- Michael Sheen and David Tennant’s Emotional Connection Grounds a Bittersweet “Good Omens” Finale (May 11, 2026)
Put plainly, it’s a wonder that the “Good Omens” finale even exists. In the wake of a series of sexual misconduct and assault allegations against creator Neil Gaiman, production on the series’s third season was paused indefinitely. Although Gaiman has repeatedly denied the claims, it certainly felt like the Prime Video comedy about the unorthodox love story between an angel and a demon—as well as the human world they both adore—would likely find itself in the proverbial bin alongside several other shelved and/or canceled projects connected to the disgraced author (See also: “Anansi Boys,” “The Graveyard Book,” and “Dead Boy Detectives”).
But the Ineffable Plan works in mysterious ways. Gaiman ultimately stepped back from the project, and production resumed, although the third and final season, originally slated to run for a full six episodes, was downgraded to a single feature-length installment. If behind-the-scenes internet scuttlebutt is to be believed, the whole thing came within a hairsbreadth of being canceled entirely, so perhaps the best thing that “The Finale” has going for it is that it offers fans a closure they almost didn’t receive otherwise.
The show’s first season was based entirely on “Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch,” the best-selling novel by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, and revolved around, among other things, the forbidden partnership between fussy angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and caustic demon Crowley (David Tennant), an Anti-Christ who was switched at birth, and a thwarted apocalypse. Its second installment moved the story beyond the borders of the novel toward the world of a potential sequel that Gaiman and Pratchett had apparently discussed several times before the latter’s passing in 2015. This finale gives us that conclusion, if in a somewhat unfortunately truncated fashion.
The episode’s story picks up several years after the dramatic events that closed the series’ second season. Azirphale, now Supreme Archangel in Heaven, is organizing the plan for the Second Coming, which involves a monstrously long angelic to-do list and a not-so-subtle push to shift the event away from fire-and-brimstone eternal judgment toward a more universal peace, light, and happiness kind of vibe. Crowley, for his part, has remained in London. Retired from life as a demon, he’s drinking too much and sleeping rough in an alley behind the bookshop where Aziraphale once lived.
But things quickly go off the rails when Jesus (Bilal Hasna), newly given a physical body in preparation for his return in glory to Earth, disappears from Heaven in search of help figuring out what precisely it is that he’s meant to do. And if that weren’t bad enough in terms of Aziraphale’s likely future job security, the Book of Life—a register of reality into which all creation has been entered and through which it can be erased —has also vanished.
Unsurprisingly, Aziraphale turns to Crowley for help tracking the Son of God down, and the two once again find themselves on a quest to forestall the end of the world. But the pair’s problems go well beyond the divine. One of the key subplots heading into this finale centers on whether the two can rebuild their damaged relationship following the Season 2 cliffhanger, which saw the celestial soulmates finally kiss, only to separate when Aziraphale chose to return to Heaven rather than remain on Earth with Crowley.
While the pair’s onscreen reunion takes some time to materialize, the episode smartly doesn’t gloss over the lingering tension between them or invalidate their differing perspectives on the choices each made. It also doesn’t hurt that Tennant and Sheen have never been better together, and the otherworldly chemistry between them sparkles as brightly as it ever has, now sweetened with an extra dollop of overt yearning on top.
It’s evident throughout the final episode’s brisk ninety-six-minute runtime that there was supposed to be considerably more to this story. What feels like entire arcs are condensed into the span of mere scenes, and much of the series’ larger cast has little to do. (Some who played key roles in the previous season, like Jon Hamm’s Gabriel, Miranda Richardson’s Shax, Nina Soysaya’s Nina, and Maggie Service’s Maggie, simply don’t appear at all.) Even some of the show’s trademark celestial silliness lands more clunkily than it likely would have otherwise (a scene involving Sheen in an elaborate disguise feels especially painful) if only because it’s hard not to wonder if the time spent on these sorts of moments might have been put to better use elsewhere.
Yet it’s equally obvious that this final product is a labor of love for everyone involved. Tennant and Sheen tear into the emotional material they’re given with gusto as Aziraphale and Crowley face fraught moments, difficult conversations, and impossible choices. (Sheen, in particular, is outstanding throughout, conveying multitudes through little more than soft smiles and facial expressions.)
Director Rachel Talalay, who has helmed some of “Doctor Who“‘s best modern episodes, brings a distinctive style to the finale, particularly her vision of the run-down state of Whickber Street following years of Aziraphale’s absence and the bookshop that once served as its heart. Talalay is also clearly aware of what she’s got in her pair of leads and firmly positions Aziraphale and Crowley at the heart of everything, with lots of lingering close-ups of Sheen and Tennant emoting at one another.
While the limited scope and frequently rushed feel of “The Finale” is not likely the way anyone wanted to see the series’ final arc play out, “Good Omens” ultimately ends as it always was: A love story. It is imperfect, to be sure. But despite its flaws, this final installment still holds firm to the idea that love, in all its forms, is a radical act. Perhaps now more than ever, that’s still something worth celebrating.
Premieres May 13 on Prime Video.
- A Fond Farewell to Our Critic Monica Castillo (May 11, 2026)
For over a decade, Monica Castillo has been a treasured contributor to our site. We are thrilled that she has been named the new film critic for The AV Club, and would like to honor all she has published at RogerEbert.com with a fitting retrospective. Her career as a critic and programmer has spanned 15 years, with her work featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Vulture, and many others.
