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Top 50 Films of the 2020s February 23, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen With the 2020s heading into their second half, it’s time we take a temperature check on this decade in film. In only a few short years, the landscape of the movie industry has been forever transformed by a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, narrowing margins, increased competition from other forms of entertainment, and the inevitable threat of artificial intelligence. Still, through it all, many films have pushed past the struggle and defined our times. That last word, “time,” is the most important factor for my rankings. Time allows for reflection, with a film staying with you long past its initial two hours. Many films are on this list because of that, surging past contenders that were ranked higher in their original year of release. Of course, that puts 2025 films at a disadvantage, requiring them to make a more immediate impact. Then again, the films of 2020 and 2021 had to face their own set of logical nightmares. When I double this list at the end of the decade, I’m sure it will be completely different. Nickel Boys Every once in a while, a film comes along that breaks your preconceptions about how a story can be told. While video games and virtual reality have brought the first-person perspective to televisions for years, it's still a relative stranger to the silver screen. Ramell Ross and co-writer Joslyn Barnes' adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2019 novel folds the layers of time on top of each other, trapping us in a series of undefinable dreams and nightmares, each one crashing into the other without warning. There's a newfound sense of discovery in Nickel Boys as we witness the good and the bad through the eyes of protagonists Elwood and Turner. Their experiences create the dots that we connect through our history and understanding of the time period. We only remember bits and pieces of our past, but the feelings are carried with us to the end of time. This was one of the most important films of the year, both in terms of the substance it carries over from the pages of its source material and in how it elicits your emotional response to it. Napoleon With his vast historical drama background that includes the likes of The Duellists, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and The Last Duel , director Ridley Scott knows a thing or two about setting the stage for global conflicts. Even at the age of 85, he’s never taken a moment to slow down, crafting projects that seem to only get bigger the older he gets. Scott paints a wide canvas for each of the climactic battle scenes. It’s as close to a replica as one could get to the work of director Sergei Bondarchuk in the Soviet version of War and Peace, where literally thousands of extras marched across plains as hundreds of cannons engulfed them in carnage. The world still properly bemoans what could have been had Stanley Kubrick been allowed to make his Napoleon biopic. There are surely semblances of it in Scott’s Napoleon , which continues his string of blockbusters propelled by smart filmmaking and collaborative artistry. It’s timely and timeless in its craft and examination of history, ready to raise the bar just that much higher for later entries in the genre. The Tragedy of Macbeth From bloody beginning to bloody conclusion, Joel Coen's adaptation of The Scottish Play holds you in its talons with its impressive mood and visuals. Shot in stark black-and-white on a soundstage, the film had an otherworldly quality to it, which adds to the overall theatricality. Jump to any time stamp, and you will have yourself a new desktop wallpaper. As expected, Denzel Washington was utterly captivating as a man so ready to jump off the deep end, yet so unequipped to wade into those waters. His only hope for survival is through deceit and bloodshed, a plight that seemingly encapsulates the human experience once a modicum of power enters anyone's eyesight. Judas and the Black Messiah Directed and co-written by Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah meets both criteria of a biopic, which is to be entertaining and informative beyond the top-layer Wikipedia facts. We learn about Fred Hampton through William O’Neal as he ascends from the bottom to the top within the Black Panther Party. Daniel Kaluuya elevated his game even further as he channels both the powerfulness Hampton carried in public and the tenderness he had in private. LaKeith Stanfield rises close with a twitchy and layered performance that was nothing short of a career-best. King carries his film with great energy from beginning to end. Expertly filmed action is interspersed throughout, as well as sharply edited speeches that contain more action than the actual shootouts. He delivers an utterly spine-chilling and infuriating ending that properly uses the usual clichéd element of the postscript. Mank Mank is an out-and-out technical masterpiece from start to finish. Filmed in dreamy black-and-white, scored with period-accurate instruments, and recorded with the finest sound equipment 1930 could buy, David Fincher's COVID-released film was his version of a love letter to old-school Hollywood. The film talks the talk as much as it walks the walk, with a complex script that investigates the backrooms of power and manipulation that have perpetually conjoined Hollywood and politics at the hip. Gary Oldman's titular screenwriter is our court jester guide, with Amanda Seyfried along for the ride as famed actress Marion Davies. It may not be Citizen Kane for the modern age, but it's a richly layered of how such a masterpiece was able to sprout out of so much commotion. Dune: Part Two Although I was extremely disappointed by the first part of Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the iconic sci-fi novel, the concluding chapter more than lived up to expectations. This was no longer a desert of humanity, but an oasis of philosophy and hard-earned emotion. Every moment, from the biggest of set pieces to the smallest of character moments, is given an incredible amount of weight and importance. The dialogue is just as action-packed as the action itself, with the introduction of a deeper roster of characters building to that feeling of grandiosity. For all its meditative qualities, there are still several moments for Villeneuve to show off his brawn as a filmmaker. Chaos is often met with chaos as the action is more bombastic this time around, with rockets, lasers, and tips of knives being readily exchanged. Just as he did with Blade Runner 2049 , Denis Villeneuve accomplished what has long been thought to be impossible with Dune: Part Two . Fear is the mind-killer to all those on Arrakis. But there is no fear for those of us on Earth, as one of the best films of the science fiction genre was bestowed upon us. The Worst Person in the World The Worst Person in the World packs a richly emotional story fitting to its hyperbolic title. Through a killer soundtrack and a spotlight performance from Renate Reinsve, director Joachim Trier and his dependable co-writer Eskil Vogt were able to balance tone and time to deliver something that rises way above the sum of its individual pieces. It’s a perfect piece for anyone dealing with the crisis of not knowing where they are in life. The Boy and the Heron Hayao Miyazaki's (supposedly) final film allowed him to explore rather mature themes, offering lessons on life applicable to all ages. The boy’s fantastical journey, slightly similar to Chihiro’s from Spirited Away , is full of danger and intrigue at every turn. Animation is a medium that allows for endless possibilities, and Miyazaki is a filmmaker who pushes it to its limits. The question I always want to ask during a film is “What’s going to happen next?” So many movies don’t incite enough wonder for that question, nor do their answers provide the necessary satisfaction. The Boy and the Heron made me ask that question out loud more times than I can count, and each answer was filled with more passion than I could have hoped for. There are animated films for children, and there are animated films for adults. This is an animated film for everyone, and the world is a much better place because of it. One of the greatest, if not the greatest, figures in animation history has provided us with his swan song, and now it’s time for us to continue his legacy with the pieces left behind. Asteroid City Sure, there may now be umpteen TikTok and AI-generated videos replicating Wes Anderson’s distinct style. But all of them contain just the window dressing of a Wes Anderson movie, and not the emotion. Just as his box of tricks has constantly evolved, so has Anderson’s ability to find the heart in his richly defined characters. While on their methodically placed tracks, each character veers off in different directions, exploring the fear of death, finding connections in a barren land, cutting through the messiness of life, and paying homage to those kitschy B-movies you grew up watching late at night on the public access channel. The term “this is the most Wes Anderson movie Wes Anderson has ever made” has been used to describe nearly every new entry in his filmography. That cycle didn't stop with Asteroid City , as the traits you’ve come to love (or hate) are all here: symmetrical framing, varying aspect ratios, color and black & white cinematography, and steady camera movements. Anderson’s usual designer, Adam Stockhausen, once again creates a doll-house world filled with too many sights and sounds to be absorbed in one viewing. The Father A triumphant directorial debut by Florian Zeller, The Father puts us within the deteriorating mental state of the main character, Anthony (Anthony Hopkins). Conversations are repeated several times from different perspectives, adding another layer to the complex task of discerning fact from fiction. Anthony’s physical surroundings seem to be rearranging at impossible speeds, and the chronology of events is becoming increasingly muddled. It’s like watching a balloon being inflated and waiting for it to pop, yet it never does as your anxiety keeps building. With a nearly sixty-year career in the rearview, Hopkins’ performance here may be his very best. He is charismatic, fierce, and vulnerable, sometimes all at the same time. The subject matter may hit too close to home for some viewers or be an introduction for others. No matter your familiarity, the film’s take on dementia and the toll it places on everyone involved is so incredibly well done that it demands to be seen. The Taste of Things There’s little drama or stakes within The Taste of Things , which is one of its best features. There are plenty of movies ( Burnt ) and television shows ( The Bear ) that showcase the anxiety-inducing high-wire act that cooking can be. There is great skill under pressure here, but writer/director Tran Anh Hung is more interested in the slowly drawn method and how it all comes together when you are comfortable in your element. Time seems to stand still, your body and mind totally connected as one. It’s like a conductor guiding a symphony, every note being hit perfectly with reassuring calmness. There continues to be a need for stories that reflect the increasing bleakness of this world. But that means there’s more room for projects that remind us of the beauty in the timeless things we all experience and often take for granted. The Taste of Things is one of those films, as it illustrates both the simplicity and complexity of sustaining ourselves through food. Just make sure to plan your meals carefully before and after seeing it. You owe your stomach (and other senses) that much. Nitram Making a biopic about a country’s worst human offender brings with it a lot of trap doors. Director Justin Kurzel avoids those as he approaches the story of Tasmanian native Martin Bryant, who killed 36 people at Port Arthur in 1996, with a matter-of-fact style that lets the actors and simple camerawork tell the story. There is not a singular grand answer to why this happened and how it could have been stopped, simply because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all response. All we can do is look back on what happened and see what can be done for the future, which Kurzel doesn’t seem to have much hope for, as his postscript explains how the gun laws enacted as a result of Bryant’s actions have not been properly enforced, opening the possibility of this happening again. American Caleb Landry Jones plays the titular character with brilliance, showcasing how far someone can go down the rabbit hole. In his first major leading role, he knocked it out of the park, producing the fear one gets from a horror movie villain while still bringing enough authenticity to fit the film’s grounded tone. While my body hated the experience of watching Nitram because of the stiff muscles I was left with due to the intensity, my mind was left with a better understanding of this dark chapter in human history. Train Dreams Impressionistically swaying between the past, present, and future, director Clint Bentley captures the life of Robert Grainier, a humble lumberjack who lived and died in the Pacific Northwest throughout the early to mid-20th century. His existence is a drop in the ocean of time, with exponential growth in technology pushing the world past the point of recognition. Years go by in the blink of an eye, yet we understand what took place between then and now. Like life itself, Train Dreams is a film that often sneaks up on you in its profundity. It may take days or weeks for you to realize just how much one image or piece of sound has stuck with you, offering a new outlook on the existence we carve out for ourselves. The Substance If there’s one thing writer/director Coralie Fargeat’s sophomore feature hates more than attached limbs and unspilled blood, it’s subtlety. The obsessive and borderline inhumane treatment Hollywood (and the public at large) has towards aging actresses is material that’s been mined several times before. Fargeat understands this and the assignment in front of her. If you’re not going to be first or the most insightful, then you might as well make damn sure you’re going to be the most