape or having the right conversation with her distant dad or spooky neighbor at just the right time that it drains its protagonist of too much agency. Lowe is fine at the big emotional beats, but they feel shoehorned into a cluttered bit of supernatural mystery-solving as to the Lovecraftian threat in this corner of Australia. There’s also just not enough effective atmosphere here to bring us into Zoe’s story. We always feel like we’re watching and not feeling or dreading.
Worst of all, “Posthumous” runs close to two hours, which leads to a film that drags instead of building to its action-packed, almost sci-fi conclusion. There are interesting themes, ideas, and bits of filmmaking here, but they’re buried in so much that doesn’t connect that it feels like work to unpack them.
- The Heart at the Center Of It: Domhnall Gleeson on “The Incomer” (September 22, 2026)
“The Incomer” is first-time writer/director Louis Paxton’s film about a brother and sister who are the only residents of an isolated island, the only home they have ever known. Domhnall Gleeson plays Daniel, the shy, awkward bureaucrat sent to evict them.
In an interview with RogerEbert.com, Gleeson talked about finding the right tone for the story, creating one of the movie’s best scenes, an energetic enactment of “Lord of the Rings” fan fiction, and being directed by Taylor Swift in the “Opalite” video.
As I watched this movie, I couldn’t help thinking that you could make this setup work as a broad comedy, a horror movie, an adventure, or a satire. It has some elements of all of them but retains a remarkably consistent, if unusual and very singular, tone. How did you maintain that?
It’s such a really interesting combination of things that could feel disparate and messy. But the person leading the charge did know exactly what they were doing. Louis is a very unusual filmmaker, never mind a first-time filmmaker, in that he was able to bring all those things together, and the tone was never in question. That’s what I loved about it, the way it brought all those things together in the script. The reason I hopped on to do the film was that, tonally, it knew itself so well in the script.
How would you define the tone?
It is really funny. It’s very heartfelt. There are moments in it that are almost horror-like, “The Wicker Man” scary stuff. And then there were bits of pretty broad comedy. But to me, it’s the heart at the center of it that matters most. And that’s the thing that comes through the most. If you ask me to describe it in one sentence, rather than a paragraph, I would really struggle. It’s itself, and that’s what I like about it is itself.
You have demonstrated a remarkable facility with accents in your career. How did you work on the Scottish accent for this character?
There are few things scarier than turning up to set in Scotland with an almost completely Scottish crew, Scottish filmmakers, Scottish cast. The moment you break out your Scottish accent on set is a very scary moment. But thank God it seems to have gone well. The feedback has been pretty good. I worked very hard on it with a wonderful dialect coach. I based it on a couple of people, including our second AD. He had a wonderful voice, and when I met him, I was like, “Oh, I might steal some of him for the accent as well.”
Do you have a phrase that you use to get yourself into it?
Oh, I did, and I can’t say it. It had a couple of curse words in it, but it got me back pretty quickly. It was one of those great curse words that have a lot of vowels in it.
One of the highlights of the movie for me was the Lord Of The Rings-infused story you told the other characters. It’s really a turning point for your character. I had the impression, watching it, that your character hadn’t really talked to anybody in a long time, and we really see him open up.
He’s so buttoned up. He’s so much on the back foot. He’s so interior, and you can see that he wants to connect with people, but he struggles. We see that he believes, and I think he’s right, that people consider him a bit of a weirdo on the mainland. And this is the first time he lets all of it out. And it’s through storytelling.
That’s what we all do as actors, as directors, as everything. Storytelling is what we’re there for. Daniel just gets to go into his imagination. I imagined that’s who he was when he was five years old, before the world taught him to be embarrassed about himself or to hide pieces of himself away. So I just went back to my five-year-old self and how exciting it is when a kid is trying to tell you a story. I thought of my nephews and the way they tell stories.
The physicality of it was something we hadn’t seen from Daniel before. I just love the way he threw himself into it as though he’d been holding on to that moment for his whole life and was so excited to finally have an audience.
He finally has an audience. That’s exactly it. People are actively listening to him, and he has them hanging on his every word. And I remember having the conversation with Louis—“How tight is the frame going to be?”—because I had a feeling it was going to go big. And I was like, “Maybe we back up a little bit for at least one of them.” So there is room for Daniel to hop all over the place. I really enjoyed that day on set.
I also enjoyed the interaction at the beginning of the film with Roz, Daniel’s boss, because it would be hard to listen to that performance without laughing.
Michelle Gomez is so good. She brought so much to Roz. This was clearly a woman who was very into herself. And she looked down on Daniel so much. Again, a lot of it was in the script, but Michelle brought some of her own stuff. Daniel very much just wants to please her. That scene just depended on how much he was trying to make her like him and how much he knew she didn’t like him.
That pivotal moment when you tell the story to Isla and Sandy has a nice echo at the end with an almost-meta point about what stories mean to us. What will the audience learn about the importance of stories?
A well-told story brings everybody together, from when you’re a kid and you’re around the campfire, to when you’re up late at night and somebody tells you a story from their childhood for the first time, and you see a different part of them, to everybody sitting in a cinema together and experiencing the same story. There is nothing like it. Humans have done it forever. This story felt so specific, and it cared about the value of stories to people. A well-told story is hard to come by, and I just think this is supremely well told. Louis puts you in safe hands from the very beginning.
You’ve worked in some of the biggest franchises of all time with huge budgets and special effects. What is the best thing about working on a little independent film from a first-time filmmaker like this one?
I found it incredibly invigorating. It reinvigorated my love for independent films, for watching them, for being a part of them. We were all away from home. We were up at the very tippy top of Scotland. There were loads of people who were up a level from where they’d been working before. Everyone was trying their hardest. We were all in it together, and they were tough days, but we had super producers. We had super heads of department across the board. Everybody who was on it was bringing their A game because they cared about it. No one was there for the money; no one was there for a paycheck. They were all there because they loved this thing, and they wanted to make it good. There’s nothing else like it.
I have to ask you: was it hard to learn the dancing in Taylor Swift’s “Opalite” video?
[Laughs] Yes, it was embarrassingly hard. I keep on forgetting the phrase, I think it was “full send“ was what Taylor used, Which was that the doing of it is what makes it good, that you have to believe totally in it.
I had a concerned look as we were doing it because I was trying to remember the moves, and she was like, “Forget all that; we go for it now.” That’s why she’s one of the best entertainers in the world, as well as a great artist. It reminded me what it means to be a good actor. I am by no means a good dancer, but it only works if you believe in it 100%. I did not know those moves as well as I wanted to, but I went for it. And I think you can see that in the video. I’m very proud of it.
- Fantastic Fest 2026: In a Violent Nature Part 2, The Glorious Dead, Godmother (September 21, 2026)
The first surprise screening at this year’s Fantastic Fest was, refreshingly, an honest surprise. The secret screenings over the last few years have run from the confusing (“Saturday Night”) to films that most critics had already seen (“One Battle After Another”), but Friday’s secret screening in Austin maintained its anonymity for an incredibly long time, as people guessed titles like “Whalefall,” “The Other Mommy,” “Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo,” and even “You Can See Everything.” In retrospect, we should have seen it coming given the long relationship between IFC/Shudder and the fest, and the rumors that “In a Violent Nature Part 2” was done and getting ready to unleash itself on the world. Unleash it did in a WIP cut on Friday to a receptive audience of horrorheads ready for more unique slasher gore.
The first “In a Violent Nature” was one of 2024’s more divisive horror films—a fact driven by home by how many people walked out when this year’s sequel screening was revealed. Some people simply didn’t go with Chris Nash’s vision of an arthouse slasher pic, a movie that I’ve taken to calling “Jason ASMR” for the way it mingles crunchy, strange sound design with long shots of a hooded figure trudging through the woods. “IAVN” was also remarkably gory, especially in one memorable kill scene involving a poor woman whose head was pulled through her body. It was so intense that viewers reportedly vomited and passed out.
The worst parts of “In a Violent Nature Part 2” seek to one-up that unforgettable kill. There are four or five scenes in which hapless victims are torn into pieces to such an intense degree that it starts to feel inspired by the “Terrifier” movies more than ‘80s slasher classics. Director Nate Wilson and writer Chris Nash (who took both credits on the original) have lost some of what made the first movie special, sacrificing the original’s unique atmosphere for creative kills. Gorehounds will love the chaotic places this movie goes but it doesn’t feel quite as special.
However, enough quality craftsmanship remains to elevate this sequel above the average knockoff fare. Most remarkably, Wilson seems to have taken a very unexpected inspiration: Jumping a few Jason Voorhees sequels to tell his own riff on “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter” (the fourth film that featured Corey Feldman as Tommy Jarvis). Like that movie, we’re introduced to a young protagonist at this film’s version of Crystal Lake: Camp Puddingstone. Alex (Lucas Nguyen) has heard all the rumors, including the one about summoning Johnny by blowing a whistle three times. After Alex blows the whistle, he’s bullied to such an intense degree that he misses the bus home, stranding him with the partying counselors celebrating the end of the season, one of whom happens to be his sister. And then Johnny answers the call.
As Alex pines for one of the pretty counselors and watches his sister make out with her boyfriend, Johnny basically trudges from the first movie to the second one and starts the disemboweling. Alex has an interesting arc wherein he seems almost as captivated by Johnny as he is terrified of him, but he’s mostly just a throughline to connect the mutilations. With very few exceptions re framing, this is a significantly more traditional slasher pic than the first, which will be music to the ears of anyone who was there for the kills and not the mood, but it feels to me like the latter is what really made it stand out. To its credit, “In a Violent Nature Part 2” does keep one notable asset: Remarkably fluid editing from Alex Jacobs, who finds just the right rhythms for this gore-a-palooza.
A bit of sound design tweaks that are likely to come might enhance the final product, but this version of “In a Violent Nature Part 2” is clearly done enough to guess how people will respond to it. While no one wants a sequel that just retreads the first film, making this one gorier and more traditional was a surprising choice. Nash and Wilson are clearly talented enough to keep this going for years, but I truly hope they don’t just try to get more vomit-inducing with each installment. My stomach can’t take it.
Two other films premiered in Austin over the weekend, independent films that made their way to Texas to play alongside more highly-buzzed flicks like “Primetime,” “Wild Horse Nine,” and “Resident Evil.” One of them came courtesy of a movie-making family that I truly adore. Known as the Adams Family, this collective of related geniuses have been honing their craft for years, delivering standouts like “The Deeper You Dig,” “Hellbender,” “Mother of Flies,” and more. They do almost everything on set, including writing, directing, starring, and scoring. And their ambition seems to be growing with each project. Their latest, “The Glorious Dead,” may not be my favorite of theirs, but it’s undeniably one of their most ambitious.
“The Glorious Dead” falls into a category of horror of the 2020s that could be called Unexpected Chaos. Many of these films were inspired by COVID, a world event that turned everything upside down. From the forced confinement of something like “The Last House” to the science vs. religion debates of the upcoming “A Prayer Before Dying,” horror creators are clearly repurposing the anxiety and distrust that took new shape in the wake of the pandemic.
Into this subgenre drops a story about an ordinary day when the impossible happened to Sheriff Deb (Toby Poser) and her community. In this snow-covered burgh, Deb and her deputy Mikey (Zelda Adams) keep getting reports of the impossible. There’s the blood coming out of the faucets, the holes appearing in backyards that look like piles of meat and even disappearing (and reappearing from the dead) residents. “The Glorious Dead” takes a micro approach to the end of the world. What would it look like in a town where everyone knows each other’s name when the gates of Hell opened up?
“The Glorious Dead” is one of the strangest movies that the Adams clan has yet made, from its jerky editing to its creatures in the woods who look like they’re made of the skin from human faces. There are times when it doesn’t cast a spell as much as feel like a curiosity, and some of the themes regarding how the town responds with violence feel rushed or underdeveloped, but the core of the movie is strong: An ordinary woman being confronted by the extraordinary. Who can’t relate to the idea that something out there in the heartland just isn’t right? And even if it’s not top-tier Adams, that’s mostly just because of how strong their output has been to date.
Finally, there’s the frustrating “Godmother,” a movie with some interesting ideas that just haven’t been wed to the right tone, craft, or even consistency of vision. It’s a movie that never quite figured out what story it wanted to tell, pulling a twist halfway through that works well enough, but then never figuring out how to build on that to an engaging climax. The final scenes are remarkably clunky as the movie races to an unengaging conclusion. Fantastic Fest is a wonderful opportunity to find new voices in the genre, but that means that you’re also guaranteed to hear a few that are just out of tune.
John Vernon’s debut unfolds in the New Mexico desert at a lavish AirBnB owned by the Martinsons (Dee Wallace and Bruce Davison). They welcome Colby (Cameron Cuffe), his girlfriend Theo (Paige Evans), and her sister Katie (movie MVP Riley Dandy). The third wheel wasn’t a part of Colby’s plan to propose to Theo this weekend, but the bigger problem may be the oddball Martinsons, who seem to be lurking around the property to an unhealthy degree.
What starts out feeling like a “Barbarian” riff becomes something very different after the twist, but Vernon never quite has a confident grip on the story he’s trying to tell. Influences like “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Omen” are notable, but the craft just isn’t as strong as it needs to be to make those comparisons beneficial. A movie that tells as strange as a story as “Godmother” needs to be moody, but too much of this project lacks nuance and tone. It’s a blunt instrument with only one real important lesson to take away: Never trust anyone who loves Yacht Rock.
- NBC’s “Line of Fire” Puts a Family of Law Enforcement in Each Other’s Crosshairs (September 21, 2026)
Nothing sets up the new NBC/Peacock series “Line of Fire” better than the tagline, Every Case Hits Home. Except, of course, for one quote from the first episode: “a family full of people who will stop at nothing to protect literal strangers but are unable to stop hurting each other.”
From creator Joshua Safran, known for “Quantico” and “Gossip Girl,” and executive producers Jenna Bush Hager and Ben Spector, “Line of Fire” draws on work and life experiences both on screen and behind the scenes. With shows like “Blue Bloods” and “Matlock” already serving up the hard knocks and winking humor of working alongside family, it took some clever genre blending to create a new series that feels both familiar and fresh. But they’ve done it.
The Hollingsworth Family has law enforcement in their DNA: The matriarch, Jane (Hope Davis), is a high-ranking U.S. Marshal, while the patriarch, Mike (Peter Krause), is retiring from the Secret Service. Meanwhile, their eldest daughter, Clare (Kat Cunning), is a sharp-eyed FBI agent, and the middle son, Mike Jr. (Tommy O’Brien), serves as a rule-breaking Secret Service agent like his dad. Then there’s the youngest son and family fixer, Russ (Taylor Bloom), who’s trying to forge his own path at the DOJ.
That’s right—the firstborn is missing from the roll call. We can’t reveal anything about him, but let’s just say Charlie Barnett is the mystery character to blame.
The Hollingsworths are the best at their jobs. They see things no one else does, and they get personal in ways no one should. But this isn’t a typical case-of-the-week procedural where the crimes set the stage for the dysfunction. Nope, the Hollingsworths are the central mystery, and solving the case will either bring them together or crack open the fissures in their relationships. They’re dealing with a serial killer wrapped up in a conspiracy that spans civilian lives and political intrigue, and enough family bickering to make audiences grin while the family members suffer through it.
Breaking protocol? Check. Hiding the silver origami cranes that keep popping up at crime scenes? Check. Messy love lives? Oh yes. Family gatherings that play out like comedies of manners and wars of words? Another yes. While watching, you must pay attention to even the most innocuous bits of conversation. Everything matters, and for the super sleuths out there, the clues keep piling up, allowing us to play along at home.
Another character who brings the procedural elements into sharp focus is Antoinette Crowe-Legacy as Homeland Security Agent Nia Wallace. With her eye for detail and instincts, she could be a Hollingsworth. After two episodes, I’m hoping their survival will depend on working together.
The cast list is another clue that these actors deliver. It’s easy to believe they are family. The banter and bickering are snappy, and the tactile performances make it hard to tell who to love and who to dropkick. Arrogance is a Hollingsworth family trait, but when it’s paired with their genuine love for justice and each other, it makes the thrills and drama even more enthralling.
The parents have relationship drama. The kids have classic mommy/daddy issues. The sons are trying to shake their dad off their backs, and the daughter is dealing with a mother she doesn’t think respects her. Silly girl.
Then there are the supporting characters, who hold as much interest as the leading family. Interestingly, we see Hager’s influence when we meet the First Daughter of the United States and get a peek into her daily dilemmas. Cheers, too, to the creatives who made the President’s daughter (Savannah Lee Smith’s Sydney) a senior at Howard University, highlighting that storied DC institution that’s close to my heart.
“Line of Fire” is a multigenerational family drama, a procedural, and a law enforcement thriller all in one. Honestly, that sounds like an extended family dinner, fraught with secrets, resentment, and competition, but with an infusion of high-stakes crime. Paired with incisive, witty insights into family dynamics, the mysteries are sharp as blades and prickly as barbed wire. I cannot wait to see how this family gets tangled up, bruised, and bloodied, but hopefully takes more wins than losses this season. It’ll be watchworthy either way.
First two episodes screened for review. “Line of Fire” premieres tonight, September 21 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and streams the next day on Peacock.
- TIFF 2026: Arrested Memory, Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney, Vintage Violence (September 21, 2026)
The Midnight Madness section at TIFF has a reputation for its histrionics and crowd-pleasing thrills, but it’s also a programming block that stealthily introduces delightful eccentricities off the beaten path. I love projects like “River,” “The Furious,” and “The Shadow Strays,” but they don’t even scratch the surface of the kind of weird that has graced the screens at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. There is a kind of iconoclastic spirit, a willingness to experiment with form and center unconventional characters that unites the outcasts under the same, comforting cinematic sky.
This dispatch features three films that play with the fluidity of memory, their unhinged visions no doubt bolstered by the fact that I caught most well after 12:15 AM.
Writer-director SABU’s “Arrested Memory,” which premiered first at Venice, may be steeped in the aesthetics and pastiche of neo-noir revenge thrillers, but make no mistake: this film is probably the silliest of the bunch. It is refreshing to see a project with performers so committed to physical comedy, and even though SABU keeps the film regulated squarely to the confines of entertainment, he finds ways to interrogate our easy willingness to uncritically listen to law enforcement figures.
I’ve become more weary of films that mine humor from cops’ incompetence and inadequacy, if only because we see the tangible, harmful effects of that negligence ripple through the country in real time. SABU’s film focuses on a famed Detective named Lee (Ethan Juan) and avoids this uncomfortable trap by keeping the realities of his abilities and strengths front and center.
Once Lee learns of a diagnosis that he’ll experience extreme memory loss, not too long after, he feels the effects in real time. He’s assigned to a new case to help bring back the son of a Japanese business tycoon, but he quickly forgets his place in the case or what he is supposed to do, resulting in him running away from his fellow police officers and the kidnappers alike. It escalates when he unknowingly goes on the run with the ransom money, causing his colleagues to believe he has defected.
Lee may have lost his mind, but he remains a top-tier brawler, and SABU uses this to explore thorny questions about what happens when unchecked power loses its supposed “moral” center. In his paranoia, the detective begins to fight back against friend and foe alike, liberated from the accountability that would normally keep him in check. The more you think about it, the more terrifying a character like Lee is, even though SABU keeps the film clipped at such a pace that it’s hard to fully reflect. The film is all tight, up-close camera angles so we can see Lee’s tortured expressions, interspersed with wider shots that frame how small Lee’s frame is against the backdrop of all that tears him asunder.
SABU’s film works best when it embraces its slapstick tone, and is less effective when it tries to make the audience lament its character’s memory loss. Plenty of films released this year focus on the destabilizing effects of losing one’s mental faculties, and “Arrested Memory” suffers when it tries to be both humorous and somber. SABU clearly put in the work to explore how a person in power who loses memory could lead to disastrous results; a gag involving a cell phone call is among the film’s funniest beats, yet it never overstays its welcome, even when it drags on. These scenes have an inventiveness that the film lacks when it tries to explore the reality of memory loss more straightforwardly. Like his protagonist, SABU should have felt free to forget certain trappings and embraced the freedom of spontaneity.
Speaking of inventiveness, with “Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney,” director Matthew Rankin (director of last year’s stunner, “Universal Language”) takes the documentary genre and has it snort several lines of cocaine. It’s a film that is difficult to write about, in that trying to distill the experience of viewing is antithetical to the expansive, slippery nature of the film itself, but it’s a trippy joy ride through Canadian history and politics, delivered by a voice that knows history is rarely linear and always filled with tangents. There is something galvanizing about seeing a director take archival footage and blend it into a psychedelic smoothie that must be tasted in order to be believed.
Some context for courtesy (more than you’ll get from Rankin, who gleefully throws his viewers into the michegoss without even the courtesy of an opening crawl): Mulroney is the 18th-century Prime Minister of Canada, and the film charts his initial failed bid for the Conservative Party leadership in 1976 to his landslide victory in 1984.
What happens in between, though, is where Rankin flexes his creative chops, transforming the political speeches and debates into the spasmodic stuff of legend. Take a sequence where Mulroney takes part in a televised debate against Prime Minister John Turner. As Mulroney fires back at Turner, Turner’s figure glitches and scatters, as if Mulroney’s words are literally cutting him down. It’s one of the many ways Rankin remixes archival footage to not just tell a story as it happens but to present the feeling of what it must have been like to experience them in person.
“My enemies keep saying I can’t do things, then I go out and do it,” Mulroney says via voiceover in the film. I cannot claim to know the contours of Rankin’s opps, but that same defiant spirit can be said of Rankin, who will not rest with telling history in a way that’s sanded down. More often than not, it feels like the way stories are told is shrinking as much as the types of stories we get to see are dwindling.
It’s tough to say that the approach Rankin lands here, with its inaccessibility for those who are not aware of Canadian politics and its all-too-fast editing, is the way all documentaries move forward, but there’s a delight in its novelty. You may not walk away understanding this film, but you certainly will not forget it. As Rankin’s film shows, may we all take more care to think about how we discuss the stories that shape us.
Also keeping the screen quite busy is director Eugene Kotlyarenko’s “Vintage Violence,” which, like his other projects, seems first and foremost preoccupied with how many smaller things he can fit in the frame at once. It has its own cheeky sense of humor and relies so much on Japanese puns that it wouldn’t be unfair to call it “Naked Gun” coded. But ultimately, its performers lovingly embody and ground the project amid its wild swings. As much as this wacky, lo-fi caper can feel a bit too busy for its own good, there’s something comforting about being taken for a ride by someone who knows exactly where he wants to go.
Then again, anyone who has taken a passing glance at Eugene Kotlyarenko’s anachronistic work knows the chaos that they’re getting into. Kotlyarenko sets the crosshairs of his long fascination with new media and algorithms against influencers and their platforms with “Vintage Violence.” Carter (Cole Sprouse) is a streamer who discovers a pile of old-school jeans and is convinced by a follower of his streams, Izumi (Kiko Mizuhara), to come to Japan to sell them.
Carter, believing Izumi’s business proposition is coded language for her interest in him, packs the denim in hopes of romance, unaware that the already-cuffed Izumi plans to work with her boyfriend, Hiro (Nijiro Murakami), to steal the denim. Hiro owes a debt to a crime boss, but the rules of atonement get muddled when the boss catches wind of Carter’s score and wants to seize it for himself.
There’s a lot of bloodshed and death for a movie that is really just about designer pantswear, and if you think about it too hard, the film feels like it can be too irreverent to be worth seriously considering. It’s a film that feels primed for our doomscroll era, as Kotlyarenko rarely presents any scene as it is: if characters are calling, he’ll show their split screens in the frame; if Carter is live streaming, we see not only him from the perspective of the film camera but the same scene from his phone camera.
This isn’t a film that waits for you to catch up; just when you think you have modulated to its wavelength, it introduces another character or wacky element that destabilizes you again. In that regard, it’s worth the trip, if only to test your resolve about how many times you can reinvest in the same movie. In a world of projects that can be punishingly banal because they’re straightforward, here’s a vision from Kotlyarenko that never ceases to be transfixing.
- Official US Trailer for 'La Gradiva' - French Students Traveling in Italy (September 22, 2026)
"There's this sense of intoxication, a mystical feeling, excitement." 1-2 Special has revealed the official US trailer for the acclaimed indie film titled La Gradiva, a French film about high school students traveling on a school trip to Southern Italy to learn about Pompeii & Mt Vesuvius. This premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival in the Critics Week sidebar, but many critics said it's good enough that it should've been in the fest's Main Competition instead. It is a major breakout from the indie film scene this year. A group of high school students sets off on a school trip to discover the ruins of Pompeii. There they are seized by a sense of vertigo. They allow themselves to be overwhelmed by desire and anger, until they surrender completely. Starring Antonia Buresi, Colas Quignard, Suzanne Gerin, & Mitia Capellier-Audat. Winner of the Cannes Critics' Week Grand Prize, Martine Atlan's "revelatory debut feature imbues the coming-of-age story with a sense of mythic grandeur in this work of classical beauty and overwhelming emotion. Working as her own co-cinematographer, Atlan captures the dizzying contradictions of youth with an almost documentary-like precision." All the critics are raving about this being one of the best films from 2026! Take a look below. // Continue Reading ›
- Vehicular Action Movie 'The Beast' Full Trailer w/ Jackson & Kinnaman (September 22, 2026)
"You are heading into hostile terrain!" This looks ridiculously fun! 🇺🇸 Aura Entertainment has launched the main official trailer for The Beast, a totally bonkers action thriller movie coming up this year. Yet another entry in the "president under attack" subgenre including movies like White House Down and Air Force One. In this one, it's about him being stuck inside the highly armored & weaponized SUV the President gets called "The Beast". From director Renny Harlin (who also made this year's Deep Water shark movie) comes this new action comedy. When a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup against the US, the president himself is forced to drive the presidential limousine & unlock the full extent of The Beast's highly classified capabilities to save his injured agent, reunite with his wife, and maybe save the world. Let 'em roll! Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Joel Kinnaman, Colin Morgan, & Guy Burnet. This is a very funny trailer with endless jokes. The teaser was also hilarious, but this trailer takes the cake! Looks like good times dumb fun. // Continue Reading ›
- Adam Driver & Miles Teller Are Brothers in 'Paper Tiger' Official Trailer (September 22, 2026)
"People cannot take advantage of us." Neon has unveiled the full official trailer for the film Paper Tiger, the newest NYC film created and written and directed by filmmaker James Gray (We Own the Night, Ad Astra, Armageddon Time). This thriller originally premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival playing in the Main Competition, though reviews were quite mixed (here's mine). The story follows two brothers who pursue a lucrative business opportunity in 1980s Queens (involving the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn), only to find themselves caught up in a dangerous scheme involving the Russian mafia, which ends up terrorizing their suburban family and puts their own sibling bond to the test. Adam Driver stars as Gary Pearl, the older brother and a former cop, now a fixer around the city. Miles Teller co-stars as Irwin, his younger brother. His wife Hester is played by Scarlett Johansson, with Gavin Goudey & Roman Engel as their sons. Also featuring Victor Ptak as Simeon Bogoyavich, an intimidating Russian mob boss who's involved. Neon is dropping this into theaters in November with a homecoming premiere at NYFF. Good film! Not one of the best films of the year, but a solid thriller with a superb Adam Driver performance that's worth a look. // Continue Reading ›
- First Trailer for 'R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead 2' Horror Sequel from Tubi (September 22, 2026)
"I can end the curse... the magic is strongest on the Harvest Moon." Tubi has revealed the official trailer for their upcoming sequel R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead 2, ready for release this October as one of their 2026 "Terror on Tubi" Halloween horror season offerings. This is a direct sequel and follow-up to last year's hit horror comedy film R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead made for kids to watch (it's actually pretty dang good). When a new Pumpkinhead curse awakens in Redhaven, Sam & Becka must stop it before it claims the entire town. Writer & director Jem Garrard is back again, featuring horror icon Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson playing a witch named Cassandra, who may be key to stopping the curse. The cast includes Bean Reid, Adeline Lo, Matty Finochio, Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez, Bob Frazer, Seth Isaac Johnson, Kendra Anderson. As cheesy as these movies are, they're some of the only good new horror movies made for kids that are also clever and scary enough to be entertaining. Way better than Five Nights at Freddy's. Have fun. // Continue Reading ›
- A Behind-the-Scenes Look at 'Hook' - Trailer for New Making Of Doc (September 22, 2026)
"To rescue his children, an adult Peter Pan must return to Neverland and battle an old enemy... in order to rediscover the child in himself." Let me just say it - this is one of my all-time favorites. I love it. I grew up with it. Critics are wrong, Hook is a amazing! Sony Pictures is preparing to release the new 4K Steelbook Collector's Edition of the 1991 movie (order it here), and included in here is a brand-new documentary about the making of this iconic Spielberg classic. "Relive the magic of Robin Williams as Peter Pan with an all-new hour-long documentary featuring never-before-seen footage from the making of Steven Spielberg's Hook." Apparently they had a documentary crew filming the filming of the movie back in 1990, but the doc about it was never released in full? Now they've finished it and it's included as a special feature in the 4K Steelbook. Hook stars Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, Robin Williams as Peter Pan, Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell, Bob Hoskins as Smee, Maggie Smith as Wendy, and Charlie Korsmo as Jack. Pre-order the Hook 4K today to revisit this family classic & go behind the scenes like never before! The clip of Robin Williams (miss him) talking about keeping joy & imagination glowing is what I love the most about this film. // Continue Reading ›