In her Meet the Writers interview, she spoke beautifully about how her mother sparked her love of cinema. “She grew up with movies from around the world in Cuba,” Castillo said. “Since most citizens were never allowed to leave the island, sometimes movies were their only way to see France, Italy, Japan, or Russia. […] She introduced me to Turner Classic Movies because she loves the opulence of the Golden Era of Hollywood. Elvis movies and Christmas albums were never in short supply as he was her first American crush. Occasionally, bootleg Cuban movies or taped stand-up specials of Cuban comedians would make their way up from Miami. More than any one critic or textbook, she taught me how to watch and try to appreciate everything and how to talk about movies after watching them.”
In addition to Castillo’s extraordinary writing sampled below, she has penned festival coverage for our site from Sundance, SXSW, Telluride, Toronto, True/False, New York, Key West, Miami, Restored and Rediscovered, and the Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano festivals. The excerpts that follow are split into three categories: film reviews, interviews, and features. Click on each article title, and you will be directed to the full piece.
I. REVIEWS
“Crazy Rich Asians“
The camera gets close enough to the steaming pots and flamelicked meats to make a mouth water. Those scenes also serve a deeper purpose: they tie together the importance of food, culture and relationships around a dinner table. One dumpling-making sequence doubles as commentary on tradition and how families share it with younger generations.
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?“
The range in McCarthy’s performance cannot be overstated. At almost every turn, her character gives the audience plenty of reason not to like her. Yet, with Heller’s sympathetic approach and McCarthy’s acting, the movie humanizes her beyond caricature.
“What They Had“
Although the film takes place mostly in the home, “What They Had” avoids the claustrophobic feeling of a stage play. Characters storm off after an argument or go to Christmas mass, but the home is not a space where everyone is forced together under artificial circumstances. There’s an understanding that sometimes to think clearly about a problem, you have to step away from it.
“Shirkers“
The fragments of the teenagers’ original project are like remnants of a broken vase in the hands of director Sandi Tan, who originally wrote and starred in the group’s movie. She holds up the snippets of 16mm film and her memories of that time to the light, and you can see what it once was, the potential it had and the man who took it away from Tan and her friends.
“Jinn“
There’s great empathy in Renee’s performance, even if Summer causes many of her own problems. Renee handles her character’s complexities with ease, and it’s not just enjoyable to follow Summer in her personal journey, those teenage insecurities are made tenderly relatable.
“Paddleton“
There’s a bittersweet feeling in the last few scenes of the movie as Mike and Andy are finally telling each other things they should have said before. We might not know when relationships will end or when loved ones will leave us, and “Paddleton” so gently reminds us that we’re always running out of time to see each other, talk to each other and quote our favorite movies to each other.
“Us“
Their doppelgängers may look like them and be tied to them in some way, but their lives are inverses of each other, and their existence has been one of limits and misery. It’s one of the most poignant analogies of class in America to come out in a studio film in recent memory.
“Working Woman“
The most haunting shot of “Working Woman” happens in a hotel room, in one long take where Benny closes in on Orna. The camera moves backward, distancing the viewer from the violence, in the way some of our minds “check out” or remove themselves from our bodies in the moment of panic.
“Slut in a Good Way“
When problems mount between the two sides, the girls start a sex strike as a fundraiser like “Lysistrata” by way of “Clerks.”. The film’s sharp critique of double standards never feels like sermonizing, the teenagers’ observations about their situations feel organic, like stray musings traded over smuggled booze in the park.
“The Souvenir“
I heard grumblings about its main character, Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne), and the frustrations some felt with her decision to stay in a clearly toxic relationship. For me, “The Souvenir” is perhaps the most empathetic movie to capture that kind of bad romance, the way it seeps into every aspect of your life, the way it changes your behavior, how you hold onto the memories of good times when things get rough and how after it ends, you’re a changed person.
“Booksmart“
“Don’t make the same mistake I made,” warns the teens’ favorite teacher, Miss Fine (Jessica Williams), and that statement feels like a warning for the audience, too. Focusing so much on work and success has pushed generations of women to burn out. Perhaps “Booksmart” is trying to teach the next graduating class that there’s nothing wrong with balancing all that hard work with some party time.
“The Chambermaid“
Cartol gives an incredibly nuanced performance as Eve. It’s thrilling yet painful to watch her pent up so much quiet frustration in her eyes. Like waiting for an unsteady stack of Jenga tiles, you don’t know when her emotions are going to come crashing down, but they most assuredly will—they must.
“Honeyland“
Most of the lighting in the documentary is just the sun or a candle, the camera’s jagged movements are the cinematographers adapting to their hilly surroundings to get that perfect shot. The directors get out of the way of the story and let nature take its course between the two factions. “Honeyland” is both an immersive experience and an undeniably gorgeous reflection on our relationship to nature.
“Love, Antosha“
All the time audiences were falling in love with his deeply felt performances, he was fighting Cystic Fibrosis, an inherited disease that attacks the lungs and shortens the lifespans of its sufferers. The documentary reveals his battle as a testament to his perseverance. He loved his craft so much, that he never let something as grave as a deadly disorder take him away from the set once he committed to a project.
“The Cave“
It’s quite probable that “The Cave” may leave you feeling helpless after watching it. It’s a feeling shared by many of those living it then and now. Beyond the human need to hear and see these stories, it’s a beautifully shot documentary that’s as stunning as the images are harrowing. In a sea of so much tragedy, it’s a marvel to stop and consider each individual’s experience fighting the tide.
“Atlantics“
In watching so many films in a given week, month, or year, it’s rare to find one that sustains its thrills throughout its runtime, matches its gorgeous imagery with a compelling story, and defies easy categorization. Matt Diop’s haunting narrative feature debut “Atlantics” is one such movie. It’s unlike few other movies you’ll see this year or possibly this decade.
“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood“
While not exactly the spitting image of Mr. Rogers, Hanks convincingly imitates the mannerisms of the former minister-turned-childhood staple. He slows his speech to get Rogers’ soothing cadence, gives hugs and holds hands almost too freely, and walks with a vulnerability that reminds us that he’s not just playing a character on a TV show but a person with his own fears and pain.
“Vitalina Varela“
Most—if not all—of the shots in the film are static, composed to an extraordinary degree of rigor. This will either capture your attention for the next two hours or frustrate you. Should you surrender yourself to the film’s beautiful cinematography and whispered musings, you’ll find a breathtakingly gorgeous movie about love, death and immigration.
“Bacurau“
“Bacurau” never wastes a chance to leave a mark on its audience. Whether the camera is taking in the beautiful steppes of the area or witnessing a battle of the wills between Braga and Kier, the viewer is always meant to be entertained and thinking. The movie is potent with rage from end-to-end.
“Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy“
Watching “Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy” made me appreciate that someone was taking authenticity seriously long before our current conversation. It also made me resent the number of times I’ve seen my family’s traditional dishes botched or appropriated, like Bon Appetit’s approximation of a Cuban mojo sauce that adds in jalapeños, an imported pepper to the island that would completely change the flavor.
“Welcome to Chechnya“
France uses “deepfake” technology to overlay their faces with that of volunteers’, obscuring their identifiable features and allowing the filmmaker to show their side of the story: the heartbreak, agony, loneliness, fear and uncertainty of fleeing your homeland for your life.
“Cuties“
There’s a recurring motif of Amy transfixed by the dress she’s supposed to wear for her father’s wedding, and different things happen to it that correspond to what she’s going through. It’s likely not a mistake that the turquoise color of the dress echoes some of the colors around the apartment, tying together the threads of culture and home into one.
“Softie“
As the stakes rise over the news of candidates and election officials who have disappeared or found dead, “Softie” turns into a tense political thriller, gripping its audience’s attention as the events lead to the inevitable election day showdown.
“Identifying Features“
It is a striking movie that boldly confronts both uncaring governments on either side of the border and the cartels that have warped these areas into the stuff of nightmares, while also mourning the human cost of losing a loved one to uncertainty and the ones who will never make it home again.
“Test Pattern“
Without directly addressing their racial differences as a duller script may have done, Ford works it into story flawlessly, trusting actors Hall and Brill to embody their characters’ unspoken tensions.
“Shiva Baby“
Seligman’s masterful approach would have not been nearly as effective were it not for Sennott’s exquisitely exasperated performance. She strikes the perfect tone of feeling annoyed by her parents and mortified by the situation of getting stuck with her ex and sugar daddy. Every piercing stare, facial muscle twitch, and heightened voice conveys her outrage hidden behind her feigned smile.
“Exterminate All the Brutes“
Raoul Peck picks and pulls at every connecting fiber throughout history, finding several lines through the ages of how hateful dogma begat public policy, systemic murder, and cultural genocide. If you finish “Exterminate All the Brutes” without re-examining the hundreds of hours spent in history classes, then you didn’t pay attention to Peck’s lesson.
“First Date“
“First Date” feels like a throwback caper to something you’d find on cable, funny yet full of action with a generous helping of a timeless romance for good measure. It’s the kind of movie you come across and have to see how it ends.
“At the Ready“
It’s a pipeline not unlike that of the military or a gang, starting with engaging kids’ interests, before they’re old enough to vote or drink, with the promise of work and a decent pay-off. That concept is scarier than watching teenagers bob and weave around their school practicing how to confront an armed suspect, and just as jarring.
“The Power of the Dog“
Backstory is filled in quickly and briefly in dialogue, if it’s ever filled in at all. There are no flashbacks, just a few scenes of characters sharing their past with each other. Campion and her cinematographer Ari Wegner write whole character studies in their close-ups. From this perspective, we get a sense of what the cast may never verbalize.
“C’mon C’mon“
Through its questions, posed both by an adult on the job and a curious child, and gentle pacing, the movie can tap into our own memories of when we were once lost in a store or scared something was happening to our families that we didn’t yet fully understand.
“One Fine Morning“
The scenarios of Hansen-Løve’s films can feel rarified and unique at first glance, yet they are painfully relatable on some level. They may be devoid of melodramatic showdowns, but there’s a quiet ferocity to them in the way they so deftly address our daily pain, insecurity, and loneliness, still resonating with us long after the movie’s over.
“The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic“
As a trained actor with a camera on him throughout the entirety of the film, Poikolainen shoulders the task with a stoic grace and a sardonic wit. He brings his character to life, emotionally and physically, summoning the determination Jaakko needs to get to Sirpa but also the charm to flirt with her, crack wise about his nurse, lie to his dad, and make fun of his robber’s taste in music.
“Return to Seoul“
As far as complicated characters go, Freddie is an impressive mix of conflicting emotions: angry, lonely, selfish, and resentful. But in her occasional vulnerable moments, there’s a sense of a wounded tenderness, like a bruise that has never quite healed up and will always be a source of pain.
“Judy Blume Forever“
“Judy Blume Forever” is more than just about the writer herself. It’s also about the social changes in this country, the gender barriers Blume broke through with her books, her struggle to be taken seriously as a professional when others sneered at her kid-friendly literature, and her ongoing fight against conservative efforts to ban books from young readers.
“Polite Society“
Nida Manzoor’s riotously funny and action-packed film “Polite Society” is a bold feature debut that defies categorization. At its core, it’s about the power of supportive sisters, but it goes on to critique the limitations of cultural, generational, and gendered expectations all between well-choreographed high kicks and punches.
“The Starling Girl“
“The Starling Girl” is so effective because it feels so specific to the character Parmet creates but remains accessible to people who haven’t shared her experience. The film is rich in detail, both in the sense of what it’s like growing up in a very religious community and what teenage rebellion looks like when just acting like an individual is enough to earn a stern talking to from an elder.
“Past Lives“
During their long-delayed reunion, the pair move seamlessly from basking in the glow of magic hour on Brooklyn’s waterfront to sunny trips on the ferry to street-lit walks in the East Village. It’s a playful comparison to the movie’s earlier setting in Seoul, where, as children, Hae Sung and Na Young took hilly routes home and play among modern sculptures in a park. No matter where they meet, the camera creates a sense of their connection, of the feeling that nothing else around them matters as much as this moment.
“Blue Jean“
Her much more feminine coworker and sister wear shades of pink with ease, but Jean is off in her blue world and its blue hues. The two colors contrast, yet Victor Seguin’s cinematography incorporates them flawlessly into a dreamlike vision shot on 16mm. Jean’s story may be heartbreaking, but Oakley and her crew’s technical work is awe-inspiring.
“Bottoms“
“Bottoms” dropkicks John Hughes movies on their ass and lets the girls take charge—not just as pouty wallflowers or broody misfits until someone gives them a makeover. They are the weirdos; they are the nerds. They have every right to fail, be crass, make crude jokes, and shed blood.
“Something You Said Last Night“
Perhaps what’s most is disturbing is how familiar this drama feels: sisters fighting over petty things and trading catty insults to get back at one another, mom’s needling questions and her outsized responses when she gets an answer she doesn’t like, dad looking silently on, a touch hurt and maybe even confused as to why everyone else is screaming loud enough to be heard outside.
“All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt“
Memories will appear one after another from her youngest days to her gray-haired years, non-sequentially, creating a winding road that bobs and weaves through mundane and life-defining moments alike. […] Jackson serves these slices of life portraits as if freshly picked from a tree and slivered into bite-sized servings, the way my grandfather used to cut up limes and hand them to my cousins and me while we piled in front of his old TV.
“The Disappearance of Shere Hite“
When she starts to defend herself, some in the documentary wish she hadn’t fought back against sexist critics, but her righteous anger feels so controlled in comparison to the blatant attacks on her character and her work. In essence, she was slut shamed out of history, and we are forced to reckon with that loss.
“Raging Grace“
In his feature debut, writer and director Paris Zarcilla proves he is a master storyteller. He carefully builds his suspenseful tale with a horror twist layer-by-layer, showing us Joy’s hardships, establishing Grace’s rebellious phase, and immersing us in their problems until what looks like divine intervention arrives that’s almost too good to be true (and it is).
“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell“
Dinh Day Hung’s cinematography is equally measured as An’s direction, like in moments when carefully framing people through doors and windows—almost in a John Ford way—to evoke a sense of belonging and travel. Then there are the faraway shots that make Thien and his problems look small from a distance, looking at the bigger picture from a perspective that Thien cannot see for himself.
“The Animal Kingdom“
The movie is effective in its ability to make us emphasize for the hunted “others” as well as observe how humanity becomes the very thing it fears: monstrous in its attempt to restore law and order. Life is complicated like that, and yet it continues to find a way forward.
“Infested“
For all its skin-crawling, “ew!”-inducing moments, “Infested” delivers the roller coaster thrills of a well-made horror movie. Maybe you dare yourself to watch this movie about something you fear, brace for the twist of venomous spiders that get bigger and feel a sense of relief of surviving that adrenaline rush.
“I Used to Be Funny“
On stage, comedians use their words to make their audience laugh, gasp, or think—sometimes simultaneously. But what happens when a joke is used against a comedian? It’s one of the many thorny ideas Ally Pankiw’s bold feature debut “I Used to Be Funny” wrestles with over the course of its emotional story.
“Queendom“
These scenes can be funny or serious, like when Jenna wraps up her body, head to toe in gold lamé to wander a desolate theme park and halfheartedly ride one of the rundown attractions, or when she emerges out of a cocoon of what looks like saran wrap, gasping for air as it seems she might be in danger of getting stuck in Russia at a time of war.
“The Substance“
“The Substance” may use horror trappings to critique the entertainment business and the multibillion dollar industry cashing in on people’s search for the fountain of youth, but it does so with such panache that it’s still having its share of fun.
“Universal Language“
A certain sense of fluidity moves between the film’s use of tones, cultures, and genres, all “In the name of Friendship,” as the movie declares in its opening moments. In Rankin’s film, whatever absurdity catches your eye, like a walking tinsel-filled Christmas tree or face-swapped characters, it looks and feels like it fits right into his strange new world, and it’s one that I hope to visit again soon.
“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl“
Much of “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” centers on the experiences of the women in the family, swapping gossip, making decisions, or worse, ignoring what they know of the situation. They either perpetuate the violence or put a stop to it, and the movie emphasizes that it’s a choice every one of them must make for themselves.
“Black Bag“
Between the narrative tension between each person, Soderbergh’s fast-tempo editing, and his soft-focus cinematography using wide-angle lenses and rapidly shifting focus within scenes, the movie enhances the feeling of danger even as the characters are just seated around a dining table. It’s like waiting for the bomb to go off without a timer to warn you to brace for impact.
“When Fall is Coming“
Ozon, who wrote and directed “When Fall is Coming,” leaves some air of mystery even when things seem certain, and suspense pops up when you least expect it. Every character must decide which secrets to keep and whom to protect, with only a few seconds to decide, and every line of questioning feels like a fork in the road.
“Sorry, Baby“
Victor’s thoughtful approach also extends to their performance as Agnes and the other characters in her world. Victor brings back the deadpan, offbeat humor that made them a sensation on social media with an introspective side, unafraid to delve into vulnerable, emotional scenes and using humor to mask their character’s pain.
“Peter Hujar’s Day“
Despite the limited setting of Rosenkrantz’s apartment, “Peter Hujar’s Day” is a masterclass in composition, creating movement where there is little and finding an unconventional way to film two people talking. Imagine if “My Dinner With Andre” allowed for the characters to continue talking away from the table.
“Eternity“
The afterlife Freyne envisions is so creative and evolving, you’re learning about its many intricacies just as the characters are navigating it. Yet because of this comically imaginative exploration of life and what it all means, the movie is light-hearted and funny, yet still moving. Why wait for eternity to find paradise? Why take those we love for granted? “Eternity” may as well be a small slice of heaven on earth: a good time at the movies.
II. INTERVIEWS
Amy Seimetz on “The Girlfriend Experience”
“I love acting on other people’s sets, because then I see how they work. I learn how they run their set or tell their story, and I found that really fascinating. That’s what I learned with Joe Swanberg. This is so not how they tell you to make a film at all.”
Sara Colangelo on “The Kindergarten Teacher”
“What I really wanted to do, was anchor it from a woman’s point of view and really use it as an opportunity to talk about art in the United States, really make it an American story.”
Desiree Akhavan on “The Miseducation of Cameron Post”
“What’s interesting about living in a time like this is that you also get to be a part of a rebellion against it. More women are running for office than ever. I think young people are getting politically motivated in a way that they weren’t before. I want to be part of that change.”
Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre on “The Mustang”
“I could see the realness of this man being completely humbled by the horse after being scared and all those different emotions that seem like being packed. It is a lot of body language. There are no words, there’s no judgment. It is just two creatures trying to figure out a way to get along, to build eventual trust and respect. It was beautiful to witness.”
Pablo Larrain and Mariana Di Girolamo on “Ema”
“They’re subtle things that are inside of her. Because she has that mystery, and the movie doesn’t want to express everything so that the audience can determine what do they actually see. And that’s kind of important, because it requires an audience that is active to determine what’s exciting about this at all on their own.”
Carey Mulligan and Bo Burnham on “Promising Young Woman”
“It’s so funny, the tone of the script is obviously like you can’t really be able to pull this off and I don’t really understand how you could pull this off because it’s so disparate, but the tone emanates from Emerald. The tone is Emerald. The tone is being around Emerald. Emerald is dark, funny, sensitive, caring and deep with a huge love of confectionery pop. It’s all there.”
Luis Miranda and John James on “Siempre, Luis”
“When I was in that same university in that same theater, we protested. When you live in a territory, and your destiny is run by someone else, there’s always reasons to protest.”
The Ross Brothers on “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets”
“It’s like so many things, so many conversations that we have. They build up over time. It’s like a pile of notes, and once the pile of notes is high enough to knock over, there’s probably something to do with it.”
Greg Barker on “Sergio”
“Sérgio was a guy who probably saw more war, more human suffering than anybody else of his generation, and he lived in dark times and didn’t always get this right, but he remained empathetic. He remained optimistic throughout and never lost the sense of purpose and idealism that was also mixed with pride. I think we need that now.”
Thelma Schoonmaker on Michael Powell
“[Scorsese] was aware of the fact that you can sometimes see a person who might not be the best kind of person you want someone to be, but you can come to understand him and feel some sympathy for him, which is what you see with Jake LaMotta, for example, in ‘Raging Bull.’ This was something that he felt that Michael Powell also shared an interest in people who were not good or evil, but something in between.”
James Ivory on Merchant Ivory
“The face has to be lit in such a way that it is not attractive. They’re beautiful in a false way, but this character has to come through as it really is. Not every cameraman is interested in doing that. Mine have always been. They knew what I wanted.”
III. FEATURES
Going Home for the First Time: A Return to Cuba
I knew I could never go back to the Cuba my parents left; time and scarcity have seen to that. But I wanted to see what’s left of my roots: my family that has never seen me in person and the one-screen movie theaters I heard so much about growing up. The ones where my mom would see her first Disney movies, Japanese samurai films, French comedies, cheap Italian spy flicks and Soviet period melodramas. They’re all still there.
Women Directors’ Panel at the 2016 Miami International Film Festival
As the only African-American woman director on the panel, Porter said she’s dealt with colleagues thinking her incompetent, despite having moved into filmmaking after a successful law career. “I have people ask me all the time, ‘Could you produce my movie?’” she said, rolling her eyes. “Women of color are two percent of all directors and you want me to use my time to make you a star? No!”
My Favorite Roger: “Star Wars”
What I love most of all about this piece is how honest he is about his experience watching the film. “Star Wars’ had placed me in the presence of really magical movie invention…” We hope for that ecstatic feeling we discovered when we found our love of movies. As critics, it may be hard to keep the faith, week after week of new releases. Then you find a movie like “Star Wars,” and it reinvigorates you. That hopeful quest to find those movies keeps you excited to watch.
Kino Lorber’s Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers Box Set
The collection is perhaps one of the most expansive looks at women’s work in early film history. Heavy hitters like Alice Guy Blaché and Lois Weber each have their own disc brimming with titles most audiences— even silent film aficionados—may have never seen before.
Best films of 2010s: “Roma”
As Cuaron’s personal vision looked to his own past, it also held the seeds of a yet-to-be-determined future, bringing prestige to a streaming platform, and becoming the first Netflix feature to make big waves at the Oscars. If this new world ensures potential modern classics like “Roma” can be produced and easily accessed around the world on any given day, then perhaps there’s something to look forward to in the next era of cinema.
“El Norte” screening
“We see all of these people that we’re trying to keep out of the United States, and actually these are the people that we need in the United States,” said [Dolores] Huerta. “[We need] to remind the United States of America, these are the indigenous people – the North American continent and the South American continent, this is their land, okay? This is their land.”
To find all of Monica’s work published at RogerEbert.com, visit her contributor page.
- Cannes 2026 Video #1: The 79th Cannes Film Festival Begins! (May 10, 2026)
The 2026 Cannes Film Festival starts Tuesday, May 12th, running through May 24th. The Ebert team returns this year with coverage of all of the major films in review and video form. Here’s what to expect, followed by a transcript.
The 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival is just days away, and one of the biggest stories leading up to it is, strangely, about a TV show. The 4th season of HBO’s “The White Lotus” is filming right now in the south of France, with plans to shoot in and around Cannes during the festival. The famous Hotel Martinez is even apparently being rebranded to the White Lotus Cannes Hotel for the duration of filming, and actress Laura Dern was just recently added to the cast. Each season of the series features a murder mystery at a 5-star White Lotus resort in an exotic locale, with many poorly behaved wealthy guests and staff. We’re looking forward to seeing how much of a presence the production has around Cannes during the festival, but, of course, we’re far more interested in the films themselves.
Presenting the awards to those films this year is the jury presided over by Park Chan Wook, director of last year’s international hit “No Other Choice”. Reports came out this week that actor Jacob Elordi was originally slated to serve on the jury but had to bow out due to an injury. But the jury members who have been confirmed include Producer & Actress Demi Moore, Writer/Director Chloe Zhao, Oscar-nominated actor Stellan Skarsgard, Oscar-nominated actress Ruth Negga, screenwriter of two Palme d’Or winning Ken Loach films, Paul Laverty, French actor Isaach De Bankolé, last years winner of the Un Certain Regard section with “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” Chilean director Diego Céspedes, and Belgian writer-director Laura Wandel.
The festival begins May 12th with an opening ceremony featuring an honorary Palme d’Or to be presented to New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson. And the opening-night film, traditionally shown in theaters throughout France on the same day as the ceremony, is the French romantic comedy “La Venus Electrique” by director Pierre Salvadori.
This year’s competition slate features many prominent directors from around the world but only two American directors: Ira Sachs with “The Man I Love,” starring Rami Malek, Rebecca Hall, and Ebon-Moss Bachrach… and, as a late entry, James Gray’s new crime thriller “Paper Tiger,” starring Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, and Miles Teller.
Two previous Palme d’Or-winning directors return to competition: Cristian Mungiu with “Fjord” starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, and Kore-eda Hirokazu with “Sheep in the Box”.
Two World War II-era dramas are in competition, including “Moulin” from director Lazlo Nemes, and Pawel Pawlikowski, winner of the Cannes best director prize in 2018 for “Cold War,” returns with “Fatherland” starring Sandra Huller.
Two prominent directors are making their French-language debuts at Cannes with new films. Iranian director Asghar Farhadi seeks his first Palme this year with “Parallel Tales” starring Vincent Cassel, Isabelle Huppert, and Catherine Deneuve.
And Ryusuke Hamaguchi is in competition with “All of a Sudden.”
There are even a few thrillers in competition to keep us on the edge of our seats. Oscar-winning screenwriter for Anatomy of a Fall, Arthur Harari, directs Lea Seydoux in “The Unknown”. South Korean director Na Hong-jin presents the film “Hope,” which includes Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander in the cast, and Oscar-nominated screenwriter for “Emilia Perez,” Léa Mysius directs “The Birthday Party,” starring Monica Bellucci.
Legendary Spanish director, Pedro Almodovar, brings his special brand of melodrama to Cannes with “Amarga Navidad.”
Out of competition titles include “Diamond,” directed by Andy Garcia and starring Brendan Fraser and Dustin Hoffman; “Her Private Hell,” from director Nicholas Winding Refn, starring Charles Melton and Sophie Thatcher; and the directorial debut from John Travolta, based on his book, “Propeller One-Way Night Coach.”
And director Jane Schoenbrun opens the Un Certain Regard section with her latest film, “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.”
In the Special Screenings section, director Ron Howard showcases his latest documentary about photographer Richard Avedon, and Steven Soderbergh presents his documentary “John Lennon: The Last Interview” with material that was recorded just hours before the musician’s death. Soderbergh has courted controversy by revealing that generative A.I. was used in two sequences of his film to abstractly illustrate some of the audio recordings. We’re interested to see how audiences respond.
One of our favorite parts of the festival is the Cannes Classics section that features documentaries about filmmakers and restored prints of cinema classics. “Life Itself” played in the Cannes Classics section back in 2014, and this year, a documentary about French film critic Michèle Firk will premiere here. The section will also present documentaries about David Lean and Vittorio De Sica along with restored prints of films by Jerzy Skolimowski, Akira Kurosawa, Roger Corman and Orson Welles among others, along with a 20th anniversary restoration of Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, one of Roger’s Great Movies, and the recipient of the longest standing ovation in the history of the Cannes Film Festival: 22-minutes.
This year’s poster for Cannes honors the feminist classic film “Thelma and Louise,” featuring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of this image all over Cannes for the next two weeks.
This year, I’ll personally be directing our coverage from Chicago, while our Senior VP of Development, Sonia Evans, will coordinate with our critics on the Croisette in France, including Managing Editor Brian Tallerico, Associate Editor Robert Daniels, and contributors Ben Kenigsberg, Isaac Feldberg, Zachary Lee, and Jason Gorber. Join me as we follow the reports and reviews each day at RogerEbert.com/Festivals, anticipating the next cinema classic to emerge from the Cannes Film Festival.
Until then, au revoir!
- “Unconditional” Brings Moral Questions to a Mother’s Love (May 8, 2026)
Apple’s “Unconditional” follows mother Orna Levy (Liraz Chamami) after her daughter Gali (Ronn Talia Lynne) is arrested in Moscow. Almost immediately, Gali disappears in Russia’s byzantine and corrupt carceral system, leaving Orna on a quest to figure out why her daughter was arrested, where she is, and how to get her back.
Showrunners Adam Bizanski and Dana Idisis build a compelling thriller here with surprising twists that build rather than simply redirect. With a muted palette and nerve-wracking score, “Unconditional” had my heart racing through action sequences and emotional revelations alike.
Now, a mother’s unconditional love for her child is hardly new territory, and “Unconditional” does fall into some of the standard cliches. Why Orna can overcover what a host of Russian oligarchies, Indian police, and Israeli spies cannot, never really adds up. Her ability to become a recognizable TV fixture gets a bit more explanation, but still stretches credibility.
Particularly because Orna appears to be struggling with an incomplete sense of herself. At times, she worries that she’s just letting life carry her along, exerting little influence of her own. In a particularly damning flashback, Gali says the same.
Thankfully, Orna has just the friends you need for this sort of crisis—an expert in PR and an ex in the secret service. And while those relationships are certainly convenient, they feel natural inside the series, unlike her self-doubt.
For the Orna, we see a force taking on government officials, media personalities, her in-laws, spies, and mobsters alike. She has an uncanny ability to spot a lie and act on it. How could this woman have languished for years, seemingly doing nothing? It’s unclear, and it isn’t helped by the fact that the show doesn’t bother to explain whether she had a career in or outside the home… ever.
Presumably, she stops being passive (if she ever was) because her daughter needs her, but even that doesn’t hold up under the show’s internal logic, as Orna recounts times when she failed Gali as a child through inaction. Orna does say she only feels ready to be a mother now that her daughter is 23—and perhaps that’s the answer. Maybe in “Unconditional,” being ready to be a mom means being able to complete extraordinary feats to protect the offspring.
Better not to worry about it. TV and film are filled with these types of stories, of parents beating the odds to protect their families. It’s a genre of its own, and the parents’ ability to move mountains is just one of its tropes. Viewed in that light, “Unconditional’s” flaws fade to the back, and the show begins to shine as more interesting than many of its peers because of how it raises moral questions.
Perhaps the most well-known example of this genre is Liam Neeson’s 2008 film, “Taken.” Maybe you can recite his oft-repeated “particular set of skills” speech. But while that film scratched a particular itch (bringing white-hot, holy revenge on bad guys), it made me furious at its lack of moral probing. Neeson’s character rescues his daughter, but leaves all the other trafficked young women behind to rot—and the film portrays that as the sensical, smart thing to do, ignoring that they too are someone’s daughter.
In this streamer’s most similar title, “The Last Thing He Told Me,” Jennifer Garner must protect her teenage stepdaughter as she tries to understand why her new husband disappeared, leaving both women in danger. Like “Taken,” this Apple series doesn’t ask the audience to think much. Its main takeaway is “Jennifer Garner: Warm. Strong,” and that’s it—a lesson that soothes in its blandness.
But “Unconditional” challenges, rather than placates. Orna initially believes her daughter to be a doe-eyed innocent, but as she learns more, she must investigate who Gali is and what it means to have raised such a person. As the title implies, Orna’s love never wavers, but the shocks and the questions linger long after the credits are done rolling.
Which is to say “Unconditional” is smart, the type of thing you have to give your full attention to (particularly if, like me, you’re reading the Hebrew and Russian subtitles).
Going in, I was particularly interested in how they portrayed the Levys’ Israeli identity. There’s no mention of Gaza or the West Bank, with the show appearing to be set in a sort of non-descript present. But there’s plenty to mine in how the Apple series portrays Israeli compulsory military service, the intelligence community, and violence more broadly. Bizanski and Idisis’s show doesn’t give any group the moral high ground, but instead finds us stuck in the muck of Orna’s impossible situation.
And this ambiguity continues in how “Unconditional” portrays its Russian characters, giving them meaningful backstories that complicate an all-bad reading. In fact, Orna makes some questionable decisions that, without giving away too much, put her moral standing into question. The show doesn’t judge her for it, but doesn’t pretend that all is well either.
And that makes this imperfect show stronger. “Unconditional,” for all the surety in its title and main character’s motivation, is a series of haunting, thought-provoking questions, which is a lot more than most of its peers can boast.
- A True American Original: Ted Turner (1938-2026) (May 7, 2026)
“That’s what entertainment’s supposed to do! It’s supposed to make you forget your miserable life!”—Ted Turner.
To sum up a life lived as loudly and as large as Ted Turner’s is an impossible task. He was a pioneer in so many ways, an entertainer at heart, an ecologist, and the last of the great showmen. When I worked at Turner during the TCM/FilmStruck days, he no longer roamed the halls in his bathrobe, but his presence haunted the Turner campus in Atlanta, his legendary stories passed down from older colleagues like folklore. When I read that he passed away on May 6, 2026, at the age of 87, my thoughts immediately turned to the city of Atlanta, which he called home for much of his storied career.
Turner was never one for shyness, and his often controversial statements earned him the nicknames “The Mouth of the South” and “Captain Outrageous.” He was born Robert Edward Turner III on November 19, 1938, in Cincinnati, Ohio, although he spent much of his youth in the South, growing up in Savannah, Georgia, and attending the private boys’ school The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Majoring at first in classics, then economics at Brown University, Turner never graduated, having been kicked out for having a girl in the dorms (the school awarded him an honorary B.A. in 1989). After serving in the United States Coast Guard Reserve to avoid the draft, Turner took over his father’s business at the Macon, Georgia, branch, and soon became president and chief executive of Turner Advertising Company.
Selling off radio stations in the 1960s, Turner bought a UHF television station in Atlanta, Georgia, changing its call sign to WTCG, representing his Turner Communications Group. On the station, Turner programmed old movies, soon adding theatrical cartoons, golden era sitcoms, and more, including “Gilligan’s Island,” “I Love Lucy,” “Star Trek,” and “Looney Tunes.” From this grew the superstation model, and later TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, and of course, TCM—Turner Classic Movies.
But before all that, Turner bought the rights to broadcast the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks, later purchasing the Braves outright. Due to his broadcast savvy and his infamous theatrics as the owner of the baseball franchise, Turner turned the Braves into a household name. If you do a quick image search, you’re as likely to see photos of Ted sitting in the dugout and in the stands as often as you will in the owner’s suite—or participating in a pre-game ostrich race.
His 24-hour news network CNN launched on June 1, 1980, with Turner vowing that they would not “be signing off until the world ends. We’ll be on, and we will cover the end of the world, live, and that will be our last event.” The media titan even created a doomsday video to be broadcast should the world actually end (which you can watch on YouTube, despite the world still enduring, somehow). It’s nearly impossible to overstate the impact CNN and its sister network, Headline News, had on how the world consumes news.
Along with revolutionizing cable news, Turner also changed the way viewers accessed movie history. In 1985, four years after MGM purchased United Artists, Turner worked a deal to buy the company and used its film library—which also included the RKO and pre-1950 Warner Bros. films, for broadcast on his TBS superstation, and later controversial colorized versions of black-and-white classics on TNT (According to Henry Jaglom, two weeks before he died Orson Welles said to him, “Don’t let Ted Turner deface my movie with his crayons.”).
On April 14th, 1994, at 6 p.m. in Times Square, Turner, along with film historian and host Robert Osborne and Hollywood legends Arthur Hiller, Arlene Dahl, Jane Powell, Celeste Holm, and Van Johnson, officially launched Turner Classic Movies with a broadcast of Oscar-winner “Gone With The Wind,” Turner’s favorite movie. The mission of Turner Classic Movies was to air these classic films uncut and commercial-free, adding historical context through Robert Osborne’s introductions, essays on their website, and their erstwhile Now Playing Guide, and preserving the history of classic Hollywood from those who made the films.
Along with screening films from the newly acquired library, Turner Classic Movies undertook an oral history project that remains one of its greatest legacies. Snippets of these interviews with classic stars like Sylvia Sidney and Eva Marie Saint still air in between movies on the channel to this day (and also on YouTube). TCM has aided in the restoration of countless films, including many silent films for which they commissioned new scores. Along with producing documentaries on stars like “The Divine Greta Garbo,” TCM also produced in-depth docuseries like “Moguls and Movie Stars,” exploring the early days of the Hollywood studio system.
The channel’s popular programming blocks, such as Silent Sunday Nights, TCM Underground, TCM Imports, Summer Under The Stars, 31 Days of Oscar, and Noir Alley, introduced generations of film fans to the breadth of film history worldwide. In 2010, the channel held its inaugural TCM Classic Film Festival in the heart of downtown Hollywood, bringing fans and stars together.
I know firsthand that TCM has changed lives, not just for those of us who worked as film historians, but for the viewers who found a home with the channel. Each week, we received countless letters, emails, and social media posts from viewers who had TCM on in hospital rooms or while in prison, finding peace or courage through the classic films we aired. During the recession, I became obsessed with TCM (I think I watched it about sixteen hours a day), and without the many films I watched on that channel as I regrouped and figured out what I wanted to do with my life, I know I wouldn’t be a film historian today.
Many of my colleagues, when I first worked at TCM, had been with the channel since the beginning. They often shared stories with me about Ted Turner’s many antics, from bowling parties in the mansion at the center of campus to racier stories best left unshared in mixed company. But at the heart of these stories was always a reverence for his passion and his love for what he had created when he first launched TCM all those years ago. At the 2019 edition of the TCM Film Festival, Turner addressed the opening night crowd, ending his brief remarks saying, “Let’s keep showing these movies until the end of time.”
While TCM may be Turner’s greatest filmic legacy, it is far from his only one. For movie lovers of a certain generation, both TBS and TNT offered up a slate of modern fare that could be watched over and over again. From broadcasting 24 hours of “A Christmas Story” in December to what my partner Robert Daniels likes to call TNT Classics, aka movies like “Legends of the Fall” that seemed to always be playing on the station. For years, Dinner and a Movie was a weekend tradition for my family, while my mother also always enjoyed whatever action films were broadcast under the Movies For Guys Who Like Movies moniker. After Turner’s passing yesterday, author and historian Caden Mark Gardner shared a Letterboxd list called TBS Superstation Cinema that brought a glimmer of nostalgia to my eye.
As the planet hurls towards destruction, I also can’t help but think about the impact of “Captain Planet and the Planeteers,” the environmental-themed animated series Turner co-created with Barbara Pyle, who later headed the Captain Planet Foundation, which is now chaired by Turner’s daughter. Laura Turner Seydel. Narrated by LaVar Burton, “Captain Planet” was a favorite show of mine as a child, one that gave me hope that it wasn’t too late to turn things around for our beautiful, dying planet. I don’t know if I believe that that is true anymore, but I do credit this show for introducing me, and many of my peers, to ideas of sustainability and environmental awareness at a young age that changed how I moved through the world irrevocably.
In her tribute to her ex-husband on Instagram, the great Jane Fonda wrote, “I see him in heaven now with all the wildlife he helped bring back from extinction – the black footed ferrets, the prairie dogs, Big Horned sheep, Mexican Gray Wolf, the Yellowstone wolf pack, bison, the red cockaded woodpecker and so many more, they’re all gathered at the pearly gates applauding and thanking him for saving their species.”
A true American original, Ted Turner lived his life large and with purpose. He studied the past to fully understand the present and prepare for the future. Along with his five children, he leaves behind a remarkable, complex, and, yes, controversial legacy that will continue to reverberate long after him… at least until the end of the world as we know it.