audaciously unforgettable. The only thing bolder than the production is Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley’s dual performances as Elizabeth/Sue, later to become Monstro Elisasue. Moore maintains a headstrong presence even as things get increasingly deranged, fully trusting in Fargeat’s vision. Qualley balances her physical schoolgirl perfectionism with her demented inner self as Elizabeth tries to maintain control of the situation. With Julia Ducournau and Fargeat rising through the ranks of international cinema, the no-holds-barred corner that they occupy is looking like a mighty fine place to camp out for a while. The Batman At its core, The Batman is not much of a Batman movie, and that’s what makes it so great. Director Matt Reeves took all the familiar superhero trappings and gave them a fresh new look, finding inspiration from the grungy films of David Fincher. There’s a restless edge to his version of Batman, something that's been eating away at the character’s soul after years of sleepless nights. The Riddler may as well be the Zodiac killer, as Paul Dano’s performance channels the character’s brilliance and insanity. The tension he builds is unparalleled and makes you feel that you're witnessing someone who’s truly gone off the deep end. In those sleepless nights, DP Greig Fraser crafts some immaculate imagery. Silhouettes and shadows haunt the dark city streets, with the neon lights drenched in rain providing stark contrast. This is not just one of the best-looking comic-book movies; it’s one of the best-looking movies ever. Enys Men Enys Men is the kind of film you stumble upon late at night as a kid on a public access channel while you are staying over at your grandparents’ old summer house. That description may be too ultra-specific for most people to relate to, but watching this movie lovingly took me back to those youthful nights when you had no idea what you were watching and if it was any good, but you couldn’t help but be endlessly transfixed by it. Unsettling imagery and sounds slowly burn into your memory. There’s nothing purely horrifying about the hallucinations and strange events that fall upon our main character. Still, there is a heavy amount of discomfort and dread that they instill, keeping you in fearful excitement of what’s coming next. Just as he did with his 2019 debut feature Bait , Jenkin goes ultra-low tech by shooting on scratchy 16mm and recording all sound in post-production. It’s as if this were a lost film that had just been unearthed on an abandoned island, rotting away for years until being saved at the last minute. Sentimental Value You will not find a more emotionally intelligent film than Sentimental Value . Writer/director Jocahim Trier's follow-up to his decade-defining film The Worst Person in the World (also placed on this list) produces each tear, gasp, and laugh at exactly the right moment. Yet, it's never manipulative, always proudly wearing its heart on its sleeve. By the time the credits start rolling, you’ll have been on a journey with not just these characters, but also with yourself. And without making a single direct piece of commentary, Sentimental Value may be the best case study on why AI can't be the driving force of a film. Despite all of her good intentions and training, movie star Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) wasn't the right person for the part in Gustav's (Stellan Skarsgård) film because she hadn't experienced the emotions that the role entails. The same logic applies to Trier and his film, as something this rich could only be created by someone who has experienced the agony and ecstasy of life. The Fabelmans Through the opening scene of The Fabelmans , we get a thesis statement on Steven Spielberg’s approach to filmmaking. He’s a born storyteller, pouring his mother’s heart into every frame. And he’s also a master craftsman, leaning on his father’s engineering mindset to construct fantastic sequences that defy belief. The further the film progresses, the more the thesis becomes clear. We learn how one man could be attracted to making movies about a killer shark, a world-traveling archeologist, friendly and unfriendly aliens, the Holocaust, American presidents, World War II, and even modern-day dinosaurs. The Fabelmans is a collection of Spielberg's greatest hits, all delivered to their greatest effect. There’s laughter, tears, and wonder in this story that is much more than the sum of its parts. Gabriel LaBelle began his streak of greatness here, ensuring that this specific story contains a universal message about understanding your parents and finding your place in the world. Aftersun Aftersun is devastatingly powerful in the moment and long after. In comparison to standard films, it has no plot, no stakes, and no drama. It's all emotion, with wonderful direction by Charlotte Wells in her feature directorial debut. "Under Pressure" is recontextualized through her immense vision, which lies outside of the normal filmmaking grammar. Paul Mescal received one of the most pleasant, unexpected Oscar nominations for his powerful lead performance, and Frankie Corio displayed a depth of maturity beyond her years. This seemed destined to be a perennial entry in every "Best A24 Films You Haven't Seen" article, but I think the cult of appreciation has continued to grow exponentially in the years since. The Vast of Night The Vast of Night was a director's showcase for Andrew Patterson. With long takes and tracking shots that are near Cuarón's level, Patterson fully immerses us in this 1950s-set small-town alien invasion mystery. Spookier than any conventional horror movie and brimming with an abundance of talent from its cast and crew, it was a startlingly well-made debut that will surely lead to fruitful careers for all those involved. Never Rarely Sometimes Always Written and directed by indie darling Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is an authentic and upsetting coming-of-age story. Taking place over a trip to New York City to abort an unwanted pregnancy, Hittman did an impeccable job of exuding sympathy and connecting me to a process I am biologically unable to relate to. The title of the film comes full circle near the end in a scene that left me with no dry eyes. Annette From the visionary minds of The Sparks Brothers and director Leos Carax comes a rock musical of pure boldness. Stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard grab onto that boldness and run with it. creating several musical numbers that need to be seen to be believed, such as a puppet baby being the halftime performance at the Super Bowl. With Carax’s output being so irregular, each of his features is something to treasure, especially when they’re this good. “We Love Each Other So Much” is the recurring rendition throughout the film, a saying that illustrates the relationship this film and I share. Origin At times both a narrative feature film and a long-form visual essay, Ava DuVernay's film is the closest anyone has come to blending entertainment and academia. Her sprawling epic adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson's acclaimed novel investigates the ideology of racism in America. The connection between it and social caste systems throughout history sprawls across locations throughout Germany, India, and the United States. Each of them is blended for a story that spans time into a series of repeating lessons that humanity was unable to realize and learn from. DuVernay's formally ambitious direction is what made this patchwork of theories so compelling. It asked big questions, with Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor capitalizing in her first solo lead performance. The film was unfairly handicapped during its initial release, and I think time will become its greatest asset. Evil Does Not Exist Drive My Car made writer/director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi an arthouse superstar. Made nearly in secret, his follow-up feature became his most outspoken work on the plights of contemporary society. The tranquility of a Japanese village is being threatened by the introduction of a “glamping” (glamorous + camping) site proposed by a talent agency. The site would negatively impact much of the environment around it, with many of the village residents’ livelihoods being forever altered. Despite being clear in his message, Hamaguchi never eviscerates the villains of this story. The extremely slow cinema approach will test the patience of many expecting a return to the leanness of Drive My Car . Those who embrace the molasses will find themselves powerfully transported, a task that becomes much simpler with the aid of Eiko Ishibashi’s magnificent score. West Side Story Leave it to Steven Spielberg to make his first outing into the musical genre, one that completely crushes the competition. The camera swoons and cranes in extended takes, capturing the incredibly choreographed dance numbers conceived by famed ballet dancer and director Justin Peck. The narrative about the immigrant experience has been made more profound, with the Spanish dialogue - accounting for nearly one-third of the total spoken lines - going unsubtitled in a move that Spielberg and Kushner described as an effort to respect the language. Perfectly melding the work of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim with the newfound talents of Ariana DeBose, Mike Faist, and Rachel Zegler, the new West Side Story made the case for why some remakes should be allowed to happen. Because sometimes, they can meet or surpass the original, such as how this one does by bringing classic cinema into the modern world. Monster Hirokazu Kore-eda brought Rashomon into the modern age with Monster , a movie that was both more gentle and deadly than its title implies. For the first time in his career, the revered Japanese auteur didn't write the script, deferring that duty to Yûji Sakamoto. Kore-eda crafts an endearing story about differing perspectives and the misconceptions we surround ourselves with. Ryuichi Sakamoto's posthumous score is mostly comprised of previous compositions, as he was unable to create a full body due to his terminal cancer. However, he did contribute two new piano pieces, both mournful and warm. Decision to Leave Phantom Thread meets Vertigo in Park Chan-wook’s deliciously twisted Decision to Leave . For many directors, that combination would come together as well as oil and water. But for the famed South Korean auteur, whose previous works of Oldboy and The Handmaiden have exemplified his unparalleled ability to combine the traditional with the gonzo, it’s a heavenly pair that you immediately want more of. Much like Paul Thomas Anderson’s film, the characters within Decision to Leave can’t be tied down with simple explanations. Manipulation and intrigue are the names of the game, with the unspoken sexual tension tinging the edges of every scene. As the playfully dangerous duo, Park Hae-il and Tang Wei are more than up to the task, with their unmatched chemistry doing wonders for the film’s emotional themes. Resurrection As beautiful as it is incomprehensible, Bi Gan’s magnum opus operates on a different plane of logic. In a future where humanity has lost the capacity to dream, a woman enters the six different dreams of a monster, representing one of the five senses and the mind. Each dream illustrates a piece of 20th-century Chinese and cinematic history, told in the style of the time. The opening segment is reminiscent of silent German expressionistic monster movies, while the final chapter is captured in a single long take, telling the story of a vampiric romance on the last night of the millennium. How these puzzle pieces logically coalesce is nearly impossible to understand. But to focus on the science of dreams is the wrong way to experience them, as their unexplained majesty is what lures us into a deep sleep each night. A Complete Unknown What Mozart is to classical music in Amadeus , Dylan is to folk music in A Complete Unknown . Co-writer/director James Mangold learned a thing or two about the musician biopic subgenre since his first foray with Walk the Line . He trusted his audience a little more and painted around his protagonists just as much as he does within the lines. Those brushstrokes are big and broad, creating a rich experience that soothes our eyes and ears. The constant pouring of musical genius from Dylan lends itself to nearly fifty music sequences, all of them featuring star Timothée Chalamet's vocals and hands on the guitar. Mangold never lets us forget that fact, keeping his camera steady on the target and the editing to a minimum. It allows the performances to breathe, matching the more mellow wavelength that folk songs operate on. In a time where more than one of these ventures down the Wikipedia page landed with a sour note, there's a comforting feeling to seeing the old reliable go off without a hitch. The Girl with the Needle An ultra-grim fairy tale comes to life in writer/director Magnus von Horn’s loose retelling of Denmark’s most heinous and prolific serial killer. The depressing gloom of post-WWI Copenhagen is lensed in claustrophobic black-and-white, and the dread drip-fed through abstract visuals and a deeply haunting score. Vic Carmen Stone and Trine Dyrholm are standouts in their lead roles, guiding not just through this literal story, but also the universal lesson of the nightmares women have endured throughout history. The Last Duel Bolstered by spectacle and substance, The Last Duel is one of Ridley Scott’s finest films. It’s one of the few blockbusters of the modern age to be propelled by collaborative artistry, rather than preconceived properties and overblown budgets. Broken up into three chapters, the film follows the unique perspectives of the central individuals as it tracks the events that led to the titular duel. This Rashomon -inspired structure is where Scott, along with screenwriters Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Nicole Holofcener, show off their brilliance. The greatness of the film’s structure is that it creates a puzzle where the pieces are constantly shifting in size and placement. Even a simple act, such as a handshake, is seen from three angles, each eliciting a different response. It’s fascinating