Cannes 2026: “The Station”

The Station, Yemeni-Scottish director Sara Ishaq’s thoughtful and humanity-filled fictional feature debut premiering in Critics’ Week at Cannes, begins with title cards that utilize the language of storytelling to set the framework for its world: “Once a land known for its abundance and powerful queens, Yemen was a bustling gateway between civilizations… But wars fueled […]

Cannes 2026: “Blaise,” “Flesh and Fuel”

The Cannes Film Festival annually overflows with an embarrassment of riches, but while many eyes turn to cinema’s most prestigious event (celebrating its 79th edition in the south of France this year) for its high profile premieres– ranging from the newest works from some of the most acclaimed auteurs working to much anticipated blockbusters– its […]

Cannes 2026: “Shana”

Shana (Eva Huault) has nothing going for her. Her toxic lover is in prison. She works a dead-end food service job, to the ridicule of her bougie family, who she shares a, at best, fraught relationship with due to past strife. Her grandmother just died, but she left her a ring, a striking gold bird-shaped […]

Review: “Stolen Kingdom”

When describing his proposed Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow— later to be known as EPCOT, one of Walt Disney World’s handful of unique theme parks— Walt Disney stated that he envisioned that it “will always be in a state of becoming.” It’s surprising to learn, therefore, that even as outwardly Disney Parks adhere to that […]

Review: “Mother Mary”

In Chinese mythology, the red thread of fate— one end tied to the finger of one individual, the other end to another person— symbolizes an unbreakable connection. It binds soulmates across time and space, ensuring that they are fated to find each other. In David Lowery’s cosmic ghost story Mother Mary, the bond between world-famous, […]

Review: “Michael”

During the first act of Michael— director Antoine Fuqua’s dramatization of the life and career of pop star Michael Jackson from his beginnings with the Jackson 5 in the 1960s to his Bad tour that capped off the 1980s— young Michael (Juliano Krue Valdi) steps into the recording booth at Motown’s Los Angeles headquarters in […]

Review: “You, Me & Tuscany”

As comforting as a warm platter of pasta, You, Me & Tuscany welcomes the return of the predictable, low-stakes romantic comedy to theaters. Director Kat Coiro and writer Ryan Engle’s film is the sort of movie that nowadays is typically relegated to straight-to-streaming— so much so that when I first glimpsed its poster, featuring its […]

Review: “The Drama”

What did she do? That was the core question following the initial trailer for Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama, the one driving the intrigue for this darkly funny, cringe-inducing film about a seemingly idyllic relationship that runs off the rails in the lead-up to a wedding. Gathered around a table in a dimly lit caterer’s dining […]

Review: “Forbidden Fruits”

Meredith Alloway’s wicked debut feature film, the off-beat horror comedy Forbidden Fruits, is a truly odd piece of work. Not odd because of its kooky premise, which centers around a group of young women who form a coven behind the scenes of the ritzy mall boutique where they work, their friendship and ideals built not […]

Review: “Daughters of the Forest”

Daughters of the Forest opens with lush images of verdant forests and mind-boggling close-ups of fungi, their movements slowed down to allow us to luxuriate in their strangeness as they puff out spores in clouds of smoke. They more closely resemble alien creatures than anything you’d expect to find on Earth, a sentiment that’s echoed […]