to watch as the web of lies and truth becomes increasingly difficult to parse, with Scott supplying the necessary inertia to keep the film moving at a great pace. And the final duel more than lives up to expectations, especially when compared to the high bar Scott has set for himself within his filmography. There have been only a handful of final battles that weren’t already decided by the plot before they begin, and this is one of them. There’s an exciting amount of tension as the knight's exchange blows in agonizing brutality. Frankenstein Guillermo del Toro, the filmmaker most in love with monsters, finally got the chance to adapt the story of the most famous one of all. Mary Shelley and, by extension, del Toro, share great sympathy for The Creature, his plight being a reflection of humanity's cruel backwardness. Already a star in the making, Jacob Elordi cemented himself as one of his generation's best actors with a performance that instilled enormous emotional depth beyond just the pounds of makeup and effects. Surrounding him and the rest of the cast are sumptuous sets and costumes, with del Toro's roaming camera soaking up each pristine detail. With a lifespan recently crossing over into two centuries, Shelley’s Frankenstein has long suffered the plague of becoming a copy of a copy of a copy. Endless adaptations and inspirations have taken only the elements that are deemed the most commercially muscular, leaving out the heart and mind. Del Toro has picked up those discarded pieces and made it whole again, reminding us why stories like these have and will withstand the test of time. The End Even in the darkest depths of the Earth at the end of humanity, you can still find a reason to sing and dance. Co-writer/director Joshua Oppenheimer, famed for his one-two documentary punch of The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence , makes sure his fiction feature debut is as bold and audacious as one would expect. The Golden Age influences of Jacques Demy and Vincent Minnelli supply the bravura; the cast's confidence is more important than their physical abilities. The joys and guilt of still being alive merge through the dozen-ish musical numbers, all of them allowing the characters to momentarily express the deep feelings they perpetually repress. The End could have so easily been an “eat the rich” satire in the same vein as Triangle of Sadness . There are several opportunities where Oppenheimer could have taken a cheap shot at these characters, putting them through the wringer while having us point and laugh at them. This is an absurdist concept with humorous moments, but it’s also so deftly sincere that you can’t simply excuse it. These are rich characters, both emotionally and financially, with their inner delusions offering a complex lesson on how we handle the horrors that are right in front of us. Broker As is tradition within his impeccable filmography, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker tells a touching story about families forming in the most unlikely of circumstances. A baby has been left in a deposit box used by mothers who can’t, or won’t, keep their babies. Two of the employees at the facility, Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) and Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won), have formed a partnership to circumvent the rules of the establishment by taking the babies into their protection and selling them under the table to needy couples. Purely based on this introductory premise, Kore-eda has laid a field filled with moral quandaries. Is it right to break the law and sell a child if it means they will potentially have a better life? Who is worse, the mother who disposes of the baby, or the people who sell the child? Who’s responsible for the child once the mother has disowned them? Similar to his magnum opus, Shoplifters , Kore-eda makes plenty of time to instill lessons on how we don’t often get to choose the family we have. A direct reference to Paul Thomas Anderson’s mosaic, Magnolia , reminds us how the best-laid plans never truly turn out the way we envision. Even though each character may have their agenda behind the act, their shared journey is what binds them together. Blonde Is this film's placement near the top of this list meant to provoke a reaction? Perhaps. But it's that exact spirit that makes Blonde so memorable, a hard-edged rebuke of the sanitized biopics we've increasingly been served. They're merely brand extensions, with more loyalty to the central figure than the creatives telling the story. Andrew Dominik's only loyalty is to himself as an artist. Facts can be found on Wikipedia, but the emotional truth can only be found on the silver screen. It's a nightmarish and surreal experience that highlights the beautiful tragedy that was the life of Norma Jeane, channeled through a spectacular performance by Ana de Armas. Marty Supreme Marty Supreme is as exhausting as it is exhilarating, the kind of movie where you let out a huge sigh of relief once you leave the theater. With this film added to his oeuvre of Good Time and Uncut Gems , director Josh Safdie became a master of depicting addiction, the agony and ecstasy of gambling everything for the chance to win anything. Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Mauser is the John McEnroe of table tennis, his mouth moving as fast as his backhand volleys. Lucky for him, his money is where his mouth is. The kineticism and composure he displays during those scenes of athleticism are thrilling to watch. The thing I wanted most of all from this film was for it to never end. The two and a half hours both do and don’t fly by. You feel every minute of it, yet I was never thinking about when this would be over. It’s what I love about long movies, as there’s a certain amount of belief and ambition a filmmaker must have in themselves to warrant trapping an audience for that long. An even more extended runtime would probably put people in the hospital from stress/anxiety. Still, it would have been well worth it for those who survived. Killers of the Flower Moon What is surprising about a blockbuster like Killers of the Flower Moon is Martin Scorsese’s ability to bring in the qualities of his lesser-known films, which is the capacity to take a step back and observe a culture. There’s a delicate balance between getting in the thick of the action and letting it wash over from a distance. For every street race and moment of shocking violence, there’s a chance to witness a piece of this land and its people. There are key moments where an Osage wedding or ceremonial tradition is recreated, shedding light on what’s ultimately at stake. Excess is the name of the game within Scorsese’s filmography, and Killers of the Flower Moon has that in spades. But it’s not the flashy kind of excess that we’re used to seeing; it’s an excess that overwhelms your soul just as much as your senses. As the debate over what is and isn’t cinema rages on (and I pray to God it ends soon), let this be a clear illustration of what it can be: something powerful enough to enrapture you in the present and pleasantly linger with you long into the future. The Brutalist The Brutalist is a full-course cinema meal, requiring an afternoon to consume and much longer to digest. It’s easy to savor every moment of it in real-time because of its boundless beauty, and just as easy over time, thanks to its long lingering themes on the ideals that modern America convinced itself it was built upon. With a record-breaking runtime of 215 minutes (including an intermission!), each scene flows with more freedom and weight, all of them simultaneously epic and intimate as the camera glacially passes through the years. One could imagine director Brady Corbet employing the persuasiveness of Toth’s design and vision in the pitch meetings for the film as a whole. Nothing about The Brutalist screams commerciality. But like László Toth and his indescribable monument, every dollar that Corbet’s behemoth sacrificed at the box office was used to better the art form. The only currency that matters in cinema is the experience you carry with you long after the viewing. Conclave Saints and sinners live among us, even in the holiest of places. A cardinal asks if he can keep the deceased pope’s chessboard as a memento, a bold signifier of the game of succession that’s about to be played. No sane man would desire the papacy, and no man who seeks it deserves it. Director Edward Berger has a great command of the literary material he inherited. The tension is wound tight enough to cut through steel, with sequences of backdoor politics and revelations of long-buried secrets maintaining a slow-burning, yet propulsive energy. Longstanding acting royalty fill the cast, with the highest laurels going to Ralph Fiennes, who maintains a quiet dignity as a web of lies and deceit begins to unspool right in front of him. The balance between thrills and social critique is kept just as pristine as it was in Robert Harris’ novel. Conclave is a soap opera with as much page-turning substance as it has a prestige-like style, perfect for both the faithful and skeptics alike. Maestro There is nothing cookie-cutter about Maestro , which is its absolute greatest strength. Writer/director/producer/star Bradley Cooper is like a high school theater kid who’s just landed the role he’s always dreamed of, so giddy and overstimulated that he’s almost leaping off the screen. It’s how he sees himself tethered to Leonard Bernstein: two geniuses who often became overwhelmed with passionate joy in their craft. Cooper’s filmmaking is just as confident and classical as Bernstein’s musical arrangements. It possesses great power to evoke a film made during the 1940s, complete with stark black-and-white and Technicolor-infused Academy ratio cinematography. It all crescendos at the Ely Cathedral in 1973 when Bernstein famously conducted Mahler’s Second Symphony, “Resurrection.” It’s spiritually transcendent, the camera capturing every enrapturing moment as it weaves its way through the choir and orchestra. This moment isn’t all about Bernstein, though, as the final camera movement during the impressive long take pans to reveal his wife Felicia Montealerge (Carey Mulligan) standing off to the side, ready for Lenny to walk over and embrace her after his performance. It’s emblematic of how Cooper frames this entire biopic, the music and their relationship forever intertwined. April The beauty of the cinema is not just in the sheer size of the speakers and screen, but the opportunity it gives us to break away from our world and be transported to a different one. Georgian writer/director Dea Kulumbegashvili crafted a film where absolute patience and concentration are a prerequisite. Between the unsettling abstract visuals and the brutal real-life truths about female bodily autonomy through abortion, it's one of the most bone-chilling films of the decade, anchored by an iron-willed performance by Ia Sukhitashvili. Unlike many films on this list, Kulumbegashvili was not bestowed with the laurels that she so richly deserved beyond the Special Jury Prize at the film's premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. The film was banned in its home country and barely released in the United States due to the dissolution of its distributor. It was a great shame, as one of the most important and prescient films of the decade was kept hidden from the people who might need it the most. The Beast Bertrand Bonello’s sci-fi epic was the clear wire-to-wire winner of its respective year. Bonello displays a mastery of tone and vision across his 146-minute adaptation of Henry James’ genre-defying novella. There’s passion, fear, humor, drama, and everything in between as Léa Seydoux and George MacKay play characters in three different periods – 1910, 2014, 2044 – as they navigate the unknowable connection they feel for each other. It’s a greatly demanding work exploring the fear of opening oneself up to risk and the unknown, something that all audiences will have to conquer if they want to claim the reward that this film offers. The Killer The Killer is a descent into bloody madness told by a director in complete control of their craft. Every frame is perfectly lit, every cut perfectly placed and executed, and every piece of sound is perfectly engineered to rattle your bones. It’s a pulpy, uncomplicated story about revenge being a dish best served cold. For anyone who enjoys the Hitman video game series and laments the two laughably bad movie adaptations, this is the answer to all your prayers. This is Fincher at his most surface level, playfully cutting loose from ambition and delivering his best film to date. Don’t expect to learn any life lessons or have your perspective changed on an issue. Just sit back and be entertained. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a straightforward process being executed with pinpoint precision, and both our protagonist and Fincher accomplish their mission with outstanding results. Hamnet The story of the death of William Shakespeare's young child may be a tear-jerker (it was the most I’ve cried during a movie in years), but there isn’t a single moment where it's cloying at those ducts. Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell’s Hamnet depicted an honest collision course of pain, featuring two of the best actors working today. Jessie Buckley was nothing short of transcendent, encapsulating the entire human experience, what it means to be your true self, and then producing an extension of that through children. It was heartbreakingly cathartic to witness Mescal channel his torment into his work, recontextualizing the most celebrated works of the English language for those who were previously uninitiated. By staging “Hamlet,” Shakespeare preserved his child. His body may have only been a part of this for a mere eleven years, but his spirit has lived on for over half a millennium, adapting to serve different cultures and contexts. Zhao’s film is a single drop in an ocean; the mightiest one that pushes the waves in a bold new direction. TÁR For all you completionists who demand films answer the questions they raise, both literally and metaphorically, TÁR will seem like an exercise in futility. Because if there’s one thing Field learned as the protégé of Stanley Kubrick (for which Field played the piano-playing character Nick Nightingale in the master’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut ), aside from impeccably precise visuals and dread-filled drip editing, it’s the ability to make the unsatisfying loose ends of a story seem so naturally satisfying. There are no easy answers within Field’s film as he meticulously studies his central character, for whom he shares no predisposed love or hatred. It’s for the audience to decide if Lydia’s fate, which is sealed with a visual setup and punchline so hilarious that it might as well have been ghost-directed by Mel Brooks, matches her “crimes.” As our guide during that examination, Cate Blanchett reaches another echelon in a career that has only been marked by peaks. One could not be ridiculed for mistaking Lydia Tár as a real person, as the details and nuances Blanchett infuses the character with are ones usually found within Oscar-bait biopics. At the moment, it does not seem that the film was meant to mark the second coming of Todd Field’s career. But if we’re subjected to another sixteen-year absence, then I at least know what my most anticipated film of 2038 will be. All Quiet on the Western Front By combining many elements from some of the best films within the genre, director Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the few anti-war films, something that French New Wave film critic and director François Truffaut famously declared to be impossible. The large-scale and gruesomely detailed battles harken back to Saving Private Ryan . We see more mud than blood as the soldiers fight for nothing more than to survive another second. As a slight departure from the source material, writers Berger, Lesley Paterson, and Ian Stokell juxtapose the scenes of carnage with those of the “fat pigs” that wield power. Going back and forth between this and Paul’s storyline on the battlefield, we get the sense that this war did not involve winners and losers. Everybody was a loser as they lost something mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or physically. And in the end, there was no point to any of it. In the film’s harrowing opening sequence, we follow a coat worn by a German soldier. The man dies in battle, and the coat is plucked off his corpse. It’s then shipped back to a factory to be washed of the blood, mended, and given to a recruit. It’s moments like this, of which there are many, where Berger masterfully illustrates the futile self-fulfilling cycle of death that war creates. The Zone of Interest There isn’t a single moment in The Zone of Interest that takes place within Auschwitz, but its presence is always felt. The family will be sunbathing in the garden when a faint gunshot goes off on the other side of the wall. Both you and the characters know what that sound means, but only you care about the implications of it. For the family, those gunshots are just as much a part of everyday life as the birds chirping in the trees above. They go about their daily lives without a hitch, leaving you stranded in the fear of your imagination. Sickening in the most calculated way possible, this is Jonathan Glazer's ode to Stanley Kubrick. He answers the question of how evil can exist unchecked, holding all of your senses in a sterilized vice. Be sure to soak it all in during your first watch, because I doubt you'll ever want to view the world this way again. Uncut Gems With dashes of Singin’ in the Rain, Boogie Nights, The Wolf of Wall Street, Uncut Gems , and Mulholland Drive , Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is a true auteurist epic in every sense of the word. It’s a 188-minute deconstruction of Old Hollywood mythology, complete with cocaine, fast cars, projectile vomit, glitzy actors, underground sex dungeons, and buckets of style. There wasn't anything like it the year of its release, or any year for that matter. Five characters have their stories cross paths on several occasions, featured in some of the biggest moments of the Silent Era as it hurtles towards its downfall. The rise of talkies will bring about a new style of filmmaking, one that’ll benefit some and destroy others. But through it all, they found a way to create a legacy that lives beyond their mortal lives. Chazelle may have made his generation's Heaven's Gate : an overly ambitious epic that proved to be too much for audiences and critics. But born out of that chaos was a passionate cult fanbase, a Babylon Hive that has embraced this grand slam of self-indulgence and outrageousness. Oppenheimer With each passing second since I walked out of the 70mm presentation of Christopher Nolan's biopic on the American Prometheus, I became more and more convinced that I had witnessed something extraordinary. Oppenheimer is as entertaining as it is enlightening, emboldened by Nolan’s unparalleled vision and craftsmanship. It’s his magnum opus, grabbing hold of history with fiery conviction, never letting you go until you’ve experienced all that cinema has to offer. Kenneth Branagh plays Danish physicist Niels Bohr, who gives a sturdy piece of advice to Cillian Murphy's titular character early in his career: “It’s not important that you can read music, only that you can hear it.” Even if I couldn’t read all that was being presented right in front of me, I could definitely feel it. Ludwig Göransson’s tremendous score does a lot to convey the spectacle and terror within these moments of history. There are palpable feelings of anxiety and suspense, despite already knowing the outcome. You feel both a sense of patriotism in seeing this American achievement, and also a deep sense of guilt as a weapon without a defense was unleashed upon an untrustworthy world. The French Dispatch With each subsequent entry into his distinct filmography, Wes Anderson seems to make it a mission to make the most Wes Anderson-iest film. His tenth feature film - also referred to as The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun - towers over all of his works with its masterful production qualities and international ensemble cast. While there is no central story to fully move the film from start to finish, the anthology-style structure still allows Anderson to explore several of the themes found within his previous works, such as human curiosity and the ironic relationship we share with the world and its other characters. There are no small parts, only small actors, with a robust cast given their individual moments to shine amidst the dazzlingly symmetrical production design. I've seen this film a dozen times since the initial screening at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, even pausing this write-up for another rewatch. That's love that money can't buy, and a loving testament to what Louis B. Mayer crassly said about the movies being a business where "the buyer gets nothing for his money but a memory." Anderson will probably always live in the shadow of this film for me, but I'll still be thankful that something this magical is allowed to exist in a world that only seems to get bleaker. More Reviews How to Make a Killing February 18, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Love That Remains February 20, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Pillion February 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

2026 Sundance Film Festival Preview January 19, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen A melancholic mood will permeate the air at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Now in its forty-second year, this will be the first without the presence of its main founder and spokesperson, Robert Redford, who died back in September. Originally founded as the Utah/US Film Festival in 1978, the festival was eventually renamed after Redford’s most famous character. As much as Redford was a titan of Hollywood, he was a champion of independent films, using his immense stature to find the next great American artist. Redford was Park City, and Park City was Redford. Now that Redford has left Sundance, so must Sundance leave Park City. Announced a month after last year’s edition was the fact that the festival would be leaving its forever home and moving east to Boulder, Colorado, starting in 2027. It makes this edition of the festival feel even more special, a final celebration of the past and present before jetting off into an uncertain future. While a member of the unofficial “Big Five” along with Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Toronto, Sundance doesn’t have the advantage of on-paper pedigree when it comes to the talent it showcases. It also can’t boast about stunning movie stars ascending a red carpet surrounded by palm trees, or arriving on a gondola through a canal. But what it can brag about is that it was the place that gave many iconic filmmakers their start before they graduated to the international limelight. Quentin Tarantino debuted Reservoir Dogs at Sundance in 1992, two years later winning the Palme d’Or for Pulp Fiction . Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape was able to compete for the Palme d’Or in 1989 because of the enthusiastic reviews it received at Sundance a few months earlier. Likely finding no distinction between the Utah mountains and their native Minnesota, the Coen brothers took the festival by storm in 1985 with their debut feature, Blood Simple . Of course, every festival requires a certain amount of star power in order to keep the lights on, and Sundance is no exception. Nestled outside of the competitive sections are the ‘Premieres,’ featuring the stars and directors who grab the headlines when it comes to lineup announcements. Returning to the birthplace of his generational-defining films of The Living End and The Doom Generation is director Gregg Araki, who also hasn’t helmed a feature film since 2014’s White Bird in a Blizzard . He has I Want Your Sex , starring Cooper Hoffman, who becomes a sexual muse to Olivia Wilde. The latter star is also featured in her third directorial outing, The Invite , along with Edward Norton, Seth Rogen, and Penélope Cruz. There’s also In the Blink of an Eye from Pixar leader Andrew Stanton, The Gallerist from Cathy Yan, The Weight with Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, and Charlie XCX’s sort-of documentary The Moment . Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Sundance has been the one festival that has opened its doors to an online audience. Sure, gone are the glory days of 2021 and 2022, when literally every festival selection was made available online. Bad apples who leaked films like Twinless and Selena y Los Dinos last year have pushed away most of the big titles from being available online. Still available are the films in the competition sections, which have played host to acclaimed films like CODA , A Thousand and One , Good One , A Real Pain , and Sorry, Baby . Two musical-related films can be found in this year’s U.S. Dramatic Competition. The first is aptly titled The Musical , starring Will Brill as a playwright putting on a chaotic high school musical. Run Amok has a nearly identical premise, this time with a high school student putting on a musical to commemorate the “one day her high school wishes it could forget.” Director Rachel Lambert’s uber-quiet Sometimes I Think About Dying has grown on me since I saw it at Sundance 2023. She’s back with Carousel, a dramedy starring Chris Pine and Jenny Slate as old flames refinding themselves years later. Writer/director Beth de Araújo had her film Josephine selected for the 2018 Sundance Institute Screenwriting and Directing Lab. After pandemic delays, she’s bringing the finished product to this year’s edition. Gemma Chan and Channing Tatum star as parents of the titular girl, who witnesses an assault near her home. Will Poulter and Noah Centineo star in Union County , a story about an adult-recovery program. Films that I have my eye on that were selected as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition include Shame and Money , Big Girls Don’t Cry , Extra Geography , and Levitating . Of course, Sundance wouldn’t be what it is today without its bevy of documentaries. Every year, there are too many to mention, with several likely to feature in the following year’s Oscar race (see The Perfect Neighbor , 2000 Meters to Andriivka , and The Alabama Solution ). As a member of the virtual press, I’ll be cruising through the Dramatic Competition sections during the viewing window of January 28-February 01. It’ll likely be a repeat of my days at TIFF, averaging about three to four films per day. Luckily, this will be from the comfort of my couch, with bathroom and writing breaks scheduled at my leisure. Full reviews for titles will be posted throughout that week, along with a full recap article at the conclusion of the festival. More Reviews How to Make a Killing February 18, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Love That Remains February 20, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Pillion February 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Explore a captivating collection of must-watch films on our curated list page. Lists Top 50 Films of the 2020s February 23, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Predicting the Cannes Jury President February 6, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen 2026 Sundance Film Festival Preview January 19, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen 26 Most Anticipated Films of 2026 January 12, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen 2022 Losers Button 2023 Losers Button 2026 Sundance Film Festival Preview Button 25 Most Anticipated Films of 2024 Button 26 Most Anticipated Films of 2026 Button A Brief History of Presidents' in Film Button Cannes 2022: 50 Films That Could Premiere Button Cannes 2023 Predictions - Part 2: Hollywood Makes a Splash Overseas Button Cannes 2023 Predictions - Part 4: The Irregulars and Up-and-Comers Button Cannes 2023 Recap Button Cannes 2024 Predictions - Part 3: The Loyalists Button Cannes 2025 Lineup Predictions Button Every Spider-Man Movie Ranked Button MSPIFF 2023 Recap Button MSPIFF 2025 Preview Button Movies That Made More Money Than You Think Button Predicting the Cannes Jury President Button Ranking the Films of Christopher Nolan Button Ranking the Mad Max Franchise Button Sundance 2023 Preview Button TIFF23 Preview Button TIFF24 Preview Button TIFF24: Tyler's Time at the Festival Button TIFF25 Recap Button The Best Cinematographers Working Today And Where To Find Them Next Button The Best Military Movies for Veterans Day Button The Great Musical War of 2021 Button The Most Successful Directors at Cannes Button Top 10 DreamWorks Animated Movies Button Top 10 Films of 2019 Button Top 10 Films of 2021 Button Top 10 Films of 2023 Button Top 10 Films of 2024 Button Top 10 Films of 2025 Button Top 10 Martin Scorsese Films Button Top 10 Pixar Films Button Top 50 Films of the 2020s Button Twin Cities Film Fest 2023 Preview Button Twin Cities Film Fest 2024 Preview Button Tyler's Favorite Musicals Button 2022 Winners Button 2023 Winners Button 25 Most Anticipated Films of 2022 Button 25 Most Anticipated Films of 2025 Button 36 Most Anticipated Films of 2023 Button Cannes 2021: All The Films That Could Premiere Button Cannes 2023 Predictions - Part 1: The Festival Masters Button Cannes 2023 Predictions - Part 3: The Festival Mainstays Button Cannes 2023 Preview Button Cannes 2024 Predictions - Part 1: The Question Marks Button Cannes 2024 Predictions- Part 2: The Regulars Button Cannes 2025 Recap Button MSPIFF 2023 Preview Button MSPIFF 2024 Preview Button MSPIFF 2025 Recap Button Omaha Film Festival 2024 Recap Button Ranking the Films of Adam McKay Button Ranking the Films of Michael Haneke Button Ranking the Planet of the Apes Franchise Button Sundance 2023 Recap Button TIFF23 Recap Button TIFF24 Recap Button TIFF25 Preview Button TIFF25: Tyler's Time at the Festival Button The Best Hollywood Screenwriters of All-Time Button The Biggest Flops in TIFF History Button The Greatest Irish Filmmakers Button The Worst Cannes Premieres Ever Button Top 10 Films of 2018 Button Top 10 Films of 2020 Button Top 10 Films of 2022 Button Top 10 Films of 2023 (So-Far) Button Top 10 Films of 2024 (So Far) Button Top 10 Films of 2025 (So Far) Button Top 10 Oliver Stone Films Button Top 10 Steven Spielberg Films Button Twin Cities Film Fest 2022 Preview Button Twin Cities Film Fest 2023 Recap Button Twin Cities Film Fest 2025 Preview Button

26 Most Anticipated Films of 2026 January 12, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Heading into 2026, there are so many existential questions that Hollywood has to grapple with. Between Netflix and Paramount, which will become the new owner of Warner Bros.? With the May 1st deadline for a new labor deal between the studios and guilds fast approaching, will we see a repeat of the industry-stopping strikes of 2023? Can the box office finally bounce back after years of accelerated depression from the COVID-19 pandemic? The answers to all these questions remain shrouded in mystery, although the past few years haven't instilled much room for optimism. But a new year also brings a new wave of possibilities for the road ahead. 2025 saw big-name directors cashing in their blank checks for career-defining projects: Paul Thomas Anderson with One Battle After Another , Ryan Coogler with Sinners , and Guillermo del Toro with Frankenstein . 2026 will (hopefully) contain more of the same, with Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, and David Fincher returning to the silver screen. International directors have also garnered increased attention over the years, with numerous great films emerging from every corner of the globe. To get you all excited as I am, listed below (in alphabetical order) are the twenty-six films I'm most looking forward to in 2026! Honorable Mentions: Animals, Cry to Heaven, Enemies, Hope, Ink, Mother Mary, Sense and Sensibility, The Bride!, The Uprising, Wild Horse Nine All of a Sudden Between Drive My Car being an unexpected Oscar heavyweight and Evil Does Not Exist sneakily being one of the best films of last year, Japanese auteur Ryûsuke Hamaguchi has rapidly ascended to becoming one of the most sought-after voices in international cinema. With the lights being the brightest that they've ever been, he's shifting over to France for a story about two female scholars who form a deep connection as they exchange letters. Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto will star, with the former promising that the film will contain some “astonishing formal choices” during a recent interview. Artifical Artificial intelligence has taken over nearly every facet of our lives, so it’s only natural that it's made its way into the cinema as well. Thankfully, I’m not talking about an artificially generated movie, but a biopic about Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI. Cinema’s premiere workaholic, Luca Guadagnino, is taking the reins, and he’s reuniting with Andrew Garfield. Supporting him will be a cast comprised of Monica Barbaro, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Rylance, and Yura Borisov. Avengers: Doomsday (December 18th) On the one hand, the return of the Russo brothers to the director’s chair, along with Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr., feels like an act of desperation and a slight betrayal of the finality of Avengers: Endgame . On the other hand, the films directed by the Russos solely occupy my MCU Mount Rushmore, and I haven’t been interested in continuing the stories of any of the characters introduced over the past few years. A multi-billion-dollar empire hangs in the balance, so this will be quite the spectacle whichever side the coin lands. Behemoth! Most famous on the silver screen for his directorial debut of Michael Clayton , Tony Gilroy hasn’t helmed a film since 2012’s The Bourne Legacy , the continuation of the Matt Damon-starring trilogy that he penned. In the meantime, he’s proved to both Disney and the fandom that Star Wars can still be relevant with Andor . He’s pairing up with another Disney+ star, Pedro Pascal, for a movie about a cellist composing music for the big screen. It’s described as a “love letter to the music of the movies and the people who make it,” so expect some sentimentality attached to the tunes that helped those images soar. Burning Rainbow Farm The Australian Justin Kurzel has become the preeminent gritty filmmaker over the past decade, exploring the darkness within Shakespeare ( Macbeth ), as well as real-life tragedies within his native country ( Nitram ) and America ( The Order ). His next film comes from that same mold, with Sebastian Stan (his first of a few appearances on this list) and rising star Leo Woodall appearing as a marijuana advocate couple who endure a five-day standoff against the FBI at their farmstead. The climactic shootout in The Order was some of the best work Kurzel has produced, so I can only imagine what he'll be able to pull off with a wider scope. Butterfly Jam After nabbing the Best Director prize from the Un Certain Regard section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival for his sophomore feature, Beanpole , it seemed like writer/director Kantemir Balagov would become one of the top young voices in cinema. His disagreements with the current regime in his Russian homeland stalled his ability to make another project there, and he eventually was transplanted to New Jersey. He'll be exploring that area's Circassian community, centering on Barry Keoghan as an aspiring professional wrestler who gets caught up in his father's criminal schemes. Digger (October 2nd) When the world needs saving, that means it’s time to call in Tom Cruise. It looks like he’ll be up to that task again for a “comedy of catastrophic proportions.” Although judging by his hairpiece and shovel dancing in the recent title announcement, his titular character won’t be as suave as Ethan Hunt or Maverick. Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki won back-to-back Oscars in their respective fields for Birdman and The Revenant . Each of those films also netted nominations for their lead stars, with Leonardo DiCaprio finally nabbing that elusive trophy in the latter film. Here’s hoping the same happens for Cruise, who hasn’t been nominated for acting since Magnolia . Disclosure Day (June 12th) Steven Spielberg has solely made movies based on preexisting material or history in the forty-plus years since E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial . That makes it extra fitting that the streak will be broken for an original story about aliens walking among us. Spielberg has enlisted his trusted screenwriter, David Koepp, to flesh out the details, as well as a cast consisting of Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Eve Hewson, Colin Firth, and Colman Domingo. Morbidly, this film will likely feature the final compositions by legendary maestro John Williams. Dune: Part Three (December 18th) The first two parts of Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi franchise were adaptations of the initial book in the famed series by Frank Herbert. This third chapter will leap ahead to Dune: Messiah , which contains several story elements that could take this series in bold directions. It’s unclear how strongly Villeneuve will follow the source material. What is clear is that much of the same cast and crew return, with new additions in Robert Pattinson and Anya Taylor-Joy. After The Odyssey , this will be the second film shot entirely in IMAX, a naturally epic canvas for Villeneuve to paint with. Fjord While he has yet to break into the mainstream, Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu has consistently been one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the 21st century. He won the Palme d’Or in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days , and will likely compete again with his starriest film to date. Coming off their work in A Different Man , Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve will play an immigrant Romanian couple who are persecuted shortly after settling in Norway. Judging by Mungiu’s continuous critiques of the flawed justice system, it’s doubtful that this will be a happy tale. Her Private Hell True to his nature, Nicolas Winding Refn's first film in ten years promises "lots of glitter, sex, and violence." The Danish bad boy director is the epitome of style over substance, sending Ryan Gosling down a path of bloody crime in Drive and Only God Forgives . His two leading ladies this time around are Sophie Thatcher and Havana Rose Liu, who, between their looks and acting styles, seem like perfect additions to his intoxicating world. Jack of Spades Since the breakup of the Minnesota-born brothers, Ethan has released two wacky comedies ( Drive-Away Dolls and Honey Don’t! ), while Joel has dabbled in Shakespeare ( The Tragedy of Macbeth ). This second solo effort from the latter brother will probably give us enough evidence to solidify any theory about the dynamics of their working relationship. As with every Coen project, specific details are closely guarded, with the only known information being that it’s set in London during the nineteenth century, and will star Josh O’Connor, Frances McDormand, Damian Lewis, and Lesley Manville. Madden Between the slight disappointment of Joy and the outright disaster of Amsterdam , there’s been quite a cooling off for David O. Russell since his early-2010s hot streak of The Fighter , Silver Linings Playbook , and American Hustle . Despite those most recent failures, he’s attracted a star-studded cast for this story of the birth of the chart-topping football video game series. Nicolas Cage will be caked in makeup to play the turducken-loving coach, and so will Christian Bale as he portrays longtime Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. This will probably be a mess, but entertaining nonetheless. Paper Tiger Not that it can be taken too seriously, but Rodrigo Teixeira, a producer on Paper Tiger , claims that it’s the best work that writer/director James Gray has ever done. Bias aside, that kind of enthusiasm is what Gray deserves, whose consistently remained underappreciated despite his near impeccable filmography, which includes Ad Astra , The Lost City of Z , and We Own the Night . He's got his starriest cast yet with Adam Driver and Miles Teller playing brothers caught up in the violence of the American dream, with Scarlett Johansson also involved. Parallel Tales Sandwiched between his Oscar-winning dramas of A Separation and The Salesman , Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi dipped his toe into the Parisian waters with the equally acclaimed The Past . Thirteen years later, he's back in France, this time with an all-star cast comprised of Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Cassel, Virginie Efira, and Pierre Niney. The plot is under wraps, so we'll just have to wait and see what’s in store. Sheep in the Box and Look Back Hirokazu Kore-eda has arguably been one of the greatest filmmakers of this millennium, with even his recent "lesser" films like The Truth, Broker , and Monster being near the top of my list in their respective years. He has two films in the can for this year, the first being set in the near-future as a couple takes in a state-of-the-art humanoid into their home as their son. The second is a live-action adaptation of the immensely popular manga, which recently received a highly acclaimed anime version. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow felt like a defining film of the 2020s, containing a voice that stemmed from several influences, yet was entirely its own. They'll be staying in that liminal space for their third feature, which follows a queer director (Hannah Einbinder from Hacks ) making a modern sequel to an iconic 80s slasher franchise. Gillian Anderson stars as the original film's 'final girl,' who becomes psychologically and sexually tangled with Einbinder. The Adventures of Cliff Booth Between a novelization and now a sequel script, it seems that Quentin Tarantino really wants to stay in the world of Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood before he finally ventures into making his tenth and final film. And for the first time in thirty years, he won’t be directing his own screenplay, having personally hired David Fincher for that task. It’s an odd pairing of the cold and calculating Fincher with a potentially shaggy comedy. But the talent both on and off the screen is too immense for those doubts to cloud my excitement. The Dog Stars (August 28th) Ridley Scott has continually defied the notion that age should slow a person down. Since he turned 80 years old in 2017, he has directed four blockbusters and several television pilots. Even at 88, he’s still lining up projects that will not be filmed for many more years. For now, he’s got an adaptation of the popular sci-fi novel set in a post-apocalyptic world after a virus wipes out most of humanity. Jacob Elordi stars as Hig, a pilot who survived the plague and must scavenge the desolate wasteland in order to preserve what’s left of our species. The Entertainment System Is Down In the year since he started production on his newest film, Ruben Östlund has been claiming that it will cause the most walkouts in the history of the Cannes Film Festival, where he recently won consecutive Palme d'Ors for The Square and Triangle of Sadness . A real Boeing 747 was acquired specifically for the production, with a cast that includes Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Brühl, and Vincent Lindon, stuck on a long-haul international flight where the titular scenario occurs. While the characters will certainly be bored as they must grapple with life free of distractions, we will not, as Östlund doles out another helping of his outlandish social commentary. The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde Although he has yet to share any plot details, writer/director Kenneth Branagh has been very open about his admiration for star Jodie Comer, even going so far as to compare her to Meryl Streep. That’s a lofty pedestal to place her on, and a funny coincidence since Branagh will be starring as Streep’s husband in The Devil Wears Prada 2 . Branagh has always been an inconsistent director, with his more successful films being the ones he wrote. Let’s hope that streak continues here. The Odyssey (July 17th) I may not have approved of the practice, but I did cave and buy a year-ahead ticket for the first IMAX 70mm showing of The Odyssey at AMC Lincoln Square. It only felt right for me to witness Christopher Nolan's new film on the biggest screen in the country. His retelling of the epic that started it all will be presented entirely in IMAX, making this not just a film, but also a cultural event. The Social Reckoning (October 9th) The scope of The Social Network feels quaint compared to what Facebook has become in the fifteen years since. That’s why original screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is returning to the subject for a follow-up investigation, which will include data leaks, invasions of privacy, and how it became connected to the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Mikey Madison will mark her return to the screen after winning her Oscar, and Jeremy Strong replaces Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. It is somewhat of a shame that Sorkin is now directing his own scripts instead of entrusting them to a top-tier filmmaker. But if that’s the price that must be paid to experience his signature masterful dialogue, then so be it. The Way of the Wind Now that we’ve reached the seventh consecutive year of this film appearing on this list, the joke has more than run its course. Although it does seem fitting for a film about the life of Jesus Christ to continually test my faith in its existence. I worship at the altar of Terrence Malick, so I’ll continue to say my prayers. Werwulf Between Guillermo del Toro and Robert Eggers, the classic movie monsters have been receiving the respectful modern adaptations that they deserve. While Eggers’ newest film is technically not a story about the famous werewolf, it will definitely have those familiar elements. He’s working again with his The Northman screenwriter, Sjón, as well as a majority of the cast of Nosferatu . Likely to be bathed in darkness and blood, this will be the feel-bad movie of Christmas. Wuthering Heights (February 13th) Emerald Fennell has become something of a prestige provocateur this decade with Promising Young Woman and Saltburn . The latter film may not have fared as well as the former, but it still packs a lot of messy glitz and glamor. How will those sensibilities mesh with literature's most famous love story, which has amassed a loyal fanbase in the nearly two centuries since its publication? It's hard to tell, with the imagery from the trailer looking ravishing and the passion between stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi seemingly being off the charts. More Reviews How to Make a Killing February 18, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Love That Remains February 20, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Pillion February 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Predicting the Cannes Jury President February 6, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Next to winning an Oscar, presiding over the jury of the Cannes Film Festival is one of the highest honors an artist can receive. Names such as Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Wong Kar-wai, Cate Blanchett, and Spike Lee have achieved this illustrious status, bestowing one of cinema's biggest prizes, the Palme d'Or, on one of the twenty films within the competition section. Last year's edition was headed by Juliette Binoche, who awarded the first-place prize to Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident , which illustrated a strong creative spirit in the face of political repercussions. With this year's festival right around the corner, it's time we start speculating on who will be granted the presidency. Using a mixture of acclaim, popularity, and festival history, I've come up with a list of ten names that have a viable shot of being chosen. A few ideal candidates, like Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, or Asghar Farhadi, were not predicted because they either would be too busy to dedicate the time, have previously filled the position, or are speculated to have a film in competition this year. Bong Joon-ho In his last two ventures to the Croisette, Bong Joon-ho has joined the very exlcusive clubs for people who have premiered a Netflix production ( Okja ) and won a unanimous Palme d'Or ( Parasite ). The South Korean auteur rivals Guillermo del Toro for the claim of being the most beloved filmmaker in the industry. He tirelessly shares his passion with audiences and his fellow artists, which would make him an ideal candidate for presiding over the jury. Sean Baker France only recently amneded their law stipulating that films must wait at least three years after its theatricla release before they can debut on a streaming service. That dogged rigidity aligns well with Sean Baker's recent statements that he will require his films to be given a 100-day theatrical window in the United States. His apex of four Academy Awards for Anora was consistently aided by Cannes, with that film, along with Red Rocket and The Florida Project , premiering at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. Penélope Cruz Winner of the festival's Best Actress prize for Volver and an Honorary César, Cruz has been one of this century's biggest stars of international cinema. Her frequent pairings with festival legend Pedro Almodóvar have made her a mainstay over the years, always the biggest presence on the buzzy red carpet. Now seems like the right time to have her graduate above being a competitor, with her impeccable taste for projects hinting at a strong case for being president. Jacques Audiard As conflicting as his status might be in America for Emilia Pérez , Jacques Audiard is France's most accomplished director, holding the record for most individual wins in the history of the César Awards with thirteen. He's also premiered six films in competition, winning Best Screenplay ( A Self-Made Hero ), Grand Prize of Jury ( A Prophet ), Jury Prize ( Emilia Pérez ), and Palme d'Or ( Dheepan ). With that many accomplishments over a lengthy career, it seems only right that he be given the keys to the kingdom. Richard Linklater Having returned to the Croisette last year with the ten-time César Award-nominated Nouvelle Vague - a story that fawns over the influence of Cannes and French Cinema - Richard Linklater's popularity within France is certainly at an all-time high. As the defining filmmaker of "hangout movies," he certainly would be a friendly and welcoming presence for the jury. Tilda Swinton Swinton has amassed one of the most impressive filmographies of any working actor, working on multiple occasions with Cannes royalty like Pedro Almodóvar, Joanna Hogg, Jim Jarmusch, Wes Anderson, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. She's the kind of actor every actor dreams of being, even founded her own film festival in the Scottish Highlands. Alfonso Cuarón Cuarón served on the jury once before for the president Sean Penn in 2008. He was also a special guest for the 2022 award ceremony, receiving a strong round of applause. Roma was heavily tipped to have premiered at Cannes had Netflix not go in the way, showing that the festival and filmmaker would like to deepen their relationship. Viggo Mortensen Outside of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Mortensen has always shown an aversion to blockbuster filmmaking, preferring to work with the kinds of international auteurs that Cannes prides itself on. He's also written and directed his own projects, displaying a deft touch that would lend well to the wide range of films that fill the competition section. Plus, he's fluent in six languages (English, Danish, Spanish, French, German, and Norwegian), so he'd be able to form a deeper bond with nearly every jury member! Jodie Foster Not that Jodie Foster was ever in a slump, but she is definitely on a winning streak between her Oscar nomination for Nyad and Emmy award for the fourth season of True Detective . She was also awarded an Honorary Golden Palm by the festival in 2021, and displayed her fluency in French last year with A Private Life . The world could always use more Jodie Foster, so why not put her atop the biggest stage? Guillermo del Toro As much as he loves to campaign for his films, Guillermo del Toro equally loves to champion the works of others. That level of compassion makes him an ideal candidate, as do his ties to the festival, with Pan's Labyrinth still holding the record for the longest standing ovation at 22 minutes. More Reviews How to Make a Killing February 18, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Love That Remains February 20, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Pillion February 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Cinema Dispatch is your one-stop-shop film review website that also offers lists, awards updates, and essays relating to the world of cinema. Reviews How to Make a Killing February 18, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Love That Remains February 20, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Pillion February 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Awards Button Button 2026 Oscar Nominations - Winners & Losers January 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Final 2026 Oscar Nomination Predictions January 15, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen 1 One Battle After Another 2 Sinners 3 Hamnet 4 Marty Supreme 5 Sentimental Value 6 Frankenstein 7 Bugonia 8 The Secret Agent 9 Train Dreams 10 F1: The Movie Oscar Nomination Predictions - Best Picture Hunter Friesen Lists Top 50 Films of the 2020s February 23, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Predicting the Cannes Jury President February 6, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen

Top 10 Films of 2025 December 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen When reviewing this annual list in its final form, I’m always amazed at how disparate each entry appears on the surface. In one corner is a wistful comedy about an aging movie star, while the other features a reexamination of history’s most famous monster. The connection between each film lies in its uncanny ability to tell a story that is both specific and universal, crafted by an artist working at the height of their powers. You may not be able to physically take the film home with you once you leave the theater, but a piece of it does become a part of you for the rest of time. And in a moment where the price of everything continues to climb, I’d say that’s money well spent. Here are my picks for the ten best films of 2025. Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order): Black Bag , Blue Moon , Materialists , One Battle After Another , Sinners , The Chronology of Water, The History of Sound, The Mastermind , The Phoenician Scheme , The Testament of Ann Lee 10. Jay Kelly George Clooney is Jay Kelly, and Jay Kelly is George Clooney in Jay Kelly . By centering his film on the actor playing the character as much as it is about the character themselves, writer/director Noah Baumbach investigates the walls that have been built over decades to separate a person’s private and public selves. Clooney turns in one of his best performances, with the movie star wattage turned all the way up. But he’s also self-reflective and regretful, always asking if he can have one more chance, a luxury that can only be afforded on a movie set. The stacked supporting cast is led by Adam Sandler, who is reteaming with Baumbach to deliver another career-best performance. This was some of the most fun I had with a movie all year. Full Review 9. No Other Choice Director Park Chan-wook has been a lifelong fan of the novel The Ax by Donald E. Westlake, endlessly teasing an adaptation as his next project. Those decades of pent-up giddiness are evident in Park’s visuals, with crisp digital cinematography punctuated by fluid camera movements. Increasing financial pressures have twisted the titular phrase into a permission slip for Man-soo (a wonderfully tragicomic Lee Byung-hun) to kill the other applicants for the job he desperately needs. Park grants these men just as much compassion as he has for Man-soo, making the farce of these violent acts all the more tragic. The rich get richer, all while the poor literally kill each other for the ever-shrinking scraps. Full Review 8. Is This Thing On? Whether it was intentional or not, Bradley Cooper’s third outing as a director feels very much like a direct response to all the negative criticisms surrounding the extreme formalistic showmanship of his sophomore feature, Maestro . Unfair as those remarks were, Is This Thing On? is the right move at the right time, a strategic downshift into a less pressurized register, all while retaining an uncanny skill at producing respectful adult entertainment. Having done similarly cathartic work on television, Will Arnett is adept at finding the balance between innocent humor and flawed darkness as he bears it all with strangers on the comedy stage. Laura Dern is positively magnetic, rediscovering her character’s individuality with an endearing attitude. The production is light on its feet and heavy on emotions, with Cooper yet again proving that he can seemingly do no wrong once he has a man, a woman, and a camera. Full Review 7. Resurrection As beautiful as it is incomprehensible, Bi Gan’s magnum opus operates on a different plane of logic. In a future where humanity has lost the capacity to dream, a woman enters the six different dreams of a monster, representing one of the five senses and the mind. Each dream illustrates a piece of twentieth-century Chinese and cinematic history, told in the style of the time. The opening segment is reminiscent of silent German expressionistic monster movies, while the final chapter is captured in a single long take, telling the story of a vampiric romance on the last night of the millennium. How these puzzle pieces logically coalesce is nearly impossible to understand. But to focus on the science of dreams is the wrong way to experience them, as their unexplained majesty is what lures us into a deep sleep each and every night. 6. Train Dreams Impressionistically swaying between the past, present, and future, director Clint Bentley captures the life of Robert Grainier, a humble lumberjack who lived and died in the Pacific Northwest throughout the early to mid-20th century. His existence is a drop in the ocean of time, with exponential growth in technology pushing the world past the point of recognition. Similar to how Terrence Malick was able to use A-listers to build characters who were both of this earth and larger-than-life, so does Bentley with Joel Edgerton, trusting him to carry the entire emotional scope of the film through somber gestures and weighty presence. Years go by in the blink of an eye, yet we understand what took place between then and now. Like life itself, this is a film that often sneaks up on you in its profundity. It may take days or weeks for you to realize just how much one image or piece of sound has stuck with you, offering a new outlook on the existence we carve out for ourselves. Full Review 5. Sentimental Value You will not find a more emotionally intelligent film this year than Sentimental Value . Writer/director Joachim Trier’s story about the reconciliation of an estranged family produces each tear, gasp, and laugh at exactly the right moment. Yet, it's never manipulative, always proudly wearing its heart on its sleeve. Each of the actors in the central quartet is an absolute delight to watch, buoying between the light and the dark. By the time the credits start rolling, you’ll have been on a journey with not just these characters, but also with yourself. Full Review 4. Frankenstein Guillermo del Toro, the filmmaker most in love with monsters, finally gets the chance to adapt the story of the most famous one of all. Mary Shelley’s story has long suffered the plague of becoming a copy of a copy of a copy. Endless adaptations and inspirations have taken only the elements deemed the most commercially muscular, leaving out the heart and mind. Through handsome craftsmanship and a deep sense of sympathy, del Toro has picked up those discarded pieces and made it whole again, reminding us why stories like these have, and will, withstand the test of time. Full Review 3. Marty Supreme Marty Supreme is as exhausting as it is exhilarating, the kind of movie where you let out a huge sigh of relief once you leave the theater. With this film added to his oeuvre of Good Time and Uncut Gems , director Josh Safdie has become a master of depicting addiction, the agony and ecstasy of gambling everything for the chance to win anything. Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Mauser is the John McEnroe of table tennis, his mouth moving as fast as his backhand volleys. In one moment, he’s riding high at The Ritz London. The next moment, he’s hiding in a dumpster to avoid the cops. Safdie controls this chaos at every turn, the tracks of this rollercoaster pushing the cart at the right speeds at the right time. Full Review 2. April The beauty of the cinema is not just in the sheer size of the speakers and screen, but the opportunity it gives us to break away from our world and be transported to a different one. Georgian writer/director Dea Kulumbegashvili crafted a film where absolute patience and concentration are a prerequisite. Between the unsettling abstract visuals and the brutal real-life truths about female bodily autonomy, this was one of the most bone-chilling films of the year. It was banned in its home country and barely released in the United States due to the dissolution of its distributor. It was a great shame, as one of the most important films of the year was kept hidden from the people who might need it the most. Full Review 1. Hamnet The story of how the death of William Shakespeare’s child inspired history’s greatest literary tragedy may be the year’s biggest tear-jerker, but there isn’t a single moment where it's cloying at those ducts. Director Chloé Zhao depicts an honest collision course of grief, featuring two of the best actors working today. Jessie Buckley is nothing short of transcendent, and Paul Mescal is heartbreakingly cathartic. A special mention should be given to the child actor Jacobi Jupe for his portrayal of the titular boy, as well as to composer Max Richter for aiding these characters’ journeys. There have been countless splendid adaptations of Shakespeare’s works, and now here is the masterpiece that unearths the roots from which they grew. Full Review More Reviews How to Make a Killing February 18, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Love That Remains February 20, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Pillion February 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Dive into our expert Oscar predictions and analysis, staying ahead of the curve on the films and performers destined for Hollywood glory. Awards Button Button 2026 Oscar Nominations - Winners & Losers January 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Final 2026 Oscar Nomination Predictions January 15, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen Oscar Nomination Predictions Last Updated: 01/27/2026 Next Update: 03/12/2026 1 One Battle After Another 2 Sinners 3 Hamnet 4 Marty Supreme 5 Sentimental Value 6 Frankenstein 7 Bugonia 8 The Secret Agent 9 Train Dreams 10 F1: The Movie Best Picture 1 Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another) 2 Ryan Coogler (Sinners) 3 Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value) 4 Chloé Zhao (Hamnet) 5 Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme) Best Director 1 Sinners 2 Sentimental Value 3 Marty Supreme 4 Blue Moon 5 It Was Just an Accident Best Original Screenplay 1 One Battle After Another 2 Hamnet 3 Train Dreams 4 Bugonia 5 Frankenstein Best Adapted Screenplay 1 Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme) 2 Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another) 3 Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent) 4 Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon) 5 Michael B. Jordan (Sinners) Best Lead Actor 1 Jessie Buckley (Hamnet) 2 Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) 3 Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You) 4 Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue) 5 Emma Stone (Bugonia) Best Lead Actress 1 Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value) 2 Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another) 3 Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein) 4 Sean Penn (One Battle After Another) 5 Delroy Lindo (Sinners) Best Supporting Actor 1 Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another) 2 Amy Madigan (Weapons) 3 Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value) 4 Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners) 5 Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value) Best Supporting Actress 1 Sinners 2 One Battle After Another 3 Marty Supreme 4 Hamnet 5 The Secret Agent Best Casting 1 Sinners 2 Train Dreams 3 One Battle After Another 4 Marty Supreme 5 Frankenstein Best Cinematography 1 Sinners 2 One Battle After Another 3 Frankenstein 4 Hamnet 5 Bugonia Best Original Score 1 Golden (KPop Demon Hunters) 2 I Lied to You (Sinners) 3 Train Dreams (Train Dreams) 4 Dear Me (Diane Warren: Relentless) 5 Sweet Dreams of Joy (Viva Verdri!) Best Original Song 1 One Battle After Another 2 F1: The Movie 3 Sinners 4 Marty Supreme 5 Sentimental Value Best Film Editing 1 F1: The Movie 2 Sinners 3 Sirât 4 One Battle After Another 5 Frankenstein Best Sound 1 Frankenstein 2 Sinners 3 Marty Supreme 4 Hamnet 5 One Battle After Another Best Production Design 1 Frankenstein 2 Sinners 3 Hamnet 4 Marty Supreme 5 Avatar: Fire and Ash Best Costume Design 1 Frankenstein 2 Sinners 3 The Smashing Machine 4 Kokuho 5 The Ugly Stepsister Best Makeup & Hairstyling 1 Avatar: Fire and Ash 2 F1: The Movie 3 Sinners 4 The Lost Bus 5 Jurassic World: Rebirth Best Visual Effects 1 KPop Demon Hunters 2 Zootopia 2 3 Arco 4 Little Amélie or the Character of Rain 5 Elio Best Animated Feature 1 Sentimental Value (Norway) 2 The Secret Agent (Brazil) 3 It Was Just an Accident (France) 4 Sirât (Spain) 5 The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia) Best International Feature 1 The Perfect Neighbor 2 The Alabama Solution 3 Mr. Nobody Against Putin 4 Come See Me in the Good Light 5 Cutting Through Rocks Best Documentary Feature

The Love That Remains February 20, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen In the lovely trailer for The Love That Remains , the narrator (bring that back!) explains that there are no “far-right extremists or murderers in this film. Only normal people with normal feelings and normal problems.” It’s a pleasant spin on the notion that, although the island of Iceland isn’t as far away from either the continent of North America or Europe as one would think, that distance makes it seem like it might as well be located on another planet. Right now, that seclusion seems like it would be a great benefit, as the interconnectedness of modern life seems to only mean that we all fall together. One of modern life’s most normal problems is divorce, which is at the center of this film. Except, this isn’t a divorce of anger or resentment, just a falling out of love. It’s as if the pendulum had swung away from the feelings that originated this relationship, with just enough momentum to make us feel like it could swing back that way again. As the title alludes, there is still love between Anna (Saga Garðarsdóttir) and Magnús (Sverrir Gudnason), just not enough for them to live together with their three children: Ída, Ágúst, and Grímur. For any unsuspecting viewer, it might take a few reels to fully grasp the family's strained situation. There’s a sense of lightness as they sit down for meals and then go outside to play with their sheepdog, Panda. But then the mother will tell the kids it’s time for bed, which also means it’s time for father to return to his bed aboard the floor of the 15,000 ton fishing boat he works on. Fisheries remain one of the most vital parts of the Icelandic economy, with thousands of men becoming part-time family members as they must work on the boat for days/weeks at a time. Most of the men seem to be in Magnús’s situation: get married young and have their relationships tested by the weight of time, distance, and children. Overtaking fishing as the country’s largest export is tourism, something that writer/director Hlynur Pálmason captures with his self-managed 35mm camera. The frigid tones of the frames in his previous feature, the 19th-century set Godland , have been replaced with a warmer color palette that highlights the fields, coasts, and distant glaciers. Out in the farmlands, Anna works on her art, and the kids pass the summertime by playing games, experiencing more freedom as the parents aren’t able to keep as close an eye on them. It’s a peaceful existence, one that’s also tinged with melancholy. The children are all played by Pálmason’s own, hinting at a certain amount of reflection in this story. There’s a difference here from something like Marriage Story , mostly in its refusal to address the legal dissolution of a relationship. The harsh realities do bubble up to the surface every once in a while, with abstract sequences and images holding up the foggy mirror. The boys create a makeshift scarecrow that they can shoot arrows into. Later in the film, the scarecrow comes to life for a scene, reacting to all the arrows that have plunged into its burlap body. No one sees it, and it’s back to being lifeless the next time it appears. For many families, this is the way things are. Things go up and down, with unexplainable moments that stick out from the overall tapestry. Pálmason gently captures that rollercoaster, with Harry Hunt’s melodic piano easing us along. There’s laughter, sadness, and a lovingly playful dog. What more could you need in life? More Reviews How to Make a Killing February 18, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Love That Remains February 20, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Pillion February 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die February 7, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen As evidenced by a robust sampling of films over the past few months, the bulking battleship that is Hollywood seems to have finally caught up with the headlines that artificial intelligence has been producing over the past few years. Tom Cruise stopped an AI program called the Entity from initiating nuclear armageddon in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning , Chris Pratt had to prove his innocence to Rebecca Ferguson's AI Judge Maddox in Mercy , and Jason Statham was framed and hunted down by his own government after an AI surveillance program went rogue in Shelter . Even at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Oscar-winning documentarian Daniel Roher tackles both sides of the coin in the aptly titled The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist . Between these grand theatrics and matter-of-fact stories, the unlimited potential of artificial intelligence has become inescapable, its demeanor seemingly a reflection of its creator. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die , the first film from director Gore Verbinski in a decade, falls right in line with those previously mentioned blockbusters. But just as its title suggests, its warnings about the grave dangers of this awesome superweapon are served with a wink and a smile. You just have to remember not to die. For The Man From the Future (Sam Rockwell), that last bit of instruction hasn't come easy, having nearly met his maker on several hundred occasions. His improbable luck comes from the time loop device strapped to his body, which inconveniently makes him look like a suicide bomber. His scraggly beard, haggard rainsuit, and wily demeanor also don't help his marketability when he enters a present-day Los Angeles diner looking to recruit people for his world-saving mission. Inside that diner are people looking down at their phones, oblivious to the fact that the world is teetering on the edge of the apocalypse. The Man's future has been overthrown by artificial intelligence thanks to humanity's inability to use caution on the slippery slope of technological progress. Just down the road from this diner, a computer prodigy is creating that AI program, and The Man has been sending himself back in time to stop that from happening, hoping to recruit the correct combination of strangers to aid him. Matthew Robinson's script is entirely in service of Rockwell's extreme charisma in this opening setpiece. Pages upon pages of exposition are dumped on us and the diner's patrons, all of it serving as a grave warning for both the fictional and real-life world. This is the 117th time The Man has performed this song and dance, the constant failure wearing him down to just going through the motions. Rockwell more or less choreographs his movements like a dance, balleting upon tables, twirling through the barstools, and precisely hitting the cues he's memorized from repetition. It's a bit of old-school Hollywood showmanship, Rockwell's infectious spirit being just convincing enough for some people to buy into his ludicrous mission. A conflict forms here, which continues throughout the film, between the performances of the highly qualified cast and the words they've been paid to recite. The Man's criticisms and prophecies about modern society are all valid, but that doesn't automatically make them compelling to hear. It seems to stem from an older man who has slowly become out-of-touch, always having something to say about "kids these days" and that we need to go back to the way things were. Zazie Beetz and Michael Peña play a couple of teachers that The Man recruits. In an extended flashback explaining how they got to be at the diner at that exact moment, they teach at a high school to students who are "barely people." Phone addiction and a narcissistic attitude run rampant in the classrooms, leading to teacher shortages and weekly school shootings. The mothers of the slain kids treat it as a minor inconvenience, with one treating her fourth dead kid as if it were the fourth time her goldfish died. Flashbacks are also given to Juno Temple as the seemingly only rational parent of a dead child, and Haley Lu Richardson as a young woman who was literally born with an allergy to cell phone and internet signals. She falls for a man who willingly rejects technology, their love portrayed as being more pure. Running an almost unforgiveable 134-minutes, nearly half of the film is spent on the past actions of each individual supporting cast member, bloated filler taking away from the far superior zaniness Rockwell supplies in the main storyline. That length isn't a surprise for Verbinksi, the filmmaker who pleasantly pushed the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films towards the three-hour mark, and then unpleasantly stretched The Lone Ranger and A Cure For Wellness to two and a half hours. But what Verbinski lacks in brevity, he always makes up for it with ingenuity. The lack of financial resources doesn't hinder his ability to create moments of visual splendor; a well-timed camera move or edit is all that's needed to raise the stakes. Its scattershot energy feels reminicent to Everything Everywhere All at Once , the pieces of the puzzle not coming together as neatly as they should. This very much feels like it has all the elements of a cult movie, with its devoted followers seeing themselves in the random strangers that join the fight alongside The Man, and the rest of us being the other ambivalent diner patrons who just want to tune out all that's bad in the world. Unfortunately, judging by this film's timeline, we may not be around for the necessary amount of years it takes for a cult status to form. In the meantime: good luck, have fun, and don't die. More Reviews How to Make a Killing February 18, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Love That Remains February 20, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Pillion February 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Pillion February 13, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen Much has been written and discussed, often sensationally, about Pillion since its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it went on to win the Screenplay Prize and the Palm Dog for its canine performers. Tales of whips, chains, assless chaps, and piercings in places that most people wouldn't pierce grabbed the headlines, selling potential audiences on the physical shock value of a BDSM romance. It wasn't a surprising turn of events, as this very specific subgenre has largely been packaged and sold with a hint of taboo, almost as if audiences are being naughty by watching this and shouldn't make it known to their friends and families. The Fifty Shades of Grey films are the worst perpetrators of this, followed by the endless parodies that further cheapened the whole concept. The biggest strength of Pillion is its refusal to use its BDSM elements as window dressing or sight gags. Granted, there are several instances shot and cut to incite laughter, such as Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård wrestling in skintight leotards without a bottom cover. But beneath all that humor lies a nuanced approach to this culture. Making his feature debut as both writer and director, Harry Lighton conducted research by spending time with Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club (GBMCC), the largest LGBT+ motorcycling club in the UK/Europe. Many of the members appear in the film, with no signs that their way of life has been sanded down for mainstream audiences or fetishized to grab attention. They are who they are, occupying the same space, going through the same ups and downs of life, and looking for the same amount of fulfillment as all human beings. A "pillion" is the passenger's spot on a motorcycle, either seated right behind the driver or in a sidecar. Colin (Melling) always seems to be in the pillion of his own life. He's an introverted gay man, living in the suburbs of London with his parents and working as a parking attendant at a local mall. Dating isn't a game he's suited for, as he has a considerable inability for adventure and decisiveness. After performing as part of his barbershop quartet at a pub, he notices a group of gay bikers. Each of the more muscular bikers has a skinnier biker on a leash next to them, almost like an owner with his dog. Colin's eyes widen with the realization of his desire. Opportunity quickly comes knocking as the impossibly tall and handsome Ray (Skarsgård) exercises his dominance, beckoning Colin into a relationship that grants power to the helplessness that has perpetually kept him alone. Throughout its initial and opening thirds, Lighton takes a refreshingly unique approach to the romantic drama. As opposed to Babygirl , another A24 film about sexual power dynamics, there isn't a sense of danger or something to hide about Colin and Ray's relationship. Colin's parents are very supportive of his orientation, even trying to set him up on dates with other boys in town. This is a story of two men discovering aspects of themselves that they would never reveal to themselves. It just also happens to include tastefully graphic sex scenes that have rarely been depicted outside of underground cinema. The middle portion is where the clichés start to pile up, as little differences spur arguments and character decisions that we've become numb to. To be fair to Lighton, the fact that he's placing his story within a different environment doesn't mean that he has to reinvent the wheel of cinematic storytelling. It's a similar plight that was unfairly burdened Bros a few years back, with its progression of gay representation in mainstream cinema being stalled because it was still just another romantic comedy. Even in their slight sameness, both Bros and Pillion are better than the majority of the competition, which is more than enough of a reason to applaud their existence. More Reviews How to Make a Killing February 18, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die February 7, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Pillion February 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen Simply by being a crime film set in Los Angeles that puts a weary cop and a calculating thief on a climactic collision course, the comparisons to Michael Mann’s Heat are rampant and obvious for Crime 101 . Even the author of the novella, Don Winslow, can’t escape scot-free, as he published it in 2020. Then again, despite Heat being the shining pinnacle of its genre, it doesn’t have a monopoly on Los Angeles-based crime, especially when several other entries like Chinatown , Colors , and Point Break already staked their claim. Crime 101 probably won’t ascend to that level of notoriety, but it also won’t be an odd duck if it’s mentioned in the same sentence. Prior planning prevents poor performance. It’s a phrase/code that Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth) religiously lives by, as we first see him going through the rhythms of preparation for his next heist. He brushes off all loose hair and skin flakes, ensuring that not a speck of DNA can be found at the scene. He wears a mask, never resorts to violence, and is in and out within thirty seconds. It’s like clockwork; the sole clue to his plans is that every job takes place along the US 101 freeway in Los Angeles. Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) is the only person who seems to have cracked the code, with everyone else being fooled into believing that Mike’s jobs are all just random robberies. Also intertwined in this classic tale of cops and robbers is insurance broker Sharon Colvin (Halle Berry), who hasn’t received the respect and rewards she’s owed after years of catering to the ultra-wealthy slobs who require insurance policies on their multi-million dollar antiquities. On her most recent client visit, a potential buyer revealed to her that he bought a piece of contemporary black art because the current political landscape would cause it to appreciate for future resale. Is there anything more degrading than groveling for less than your worth, only to see a life-changing amount of money thrown as if it’s loose change? With a 140-minute runtime, Winslow’s story, adapted for the screen and directed by Bart Layton, pleasantly takes its time to have its characters meet in the middle, both physically and philosophically. Ruffalo is currently hitting his stride as a worn-down cop, also playing the part in HBO’s Task . He’s chaim smoking as he approaches a crime scene, having already endured what the city has thrown at him. The only reason he’s not higher up on the food chain is that he “doesn’t play by the rules,” which essentially means that he doesn’t turn a blind eye to cop corruption. Added in as a chaos agent is Barry Keoghan, once again renewing his monopolistic license to play the twitchy freak in every movie. It’s not broken, so there’s no need for him to fix it. He’s been tasked to hijack Mike’s big score by their shared handler (Nick Nolte). Layton keeps the tension building as everyone moves on their individual and shared tracks, the camera often being handed off as one coincidentally bumps into another. It’s rather unshowy work, just skilled craftsmanship that achieves the basic task put before it. As much as Hemsworth may walk the walk when committing crimes, he cannot talk the talk when it’s time to be a normal member of society. Hinting at being on the spectrum or still possessing mental scars from childhood, he is a man of little charm outside of his impossibly good looks. It’s those physical features that attract Maya (Monica Barbaro), who both does and doesn’t see through the many red flags Mike flashes. How far would you go to make a relationship work, even in the face of danger? It is tough to review Crime 101 because there is very little that it does either above or below the average. Its biggest accomplishment is giving Halle Berry a role worthy of her talents, something that hasn’t happened in a long time. She’s roaringly good, possessing both movie star wattage and serious dramatic chops. Of course, that’s an unsurprising fact. But sometimes you don’t appreciate just how good something is until you’ve been without it for a long time. More Reviews How to Make a Killing February 18, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die February 7, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Pillion February 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen