For a film to get its own page on the main 2025 links page, it must receive at least 5 link submissions from our members with few exceptions. Here is a list of all films that haven’t quite reached that threshold yet. When it does, it will be moved to the main page and removed from this page.
100 Meters
- Excerpt: Like the distance its sprinters dash over and over again, it’s predictable—even mundane at times. But also like those short bursts of all-out adrenaline, it can be transcendent in the moment.
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Brilliantly animated and narratively simple, the film manages to convey a lot visually, which is compensated for by the sometimes stiff and frequently flowery dialogue.
100 NIghts of Hero
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: É para ser visto por todas as mulheres que queiram mudar o mundo, e pelos homens que as queiram ajudar. Não me parece que seja filme para vencer muitos prémios, mas para já é um dos meus favoritos do ano.
Jeff Schaefer @ The Marquee Topic
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A film about the importance of stories, the resilience of women who always wanted a better life, and the constant way the repression of minorities has been throughout human history, represented here in a fantastical context.
13 Days, 13 Nights
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
25 Best Movies of the 2020’s You Probably Haven’t Seen
Matt Oakes @ Silver Screen Riot
- Excerpt: Whether they had a tiny theatrical run, got buried on streaming, or just never hit your watchlist, these are 25 films from this chaotic half-decade that you probably haven’t seen — but absolutely should.
300Letters
31 Candles
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: Love is all sorts of things. 31 Candles, a nice and charming romantic comedy from an up-and-coming filmmaker shows us that love is also kosher.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Pega numa fórmula convencional, em alguns elementos inesperados, e entrega tudo o que pode. Ajuda a refletir sobre a vida, sobre amores talvez não correspondidos e sobre segundas oportunidades.
The 35-Year Promise
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “The 35-Year Promise” is an exceptional movie that transforms a heartwarming true story into a compelling cinematic experience. Through assured direction, excellent performances, and a nuanced visual approach, it delivers a deeply affecting portrait of perseverance, love, and late-in-life redemption.
40 Acres
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Featuring another standout performance from Deadwyler as a tough love matriarch, “40 Acres” is a taut survival thriller where a teenager’s attraction to an unknown young woman keeps us guessing about her motivations.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: A aparente divisão em capítulos ajuda a aliviar, mas ainda assim a tensão não diminui. A última hora tem talvez dois minutos de conversa quase normal, tudo o resto é para manter a pulsação acelerada.
825 Forest Road
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews.
- Excerpt: A flawed but entertaining paranormal horror pic.
Aap Jaisa Koi
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Mas nem para rever, nem para recordar. Foi uma bela oportunidade perdida.
Absolute Dominion
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The cast has the earnest charm to lean into the genre’s inherent cheesiness and not subvert the message Alexander has instilled as the film’s backbone. The same goes for the obvious budgetary constraints.
- Excerpt: “What will they do with power?”
The Actor
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwrtzreviews
- Excerpt: Surreal thriller that relates identity to memory.
Ad Vitam
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: One could say that this is the type of flick to watch while doing laundry or while on a plane ride. But by those standards, you could probably still do better.
Ada: My Mother the Architect
- Excerpt: When Yael asks Ada about architecture, her mother is spellbindingly eloquent, even poetic.
Affection
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: I was disappointed by the way its central theme is abandoned, replaced by science fiction narrative twists that feel, paradoxically, both too complex and too simplistic for a feature film.
The A-Frame
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Reeder’s film isn’t about the science. It’s about the journey Donna takes to accept her fate. That we learn this lesson via pretty gnarly genre gore is the cherry on top.
Afterburn
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
Afternoons of Solitude
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: With his first documentary, writer/director Albert Serra (“The Death of Louis XIV,” “Pacifiction”) does the impossible by eliciting a modicum of understanding for a blood sport any animal lover must consider barbaric.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [Serra] merely films its violent dance with as much objectivity as possible so audiences can decide whether the imagery is beautiful, abhorrent, or both.
Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds
- Excerpt: The air maneuvers are dazzling. But it is the hearts, integrity, and courage of the Thunderbirds that are unforgettable.
All Quiet at Sunrise
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Ultimately, “All Quiet at Sunrise” invites the audience to engage through their senses. Yet with its combination of context, character, and emotion, it transcends strict categorization, offering a richly layered cinematic experience that welcomes at least as much as it alienates.
All That’s Left of You
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: And the dialogue is full of memorable lines that get to the core of Dabis’ humanist messaging. Because while it is an unavoidably political film in its content, love and empathy are what resonate most.
All the Devils are Here
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Without these characterizations and the talented cast bringing them to life, every feasible ending to All the Devils are Here becomes moot. The actors make this morality tale sing with hypocrisy, vice, and regret.
Alpha
Victoria Luxford @ The People’s Movies
- Excerpt: After two films that felt like nothing else out there, Ducournau’s biggest crime with Alpha may be making a film that feels familiar. Visually inventive but narratively predictable, it will be a disappointment to those with high expectations of the filmmaker, but an interesting if flawed journey for everyone else.
Altered
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: A sci-fi clunker that borrows liberally from much better films.
Americana
Jeff Schaefer @ The Marquee Topic
- Excerpt: Tony Tost’s Americana is a clear-eyed indictment of the romanticized modern west featuring a cast of characters all looking to cash in on black market Native American artifacts to get out of their dusty South Dakotan town.
Among Neighbors
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Poised for an Oscar nomination, “Among Neighbors” is a dramatically-propelled documentary that ticks off all the qualifications for outstanding work. That its story of suppression coincides with American government attempts to ignore or discard museum and history book accounts of slavery, Indian abuse and civil rights history, makes it all the more poignant and important for American audiences.
Anaconda
Alex Bentley @ CultureMap Dallas
- Excerpt: Any attempt at rebooting/remaking an old piece of IP should make a concerted effort to differentiate itself from the original, and in that way, the new Anaconda succeeds. Unfortunately, that’s its only success, as the filmmakers can never find the right balance to turn it into the bawdy comedy they seemed to want.
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It’s harmless, yes, but it doesn’t elicit any strong reactions from the viewer, leaving them more indifferent than anything else. And sometimes, that’s even worse than producing a truly terrible film.
Andre Is an Idiot
Christopher Reed @ Hammer to Nail
- Excerpt: Dying itself is no cause for celebration, but finding comfort in the joys of everyday pleasures and the extraordinary opportunities of ordinary experiences is more than enough reason to cheer. And in “André Is an Idiot,” we do just that, laughing and crying along the way.
Anniversary
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: And through those evolutions we receive what is probably the best ensemble of performances this year with a wealth of impassioned acts of courage and crucial examples of ambiguity when motivation and reality diverge.
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “Anniversary” is a thoughtful warning of extremism, government overreach and surveillance similar to George Orwell’s “1984” but taking place in current America. Diane Lane’s performance is worthy of an Oscar nod and the screenplay deserves a social-political commentary award.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Mesmo tendo visto vários filmes violentos, este é o que mais pode traumatizar.
Another End
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The filmmakers do a fantastic job [ensuring Sal is wrong but still empathetic] with a mix of truly wholesome moments and equally tragic revelations to better align the parties to appreciate each other’s pain.
Another Simple Favor
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: Instead of exploring new avenues and taking these characters to unexpected places, this felt like a lavish yet watered down version of what worked last time.
Another Simple Favor
Any Day Now
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Eric Aronson makes his feature debut kicking off with a cheeky twist on a Coen Brothers title card…before diving into what turns out to be less about the infamous Gardner Museum heist and more about an unusual mentor/protege, coming-of-age story…gives character actor Guilfoyle a leading role and the actor seizes the opportunity, creating a character who is both scarily combustible and stealthily lovable.
April
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: And through it all lies an impressive performance from Sukhitashvili. Between the demand of the long takes and the constant state of fight or flight uncertainty, we find ourselves mesmerized by every movement and expression.
Architecton
- Excerpt: As Kossakovsky’s contemplative images envelop the vision and spark the mind, his film mines profundity from beneath our feet.
Are We Good?
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Are We Good? is sometimes sad, sometimes riotously funny, and always extremely moving.
Armand
- Excerpt: Armand is at its best when it serves as a showcase for its quartet of talented lead actors, and at its worst when it tries to do anything more complicated than let them run the show.
Aro Berria
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
ARTSAKH Armenian Genocide Continues
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Gerami is a master of political understanding and a true documentarian of the continuing suffering and destruction of the Armenian cultural history.
Asian Persuasion
- Excerpt: Asian Persuasion uses overtired Hollywood clichés to tell its story, but its own voice gets buried under implausible, overly exaggerated scenarios. It also espouses ugly masculinity in its lead character, who uses people as his puppets to get his own ends.
The Assessment
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: Although the performances are good, the tone, character development, and overall story ends up all over the place.
Derrick Murray @ www.nerbot.com
Astronaut in the Ocean
- Excerpt: Making waves for life
Audrey’s Children
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Story of the physician who developed a children’s cancer staging system and organized housing for their parents.
Back in Action
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: Diaz and Foxx may have had fun teaming up, but that doesn’t make for a fun viewing experience.
- Excerpt: A lighthearted action romp, this Netflix flick coasts on the charm of Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx, delivering familiar but entertaining thrills.
Dan Stalcup @ The Goods: Film Reviews
- Excerpt: It’s a disposable experience, but it has an unobjectionable tone and spirit.
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [English AND Spanish (all Loud and Clear reviews are in English, the rest in Spanish)]
- Excerpt: Back in Action has clearly been designed to be as familiar and comforting as possible.
Bad Haircut
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A solid thriller with hints of dark comedy that forces its college-aged protagonist to deal with a situation that couldn’t be more alien to what he’s used to. The result is an experience that should appeal to a wide audience thanks to its interesting mix of genres and tones.
Bad Shabbos
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: at its best when its humor is character driven, but the dead body driving the plot is often a dead weight for the comedy.
- Excerpt: The tone of the film may be heightened, exaggerated for comic purposes, but unlike too many other portrayals this film never makes the characters into caricatures and the details are precise and affectionate. It’s very dark, but it is also very funny.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Credit the filmmakers too for never holding piety above the absurdity of the premise. The goal is to show how much this family loves each other, but that shouldn’t erase the fact they can still also be bad people.
Baka’s Identity
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Baka’s Identity” may not be a masterpiece, but it is an intriguing and engaging story presented with confidence and skill, and overall a work that remains entertaining from beginning to end.
The Balconettes
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: boasts a colorful cast and sexy summertime vibe, but Merlant’s midway shift is bumpy on her way to a feminist call to arms finale.
- Excerpt: For anyone who has had a night out that ended far, far more differently than expected, these windows are well worth peeking into.
Ballad of a Small Player
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: It leaves on such an underwhelming note that we wonder if the journey was worth it.
Matt Oakes @ Silver Screen Riot
- Excerpt: Colin Ferrell is a gambling addict in the Far East in this dreamy, meandering drama desperately in need of a point. The tasteful production elements in Edward Berger’s ‘Ballad of a Small Player’ impress but the strained story draws dead, pushing all its chips in on a losing bluff.
- Excerpt: Edward Berger’s follow-up to Conclave puts Colin Farrell’s back against the wall in a garish, clichéd gambling fable.
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Key and Tom Basden adapt their 2007 short…a quirky crowd pleaser, a full-throated adaptation of a clever idea.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [The filmmakers] refuse to cut corners or soften edges. These men must be forced to see the error of their way, not to teach the other a lesson, but to realize where they went wrong themselves.
- Excerpt: An annoying eccentric haphazardly reunites his favorite folk band to charming, quaint effect.
The Baltimorons
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a big-hearted, quirky holiday rom com destined to become a Christmas classic.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Funny people can hurt and straight-faced professionals can know how to have fun. Finding the honesty to admit and show those realities ultimately comes down to trust. That’s what Strassner and Larsen’s chemistry delivers.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Baltimorons é ideal para refletir sobre a época natalícia e sobre o que realmente importa — um lembrete de que, por vezes, os encontros mais improváveis são os que nos fazem recuperar a humanidade.
Sebastian Zavala @ Ventana Indiscreta [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A delightful romantic comedy filled with funny moments, believable problems, and often witty dialogue. It doesn’t reach the heights of some other recent Christmas productions, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a watch.
Bambi: The Reckoning
Bang Bang
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Similar to Old Henry, [Nelson] really sinks his teeth into the role to embody the gruff exterior while still maintaining a level of pathos that ensures he never alienates the audience.
Baramulla
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Jose Solís @ Common Sense Media
Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Barrio Triste
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: It’s a bleak story with no resolution.
Barron’s Cove
- Excerpt: “Barron’s Cove” is a pulpy thriller awkwardly tied to a soapy story of bad dads and the wreckage they leave behind.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It may often look like just another generic thriller with dark subject matter, but it always surprises by putting character and emotion above a desire to deliver hollow clichés for mainstream appeal.
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: The movie doesn’t stick the landing […] but thankfully, the experience as a whole is not ruined at all. If you’re in the mood for watching a mature and well-crafted drama, Barron’s Cove is still worth your time.
Be Happy
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Becoming
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Still, these are minor missteps in an otherwise thoughtfully constructed and visually appealing narrative, with “Becoming” emerging as a rather competent debut.
Becoming Human
- Excerpt: Despite the aforementioned issues, and although clearly tailored to arthouse audiences, “Becoming Human” is visually striking and meaningful in its commentary, thus rising above the many works of similar style that tend to appear in festivals. As a debut for Polen Ly, it is not only ambitious but also hopeful.
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Despite the aforementioned issues, and although clearly tailored to arthouse audiences, “Becoming Human” is visually striking and meaningful in its commentary, thus rising above the many works of similar style that tend to appear in festivals. As a debut for Polen Ly, it is not only ambitious but also hopeful.
Becoming Led Zeppelin
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: This doc is about the band as a working unit, and that makes it indispensable.
Before We Forget
- Excerpt: Di Pace shares writing, directing, and editing credit with his real-life Paulo, Andrés Pepe Estrada, and they make some evocative choices to keep the focus more on mood than storyline.
Belén
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: “Belen” is a strong and moving Argentine social drama about the struggle for justice for a woman accused of abortion, with stunning acting performances and Dolores Fonzi’s sensitive direction that raises the issue of women’s rights
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The result is an effective courtroom drama that does its best to deliver a ton of context in a relatively short amount of time. Belén’s arrest is this firestorm’s match, but Soledad’s indefatigable effort supplies the oxygen.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Contudo, o melhor foi mesmo não se focar a cem por cento no tema do aborto e dos direitos das mulheres, mas usar isso como exemplo de algo que pode acontecer a qualquer um, independentemente do género e do crime.
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: When it was over, I couldn’t help but feel moved. Moved by the historical significance of this case, moved by the great work Fonzi did (and continues to do), and moved by the way justice was served.
Below the Clouds
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Tudo o resto são planos belíssimos de nada.
Best Wishes to All
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Expanding his 2022 short, writer/director Yûta Shimotsu appears to have lost his way, a potent idea about deriving happiness from the misfortune of others garbled along with the logic behind his horror concept.
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: …posits the logically questionable but metaphorically sound proposition, “does the happiness of one person require the misery of another?” Although the thesis, taken literally, is absurd, the hypothetical is provocative.
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A film that uses resources from horror and suspense films to develop a story that has much to say about the nature of human happiness and the selfishness inherent in many people who only think about themselves.
Better Go Mad in the Wild
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
Between the Mountain and the Sky
Bev Questad @ Itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “Between the Mountain and the Sky” only scratches the surface of the remarkable life of Maggie Doyne and her children. There is much more detail in the book she wrote with the same title, and I find myself missing that elaboration in the film.
Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
The Bhootnii
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Blue Boy Trial
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Despite some issues here and there, “Blue Boy Trial” emerges as both well-shot and well-acted, and as a rather important production.
Blue Sun Palace
- Excerpt: The debut feature from writer-director Constance Tsang, Blue Sun Palace pulls back the curtain of a Queens massage parlor to give us an intimate look at the lives of the immigrant women who work there. The undeniable toll that their work takes on them in body and spirit is tempered by the close friendships they have formed with each other, but a shocking act of violence plunges one of them into a pit of grief and loneliness that threatens to consume her entirely.
Bob Trevino Likes It
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: [Laymon’s] screenplay lacks subtlety, Lily’s dad’s over the top selfish insensitivity borderline villainous, but her direction of Ferreira and John Leguizamo, so touching in how they affect each other’s characters’ lives, wins you over.
Bone Lake
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: A sharp, cerebral game of temptation and control for most of its runtime. Then it trades its mind games for a bloodbath.
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Bone Lake doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it does deal seriously with relationship issues through a mix of horror, sex, and psychological head games.
Bonjour Tristesse
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: The only thing that prevents it from being a resounding success is its unconvincing ending. Still, it doesn’t ruin the entire experience, especially if you’re looking for a lighthearted, well-acted, and visually appealing drama.
Bono: Stories of Surrender
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: This isn’t a concert film. It’s at once a beautiful, kinetic picture book of black and white rockstar prowess and a stripped down, self-deprecating and vulnerable account of a life.
Borderline
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: um filme para ver em grupo. Para rir bem alto com o cérebro desligado e desfrutar até ao final.
- Excerpt: This film has a kooky, demented energy — a tonal hairball of stalker thriller, gory comedy, and absurdist lark.
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Samara Weaving is brilliant (as always), and the overall experience is entertaining, but considering the premise, I can’t help but feel the film could have been so much more. Watch it for Weaving and even Nicholson.
Boys Go to Jupiter
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Adult Swim animator writer/director Julian Glander makes his feature debut with the free open-source 3D modeling program Blender and has created a trippy coming of age story that looks like the SIMs were given Lego heads and abandoned in Florida.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: That unpredictability is the real draw. Boys Go to Jupiter is a legitimately singular vision a la early Don Hertzfeldt that embraces its wave of unbridled chaos.
Brave the Dark
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: Brave the Dark has a realism that befits its true-life origin.
- Excerpt: There are setbacks and struggles, but that makes the conclusion and the images of the real Stan and Nate at the end especially moving.
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [English AND Spanish (all Loud and Clear reviews are in English, the rest in Spanish)]
- Excerpt: What we have here is a movie ostensibly based on a true story that manages to be rather inspirational and intriguing without feeling manipulative or exaggerated.
Brides
Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It will make you laugh and cry and feel uncomfortable, and even reconsider some aspects of your lives. And if it ends up being the end of the franchise, well, I can’t think of a better way to say goodbye to this character.
Bring Them Down
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: It’s a truly grim drama with blood and anger dripping off every frame. The cycle [of violence] might finally be over, but the damage has already been done.
Bruce LaBruce’s The Visitor
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: LaBruce’s The Visitor is a timely piece of cinema that wants to shake up the white, hetero-patriarchal order of Western societies and get you off in the process, as long as that post-nut clarity pushes you to take the revolution from the bedroom into the streets.
- Excerpt: At the centre of it all is Bishop Black in the title role, symbolically washing up on the shore of the Thames in a suitcase (nothing says refugee better), naked as the day he was born, which becomes his “costume” of choice for most of the production.
Bubble & Squeak
Chris Barsanti @ Slant Magazine
- Excerpt: If all that it had going for it was its gonzo concept, the film would be a pretty dire affair.
Bulletproof: A Lesbian’s Guide to Surviving the Plot
- Excerpt: Latimer combines personal reflections (she grew up watching a lot of TV since her reality as a tomboy who was bad at sports wasn’t exactly an instant route to popularity) with a history of (mostly female) queer representation in (mostly) television.
Bunnylovr
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Burning
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In the end, “Mergen” comes across as a missed opportunity—likely to appeal more to crime genre enthusiasts than to a broader audience. And that’s a shame, because from an audiovisual standpoint, it was among the most compelling titles showcased in Bishkek.
By the Throat
Bye Bye Love
- Excerpt: Bye Bye Love stands on its own as one of the most vibrant and energetic films of the Japanese New Wave, a queer road trip saga with a portrayal of gender fluidity that stands out for its sensitivity then and now.
Cannibal Mukbang
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: The brutal, tragic ending of Cannibal Mukbang makes the bold statement that certain things, like truly unconditional morality, are more important than love.
The Caretakers
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: The Caretakers is not only an eco-horror, it takes on the capitalist land-owning class system.
Cash for Gold
- Excerpt: As a screenwriter, Puette could have trusted the audience more, perhaps a character name less on the nose, and an unnecessary swerve into intense peril for dramatic purposes that makes it harder to believe in almost-immediate scenes of reconciliation and forgiveness. It is the compassion the film has for its characters that is the film’s true grace.
Caterpillar
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: The dangers of going too far with image-altering procedures are examined in this very interesting film. Like the lesson learned in “The Ugly Stepsister,” maybe what we have, in most cases, is already good enough.
Caught by the Tides
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Zhangke achieves a meditative, lyrical quality as we hear Chinese rock and pop as he pans along Datong street scenes, frames Qiaoqiao on a ferry on the Yangtze or follows her wandering the devastated streets of Fengjie…a melancholy contemplation of lives lived.
- Excerpt: Jia’s latest, Caught by the Tides, feels like the culmination of all his previous attempts to convey the wear and tear wrought on people and places by the passage of time.
Chain Reactions
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …a must see for any fan of the film and may just convince those on the fence or who haven’t yet taken the plunge of its worth.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The whole is very inside baseball insofar as its goals and merits go, so your knowledge and appreciation of Hooper’s film and cinema in general is crucial to the academic (albeit anecdotal) exercise Philippe has put together.
Chaos: The Manson Murders
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Chasing the Star
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Ultimately, “Chasing the Star” feels like a project that would have worked better as a short rather than a feature. Nonetheless, its commentary and depiction of the Covid-era struggles faced by professional drivers are conveyed with clarity and sincerity.
Chhorii 2
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
The Choral
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Director Nicholas Hytner and his…screenwriting partner Alan Bennett team up for their fourth collaboration about community and the power of music to bring people together despite the issues that might keep them apart.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The teen sex comedy antics can’t help but feel weird nonetheless considering the subject matter. But a lot of what occurs is worthwhile. Especially the futility.
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: Without sentimentality
The Cinema Within
- Excerpt: A continuously-recording camera has its limitations in terms of storytelling, but you have to find a way to use cuts so the audience can understand the story being told.
James Wegg @ The Cinema Within
- Excerpt: By journey’s end, no film lover will ever quite look at the big screen the same way again, focussing more than ever on just what the production’s mechanical eyes want to share with the viewer’s.
Clash Film #1: Yungblud – Are You Ready Boy, Eddington, The Life Of Chuck
- Excerpt: Clash’s review column, covering the documentary Yungblud – Are You Ready Boy, Eddington, and The Life Of Chuck
Clone Cops
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Temos mortes estúpidas, temos tiros certeiros que falham, temos mortes demasiado lentas… Vale tudo.
Cloud
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: there is no denying the extremity of Kurosawa’s final act, incomprehensible violence that calls to mind the words of The Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten – ‘Ever get the feeling you’re being cheated?’ Ratel’s buyers do.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The film is therefore pushing the toxicity of the internet to its extreme so that the rantings and ravings of people letting off steam and finding kindred souls to lament their shared victimhood can spill over into the real world.
Clown in a Cornfield
Kat Hughes @ THN
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [There’s] a disingenuous undercurrent of older allies playacting today’s youth’s authentic rage. I’m sure Craig and Blanchard mean well, but this property needed filmmakers in their twenties or thirties behind the wheel rather than fifties and above.
Coexistence, My Ass!
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Named after Noam’s one-woman Harvard show, Fares’ film uses that performance as the connective glue to return to as a way of refocusing things before the next real world transition impacts her subject’s evolution.
Color Book
Matt Oakes @ Silver Screen Riot
- Excerpt: Rich in both place and emotion, shot in evocative black and white, and scored with delicate precision, Color Book is a heartbreaking tale of grief and perseverance.
The Colors Within
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Totsu, Kimi, and Rui are able to reconcile the two halves of themselves together and see a way forward via compromise for both. Maybe bending the rules will actually get them closer to God than if they blindly followed each to the letter.
Come See Me in the Good Light
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Megan and the others are crucial as mirrors and support, but Andrea is at the center dictating pace and tone. Their emotions are the focal point and they hit much harder as a result.
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: To hear Gibson recite poetry in the film, and in links online, is witnessing genius and connection with the human condition at the soul level.
Compulsion
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Unfortunately, Kirk and Marshall’s script feels simultaneously overly earnest and overly exploitative. I hope Marshall returns with something more interesting after “Compulsion.”
Costao
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Couture
Coyotes
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [The coyotes] exist to propel the plot and create gruesome cadavers. Wanting more is a fool’s errand since Minihan’s sole goal is to provide gory hijinks.
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It is, indeed, a film about bloodthirsty coyotes, but one that fortunately doesn’t lose sight of its human characters, instead using their archetypal characteristics to develop some unexpectedly moving moments.
Crazxy
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Crickets, It’s Your Turn
Cuerpo Celeste
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A quietly devastating experience that makes the most of its young protagonist’s talents, and that also looks very good (especially during the scenes that take place at dusk or at night).
The Cut
MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: A real aspect of boxing — dangerously fast weight loss — sports films have ignored becomes body horror we have not seen before. The genre’s motivational clichés get twisted, nastily and poignantly.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: I’ve been a fan of Ellis for twenty years, but his attempts to infuse this men’s rights movement slog of a scree with energy via some nice visual flourishes isn’t enough. It’s just meathead, anti-mental health aggression.
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Sean Ellis’ The Cut is an intense and emotionally devastating boxing drama featuring a stellar performance by Orlando Bloom.
Cutting Through Rocks
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Many sobering realizations by the end of Cutting Through Rocks expose how progress and hope move much slower than tyranny and oppression. It’s one step forward, two steps back, but the seeds for real change are planted, nonetheless.
The Damned
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Documentarian Roberto Minervini steps into the fictional narrative sector with Civil War drama The Damned by pretty much setting up an historical reenactment and shooting it like a documentary.
- Excerpt: Director Thordur Palsson – working from a lean yet powerful script by Jamie Hannigan – makes a brilliant entry into this genre with gorgeous visuals and riveting performances that keep us spellbound for its mercilessly short running time.
A Dance in Vain
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In sum, “A Dance in Vain” is a distinctly arthouse work in presentation yet echoes with universal resonance. The artistry is evident, the acting superb, and its finale will linger in the viewer’s mind long afterwards.
Daniela Forever
Daredevil Born Again: Episode 4
Sebastian Zavala @ NoEsEnSerie.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: If this feels like a minor episode, it’s because the first three episodes of “Daredevil: Born Again” have been extremely good; in other words, the bar is high. However, there’s a lot to enjoy in this fourth episode.
Darkest Miriam
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Naomi Jaye attains a similar mood to last year’s “Sometimes I Think About Dying,” albeit one decidedly darker and more melancholy. The unconventional pairing of Lower and Mercier works exceptionally well…
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: I’m left wondering how much more of Darkest Miriam on-screen would make sense if I read Baillie’s words. Or maybe the film just wasn’t for me.
David
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: David isn’t just a first-rate animated Biblical movie, it’s a first-rate animated movie overall.
Dawn of the Dogman
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Quem quiser acreditar, tem tudo pronto. Quem não quiser, também se entretém enquanto vê e não há imposição de crenças.
Daydream
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Despite its flaws, “Daydream” rises above mediocrity, thanks largely to the strength of its first part and its handling of pivotal scenes.
Dead of Winter
Andrea Chase @ KillerMovieReviews.com
- Excerpt: There is much to admire about Emma Thompson in DEAD OF WINTER, not the least of which is the way she captures the cadence and the spirit of the Minnesota accent with the same effortless skill that embodies the rest of her performance.
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: Emma Thompson faces off against Judy Greer in an icy showdown.
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews.com
- Excerpt: Technically fine but absurd kidnapping psychological thriller.
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It should leave the audience feeling excited, while also credibly developing its protagonist, giving her an emotional, bittersweet character arc.
The Dead Thing
- Excerpt: There are two stars in The Dead Thing: Hunt (who made her film debut as Danielle Moonstar/Mirage in The New Mutants) and the cinematography of Ioana Vasile, which totally sells the possibility that the supernatural can exist within our modern world.
Dead to Rights
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Although the movie includes melodramatic passages and occasionally slips into patriotic exaggeration, some restraint is exercised in portraying the Japanese, preventing them from becoming entirely one-dimensional. Ultimately, “Dead to Rights” succeeds in both documenting the horror of the massacre and delivering a gripping, large-scale drama. This combination likely explains its commercial triumph and ensures that fans of historical epics will find much to appreciate.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Shen pulls no punches in his direction, scale, or production design, throwing us in the middle of this massacre with a cast that perfectly captures the tortured reality of their fate via silent tears and haunted faces.
Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Dear Stranger
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Dear Stranger”has its issues, and perhaps Mariko could have exercised more restraint in the scope of his story. Yet in the end, the work provides a thought-provoking and emotionally intense exploration of a shattering family and its losses.
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: This is a film that never feels tedious or simplistic, but within its considerable ambitions, it never quite gels. In other words, it’s easier to admire than truly enjoy.
Death & Taxes
Bev Questad @ Itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Justin’s sensitive study of his family is well worth watching. In the end, even though the rest of us may not be worrying about paying an inheritance tax, we do want to pass on what we have to our children. The surprising similarities, their problems and solutions, between your family and Schien’s, might be more numerous than you thought.
Death Awaits For No One But You
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Death Awaits for No One But You” is far from flawless. Both the direction and writing show occasional unevenness. However, the film’s originality, sincerity, and emotional resonance result in a quietly affecting work. Isshin Kinoshita demonstrates a clear creative voice, and his experimental approach and conceptual ambition suggest that he is a filmmaker worth watching in the future.
The Death of Snow White
- Excerpt: German flag US flag 3.53.5 by S. James Wegg110 min.Sponsorship available for this articlePublish Date: April 3, 2025 A new version that definitely dwarfs its predecessors
”
Deathstalker
Dennis Schwartz @ denisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: Should hit the spot for the less discerning viewer.
Deep Cover
- Excerpt: As Hideo Kojima would say, I saw Deep Cover.
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: The premise is full of potential and is generally well-utilised by first-time director Tom Kingsley and his small team of writers, and the talented cast does more than the bare minimum, portraying their characters with style.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Overall, despite its somewhat lengthy runtime of nearly two and a half hours, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” is an astonishing anime, one that audiences will undoubtedly enjoy on the big screen. It also serves as a compelling opening to what promises to be a truly masterful trilogy.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie – Infinity Castle
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: I may not have felt every emotional beat. The heartbreaking moments land hardest for viewers who already know these characters intimately, but I couldn’t deny the impressive spectacle.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: Although the sequel doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor, Gudegast once again shows his proficiency and thoughtfulness for the genre.
- Excerpt: Den of Thieves 2: Pantera fails to capture the magic of the first film. Maybe next time, if there is a next time, let’s not wait 6 years between sequels!
A Desert
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: A Desert is an eerie examination of America’s decay, in the landscape and the population, as a photographer seeking the truth accidentally comes upon a horrific truth that will do anything to prevent being revealed.
Desert of Namibia
- Excerpt: As Desert of Namibia progresses, and our (anti-)heroine’s behavior grows more erratic and destructive, it’s hard to maintain interest in and empathy for her, even with an incredibly talented actress embodying the character.
Deva
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Dhadak 2
Dhoom Dhaam
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Dhurandhar
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Tusshar Sasi @ Filmy Sasi
Diane Warren: Relentless
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: This documentary successfully presents an intimate and inspirational portrait of Diane Warren—a legendary songwriter who continues to work relentlessly despite family rejection and 16 Oscar nominations without a win, proving that persistence and passion are the keys to true success.
The Diplomat
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Dog of God
Dogma
- Excerpt: What a marvellous coincidence that this 25th anniversary of director-writer Kevin Smith’s masterpiece should coincide with a new—American!—pope being installed in the Vatican.
Dollhouse
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: I admire what Yaguchi and his team have done here: they’ve developed a generally emotional and captivating story which, despite its flaws, still manages to present us with several moments of absolute terror.
Dolly
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: What this low-budget production does is develop an appropriately terrifying and gore-filled experience from a sufficiently interesting premise, populating it with archetypal but well-acted characters.
Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever
- Excerpt: The inevitable question is whether this is a life anyone would want to prolong. Johnson makes no time for what we would consider the most valuable parts of life, family, friends, travel, music, art, pizza, chocolate, for meaning, connection, and pleasure.
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight
Mark Hobin @ Fast Films Reviews
- Excerpt: Brings Alexandra Fuller’s memoir vividly to life, blending a child’s perspective with the sweeping, uncertain transformation of Rhodesia into Zimbabwe.
Dongji Rescue
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: There’s a verisimilitude to the set pieces that make the action feel immediate and in your face, as though we are right there in the thick of it all.
Il Dono
- Excerpt: Newly restored in 4K by Coproduction Office and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata and Augustus Color laboratories from the original camera and sound negatives, Il Dono is a bleak yet beautiful portrait of a place and a way of life soon to be lost in the never-ceasing stream of time.
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Writer/director Embeth Davidtz adapts Alexandra Fuller’s book for her filmmaking debut, her own experiences as a 7 year-old in South Africa guiding her to tell the story from Bobo’s point of view and she’s found a real firecracker in newcomer Venter.
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Lexi Venter gives one of the most extraordinary child performances I’ve ever seen.
Don’t Tell Larry
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: features about twenty misses for every joke that lands. That may be generous.
Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: The perfect film to introduce a young audience to the world of adventure movies for the first time—something like “Indiana Jones” or “Lara Croft for babies.” Such a description might sound patronising, but believe me, it isn’t.
Dracula
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: All the Jude hallmarks are here, but it proved too meandering and gimmicky for full investment—especially with that fifty-minute sequence dragging simply because my brain had already been trained on ADHD-levels of pornographic content swipes.
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
Dracula: A Love Tale
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Between Landry Jones’ memorable and intense performance, the top-notch makeup effects, blood, and even decapitations, as well as unexpected details, this new “Dracula” ended up pleasantly surprising me.
Dragonfly
Victoria Luxford @ The People’s Movies
- Excerpt: An interesting exercise in cinematic foreboding, Dragonfly takes some big risks with its impressive leads, resulting in a story that will play on your mind for a while.
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: Urban loneliness film.
The Dreadful Place
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews.com
- Excerpt: Its scares are based on the realities of life, something all of us might have freaked-out over to some degree when vulnerable.
Dream Eater
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: We need that score and those jump cuts progressing time to remember that we aren’t the first people watching what Mallory filmed. It adds a layer of artifice that forces us to realize nothing is purely objective.
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Dream Eater is a story about how burying trauma warps a person’s world, and the world of those around them, into an unrecognisably dark, disturbing existence that can swallow someone whole.
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzeviews
- Excerpt: It left me with a cold feeling.
Dreams
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews.
- Excerpt: Pulverizing immigration relationship film.
Drop Dead City
- Excerpt: Tells a serious story about NYC’s 1975 financial crisis with wit, gusto, and occasional profanity
Drowning Dry
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s okay to give yourself to the film’s odd rhythm because that sense of confusion you feel is purposeful. These are fallible people dealing with internal doubts while striving to stay afloat.
East of Wall
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Kristian Lin @ Fort Worth Weekly
- Excerpt: Non-professional actors shine bright in this contemporary Western.
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Dazzlingly authentic.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: An inability to differentiate between what’s real, inspired by reality, or a complete fabrication is a badge of honor. Give credit to Tabatha too because she’s the loom weaving truth and artifice together into a single bolt of cloth.
Easy’s Waltz
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews.com
- Excerpt: Never dull
Ebony & Ivory
- Excerpt: Those looking for musical insight will be left frustrated, but Ebony & Ivory will be a treat for lovers of the bizarre.
Echo Valley
Chris Barsanti @ Slant Magazine
- Excerpt: Very little about this murkily shot film generates much in the way of thrills or emotion.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [Pearce is] an intriguing filmmaker who’s always bolstered by great casts, but it’s hard not to wonder if there’s a reason Amazon and Apple have been his last two homes.
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A drama that can be interpreted as a story about the dangers of drugs, as a test of how far a mother will go to help her daughter, or simply as a narrative that shows us how hurt, broken, and vulnerable a great loss can leave us.
Eden
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: The strength of the acting, combined with Ron Howard’s darker turn as a filmmaker, makes this worth a visit.
- Excerpt: The direction and screenplay struggle at times with the more extreme characters and developments. The three groups are so strikingly different in outlook, goals, and tone that the film cannot quite keep them in the same narrative until things go haywire near the end.
Jeff Schaefer @ The Marquee Topic
- Excerpt: Ron Howard directs Eden, a stranger than fiction account of three families working to turn the wild Galapagos islands into their own personal paradise. Stars Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, and Sydney Sweeney.
The Elixir
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: Abadi Nan Jaya (The Elixir) is an Indonesian zombie film that impresses visually and technically with serious choreography and gore effects, but is hampered by a predictable narrative, slow pacing, and characters who often make stupid decisions—a viewing experience that is more satisfying to the eyes than the story.
Eloá the Hostage: Live on TV
Jose Solís @ Common Sense Media
Emergent City
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The informative and compelling footage the filmmakers have compiled is the main driving force here, but I must make note of the expert editing and structural organization of the whole with just the right amount of contextual exposition.
The Empire
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: It’s tempting to dub this ‘The Empire Strikes Out.’ But although the mock-epic is a bit underwhelming, if considered as another thread in the tapestry of the expanding paranormal North of France Dumontverse, it’s scenic enough to make it worth a visit for the director’s fans.
En Fanfare
Samuel Castro @ El Colombiano [Spanish]
- Excerpt: “Donde hay música no puede haber cosa mala”, dijo Sancho Panza en el Quijote, aunque seguramente Cervantes habría borrado ese diálogo si viajando a través de las puertas de “El Ministerio del Tiempo” (la estupenda serie española creada por Pablo y Javier Olivares) hubiera visto “Coda” en algún cine de Madrid.
The Encampments
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The film does a great job of historically contextualizing the protests, but the look inside the conscious attempt to dehumanize Palestinians by Columbia itself makes the project invaluable.
- Excerpt: But how did we get here?
Endless Cookie
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Não vamos aprender quase nada e vamos sair mais confusos do que entramos. Mas o documental está lá.
Eric LaRue
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The thing about Eric LaRue is that it doesn’t mine these complexities to search for answers or empathy. No, it seems more interested in stoking the hate instead. It craves provocation.
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It’s a solid debut for Shannon in the director’s chair and the type of movie that makes one excited to see what he’ll be able to do next.
Matt Oakes @ Silver Screen Riot
- Excerpt: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, and Callum Turner aren’t the problem but ‘Eternity’ is standard-issue love triangle fare, just dressed up to look like something more.
Every Contact Leaves a Trace
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Whether your memory is right or wrong, however, proves moot in hindsight. How you used it cannot be changed, but a new trace might still be left for tomorrow.
Every Little Thing
- Excerpt: magical
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The highlight for many will be the extensive slow motion footage of hummingbirds in their element. It often looks fake because of how impossible the steady-cam nature of their bodies are while their wings flap away.
Ex-Husbands
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: It’s difficult to discern just what point Pritzker is trying to make with a film that feels like it has gotten lost in the woods as the filmmaker tries to work through personal issues…
Exit 8
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
Extremely Unique Dynamic
- Excerpt: Let them eat cookie!
Eye for an Eye
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Eye for an Eye deals with the haunting ramifications of hatred, and the transformative potential in admitting one’s guilt.
Shelagh Rowan-Legg @ ScreenAnarchy
Face Off 8: Embrace of Light
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Despite some issues, particularly near the end, “Face Off 8: Embrace of Light” stands out as a well-crafted and emotionally engaging production that communicates its themes effectively while remaining entertaining and easy to watch.
Fackham Hall
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: The gleeful silliness skewers the propriety of upper-crust British dramas. It’s a reminder of how clever a farce can be when executed with real craft.
- Excerpt: But the secret to the really great parody is truly loving whatever it is you’re making fun of. Thus, on a scale from the top (by Grabthar’s hammer, that would be “Galaxy Quest”) to the sloppy (I love you, Wayanses, but noticing something is not the same as being funny about it), “Fackham Hall” comes in around the middle.
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: Funny spoof of Brit costume dramas.
Familiar Touch
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Chalfant engages from the start, her actions and words deliberate, her movements flowing…a special film, as elegant in its production as its leading lady.
- Excerpt: Sarah Friedland’s debut finds so much depth in its subjective approach to memory loss, it loses much of its stigma and discovers wonder in its place.
The Family Plan 2
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: What could have been a rather old-fashioned family adventure, like the kind we used to get back in the days of made-for-TV and direct-to-DVD movies, ends up being a dull, humourless and shoddily shot affair.
The Fan
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “The Fan” succeeds not only as a tribute to Nora Aunor but also as a resonant family story and a thoughtful exploration of what fandom means—how it connects people, spans generations, and holds a mirror to personal identity.
Father
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
Father Mother Sister Brother
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: This often humorous and ultimately moving look at familial disconnection features three different families, but all three stories are linked with skateboarders, drinking water, the phrase ‘Bob’s your uncle’ and color coded clothing.
Fear Below
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews.
- Excerpt: The characterizations were spot-on.
Fear Street: Prom Queen
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: It’s not enough to simply do what has been done before. If that’s the case, what’s the point of watching something we’ve basically already seen?
- Excerpt: The 5th Annual JanuScary Special continues with Fear Street: Prom Queen! Sadly it’s not as good as the previous three movies.
The Fishing Place
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Like other films shot in Norway, your mind has to work for a Tregenza film. That’s what makes it interactive and, in a flash of recognition, meaningful.
Fixed
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: One of the more unpleasant movie watching experiences I’ve had this year.
Flames
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Flames” is an impressive debut. Kaushik succeeds in blending social drama and intense commentary with a thriller-style survival narrative — a combination rarely seen from first-time feature directors.
Flames of a Flower
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Flames of a Flower” is a competent and compelling movie: well-acted, beautifully shot, and rich in its thematic ambition. Yet, given the fascinating true-life backdrop, its full potential is hindered by missteps in execution, especially toward the end. Still, it remains highly worthwhile, for its portrayal of the real-world incident, the stunning fireworks imagery, and its examination of a man desperately seeking solace.
Flight Risk
- Excerpt: “Flight Risk” has all of the ingredients for a tight little thriller except one.
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: “Flight Risk” is not the best film that madman Gibson has ever made, but it is an absurdly entertaining experience, full of moments of tension and delightfully exaggerated performances.
Folktales
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: É uma combinação inesperada, mas divertida. Ninguém vai fazer as malas para o meio do gelo por causa disto, mas desde que pare para pensar já cumpriu a sua missão.
The Follies
Jose Solís @ Common Sense Media
Found Footage: The Making of The Patterson Project
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Tzannes isn’t actually messing around where it concerns the horror aspect. Not only does [he] get the joke, he knows how to exploit it so his parody can also become the real thing.
Fountain of Youth
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Fountain of Youth is full of these details that seem interesting if there was a season of television to expand upon them, but prove completely useless in a ninety-minute movie bloated beyond two-hours.
- Excerpt: You wanna know what an Indiana Jones movie done by someone other than Steven Spielberg feels like? (Aside from Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which I feel was unfairly maligned.)
Dan Stalcup @ The Goods: Film Reviews
- Excerpt: There’s a fine line between “soul-crushing slop” and “modestly enjoyable slop.” Fountain of Youth — watchable!
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: I certainly expected something more energetic, stylised, and different, and not a merely competent film, which is charming at times and allows us to travel to several interesting locations across the globe, but nothing more.
Four Nights of a Dreamer
- Excerpt: Largely overlooked among Bresson’s oeuvre of minimalist masterpieces, Four Nights of a Dreamer has now been beautifully restored in 4K by mk2 Films under the supervision of Bresson’s widow, Mylène Bresson, and is bound to enchant audiences anew with its lyrical depiction of love found and lost.
The Fox King
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Despite these minor shortcomings, “The Fox King” stands out as an excellent work, presenting a deeply engaging story in a manner that is distinctly Malaysian, and more broadly Southeast Asian, while remaining both accessible and entertaining.
Fragment
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
Franz
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
Freaky Tales
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: It operates on tone and attitude. It has fun doing what it does and invites us to join in.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Oakland’s own Too $hort [narrates] the “facts” while also sprinkling in what he’s “heard” to cut through the speculation and breathe life into Fleck and Boden’s wildly violent homage to an era and area close to their hearts.
- Excerpt: Freaky Tales is a cranking romp, zigzagging through disparate lives and tying them all together with surgical cleverness and wit.
The French Italian
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: É um filme competente que permite passar bons momentos. Dá para ver como romance para pessoas que estão em simbiose, como preparação para reunião de condomínio, ou apenas como distração.
Frewaka
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Frewaka is a chilling reminder that the past clings to body and soul; there’s no outrunning an extra organ.
Fréwaka
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Writer/director Aislinn Clarke (“The Devil’s Doorway”) continues to explore Catholic repression in Ireland through the lens of the supernatural in her second feature, which evades the sophomore slump curse with its mastery of slow building dread.
From Ground Zero
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Some of the most impactful films feature the day-to-day difficulties of living through this war. Rabab Khamis’ ‘Recycling’ shows us how one woman uses one bucket of water…
- Excerpt: The film, which boasts Michael Moore as an executive producer, was spearheaded by Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi and consists of 22 short films ranging from 3 to 6 minutes in length, all depicting the current state of life in Gaza.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: No matter your opinion on the success of each, however, the whole is an undeniable document of an unspeakable tragedy. As a puppet declares during “Awakening”: everything is gone and the world just watched.
- Excerpt: Thanks to Masharawi, 22 short films from Palestinians under horrendous siege in Gaza have come to life, death and a wide audience.
FTOYS
Tina Kakadelis @ Beyond the Cinerama Dome
- Excerpt: FTOYS is a pastel homage to the grindhouse greats seen through a contemporary lens that introduces the world to the unstoppable force that is Annapurna Sriram.
G20
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: When it comes to surface level kinetic energy, I liked a lot of what G20 had to offer…In terms of its political and social commentary, the film doesn’t work quite as well.
Samuel Castro @ El Colombiano [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Es en el cine de género más que en el cine de autor donde se leen las señas de identidad de una cultura, de una época o de un país.
Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie
- Excerpt: At the screening I attended, the children in the audience started to get squirmy when the film ran past the brief run time of the segments of the series, and a few of them were anxious about Vera’s low-wattage villainy. The likely audience for the film might be happier just watching the series.
Garo: Taiga
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Ultimately, “GARO: TAIGA” is likely to entertain its core audience of younger viewers with its polished action and heroic themes. More mature audiences may find enjoyment in the well-executed fight choreography and visual effects, though they may not find much substance beyond the spectacle.
The Gas Station Attendant
- Excerpt: In The Gas Station Attendant, Murthy reflects on who she is and how she was shaped by her parents, particularly her father Shantha Murthy.
Gazer
Chris Barsanti @ Slant Magazine
- Excerpt: Gazer sidles up to its story cautiously, mirroring its main character’s questioning nature.
Ghost Boy
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: É muitas vezes apenas um plano da cara do nosso protagonista, enquanto esperamos que o audio do computador dê contexto às emoções transmitidas pelo rosto.
Ghost Trail
- Excerpt: “Ghost Trail” is an excellent work and a truly promising debut, just a few steps short of being a masterpiece. Jonathan Millet is certainly a director to watch.
Girl
- Excerpt: Although “Girl” is weighed down by issues of length and certain casting choices, the strength of its storytelling ultimately carries it through, resulting in a debut that is both moving and hopeful.
The Girl in the Pool
A Girl Is a Gun
- Excerpt: Starring the iconic Jean-Pierre Léaud as a “Billy Le Kid” who is the antithesis of the ruggedly masculine characters you’re used to seeing riding across the American West in the form of John Wayne or Randolph Scott, A Girl is a Gun is a weird, wild romp that is virtually impossible to categorize as anything other than…well, a Luc Moullet movie.
Girlfriends
- Excerpt: Although built on somewhat arthouse premises, “Girlfriends” ultimately unfolds as an approachable queer romantic drama. It presents Choi’s observations with eloquence while remaining visually engaging, emotionally resonant, and easy to watch from beginning to end.
The Glassworker
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Whatever might happen to them in the end doesn’t erase what they made. The art itself is released into the world to heal old wounds and inspire new genius. Art is immortal.
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Riaz has a chance of winning because he has not only produced a magnificent animation style, similar to Hayao Miyazaki, founder of Ghibli Studios, but has also written a deeply meaningful script about human nature.
Good Game
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In the end, “Good Game” proves to be an enjoyable and visually inventive title that captures the essence of gaming culture. While it may not overcome all of its narrative shortcomings, it delivers an engaging and entertaining spectacle that resonates well beyond its niche premise.
Good News
- Excerpt: Korean cinema may not reach the heights of the 2000s and 2010s anytime soon, but this turn toward slapstick is certainly promising, and “Good News” is a prime example of this trend.
Maxance Vincent @ InSession Film
- Excerpt: Everyone is ridiculed, even you, the viewer, for your attempts to sympathize with these self-centered idiots who will only act if it benefits them – and them only
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: The Gorge is far from perfect, but that might be the very reason it works.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: If the rest were better than just “fine,” [the ending’s bow-tied] letdown probably would have hurt more. As is, The Gorge simply remains fine.
- Excerpt: A lively sci-fi/action/horror film with a serious spark, The Gorge is enjoyable to its closing credits and a nifty exercise in tension.
Dan Stalcup @ The Goods: Film Reviews
- Excerpt: Your mileage may vary, but my personal taste tends to favor character dynamics over spectacle, which may be why I found myself more invested in Levi and Drasa’s handwritten conversations than any of the film’s shootouts or paramilitary secrets.
Grand Theft Hamlet
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Along with “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” “Grand Theft Hamlet” introduces non-gaming audiences into a virtual world far richer than most might imagine, while also entertaining with the sheer madness of its concept.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The most memorable moments are, of course, those that are completely unplanned. It’s fun to get lost in the spontaneity of jumping without a safety net.
- Excerpt: A making-of film fueled, like the Let’s Plays and livestreams it’s in conversation with, by the chaos of a plan gone wrong, Grand Theft Hamlet is equal parts charming and cheesy—both due to its experimental setting.
Grand Tour
Maxance Vincent @ Awards Radar
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: There is a reason Sorrentino keeps casting Servillo, who makes this man known for his middle ground politics far more complex than we expect, his exterior calm containing a churning interior…a portrait of a beloved politician leaving office with grace.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Estamos no mês em que mais filmes de qualidade estreiam, mas, por enquanto, este é o melhor filme do ano.
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Servillo is excellent as Mariano; the supporting cast is superb, and although the overall experience could have been more emotionally charged, it remains intellectually stimulating.
Griffin in Summer
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Colia’s screenplay intricately weaves the impact of outside events on various relationships to propel this unique coming-of-age comedy, ‘Regrets of Autumn’ a comedic mini-masterpiece of adult drama seen through the eyes of a child.
Ground Zero
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Guns Up
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Guns Up” may not hold up under intense scrutiny, but it offers plenty of entertainment in a high-octane, retro-style action comedy. Packed with bullets, blood, and bursts of humor, it’s a title that should easily satisfy fans of John Woo-style heroic violence, while also appealing to those longing for the gritty-yet-playful action movies of the past.
Hallow Road
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …has a familiar feel (think Richard Gere’s strange drive in the superior “The Mothman Prophecies”) until it doesn’t and while some may find that mysterious conclusion something to turn over and over looking for a solution, others may find one too many things that just don’t quite add up.
Hani
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In the end, “Hani” is one of those works whose importance outweighs its quality. The issues with narrative presentation make the viewing experience challenging, resulting in a movie that will certainly circulate the festival circuit but will likely appeal primarily to dedicated festival audiences.
Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Cinephiles and soundtrack lovers alike will feel like they’re in heaven.
Happy and You Know It
Christopher Reed @ Film Festival Today
- Excerpt: So sit yourself down, watch the film, and sing along. Before long, you’ll definitely be happy and you will definitely know it.
Happy Birthday
Happy Ending
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Ultimately, “Happy Ending” emerges as a work that fulfills its aim of titillation, at least to a degree, which makes it a competent effort within its category.
Happy Gilmore 2
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: If you come in with an open mind and are willing to run with the sheer ridiculousness of it all, you may walk out pleasantly entertained.
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A fun and nostalgic legacy sequel that should please fans of the ’90s original.
Happy Holidays
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [Copti] pulls absolutely no punches to reveal just how damaging both cultures [Israeli and Muslim] are to freedom when it comes to gender, religious, or ethnic equality.
Happyend
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Neo Sora seamlessly blends multiple genres – coming-of-age, high school rebellion and science fiction – in his futuristic look at how one group of friends in Tokyo react to both local and national oppression.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Add a killer score from Lia Ouyang Rusli and great visuals and Sora’s film absorbs you fully from the opening scene. Credit the teen actors too, though, since their chemistry and humor truly jump off the screen.
Harvest
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: takes us back to another place and time while asking us to contemplate our own future….Landry Jones, an actor of unique talent, seems one with this land
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Fire, violence, and cruelty abound as these elements collide to force each party to look inward and take stock of their strength and loyalty amidst the uncertainty of their survival.
Havoc
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: We don’t feel the effect in our heads or in our hearts, but as a punch right in the gut.
Head Like a Hole
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Working with a budget of just $13,000…MacDonald-Labelle makes a feature debut that in a just world should rival “Skinamarink’s” buzz…a suspenseful psychological thriller larded with hilariously bizarre dialogue delivered by MVP Jeff McDonald.
Heavens: The Boy and His Robot
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In the end, “Heavens: The Boy and His Robot” is not without its flaws, particularly in terms of balance and nuance. Nevertheless, as a low-budget sci-fi effort, it is a commendable and engaging work. Fans of mecha action, in particular, will find plenty to appreciate.
Hedda
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: Hedda is an elegant period drama adaptation with stunning cinematography from Sean Bobbitt and Tessa Thompson’s strong performance exploring manipulation, jealousy, and emptiness behind 19th century luxury life
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Hedda is never more compelling than when [Thompson and Hoss] are going toe-to-toe with every barb holding the extra context of an ever-present history forever etched in their faces.
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Hedda’ may not be a masterpiece, but thanks to its themes, its superlative technical aspects, and of course, the great work of its cast (especially Thompson, Poots and Hoss), this production ends up being fascinating.
The Heirloom
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: I enjoyed [the duality between reality and fiction] and also invested in the Milly of it all considering her mannerisms are identical to how our Greyhound acted throughout his life, but the big draw is Glowicki’s performance during the second act.
Hele Vejen
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Hele Vejen may feel familiar, though it’s a tough, emotional, and dark story that looks at the past’s repercussions in an individual’s present life.
Helen and the Bear
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Blair’s relationship to her subjects affords access, but it’s her curiosity to truly understand them that delivers what we need to invest in learning about them too.
Hell of a Summer
Jeff Schaefer @ The Marquee Topic
- Excerpt: The directorial debut of Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk, it is a horror/comedy that is not shy at all about its influences.
Henry Fonda for President
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: A fantastic unconventional documentary on the iconic movie actor Henry Fonda.
Henry Johnson
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: [Mamet] has weaponized our collective cynicism to create a character who is so willing to think the best of people that he’ll continue doing so even as that trust sinks him deeper and deeper into despair.
- Excerpt: The film is more hole than bullet; though it’s still thrilling to hear actors fire out David Mamet’s heated arguments, when the dust clears from the film’s dense conversations, what remains is hollow.
Hijra
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Overall, “Hijra” emerges as a well-crafted work, marked by strong direction, accomplished performances, and a layered approach that intertwines realism with symbolic meaning.
Hisaab Barabar
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
The History of Sound
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a beautiful period romance and ode to Americana
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: The History of Sound is a visually stunning film with beautiful cinematography and captivating score, but fails to present a substantial narrative to support its title
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: É um filme visualmente incrível, com uma banda sonora poderosa e que tem um argumento muito bem trabalhado. É um poeta em formato de cinema.
Jeff Schaefer @ The Marquee Topic
- Excerpt: Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor star in The History of Sound, a queer, period, romantic drama from director Oliver Hermanus, now streaming on Mubi.
Hoang Thuy Linh: Vietnamese Concert Film
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Granted, the film is promotional to some extent, and an appreciation for this particular musical style is almost essential for viewers. On the other hand, the presentation of the concerts, what goes on behind them and the portrait of Hoang Thuy Linh are enough to deem the movie watchable for any viewer, while fans of both the music and the artist will definitely have a blast here.
Hola Frida
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: As an adult, as usual, I agree with my child critics. While the colors were bright and cheerful, the concept of the inner voice instructive and encouraging, and the idea of death, depicted by a dark-looking queen that they both understood, was engaging; a more Ghibli Studios-style realism in the animation and a tightened-up script would have helped.
Holland
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: I came away uninterested by the themes, unmoved by the drama, and unaffected by the thrills.
- Excerpt: Mimi Cave flirts with noir intrigue and heightened melodrama, but despite its stylish setup, it never quite digs beneath the surface of its influences.
Holy Night: Demon Hunters
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The story itself is hardly groundbreaking, but the leading trio have a fun rapport that I wouldn’t mind watching again. It’s only real knock preventing its popcorn fare’s advancement from “familiar” to “exciting” is that it inherently feels incomplete.
Homebound
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Tusshar Sasi @ Filmy Sasi
Honey Bunch
Honey Don’t
Alex Bentley @ CultureMap Dallas
- Excerpt: Qualley is easily the best part of the film, giving a controlled performance that lets the audience buy into the character despite the story flaws.
Hot Milk
- Excerpt: Each of the central figures is a Schrödinger’s Cat of conflicting personas, struggling to find a sense of control amid limits, dislocation, and shame.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Não forma um conjunto coeso, mas dá vários toques certeiros na direção certa. E o final é bem poderoso pois também Sofia se foi informando e capacitando como indivíduo para tomar decisões dolorosas.
Hot Spring Shark Attack
Kat Hughes @ THN
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Even at a mercifully brief 77 minutes, I could hardly wait for this movie to be over.
Sebastian Zavala @ Ventana Indiscreta [Spanish]
- Excerpt: This trashy film combines horror with fantasy, drawing on elements from Steven Spielberg’s classic Jaws, Japanese anime, and even sharksploitation. It’s pure, absurd entertainment.
House of Ashes
How Dare You?
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
Human Resource
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Human Resource” is another intelligent and thoughtfully constructed work from Nawapol. While it may lack some of the stylistic flair of his earlier movies, as an exercise in restraint and measure it is remarkably successful.
Hunting Daze
- Excerpt: Annick Blanc’s examination of humanity condensed into a seven-character microcosm speaks uncomfortable truths about who we are as a society.
Hurry Up Tomorrow
Andrea Chase @ KillerMovieReviews.com
- Excerpt: Why @hurryuptomorrowmovie is painfully self-indulgent as it tests our patience and rips off #Misery.
Jeff Schaefer @ The Marquee Topic
- Excerpt: Abel Tesfaye and Jenna Ortega star in Hurry Up Tomorrow, a companion film to The Weekend’s latest album.
Hustle
- Excerpt: Never back down
I Am Kirishima
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “I Am Kirishima” is not a bad film, on the contrary, it is quite rewarding to watch and definitely entertaining throughout its duration. At the same time, though, considering how intriguing the main subject is, it could have been a much more impactful movie. In that fashion, it would be interesting to see Masao Adachi’s movie on the same subject, which came out just a few days ago.
I Know Catherine, the Log Lady
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
I Was Born this Way
- Excerpt: No one is a mistake
I Wish You All the Best
- Excerpt: Dorfman (who played Ryan on “13 Reasons Why” before transitioning at age 28) brings a tender-hearted sensitivity to the story. The compassion she brings to every character is endearing, and her unquestioning love for them makes this a heartwarming gem.
I Wish You Had Told Me
- Excerpt: I Wish You Had Told Me is slight, but it does everything it needs to be an effective movie about overcoming toxic faith to deepen your love.
I, Poppy
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Some of the best documentaries are those whose stories could easily become the scripts for fiction works. “I, Poppy” is undoubtedly one of these, combining thoughtful storytelling with exceptional cinematography and editing, making it one of the most remarkable documentaries of the year.
I’m Here, I’m Fine
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “I’m Here, I’m Fine,” while not necessarily redefining its genre, is a well-crafted, engaging, and emotionally intelligent piece. Through its assured direction, compelling visuals, and strong performances, it effectively communicates its social commentary while maintaining an accessible and consistently engaging tone from start to finish.
I’m Not Everything I Want to Be
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s an informative and exciting piece that provides the parallel journeys of political oppression and individual awakening.
The Ice Tower
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Whereas most would let that shared experience bond these two as protector and protected, The Ice Tower understands that the would-be protector having never been protected themselves almost guarantees they don’t know what it means to protect.
Idiotika
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: Genial comedy and satire.
If You See Something
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s crucial that all situations dealing with the convergence of love and legality are treated with such nuance to prove how our most difficult decisions exist in the gray. Because some things are worth more than a flag.
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: There needs to be more script to flesh out the story so we can answer, at least in the end, what the film title references – as well as how much Ali knew and when he knew it.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: A faceta mais aparente é esse tal choque cultural e incapacidade de perceber o nosso semelhante vindo de longe, mas também são evidentes as feridas invisíveis que a guerra deixa para as gerações futuras.
In the Lost Lands
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: The world it presents to us is half-developed, the characters are bland, and the overall plot is tremendously boring, even though it’s barely an hour and a half long.
In Whose Name?
- Excerpt: Kanye be crazy in this documentary witnessing his insanity.
In Your Dreams
- Excerpt: “In Your Dreams” is an exciting, imaginative, and sometimes funny adventure story about a sister and brother who try to use their dreams to change their reality. But it is also a wise and touching story about the challenges of family and of change.
Maxance Vincent @ InSession Film
- Excerpt: “In Your Dreams rarely attempts to surpass its conventional narrative and character beats, instead preferring to stay within the limited imagination and references it wants to bathe in.”
Incomplete Chairs
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Ultimately, “Incomplete Chairs” is not a movie for everyone, but those with a taste for splatter and exploitation will find much to admire. At the same time, Ugana injects enough thematic weight and stylistic flair to elevate the work above the average entry in the genre.
Influencers
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Influencers is even more dark fun than Influencer, particularly because of how it portrays identity in an increasingly volatile and devious digital world.
Informant
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: While “Informant” may lean into excess at times, especially in its humor, it ultimately succeeds as a highly entertaining action comedy that is sure to satisfy fans of the genre.
Inspector Zende
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Invader
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Invader‘s a disturbing snapshot of violence that contains commentary deeply relevant to where America is politically right now.
Invincible Swordsman
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: In the end, if Invincible Swordsman doesn’t really work, it’s because it feels too samey. […] Considering the classic story on which it’s based, it certainly should have been miles better.
The Invisible Doctrine
Bev Questad @ Itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “The Invisible Doctrine: the Secret History of Neoliberalism (and how it came to control your life)” is a thought-provoking criticism of the machinations of a capitalistic democracy. The focus and hope of the film is that there is another way. That, my friends, is why it’s mandatory to see.
It Feeds
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It Feeds is a pleasant surprise. It clearly can’t compare to the big Hollywood productions, but if you’re willing to watch it with an open mind, I’m sure you’ll find a lot of value in its proposal.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
Chris Barsanti @ Slant Magazine
- Excerpt: The film is an emotional depiction of the gaping holes left by Buckley’s untimely death.
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: the romantic comedy as coming of age story for a woman who’s put her life on ice until she learns how to melt.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The comedy is lively and infectious, especially whenever Rutherford and Anson are together playing coy so as not to let their defenses down. And the supporting cast is wonderful.
- Excerpt: Jane Austen Wrecked My Life may fall into the romantic comedy genre, but there’s something else afoot here in this examination of what the heart wants and what our bodies give and get.
Jay Kelly
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Baumbach’s character study of a sixty year-old movie star who realizes too late that he’s pushed away what matters in life is ironically overshadowed by the more emotionally rich portrayal of that man’s manager, Ron Sukenick (Adam Sandler)…
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “Jay Kelly” is introspective entertainment with depth as well as humor. Balancing ambition in career with a commitment to family is a classic conflict. Adding humor to the mix is a master stroke.
Jeff Schaefer @ The Marquee Topic
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Even though the film’s central message isn’t particularly groundbreaking, Baumbach manages to deliver an entertaining, emotional, and expertly acted experience that allows the viewer to understand this egotistical character.
Jewel Thief: The Heist Begins
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Jimmy and Stiggs
John Candy: I Like Me
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Jacob Oller @ The A.V. Club
- Excerpt: Colin Hanks’ doc eulogizes the late Canadian comedy legend 30 years after his early death with a series of blandly sweet remembrances.
John Lewis – Good Trouble
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Dawn Porter, the director of this documentary, and Julie Zann, the writer, have created a cinematic quilt of beauty on the life on Lewis. They didn’t go chronologically, but sewed together blocks that create a design, as if it were a real quilt, that spells hope.
Jolly LLB 3
Julie Keeps Quiet
- Excerpt: Belgium’s submission for Best International Feature Film at this year’s Academy Awards, Julie Keeps Quiet paints an intimate and empathetic portrait of an elite youth tennis player who refuses to speak up after her coach is accused of abuse. Directed by Leonardo Van Dijl from a script he co-wrote with Ruth Becquart (who also plays Julie’s mother), the film—which has the Dardenne brothers, Florian Zeller, and Naomi Osaka listed among its producers—turns a keen eye towards the culture of anxiety, abuse, and silence that continues to pervade women’s sports at all levels of the game post-#MeToo.
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A story that raises interesting themes about power relations, control, consent, and truth in a believable and powerful way.
July 36: State vs. People
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “July 36: State vs. People” stands as a vital act of resistance, both cinematic and civic. By reclaiming history from state propaganda and amplifying the voices of those who dared to speak, Soumitra Dastidar captures a moment of reckoning for a nation fighting to redefine its destiny.
Just Breathe
Sebastian Zavala @ Ventana Indiscreta [Spanish]
- Excerpt: The production has made excellent use of its limited resources to develop an experience that never feels cheap. And of course, it helps that Kylne Gallner gives it his all to fully develop protagonist Nick.
Karen Kingsbury’s The Christmas Ring
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: For a film that seeks to be patriotic and religious, there’s an awful lot of insincere lip service.
Kayara
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Kayara is unconvincing because of how generic the story is, focusing on a completely predictable “Hero’s Journey”. The film may entertain a family’s youngest members, but the rest will probably be just as disappointed as me.
Keep Quiet
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Zach Montague imbues the script for Keep Quiet with an undeniable authenticity while director Vincent Grashaw helps balance its need for intensity and penchant for empathy.
Keeper
Kat Hughes @ THN
Maxance Vincent @ FilmSpeak.net
- Excerpt: The fundamental problem behind all of [Oz Perkins’] films – Keeper included – is that his bevy of unsettling images, whether atmospheric or genuinely scary, evoke absolutely nothing in the grander scheme of their stories and themes.
Kesari Chapter 2
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Killing Faith
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Heróis com falhas e vilões implacáveis funcionam sempre. Tem uma boa produção e entretem, mas, no final, não faz nada de memorável.
Kim Novak’s Vertigo
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Kinda Pregnant
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: We are forced to bear witness to scene after scene of ridiculous comedy, where we can see the punchlines coming from a mile away and whose plot is so generic we start to forget about it even while watching it.
- Excerpt: Amy Schumer delivers her usual chaos in a fun, light watch filled with familiar gags and formulas, though it never quite pushes beyond the expected.
The King of Kings
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: A gentle, beautifully animated introduction to the story of Jesus for families of faith.
The Kiss
- Excerpt: The setting is more than a century ago, but the longing for love and the struggle for intimacy are universally human.
The Knife
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: There’s no more damning look into the dangers America’s systemic racism than a scenario where the victims of that cruelty are so aware of it that their attempts to survive seal a worse fate.
Know Mercy
Kokuho
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a cinematic epic, a sweeping saga that pits innate talent against traditional hereditary birthright throughout decades…one of 2025’s very best.
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In the end, “Kokuho” succeeds on multiple levels: as a character-driven drama, a cultural chronicle, and a meditation on legacy, sacrifice, and art. It may run long, but its emotional resonance, superb direction, and immersive kabuki sequences more than justify the scope. This is a richly crafted, deeply felt work that lingers long after the curtain falls.
Kokuhô
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The most interesting characters are often those with the most flaws and Kikuo has plenty. Kokuhô, however, does not thanks to a great cast, impeccable direction, and poignant kabuki plays to tie it all together.
Koln 75
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “Koln 75” is a film that is a work of art. Ido Fluk, a musician himself, has created an improvisational piece worthy of inclusion in film study courses through time.
Köln 75
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Fluk infuses an energy that makes veracity an afterthought to entertainment. Köln 75 is instead about vibes, jazz, and the woman who made The Köln Concert iconic despite the guy who happened to be playing the music on-stage.
Kontinental 25
Paulo Portugal @ Insider [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Radu Jude é, muito provavelmente, o cineasta europeu mais consistente da atualidade. Provocador, politicamente engajado, satírico e cinéfilo, o seu cinema oferece-nos, a cada novo filme, um olhar incisivo sobre o neocapitalismo contemporâneo, as suas inconsistências e idiossincrasias.
Kopitiam Days
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Ultimately, nostalgia seems to be as central as the kopitiam itself in this collective effort to portray the Singaporean experience across the years and how it has evolved. The number of stories could have been smaller, considering that “Kopitiam Days” runs at 129 minutes; however, the diversity and quality of most segments are undeniable, even if it becomes evident that local viewers will find the strongest connection to the material.
Kurak
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Kurak” is a hard work, but its hardness is undeniably necessary. It stands as a realistic outcry against a system that seems barely to improve over the years.
Langur The Man Monkey
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Langur The Man Monkey” is an excellent documentary that thoroughly presents a truly unique man while remaining entertaining from beginning to end.
Last Breath
Sarah Gopaul @ Digital Journal
- Excerpt: While it’s rare to want a movie to be longer, it seems as if this story could’ve benefited from a little more development around the key personalities and the job, so there is a stronger connection with the audience. Instead, it relies on the ticking clock to keep viewers engaged, which is rousing, but not as satisfying.
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: A gripping true-story thriller that plunges into an undersea nightmare.
Last Bullet
Maxance Vincent @ Awards Radar
Last Days
Chris Barsanti @ Slant Magazine
- Excerpt: The film scatters itself across multiple plot angles that confuse more than clarify.
The Last Journey
Nadine Whitney @ Alliance of Women Film Journalists
- Excerpt: The Last Journey sets out to be a crowd-pleaser and it is because Lars is a treat.
The Last Rodeo
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: Pleasant, predictable but with sincerity, The Last Rodeo drives home its message of redemption and seeking one last chance.
The Last Sacrifice
The Last Supper
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: The Last Supper is a failed and disappointing attempt at adapting Jesus’s story, with shallow dramatization, controversial character portrayals that deviate from Christian theology, and a loss of sanctity that should be the core of the Last Supper story.
The Last Twins
- Excerpt: His kindness and the example of his humanity were of crucial importance in giving the boys a sense of the possibility of survival and a life of purpose.
Late Shift
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Using long takes, Volpe paces her film like a tense thriller, the extraordinary Leonie Benesch never stops multi-tasking at breakneck speed yet always has time for a kind word, gentle touch or sympathetic smile.
Lavender Men
- Excerpt: As good as the acting is, the real star of the production is the writing trust (Holder and Mason—who also wrote the stage play).
Leaving Mom
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: While “Leaving Mom” has minor issues, the emotional weight, social commentary, strong performances, and dual settings make it a movie worth watching. Fans of melodrama are likely to find it particularly compelling.
Left Handed Girl
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: the filmmaker has found her perfect five year-old counterpart in Nina Ye, the adorably precocious center of a multi-family and multi-generational tale.
Left-Handed Girl
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: An entertaining and emotionally resonant experience. Shih-Ching Tsou immerses us in a place and culture with tons of empathy and heart.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Tradition and responsibility are complex concepts and our actions don’t occur in a vacuum. Who we are should mean more than who we “should be.” Mistakes happen. It’s how you respond that matters.
Maxance Vincent @ Awards Radar
- Excerpt: Left-Handed Girl is as funny as it is deeply heartfelt, showcasing the complexities of life in ways that feel fresh and exciting, especially given the current digitized era we’re living in.
Leila and the Wolves
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The result is a powerful document of women’s crucial impact to the Arab world during this time of cultural and political upheaval. It ensures their voice won’t be silenced or pushed to the sidelines as if they weren’t there fighting the entire time.
Lesbian Space Princess
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: É um filme que ficará datado quando um futuro que tarda a chegar for a norma. Até lá, pelo menos vamos rindo.
The Life List
- Excerpt: With little flair, flat characters, and a script that pretty much writes itself, it’s another unmemorable Netflix film that joins the abyss of forgotten-about movies on the streaming platform.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: The campaigning and decision making behind the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Sabemos que não tem como propósito informar ou educar, mas sim homenagear quem lutou para que as gerações seguintes tivessem uma vida melhor. Quem sabe, inspirar mais algumas mudanças.
Little Buddha
- Excerpt: At the centre of it all is Prince Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves making an early name for himself, deftly sporting eyeliner and readily displaying a royal chest that attracts admirers of all stripes).
A Little Prayer
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Junebug’s writer, Angus MacLachlan, writes and directs a new feature which, while not quite on “Junebug’s” level, is on the same wavelength…a minor miracle, a family drama that takes an important stand for women’s rights.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: MacLachlan [isn’t] setting up a list of excuses for his characters to hide behind. [He] proves how we must take personal responsibility for our actions regardless of the suffering, sacrifice, or self-loathing that contributes to them.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: É um filme que marca se estivermos dispostos a isso. Que nos alerta se estivermos a passar por aquilo ou conhecermos alguém assim. Que dá imensa vontade e motivação de mudar de vida para melhor, mesmo que seja difícil.
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It’s the kind of film that doesn’t get made anymore, but that we definitely shouldn’t lose completely.
Little Trouble Girls
- Excerpt: While the film’s charged exploration of the complex interplay between female friendship and sexuality (with a hefty side of Catholic guilt) has earned it comparisons to earlier films like Céline Sciamma’s wonderful Water Lilies, Little Trouble Girls is so beautifully crafted that it deserves to be recognized on its own merits.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Ostan authentically portrays the embarrassment, insecurity, and fear that results when her decisions to give into temptation and banish it both leave her in tears.
Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: This documentary succeeds in introducing Liza Minnelli as a legendary entertainer and loyal friend, but fails to dig deeper into the personal side of this icon—making it a beautiful yet shallow portrait of a star who should have a richer story to tell.
Locked
Andrea Chase @ KillerMovieReviews.com
- Excerpt: Locked proves that Bill Skarsgård is one of the best actors of his generation, even if the film itself gets a little meander-ish in its second act.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: To the correct audience, however, Locked is a pretty accurate depiction of where we are right now. A populace beholden to the whims of an oligarchy setting obvious traps to justify its own violence.
- Excerpt: Do enjoy the trip in a super-luxurious vehicle, but be wary of its fate ending up like just another Tesla truck.
Lockjaw
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Blu Hunt is excellent, the directing style is believable, and the ending manages to compensate for some of the previous narrative flaws. But “Lockjaw” still feels more like an eccentric “curiosity” than a proper feature film.
Logout
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
London Calling
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Cheap entertainment trumps good storytelling. It’s merely a shame that filmmakers don’t realize you can do both because I think London Calling is a perfect premise to prove it if only Ungar and company went the extra step.
Looking Through Water
- Excerpt: “Looking Through Water” wants to tell us about the importance of uncluttered connections to the natural world and to each other, but too often it ignores its own advice.
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: The best it offers is in the interactions between Stahl-David and Morse, and between Douglas and Scobell, presenting a story of double temporality where generational problems are presented as cyclical.
The Lost Bus
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: Although it doesn’t equal Greengrass’ more acclaimed projects, we can’t deny that this is a production headed by a director that knows what he’s doing and does it well.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The effects team truly earned that Oscar nomination because fire is generally the least believable of all computer manipulations and it looked pretty darn flawless here.
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
Lost in Starlight
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: While the animation was gorgeous and the voice acting well performed, I couldn’t help but feel the melodrama trying to tug at my heart strings a little too blatantly.
- Excerpt: Narrative imbalance sends the Korean romance off-course, but at least the casual details that dream of Seoul’s overstimulated future are captivating along its scenic route.
Love Chaos Kin
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Love Chaos Kin” ultimately stands as an outstanding documentary, marked by an extraordinary story, nuanced and realistic perspectives, and thoughtful commentary
Love Doesn’t Matter to Me
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Ultimately, one could argue that “Love Doesn’t Matter to Me” embodies the current tendencies of Japanese cinema. Based on a novel, presenting an intriguing story with compelling characters and a sharp accusation toward the previous generation, yet also marked by a lack of tension and an issue with its finale (and the choking cliche), it is a work that fans of contemporary Japanese cinema will likely appreciate, including, to a certain extent, this writer.
The Love That Remains
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Pálmason pivots from the period missionary expedition of “Godland,” to an intimate family drama, the films connected by a main character’s artistic pursuits…This is a family that continually ebbs and flows like the ocean which surrounds it.
Kenji Fujishima @ Slant Magazine
Love, Brooklyn
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Loveyapa
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
The Luckiest Man in America
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The era-specific production design, expert pacing, and captivating twists once the truth is uncovered provide the scaffolding so the actors can turn it into gold.
Lucky Lu
Lucky Strike
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Though “Lucky Strike” may come across as slightly opaque in its intentions, it is an undeniably pleasant and affecting viewing experience. Technically refined and emotionally resonant, it’s a quietly powerful work that is likely to leave a smile on the viewer’s face.
A Machu Picchu Proposal
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It’s a Hallmark production, so it should be considered for what it is, not what we’d like it to be or what some say it should be. In that sense, it’s a fun and lighthearted offering.
Magellan
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: If you are unfamiliar with the historical details of Magellan’s life preceding his historic voyage, Diaz’s in media res approach…requires patience, as eventually the details pull together and the epic tale achieves a rhythm.
Magnetosphere
Christopher Reed @ Hammer to Nail
- Excerpt: In lieu of tragedy, Rose offers a lovely reveal of Maggie’s long-suppressed abilities. Bullies get their due, good people succeed, and everyone learns important lessons.
Make Me Famous
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: As one interviewee eloquently describes, this film is a “restoration” of an artist like one would restore an artwork. He was undeniably unforgettable.
A Man and a Woman
- Excerpt: Claude Lelouch’s A Man and a Woman is a film as simple and complicated as its title implies. Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film and Best Original Screenplay, it chronicles the tentative, tender romance between a widow and a widower, irresistibly drawn to one another despite the heavy weight of past tragedies.
Man Finds Tape
Kat Hughes @ THN
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Hall and Gandersman are operating with a similar, highly polished lo-fi aesthetic [to producers Moorhead and Benson] wherein the story is built to its budget to ensure verisimilitude isn’t sacrificed for imagination.
The Man Who Saves the World?
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Kudos to Polsky for somehow wading through it all with a straight face and open mind because it means we can too. Something we forget in today’s world of celebrity “geniuses” is that actions always trump image.
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: Appeals to peaceniks.
Mango
- Excerpt: Mango (2025) is an uneven journey with a poor start and a rocky ending, but the middle part of the journey is enjoyable and leads to a satisfying conclusion.
The Map That Leads to You
McVeigh
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: McVeigh is a well-made piece, but its lack of proving its worth as a version of this story to tell (either as prescient or cautionary) sinks it. We need more than his readily available and presumed process. We watch the news.
Meat Kills
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Meat Kills is over the top in its depiction of militant vegans, yet reflects a deeper societal rift related to how cultural discourse has divided into extremes on all sides of politics.
Meeting with Pol Pot
Chris Barsanti @ Slant Magazine
- Excerpt: Rithy Panh’s film is hard-hitting yet illusive, much like the story its characters are hunting.
Megadoc
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It only helped me better appreciate the final product: a failed, bombastic, and sometimes even ridiculous passion project, which at least was made by a human being who was looking for some truth in his story.
The Mehta Boys
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Memories of a Burning Body
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Mere Husband Ki Biwi
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Mermaid
A Merry Little Ex-Mas
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Even though family Christmas pictures aren’t known for their originality or style, I certainly was expecting more from A Merry Little Ex-Mas.
Metro… In Dino
Midnight Phoenix
- Excerpt: Why is life such a drag?
Millers in Marriage
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Edward Burns turns in one of his best films to date.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Yes, it’s Burns making yet another Burns film (like Nick’s backhanded compliment to Maggie), but I think the performances excel enough to overcome any fatigue that truth might conjure in those looking for a reason to watch something else.
- Excerpt: Putting infidelity and broken families at the forefront again, Edward Burns treads well-worn ground with his take on middle age, post-child life.
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Millers in Marriage feels like a vestige of a simpler time; a movie that would have probably been rather successful in the nineties, but that nowadays feels a bit tired and predictable and even self-centred.
Mimesis
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Mimesis” stands out for its thought-provoking content, but the creators will need to refine the technical aspects considerably to deliver a truly complete work in the future.
Mimpi Keluarga Sempurna
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Ultimately, one can clearly see the good intentions and good ideas Satrio brings to “Mimpi Keluarga Sempurna”, yet the execution proves problematic on several levels, which unfortunately diminishes the overall result.
Misericordia
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Misericordia is a Latin word meaning mercy or compassion, but while writer/director Alain Guiraudie’s (“Stranger by the Lake”) film may share some of the Catholic sensibilities of Bresson, it also enjoys the dark yet impish qualities of Chabrol.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Blissful ignorance and morality simply don’t mix. I wouldn’t have called it a comedy until reading its billed genres (dark or not), but you can’t deny that it unfolds with a perpetual smirk.
Mistress Dispeller
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s a testament to Lo for going into the film with an awareness of the ethical tightrope she’d need to walk and Wang’s professionalism and empathy to treat each piece of her clients’ puzzles with the care necessary to never exploit their intimacy.
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “Mistress Dispeller” is a truly surprising and even revolutionary documentary. It captures shame in real time and dissects something Americans have in common with Chinese: social mobility and infidelity.
Monsters Within
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: What does the open-fanged monster, the American flag, vigilante justice, and his handicapped sister tell us? That there are times when everything that the American flag stands for, like liberty and justice, must allow for individual vengeance? “Monsters Within” has layers of meaning and the audience may participate in figuring it all out.
Morlaix
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
Most People Die on Sundays
- Excerpt: “I’m afraid of ending up alone”
Mother Bhumi
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Perhaps slightly less impactful than his previous efforts in terms of contextual layering, “Mother Bhumi” nevertheless remains a competent and engaging work that ultimately stands out due to its visual strength and the performances at its core.
A Mother’s Embrace
Mountainhead
Samuel Castro @ El Colombiano [Spanish]
- Excerpt: La riqueza siempre ha otorgado un prestigio intelectual que la mayoría de las veces no se corresponde con la realidad.
Mrs.
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
The Music We Call Country
Sebastian Zavala @ Ventana Indiscreta [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Between the beautifully recorded interviews, the telling of a story that spans decades, and the emphasis on specific musicians and producers, the film helped me learn a great deal about a subject I had always been ignorant about.
Muzzle: City of Wolves
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: É bom que não façam mais nenhum. Nenhum cão merece passar por isto novamente.
Sebastian Zavala @ LoudAndClearReviews.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: This might not represent a comeback for Aaron Eckhart, but it should attract viewers wanting to see a more serious and meditative action thriller, or at least those who want to see humans and dogs working together to take out bad guys.
My Daughter Is A Zombie
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: The B-film parody is a tame zombie flick that’s not funny or scary or well-executed.
My Dear Theo
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Kovalenko’s film plays more like a poem than a documentary. It is not going to teach us about Ukrainian tactics or show us battles. We aren’t going to learn why Russia has invaded or the backstory of Ukraine’s conflict. But it is does reveal Ukrainian courage and heart.
My Father’s Shadow
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: My Father’s Shadow proves a perfect mix of historical detail (to infer upon the moment’s political unrest and hopeful optimism) and familial sacrifice (to understand what it means to live hard so the next generation might still live better).
- Excerpt: The story two brothers tell themselves about their father, and about their childhood in Nigeria, My Father’s Shadow is as well-loved and well-worn as a lucky charm.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: É um filme com um tema pesado. Auto-biográfico para os irmãos que o escreveram, mas que reflecte toda uma geração. E é apresentado com ternura e talento.
My Favorite Cake
Samuel Castro @ El Colombiano [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Tendría que haber más películas protagonizadas por viejos. Sería lógico, siendo la vejez un destino para el que todos compramos tiquete. Pero su ausencia permanente de la ficción audiovisual es parte de un acto de negación que el cine siempre ha patrocinado, porque finalmente cuando recordamos a las estrellas, pensamos en ellas en su momento de apogeo físico.
My Mom Jayne
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
My Mother’s Wedding
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Oscar-nominated actress Kristin Scott Thomas makes her directorial debut with My Mother’s Wedding, and the results are both star-studded and disappointing.
Christopher Reed @ Film Festival Today
- Excerpt: Everyone has charm to spare and periodic sequences sparkle, yet Thomas can’t resist scenes of cloying sentiment that derail otherwise meaningful exchanges. Fortunately, she also throws in some light comedy (and also some broad) that leavens the mood.
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s important Loktev doesn’t distill it down to a two-hour lecture. Humanizing them ensures they aren’t just cogs in a machine being worn down and thrown away. These are the true voices of Russia.
Nadaaniyan
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Ne Zha 2
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: This animated mega-hit in China is an action-packed monsoon of mythological mayhem.
- Excerpt: The sequel is the culmination of five years of hard work and it clearly shows, with some of the most eye-watering yet graceful fight scenes seen in animation.
The New Boy
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [A] dual threat of metaphor via fantastical realism and the cultural violence inherent to colonialism. [Thornton’s embrace of Catholicism ensures] the film doesn’t become a hit piece as much as a level-headed, compassionate view of how [alike we all are].
Jeff Schaefer @ The Marquee Topic
- Excerpt: Warwick Thornton writes and directs The New Boy, a fictionalized memoir starring Cate Blanchett of his own time growing up in Australia.
- Excerpt: The perils of assimilation
Sebastian Zavala @ [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy is not a movie interested in telling a conventional narrative, but in building tone and developing themes through potent imagery and interesting characterisation.
New Group
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “New Group” is a gripping work that functions brilliantly as both horror and social satire. Shimotsu proves that Blessed was no fluke—he is a filmmaker with a bold voice and sharp vision.
The New Yorker at 100
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
A Nice Indian Boy
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Director Roshan Sethi and writer Eric Randall fashion a gay romcom like a group hug – warm, funny and overflowing with love and acceptance. Groff holds his arms, eyes and heart wide open for the shy Soni to stumble right into them.
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Nell Minow @ rogerebert.com
- Excerpt: It is an enormous delight to see Karan Soni, best known as the taxi driver fanboy in the “Deadpool” movies and Sunita Mani, also most often in smaller roles, here given significant, layered characters, which they play with exceptional heart and sensitivity in an endearing story of romance and family and dancing at Indian weddings. I enjoyed it immensely.
Night Always Comes
- Excerpt: Tangible concerns like the gentrification of Portland and the actual plights of poor people are run out of town by an escalating yet predictable plot with a glossy Netflix sheen.
Night Call
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a cut above, a genre film where displays of humanity and chivalry make unexpected appearances, deepening the film’s impact.
A Night Like This
Nishaanchi
No More Time
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: No More Time envisions a pandemic in which human behaviour is the ultimate form of destruction.
No Other Land
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Any lack of polish in the filmmaking is counteracted by the dangerous conditions the filmmakers faced in achieving it, evinced by not one but two instances of Israelis shooting peaceful and unarmed Palestinians in their presence.
Josh Thayer @ The Forgetful Film Critic
- Excerpt: This injustice is not fair. This violence is not fair. This treatment of an entire community of human beings as second-class citizens is not fair.
- Excerpt: Resilience. Peace. Disobedience. Non-compliance. Humanity. Shared humanity. Neither Basel nor Yuval have answers, but they have hope – and it is that hope which makes No Other Land a galvanising and imperative piece of documentary filmmaking.
Nonnas
Maxance Vincent @ The Cinema Spot
Number One on the Call Sheet
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Number One of the Call Sheet works because, through its two episodes, it makes us realise everything these awesome artists have had to go through. […] But it also shows how things have gotten much better and how there’s still a lot of work to be done.
The Occupant
Kat Hughes @ THN
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: The picture offers an alluring mixture of big thrills and intimate drama.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The Occupant inevitably goes to some strange and sufficiently dark places to satisfactorily explain the rock in Abby’s possession, but it never strays from the underlying truth of her accepting her sister’s fate.
Oceans Are the Real Continents
- Excerpt: The specter of departure haunts every frame of Oceans Are the Real Continents, director Tommaso Santambrogio’s lyrical drama set in the Cuban town of San Antonio De Los Baños. Shot in a velvety black and white so rich that you can almost feel the texture of each shot through the screen, the film follows three sets of characters as they contemplate how the dark shadow of exile colors the past, present, and future of themselves and their country.
O’Dessa
Kat Hughes @ THN
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: It may not be remembered decades down the road, but there’s definite entertainment value in its 106 minutes.
- Excerpt: O’Dessa is a frankly ridiculous Frankenfilm, swinging for the fences with other movies’ imaginations.
Odyssey
Officer on Duty
- Excerpt: “Officer on Duty” can be difficult to digest at times, particularly in the current climate, yet as a spectacle it thrives, delivering relentless intensity from beginning to end, especially for viewers drawn to uncompromising violence.
Oh. What. Fun.
Alex Bentley @ CultureMap Dallas
- Excerpt: Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.
- Excerpt: “Oh. What. Fun” makes the mistake of showing us clips of other, better Christmas movies right at the beginning, an unfortunate contrast for a film that is not destined to become a holiday rewatch.
- Excerpt: https://www.avclub.com/oh-what-fun-review
The Old Guard 2
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: Two chapters in so far and this franchise has yet to really make an impression.
Old Guy
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: But in this more localized microcosm of the war world, themes of adaptation, redemption, and teamwork play out to create a new Bond-like drama paralleling humankind’s perpetual thrill in murderous adventure and challenging struggles for power.
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Old Guy is the kind of movie one can watch while doing the laundry or ironing clothes, and sometimes, that’s the most we can expect nowadays from such a talented cast and crew.
The Old Man and the Demon Sword
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Este é um fenómeno isolado que não se vai repetir por algum tempo. Vejam agora, ou esperem para sempre.
The Old Woman with the Knife
Kristian Lin @ Fort Worth Weekly
- Excerpt: This South Korean action thriller is for the senior and literary sets.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Those intricate connections are what makes Min’s film great. It’s not action loosely tied together by a generic plot. It’s a captivating narrative augmented by its action.
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Nyoni ends her film with a bang, a customary gathering of families for an ‘explanation’ of death and divvying up of material wealth where the film’s title becomes trenchantly clear…stirs up strong emotions.
Derrick Murray @ www.nerbot.com
- Excerpt: “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” is a transcendent cultural commentary that digs deep into the clashes between deep religious tradition and generational trauma.
On Swift Horses
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: The film isn’t very satisfying while you watch it, but it does have an odd staying power, mostly due to Elordi’s performance and the American upheaval Minahan evokes.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: An impressively adult look at our collective struggle to find our place and identity in an ever-changing world. On Swift Horses is in many senses a coming-of-age film for the late-twenty sect in an era where one is supposed to already know who they are.
Jeff Schaefer @ The Marquee Topic
- Excerpt: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Diego Calva, and Will Poulter are all in search of their American Dream in Daniel Minahan’s On Swift Horses.
Once Upon a Time in Gaza
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Although some minor inconsistencies in the script are present, “Once Upon a Time in Gaza” ultimately stands as an intelligent, sharply humorous, and deeply engaging work. Its dark wit, technical precision, and ability to blend political commentary with entertainment make it one of the most compelling portrayals of Gaza in recent memory.
One More Shot
Kat Hughes @ THN
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: If you give “One More Shot” a chance, you’ll find a light and fun experience that, despite resembling other similar films, ends up working more on a dramatic than a comedic level.
One of Them Days
Dan Stalcup @ The Goods: Film Reviews
- Excerpt: Syreeta Singleton’s script is a bit overloaded in the second half — there are essentially three climaxes — but her knack for character dynamics and slangy, lived-in dialogue gives the film its voice.
One to One: John & Yoko
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: MacDonald has found a unique approach to reflect Ono’s influence on Lennon, the couple’s evolution as activists and how times have changed little…The whole is also grounded editorially by the couple’s music…from stunning, newly restored footage
Only Good Things
Opus
- Excerpt: “Opus” is almost smart, almost good, and almost worth your time. A first-rate but mostly under-used cast flounders in the second half of a story that begins as a satire of obsession with celebrity that veers into a less successful thriller.
Dan Stalcup @ The Goods: Film Reviews
- Excerpt: Opus is a mind-boggling failure. Not in the “so bad it’s fun” category, or even the “they took a swing” tier.
The Other Widow
- Excerpt: The Other Widow is a darkly comic look at modern Israeli life that expertly manages the tricky balance between recognizing the transgressive nature of Ella’s relationship and feeling empathy for her as a woman sincerely in mourning.
Our Hero Balthazar
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews.
- Excerpt: Leaves us with a sense of unease about young people in today’s world.
Pai Nosso
Paulo Poerugal @ Insider.pt [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Em Pai Nosso – Os Últimos Dias de Salazar, um dos filmes mais consistentes da Competição Nacional, no IndieLisboa, José Filipe Costa aproxima-se de uma trama shakespeareana onde a máxima autoridade do rei rima com uma total dependência paliativa.
Palestine 36
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: Whereas so many Hollywood examples reduce this region’s story to terrorism, Palestine 36 gives it the care necessary to remind us how that label is often used by oppressive forces to maintain their control.
Papa Buka
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In the end, the forest sections and Papa Buka’s presence save “Papa Buka,” though they do not quite lift it into utter competence. Still, its uniqueness and importance outweigh its flaws.
Parthenope
Samuel Castro @ El Colombiano [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Tal vez por una formación religiosa y estética que a veces son la misma, tendemos a conferirle a aquello que es bello todas las cualidades morales e intelectuales que apreciamos.
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Being an overly long, tired film with an erratic pace and a dreamlike tone, “Parthenope” becomes a frustrating experience. I didn’t hate watching it, but considering the talent behind and in front of the camera, I expected more.
Párvulos: Children of the Apocalypse
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It fails to gel or feel completely rounded, failing to develop a strong emotional connection with the viewer. Something that should feel special ends up being perceived as an interesting and different, but uneven, film.
Pavements
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Alex Ross Perry has devised a documentary that combines the surreal unreality of Nathan Fiedler’s ‘The Rehearsal’ with the Russian doll staged arts approach of Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” then goes a step farther…
Peacemaker: Season 2, Episode 1
Sebastian Zavala @ NoEsEnSerie.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: This new beginning for “Peacemaker” is carried out entertainingly, making it clear in what context it takes place, but also reintroducing its characters in a somewhat depressing way, so it can surely lift them later.
Pee-wee as Himself
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
The Performance
- Excerpt: The Pivens, who literally grew up together and made this as a passion project, have a shared vision, and a level of comfort and communication that brings sincerity and authenticity to the performances at every level.
Peter Hujar’s Day
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Peter Hujar’s Day is more about formal exercise than narrative drama. Finding ways to animate conversations without leaning on flashbacks or camera tricks. The immortalization of a forgettable day in an unforgettable life.
Peter Hujar’s Day
Chris Barsanti @ Slant Magazine
- Excerpt: Sach’s film attests Hujar’s devotion to exploring the relationship between high and low culture.
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Sachs illustrates what two actors can do with material that flits from inside baseball to the banal and he’s given them both the canvas and a frame to set them off.
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: Curiosity film.
Pets on a Train
- Excerpt: The voice talent and character design are second-tier, and there are too many characters. But the action scenes are exciting, and the pacing, along with its reassuring humor and some nice character arcs, makes it a mildly appealing watch.
The Pickup
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: It isn’t even that awful, because sometimes awful movies are at the very least memorable. This just simply…exists.
Picture This
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: I wasn’t expecting anything revolutionary, and although it certainly could have been funnier and more romantic, it does work as a story about a young and talented daughter of immigrants finding her place in the UK.
Pig Hill
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Pig Hill deals with cultures that turn trauma into commercialised folklore, and the horrifying real-life results that can occur when victims have their stories disregarded.
Pink Narcissus
- Excerpt: Now newly restored in 4K by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, Pink Narcissus has returned to hypnotize viewers anew and remind us of the undeniable impact Bidgood’s meticulously crafted images of camp fantasy have had on queer art and culture.
Pins & Needles
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Villeneuve’s film pits a young woman whose “bad genetic luck” in the lottery of birth forces her to pay simply to stay alive against two merciless, bloodthirsty capitalists who aren’t afraid to make their fatal disdain for the working class a reality; a match made in Marxist Hell.
Pins and Needles
Plainclothes
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s a fantastic turn by Blyth as he treads through the innocence and pleasures of desire while existing in a walled-off prison of prejudice pretending to be morality.
- Excerpt: Plainclothes becomes a gay tragedy brought to its knees by its filmmaker’s unrelenting stylistic futzing.
Plan C for Civilization
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: … a grand topic of interest and the proponents on both sides, especially the Make Sunsets guys, are eccentric, entertaining people.
Play Dirty
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It’s not on the same level as something like the excellent Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2025) or the hilarious The Nice Guys (2016), but as a movie with absurd action and sudden twists, it works well.
Play It as It Lays
- Excerpt: Play It as It Lays is the rare adaptation of a literary masterpiece that lives up to the source material, and a fitting cinematic tribute to the power of Didion’s pen.
Please Don’t Feed the Children
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
A Poet
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: while we can see Yurlady is more interested in painting her nails than writing poems, Oscar’s desire to help her is sincere and the two actually do forge a bond, one which sees Yurlady as his unlikely savior in ways practical and profound.
The Polar Passage
- Excerpt: How extremely timely that this short doc makes its début just as the apparent “America First” president sets his greedy eye on Greenland and Canada. At the top of his shameless ambition is the Northwest Passage that has the potential to readily join our biggest oceans together for commerce, exploration and cruise ship voyeurs.
Pompei: Below the Clouds
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Rosi shoots some amazing footage, but these location essay films have never been my thing. It’s an anthropological study of a moment in which everyone’s focus seems glued to what happened and might happen again.
Pools
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Pools, much like its complicated protagonist, ends up being much more than what one could’ve initially expected.
Predator: Killer of Killers
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: A primeira hora é peculiar, mas a meia hora final é diferente. O melhor que a saga teve em muito tempo.
Preparation for the Next Life
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: Preparation for the Next Life is a slow and disappointing immigrant drama, failing to utilize a promising multi-minority premise with characters difficult to empathize with and a narrative that feels unfocused
The President’s Cake
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: We’re talking one hundred minutes of pure desperation, exploitation, sexual abuse, indoctrination, and authority overreach. These kids might not fully understand the scope of what’s happening around them, but we certainly do.
Pretty Thing
- Excerpt: Even when compared to the recent underwhelming crop of erotic thrillers, topped by the enjoyably escalating silliness of Deep Water, Pretty Thing is especially chaste, abstaining from both sexual titillation and the campy fallout that results from making a series of decisions driven solely by libido.
Primitive War
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It works well as a tense, bloody, action-packed experience with surprisingly good visuals. But the best part is that it works even when compared to the “Jurassic World” franchise, which should leave Sparke more than satisfied.
A Prisioneira de Bordéus
Paulo Poerugal @ [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: A Prisioneira de Bordéus, o novo estudo psicológico de Patricia Mazuy, chega esta semana às salas. Com tremendas prestações de Isabelle Huppert e Hafsia Herzi.
Prisoner of War
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It ended up pleasantly surprising me. […] It’s the perfect kind of vehicle for Adkins, who, by now, should be appearing in more big-budget productions.
A Private Life
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: like a French take on “Manhattan Murder Mystery” where the self appointed investigator is a psychiatrist who stands to solve a lot more about herself and her former marriage…The filmmaker really wanted Foster and the actress embraces the role
Psyche
Psycho Therapy
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a blackly comedic twist on Hitchcockian marital suspense.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Thankfully the ends justify the means once Karaçelik goes full speed into the metaphor that marriage is similar to murder. Or, more specifically, that the adrenaline rush of one just might be the jump start necessary to reinvigorate the other.
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [Fatima’s photos], along with a poem and brief song, not only show us what Israel has desperately tried to keep from our eyes, but also reveal the artistry, empathy, and vitality of Palestinian life.
Putin
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: The most charitable thing to say about Vega’s movie is that it is an unabashed condemnation of the man who has caused so much human suffering…Vega’s idea of an emotionally gutting climax is to focus on a puppy, cat and hamster before a nuclear explosion
The Queen of My Dreams
Kristian Lin @ Fort Worth Weekly
- Excerpt: This Canadian fantasia provides a gay patch on Bollywood musicals.
Queen of the Ring
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: This is an ordinary picture about an extraordinary person.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Queen of the Ring plays well to its audience. It’s obviously a little fish in a big pond despite its wide national rollout, but whatever it lacks in production quality is surely gained in heart.
Queens of Drama
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [The film] revels in celebrity’s fabrication. The messaging is sound with a package dripping in gender queer excess.
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Tusshar Sasi @ Filmy Sasi
Rainbow’s Tale
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: If any criticisms can be made, it would be that a few of the endings could have been more fully developed or made clearer. Additionally, the number of segments and the gravity of the subject matter can make the experience feel heavy at times. These, however, are minor issues in an otherwise intelligent, well-executed, and unflinchingly brave work, one that uses realism with purpose and power.
Rangga & Cinta
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Ultimately, “Rangga & Cinta” emerges as a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Its context, nostalgic undertones, and musical vibrancy allow it to resonate not only with those familiar with its legacy but also with audiences who may not usually gravitate toward musicals.
Rebel with a Clause
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: If Jovin is the very definition of a people person, always inviting and positive while looking for any excuse for a hearty laugh, Rebel with a Clause is the very definition of a crowd pleaser, a documentary focused on a subject everyone has opinions about
Rebuilding
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: If this movie doesn’t touch your heart, you may not have one.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: There’s a healthy dose of hope at the back of Rebuilding as a result. That through its never-ending tragedy lies the reality that people, not possessions, make a home. That what you do isn’t as important as who you are.
Red Sonja
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: MJ Bassett is a talented director. But in the case of “Red Sonja,” she seems to have been hampered by an insufficient budget, a predictable and cliché-ridden script, and mostly unexciting action sequences.
Redux Redux
Kat Hughes @ THN
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Redux Redux is about confronting monstrosity while refusing to let monstrosity change you.
Reflection in a Dead Diamond
Jeff Schaefer @ The Marquee Topic
Relay
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: On the surface, this has the trappings of a compelling, suspenseful picture. How it plays out, though, might be a different story.
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: Relay is a good film to have playing in the background while you are doing something else.
- Excerpt: The exceptional and exceptionally taut Relay is quite a banger of a thriller.
Remaining Native
- Excerpt: Remaining Native succeeds at two different goals: it’s a sensitive appreciation of Native American culture including the continuing impact of the residential schools on that culture. It’s also a great sports movie.
Resurrection
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a visually dazzling journey through cinematic genres following one protagonist who takes on five different identities…Bi Gan has created a film to get lost in
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: In an industry increasingly asking filmmakers to conform for their paycheck, Gan reminds us of what can be done with the medium when they’re allowed to dream.
Resurrection Road
- Excerpt: What would you do for freedom and 40 acres?
The Return
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
Revelations
- Excerpt: A gripping psychological thriller that weaves crime, faith, and fate into a tense, twist-filled narrative.
Rewrite
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Although a few shortcomings prevent it from reaching greatness, “Rewrite” remains a compelling and emotionally intelligent work that showcases Matsui’s strengths as a director. For those who cherish Obayashi’s 1983 classic or have a fondness for time loop stories, this is a must-watch.
Riefenstahl
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: Riefenstahl is a strong introduction to this figure, a woman of evil to some, an artistic innovator to others.
- Excerpt: In the fascinating and infuriating new documentary Riefenstahl, writer and director Andres Veiel delves into the more than 700 boxes of archival material Riefenstahl left behind upon her death in 2003 at the ripe old age of 101—including private phone conversations she herself recorded—to discover who she really was behind the reels of carefully crafted and curated images. The result is a portrait of an unrepentant woman who expertly manipulated the public’s perception of her while privately mourning the loss of her “murdered ideals.”
The Ritual
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: It’s not ambitious enough to take a risk or try something different. It does the bare minimum and nothing more.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: We receive all the usual clichés of better exorcism titles populating a psychological study of a priest that wants to be a horror film so bad it relies on loud music cues to jolt us awake during jump scares [they] didn’t think were effective on their own.
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
River of Grass
- Excerpt: Wortzel builds her case primarily through the stories of individuals who share their personal relationships with the region, paired with sometimes stunning cinematography by J. Bennett…
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s an effective aesthetic choice insofar as showing just how much of what we see and experience is in fact manipulated by unseen forces. So much of what we know is actually what we’ve been told.
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “River of Grass” is the kind of artistically done conservationist film you wish you had seen in school. It explains the interconnectedness of people, nature, and health with poetic content and innovative photography.
Romería
Kenji Fujishima @ Slant Magazine
Rosa La Rose, Fille Publique
- Excerpt: Radiance Films and the American Genre Film Archive are rolling out a new restoration of Vecchiali’s 1986 melodrama Rosa La Rose, Fille Publique, a stunning tale of female agency, sexuality, and solidarity that wears its cinematic influences proudly on its sleeve (it’s dedicated to Danielle Darrieux and Max Ophüls, Jean Renoir and Dora Doll, and Didier Albert) while still feeling fresh and exciting.
The Rose of Versailles
- Excerpt: Filmmaker Ai Yoshimura and studio MAPPA condense the florid tale into a two-hour anime feature that saps some depth from its characters but loses little of its larger appeal.
Rosemead
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Lucy Liu is very good, but the script refuses to let her character cope with what is happening because it wants us to worry about what might happen next.
Rounding
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Smallwood is very good at presenting the terror and fatigue driving James into the ground, but the script’s choice for him to admit the truth as though he’s been actively lying rather than subconsciously hiding undercuts its emotional impact.
The Rule of Jenny Pen
- Excerpt: Ashcroft gets brilliant performances from his leads in a stunningly crafted film, but …seemingly conclusive scenes are suddenly upended minutes later, making for an unrealistic and confusing narrative.
Rumpelstiltskin
Saali Mohabbat
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)
Safe House
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud And Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Jamie Marshall’s Safe House is a fairly predictable actioner that never manages to excite, despite including a couple of fun shootouts.
Saint Clare
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: A film can’t take itself as seriously as this one without an airtight plot I can meet at its level. If you’re able to laugh at yourself, however, I can excuse the flimsy narrative connections and wild leaps.
Saiyaara
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Tusshar Sasi @ Filmy Sasi
Sally
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: Sally does an excellent job covering (Dr. Sally Ride’s) public, private and secret life, neither glorifying nor tarnishing this now legendary figure.
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Sally!
- Excerpt: Gearhart’s omission in Milk is also a metaphor for her life story: she did so much, and brought about so much change, and yet her name is not well known today. Hopefully Sally! can go some distance in correcting that state of affairs.
The Salt Path
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
Salvable
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Salvable is always at its best when Kebbell and the younger Cassidy are together. It’s a story ripe for abstract lyricism told via linear literalism. Exciting potential undercut by familiar execution.
A Sámi Wedding
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Matters of shame, not only of class but of experience (like rape), sexual orientation, and race, that threaten the traditional precepts of Sami culture, are exquisitely dramatized with guilt-drenched confessions and accusations.
Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: You should probably treat the Quays’ work as a companion to Schulz’s novel rather than a replacement for it. Or you can simply enjoy the artistry by letting its horror-fueled hallucination wash over you like I did.
Sarzameen
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Sato and Sato
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Chihiro Amano showed with “Mrs Noisy” that she is a filmmaker of subtle intelligence, and “Sato and Sato” confirms she continues on the same path—creating a story that is both thoughtful, realistic, and moving.
A Savage Art: The Life & Cartoons of Pat Oliphant
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Energetic, insightful, and deeply human, “A Savage Art” succeeds not just as a tribute but as a testament to why artists like Oliphant matter. It argues that sharp imagery, fearless humor, and unapologetic dissent are necessary elements of democracy, and that the disappearance of voices like his would leave a dangerous silence in their place.
Scared to Death
Scarlet
Kristian Lin @ Fort Worth Weekly
- Excerpt: Scarlet has more than a bit of evidence that Hosoda is a major voice in anime, and indeed animated film in general. You’ll just have to go to his other work to see what he’s really about.
- Excerpt: Scarlet is a beautifully animated film!
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: I applaud Hosoda’s desire to heal rather than harm, but Claudius probably isn’t the literary figure for that pursuit. How he brings it to life is gorgeous, though.
The Scout
- Excerpt: A contemplative and funny portrait of a city, an industry, and the sacrifices needed to live in both.
Screamboat
Scurry
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Aside from being presented as a single shot, “Scurry” stands out because it’s an unconventional proposal; flawed, but never boring.
The Sealed Soil
- Excerpt: Now newly restored in 4K by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, The Sealed Soil is a film of measured pace, meditative atmosphere, and female frustration that deserves the comparisons it has received to the Chantal Akerman classic Jeanne Dielman.
Secret Mall Apartment
Andrea Chase @ KillerMovieReviews.com
- Excerpt: A puckish tale of protest, ingenuity, and performance art seeping into real life thanks to eight hometown heroes who clearly understood how to blend audacious social commentary with a good time.
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Workman does more than focus on the apartment, however, grounding its genesis in the gentrification that was overtaking the city…and broadening his scope by highlighting the public art projects the collective created at the time…
Self-Help
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: It all adds up to an invigorating ride that supplies everything necessary for horror fans to latch onto at the surface and a captivating human story of imperfect souls doing their best to, ultimately, accept themselves underneath.
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Self-Help is a fierce attack on leaders, cult or otherwise, who prey on the vulnerable by pushing the fallacy that they’re the only ones who can help people actualise their truest, best self.
Seneca
- Excerpt: Once again, it can be proved that there truly is nothing new under the sun.
The Senior
- Excerpt: The title of ‘The Senior” has two meanings. It is based on the true story of Mike Flynt, a 59-year-old grandfather who discovered that, through a technicality, he was still eligible to play college football. Michael Chiklis is well cast as the pugnacious Flynt, who qualifies as both a senior (as in, a college senior) and a senior (as in, eligible for AARP).
Seven Veils
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: A fascinating viewing experience – filled with good sequences and even better acting.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Jeanine is exorcising her demons by confronting her past through her art—wielding this opportunity as a weapon to ensure some culpability on [her former teacher’s] part is added to the myth surrounding his acclaim with this specific opera.
Sew Torn
- Excerpt: It’s a production well worth a view if only to kindle the thoughts of anyone who’s ever wished for a do-over once a difficult decision has been made.
Sham
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: https://asianmoviepulse.com/2025/08/sham-2025-by-takashi-miike-fantasia-film-review/
Shanghai Blues
- Excerpt: In 1984, Tsui would take on a genre that had been synonymous with energy ever since Howard Hawks steered John Barrymore and Carole Lombard through the rapid-fire repartee and persistent pratfalls of Twentieth Century fifty years prior: the screwball comedy.
Sharp Corner
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: The result is frustrating, an intriguing concept hampered by far-fetched scenarios and a bizarrely off putting performance from Ben Foster.
She Loved Blossoms More
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: I was left with a sense of respect for the bold insanity if not actual enjoyment. The pacing can crawl and the obtuseness can frustrate, but you must appreciate the actors going all-in and the impressive special effects.
She Rides Shotgun
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Anyone who’s seen Nick Rowland’s Calm with Horses will be happy to hear he’s found another script with similar gravitas and complexity insofar as its familial love caught within a crime thriller premise.
She Runs the World
- Excerpt: Felix also came back to athletics after giving birth, winning gold and bronze medals at the Tokyo Olympics and three more World Championships medals as well, two of them gold. She also continued to advocate for maternal care and income protection. I
Sheepdog
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: meat and potatoes filmmaking on a well worn subject that succeeds with its realistic portrait of small town community and every day heroes.
Shelby Oaks
- Excerpt: The 5th Annual JanuScary Special kicks off with Shelby Oaks! A horror mystery from well-known YouTube critic Chris Stuckmann.
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: While it may be predictable, what Stuckmann delivers is well done, frequently tense and terrifying, and most importantly, it feels personal. He may still have room for improvement, but that’s why I’m eager to see his next film.
Shoshana
- Excerpt: Michael Winterbottom’s film about a romance amid the tumult during the British occupation of what is now Israel is curiously low energy for a story that includes guns, bombs, and a star-crossed love story.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: I enjoyed Starshenbaum and Booth’s performances as they juggle desire with duty. But it’s the history lesson that truly captivates.
The Shrouds
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Crimes of the Future was a bit overstuffed with ideas, but “The Shrouds” ‘spying-through-devices-placed-within-corpses-interred-by-GraveTech’ is too far-fetched in its execution, derailing the film’s momentum.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Cronenberg simply plays it all straight, bleeding nightmare and reality together in a way that erases both. It’s a puzzle intentionally built without a solution. Instead of providing intrigue, however, it felt like a complete waste of time.
Silent Night, Deadly Night
- Excerpt: This film is an improvement on the original. It replaces the standard slasher fare with a more complex story that forces audiences to reserve their judgment.
Silver Star
Sister Midnight
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: This uproariously funny, completely bonkers feature debut…utilizes everything from camera movement, editing, silent screen acting techniques and eclectic musical selections to create a comedic atmosphere for its audacious heroine.
Raissa Ferreira @ raissaferreira.com [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Karan Kandhari usa a fantasia para retratar a natureza feminina em rebeldia contra as tradições de uma sociedade
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The back half unfolds at a fast pace—perhaps too fast. I think that’s kind of the point as Kandhari is all about idiosyncratic juxtapositions with his soundtrack choices, use of animation, and dry humor in traditionally dark, dramatic scenarios.
Sisters of Ukraine
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: This is not a political or historical film on why the Russian invasion of Ukraine developed, or a partisan political call about what to do now. Instead, it is a gorgeously-produced film about the bright light of human goodness amidst evil.
Sisu: Road to Revenge
Maxance Vincent @ The Cosmic Circus
- Excerpt: Hell yes.
Sitaar Zameen Par
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Sketch
Mark Hobin @ Fast Filn Reviews
- Excerpt: The kind of gem that could easily slip through the cracks, and that would be a real loss. It’s a family film that effectively blends horror into a deeply moving tale.
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Feel-good entertainment for parents and children alike.
Sky Force
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Sly Lives!
Chris Barsanti @ Slant Magazine
- Excerpt: The film has more on its mind than charting the rise and fall of another troubled icon.
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Candice Frederick @ HuffPost
Smurfs
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: Despite being disappointing in narrative aspects, at least “Smurfs” remains visually charming and entertaining for light viewing.
- Excerpt: There is plenty to satisfy the long-time fans, including the usual cuddly themes and replacement of various words with “Smurf.” As with the names, though, there are some welcome new twists, starting right at the beginning as we are welcomed into the Smurf community with the familiar Hanna-Barbera theme music, which quickly shifts into a poppy, upbeat Tyla song accompanied by a Busby Berkeley-style dance number.
- Excerpt: Caught between its cynical approaches to bygone zeitgeists, Smurfs can’t decide how it wants to sell out.
So Fades the Light
Kat Hughes @ THN
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: So Fades the Light deals with how cults and cult leaders force unattainable male expectations onto girls and women.
Something of a Monster
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Something of a Monster deals with two women who are so depressed by loss, whether figurative or literal, to the point they’re driven to psychological extremes.
Son of Sardaar 2
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Songs of Black Folk
- Excerpt: How refreshing in our current era of anti-woke, obliterate DEI, that a film celebrating music and those who make it comes along focussing its main event on the celebration of Juneteenth in Seattle, Washington.
Songs of Paradise
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Soul of a Nation
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: An educational viewing that provides important context for understanding the dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a different point of view.
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Here’s the truth. Israel is too complicated, too complex, too filled with passion and zealotry over what each person thinks is right to ever define its soul. The presentation of the opposing Palestinian side in Israeli politics was too vague and shallow. Until a filmmaker can show us both sides with honesty, equanimity, and truth, [and I frankly ask, “Is that possible?”] we cannot know Israel’s soul and are left unsatisfied.
Souleymane’s Story
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: The film is reminiscent of Sean Baker’s first film with Shih-Ching Tsou, 2004’s “Take Out,” but Lojkine’s asks us to consider more than just his protagonist’s obstacles, his eventual truth asking us to reconsider just who deserves a chance.
- Excerpt: Directed by Boris Lojkine from a script he co-wrote with Delphine Agut, and featuring Abou Sangaré in a powerful debut performance, Souleymane’s Story focuses on the humanity behind the headlines, forcing us to bear witness to how the system exploits the undocumented and forces them to defend their desire for a better life.
Paulo Portugal (esquereda) @ esquerda.net [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Estreia esta sexta-feira A História de Souleymane, um registo potente sobre imigração, dando visibilidade aos dramas de todos aqueles que vivem no fio da navalha: algures entre a clandestinidade, a exploração e a precariedade. O protagonista, premiado em Cannes, só esta semana conseguiu a autorização de permanência em França após três recusas.
Paulo Portugal (insider) @ insider.pt [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Estreia esta sexta-feira A História de Souleymane, um registo potente sobre imigração, dando visibilidade aos dramas de todos aqueles que vivem no fio da navalha: algures entre a clandestinidade, a exploração e a precariedade. O protagonista, premiado em Cannes, só esta semana conseguiu a autorização de permanência em França após três recusas.
Sound of Falling
- Excerpt: Equal parts challenging, upsetting, and beautiful, The Sound of Falling is as much a cry for help on behalf of everyone, especially women, who was raised to suffer in silence as it is a love letter to the fellowship between those who do suffer.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: I couldn’t quite vibe with the pacing or structure due to never quite knowing who was talking. But my God was this a gorgeous work of sensory cinema.
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Sound of Falling feels spiritually connected to Time of Moulting and The White Ribbon, all three reaching for similar perspectives on how the national traumas throughout German history play out in the personal traumas of German families and communities.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Mascha Schilinski na sua segunda obra decide mostrar o que sabe fazer com a dificuldade no máximo. Pode afugentar muitos espectadores, mas também vai marcar muitos.
Spare My Bones, Coyote!
- Excerpt: Malak takes a very matter-of-fact approach to his subject, which is necessary because the subject is grim enough without needing added emphasis.
The Sparrow in the Chimney
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: This is a haunted house story by way of human truth rather than supernatural horror. Karen mustn’t defeat anything. She must only be willing to let go.
Speak.
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Splitsville
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: This is one of those movies that entertain us while watching it, and then we walk away thinking about the questions it presents.
Kristian Lin @ Fort Worth Weekly
- Excerpt: An open marriage leads to comedy violence and comedy gold.
- Excerpt: There are a bunch of very funny situations and comments. It just does not amount to much.
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: “Splitsville” is an atypical experience for the genre, but it feels like the natural (and hilarious) evolution of the mainstream American romantic comedy.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search For Squarepants
Andrea Chase @ KillerMovieReviews.com
- Excerpt: Hellzapoppin’ glory!
Stans
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: An insightful documentary about the psychology of fandom.
Star People
Bev Questad @ Itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: McCabe Slye, as Taylor, brings his powerful presence to drive home the need we have in our society to care for each other. The role of the seven UFOs and their gift provides “Star People” with a surprising brilliance.
Starwalker
- Excerpt: Here’s a refreshing queer musical that works on many planes: memorable tunes and lyrics (also from Payette), a convincing mix of a First Nation character (frequently stealing the limelight from and with a covey of comparative “newcomers” to Canada), eye-catching costumes for a queen, along with invigorating choreography courtesy of Ralph Escamillan. And, as with countless other musicals, don’t worry too much about the plot (at times cheesy, weepy and too predictable), just enjoy the show and savour the performances.
Steal Away
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Steal Away may be a bit too subtle at times and seems more interested in functioning on an allegorical level than a narrative one, but despite its flaws, it still ends up being a distinct and intriguing experience.
Steve
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Cillian Murphy was great as an empathetic small town businessman in Mielants’ last film and he’s even better here, simultaneously holding things together and coming apart at the seams.
Jason Flatt @ But Why Tho?
Jacob Oller @ The A.V. Club
- Excerpt: Rather than capturing the elegant whole of a complex world in a brief moment, Steve is a generic abbreviation—just like its title.
Stitch Head
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Quem conhece o livro, achará maravilhoso. Quem vem na ignorância, tenderá a ver primeiro as semelhanças com outras obras.
Stolen
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Stolen Girl
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It attempts to address real social and political issues, as well as the power play that can occur between parents when they begin to fight over custody of their children. The result, though imperfect, at least isn’t boring.
Stone Cold Fox
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It has enough dramatic moments, good performances, and surprising twists to be more than just a nostalgic pastiche. Give it a chance if you can, especially if you’re looking for a fun experience that exceeds expectations.
Stranger Eyes
- Excerpt: Stranger Eyes is a film that has a lot to say about the blurry line between surveillance and voyeurism, and whether or not our capacity to connect in real life has been ruined by our reliance on virtual spaces; indeed, it has almost too much to say, and as a result, feels muddled and unsatisfying.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Our assumption [is] that Bo would take precedence above everything else. [But] the script is more interested in how our self-imposed surveillance states allow us to both find escape from our troubles and create new ones.
The Strangers: Chapter 2
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A decent horror film; neither as horrible as many of the reviews have been saying, nor good enough to warrant a 100% recommendation.
Struggling to Slack
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In conclusion, “Struggling to Slack” is a sharply observed and subtly moving documentary. What begins as a character study of an eccentric, unmotivated youth steadily broadens into a timely commentary on labor, societal expectations, and generational pressure in contemporary China. With humor, warmth, and melancholy in equal measure, the documentary offers a nuanced portrayal of youth navigating a world that increasingly has no patience for slackers, even the lovable ones.
Sudan, Remember Us
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: A document of a time and place that no longer exists. It grabs our attention with its emotion to win allies and advocates rather than a dense lecture that may alienate those who aren’t already invested.
The Summer Book
- Excerpt: “The Summer Book” is a haiku of a movie, conveying profound thoughts about time, memory, loss, and nature through a simplified, meditative, cinematic language of exquisite images and gentle music.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The Summer Book is a sweet yarn about love that isn’t afraid to let its heavy emotions breathe. While that’s great for its impact to land once they finally face what they’ve been avoiding, it also leads the whole to drag for a lot of its runtime.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Por bom que isso seja, falta a substância para se agarrar em memórias. Mas vamo-nos lembrar do que sentimos.
Summer of 69
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: While its parallel roads towards self-actualization leans into its wholesome center, this is still a raunchy R-rated comedy. So, don’t expect the journey to be a conventional one even if the trajectory proves familiar.
Dan Stalcup @ The Goods: Film Reviews
- Excerpt: The kids who grew up watching Disney Channel sitcoms are now old enough to be directing R-rated comedies. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for this wave of raunchy-but-sweet, sitcom-flavored teen comedies.
Sundan, Remember Us
Bev Questad @ Itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Hind Meddeb, the writer and director, has created a refreshingly brilliant way to report on the state of affairs in Sudan.
Sundays
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake)
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The scenery is gorgeous, the players three-dimensional in their yearning, and the overall vibe a heartfelt shot of nostalgia for sleepy summers, new friends, and indelible experiences possessed with the power to alter the very fabric of your soul.
Sunlight
Nell Minow @ Alliance of Women Film Journalists
- Excerpt: “Sunlight,” the name of Roy’s radio station, appears on the side of the van. But it is also the light and warmth that helps two damaged people find acceptance and comfort in this tenderly told story.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: And all the while Conti and Allen refuse to turn Jane and Roy’s pain into the punch line. Every joke is instead born from the humanity their torment has yet to fully defeat.
Shelagh Rowan-Legg @ ScreenAnarchy
Superboys of Malegaon
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Kagti perhaps overreaches in attempting to tell Shaikh’s entire story, her front-loaded film facing abrupt pacing issues in its more moving second half…nonetheless a satisfying entertainment, members of its large ensemble all getting a chance to shine.
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Tusshar Sasi @ Filmy Sasi
Suspended Time
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Appreciation will surely vary since it’s the type of project that gives viewers only as much as they’re willing to put into the experience. Paul’s meditations about the future resonated with me.
Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: uses unconventional methods to tell us a fascinating musical history. And it’s just a plain old great hang.
Sweet Angel Baby
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Takopi’s Original Sin
- Excerpt: “Takopi’s Original Sin” remains one of the most powerful dramas of recent years and unquestionably stands among the best anime of the year.
Paulo Poerugal @ [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: O catalão Albert Serra impõe em “Tardes de Solidão” um cinema puro e observacional, em que a ‘soledad’ entre toiro e matador se prolonga em nós como o delírio de um voyeur diante a barbárie.
Tatami
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Nattiv and Erfani’s script handles this rock and hard place conundrum effectively if for no other reason than their conscious effort to keep things rooted in authenticity.
The Teacher
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: … a film well-executed and sensitively written, giving us more insight than we might expect. And it will also help explain that standing in solidarity with the Palestinians is actually standing with all the victims of the long-standing conflict for peace.
Tehran
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Tenement
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: But finding your footing within the present chaos doesn’t automatically add clarity to the whys or hows of what’s going on. So, don’t expect any answers here. This is purely about experience.
Tere Ishk Mein
Test
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Thank You Very Much
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [Kaufman] was a singular talent who broke the rules and paved the way for much of what entertainment has become. Thank You Very Much provides the biographical foundation so you can draw the lines.
There Is Another Way
Bev Questad @ Itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: It’s meaningful seeing Israelis with the courage to come across and to stand with the Palestinians to say ‘not in our name.’
There Was, There Was Not
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Mkrtichian knows that the juxtaposition would lose its potency if she messed with the chronology. They’ve each lost a piece of their identity. Those happy times have been taken from them, so they should remain as memories to us as well.
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “There Was, There Was Not” is a remarkable documentary about news that never made the news. That it started out to be a study of four modern women rebelling against a patriarchy makes it all the more fascinating when war begins.
The Thing With Feathers
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: A misguided drama on grief.
The Things You Kill
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s a stunning piece of cinema that gets beneath the surface of an all-too familiar story to give form to the universal psychological struggle at its back. Because this isn’t a Muslim problem or Evangelical problem. It’s a human problem.
This Ordinary Thing
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Não nos repete o que já sabemos à exaustão. Não nos conta a história de milhares. Conta alguns daqueles que fizeram a diferença, sem procurar mérito ou fama.
This Too Shall Pass
Kat Hughes @ THN
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It may have the same feel and soundtrack of your problematic 80s faves, but Grant’s use of a contemporary lens allows its lessons to hit with honest (albeit lucky) stakes above the nostalgia.
Three Birthdays
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: The fact of the matter is, and without being necessarily perfect or groundbreaking, Three Birthdays ends up feeling like a mature and well-thought-out drama that has something to say.
The Threesome
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Hartman and Ogilby prove the has-beens moaning about how adhering to today’s social climate prevents them from making good comedies are lazy hacks.
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: The best romantic comedy I’ve seen in a long time. By tackling topics that were taboo until recently through a funny yet self-aware narrative, the film manages to captivate, entertain, and evoke emotional reactions in the viewer.
The Thursday Murder Club
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: It operates at an even keel, has a story that is dense but absorbing enough to hold our attention, and stars actors that seem to enjoy each other’s company.
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: A frothy, tension-free romp, but with a cast this good, it’s impossible not to be charmed.
Victoria Luxford @ The People’s Movies
- Excerpt: So cosy it becomes comatose, The Thursday Murder Club may feel comforting with its famous ensemble, but it lacks the bite to be anything more than a streaming diversion.
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: I know there’s more than one novel, so I wouldn’t mind seeing more of these films. “The Thursday Murder Club” is entertaining enough to make me want to see these characters investigate more and better cases.
The Tiger
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In the end, it becomes clear that “The Tiger” might have been stronger had it focused fully on its action backbone, allowing the narrative elements — while adding richness and context — to remain secondary.
Los Tigres
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
Timestalker
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Lowe packs a ton of messaging into a very tightly wound package from patriarchy to feminism and fate to free will. It works more than not.
Timestamp
Paulo Portugal @ Insider.pt [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: No dia em que se comemoram três anos da invasão da Ucrânia pelas tropas russas, evoca-se o valioso documentário de Kateryna Gornostai, a cineasta ucraniana de 35 anos que que trouxe à Berlinale o único exemplo de cinema a concurso para o Urso de Ouro, apesar de não conquistar qualquer prémio.
Titan: The OceanGate Disaster
- Excerpt: Another disposable streaming documentary from a viral news story.
- Excerpt: The latest offering from Watermelon Pictures, a film production and distribution company that specializes in bringing Palestinian cinema to wider audiences, is the intense and empathetic To a Land Unknown. The narrative feature debut of Palestinian-Danish director Mahdi Fleifel, who was nominated for the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award at last year’s Gotham Awards, the film tells the story of two Palestinian migrants stranded in Athens and the desperate measures they and others like them take to survive when they have no other options.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Sabbah’s performance is the linchpin as a result. He’s the film’s moral compass. Bakri’s portrayal is so hardened and myopic [since] has no future without Reda’s innocence because he’s already sacrificed his own.
- Excerpt: To A Land Unknown, with its intimate gaze at stateless survivors, wraps its incisive observations about moral compromise in a tight story of crime gone wrong.
To Kill a Wolf
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It leads to an unforgettable final chapter that finally sees the pent-up emotions inside both get released. Brown and Martin are fantastic, but so too is the script for never treating the supporting roles as pieces solely present for the leads’ sake.
Topper
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: McNamara’s film tackles the depths of alcoholism by focusing not only on Topper’s trauma and its effects, it also focuses on how part of dragging yourself out of addiction of any kind is accepting personal responsibility—accepting that while you can’t erase the ghosts of your past, you can choose not to let them turn you into a ghost of yourself, or a monster.
Torn
Bev Questad @ Itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Torn poignantly, and perhaps not on purpose, reveals misunderstandings on both sides about the Gaza War and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Tourist Family
Tow
- Excerpt: The hair and makeup department, led by Sarit Klein and Pamela May, also deserve a shoutout for how realistically the shifts in Amanda’s fortunes can be read on her face.
The Track
- Excerpt: What in the luge is this all about?
Trapped
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Trapped” is a visually striking and thematically ambitious first feature. While its pacing and character development get in the way of Sagara’s movie reaching its full potential, it is nevertheless an impressive calling card for its director.
Traumatika
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a grab bag of horrific images in a film of two very different parts, the first demonic possession, the second a garden variety slasher pick which criticizes the media for exploiting the same things that this movie does.
The Travel Companion
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: An atypical coming-of-age story, centred on a guy who still behaves like a child and who has to learn to behave like a real adult, responsible for his own actions.
Las Tres Sisters
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews.
- Excerpt: Earnest inspirational family dramedy that’s set in rural Mexico.
The Trouble with Jessica
Andrea Chase @ KillerMovieReviews.com
- Excerpt: Literate, deadpan, and wildly funny, it will make you squirm and crave a clafouti.
MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: The pleasures of this black comedy about London real estate and the hypocrisies of posh professionals lie in the terrific cast, especially Shirley Henderson, embodying entertainingly horrible people.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: This is why the black comedy proves so successful. These are all reprehensible people in the vein that we are all reprehensible people. [They] know the difference between right and wrong, but none are above moving that line when it suits them.
Christopher Reed @ Film Festival Today
- Excerpt: The manic activities of the ensemble notwithstanding, the collective effect proves rather inert. There’s just not quite as much trouble as promised.
Truth & Treason
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: Truth & Treason is a strong dramatic film. It is a deeply moving portrait of a true profile in courage, a young man executed for speaking up and speaking out against tyranny.
Turn Me On
Christopher Reed @ Hammer to Nail
- Excerpt: Turn Me On intrigues, even as it keeps the viewer at a distance (though thematically, such a remove makes sense).
Two Seasons, Two Strangers
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Two Seasons, Two Strangers” will undoubtedly appeal most to arthouse audiences. However, beyond its emphasis on visual and tonal beauty, it also embeds sharp, intelligent, and emotionally resonant ideas within its narrative. In doing so, it becomes something much more than a niche project—perhaps even a kindred companion to the work of Ryusuke Hamaguchi, though considerably more compact in form.
Two to One
Christopher Reed @ Hammer to Nail
- Excerpt: I confess to understanding very little of the financial shenanigans, though I found the onscreen proceedings entertaining. The ensemble is strong (including far more than the aforementioned three) and they carry the narrative even as the transactional details bewilder.
Two Women
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Thanks to its absurd tone, excellent performances and sensual and (sometimes) funny sex scenes, I had a good time with this film. It’s not every day that we get to see a sex comedy-drama, let alone one directed with confidence.
The Ugly
- Excerpt: In this review, we break down the story, themes, and performances, and look at how Yeon Sang-ho strips things down to create one of his strongest works in years. From the layered documentary-style storytelling, to the bold choice of never showing the mother’s face, The Ugly is as unsettling as it is human.
- Excerpt: A faceless woman is at the center of this Korean tragedy.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Young-hee doesn’t even need to be a monster for it to happen either. She must only be an easy target to dispose of without worrying that her blind husband might stumble upon the truth. Bullying is never about the victim.
Unbanked
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Unbanked” ultimately operates as both primer and persuasion, reflecting the filmmakers’ discovery process while inviting audiences to question — or perhaps embrace — the promises of decentralization, autonomy, and financial revolution. Whether one leaves convinced or unconvinced, the documentary stands as a vivid snapshot of our digital financial era, where the line between freedom and faith has never been thinner and more precarious
Underland
- Excerpt: Underland weaves folk beliefs around its present-day stories, creating a narrative that’s bigger than just the conscious and straightforward human world. After all, haven’t trolls and goblins and such always lived underground, and don’t humans who visit their realms often return altered?
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A visually spectacular and important documentary that will make you reflect on human nature and what can be achieved when faced with the unknown.
The Unfettered Shogun
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “The Unfettered Shogun” may not rank among Takashi Miike’s best works, not even among his best samurai projects, but by respecting the series structure while adding modern elements, he manages to invigorate the whole endeavour, making it appealing even to new audiences, although only up to a point.
An Unfinished Film
- Excerpt: Director Lou Ye’s hybrid docudrama An Unfinished Film may provide a much-needed sense of catharsis, functioning as it does as a cinematic archive of the early days of the pandemic when the city of Wuhan was abruptly locked down and life suddenly disrupted for all who lived and worked there.
The Unholy Trinity
- Excerpt: Westerns are back! Not really, but they should be. The Unholy Trinity is a bargain bin blu-ray attempt, but at least it’s an attempt.
Unicorns
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: an LGBTQ film for hopeless romantics, but others may find it frustratingly simplistic, raising issues only to jettison them.
Universal
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Portanto, um filme competente, com muito coração e que faz bem aquilo a que se propunha. Uma das grandes surpresas do ano.
Universal Language
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: Rankin’s icy fantasia is the premier (well, only) fusion of Canadian absurdism and Iranian neorealism.
Uppercut
- Excerpt: In the end, “Uppercut” lands as a work just above average: elevated by its performances, chemistry, and audiovisual flair, but undermined by its clichés and uneven writing. It will likely appeal to admirers of Großmann and to those drawn to its eclectic soundtrack, but little beyond that.
Urchin
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Dickenson’s is a solid debut, exhibiting a compassionate voice. Dillane’s Mike, with his corolla of unbrushed hair that rests on his head like a cloud, is a man worth saving who keeps getting lost.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [Dillane] lends the role enough charm and humor to make friends quickly while also imbuing the desperation necessary to turn on a dime and exploit that camaraderie for selfish gain.
V/H/S/Halloween
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: V/H/S/Halloween does what some of the best entries in the franchise have done: it captures cultural moments and their potential horrors.
- Excerpt: Two standout stories in this collection are enough to balance out their ho-hum companion pieces, where the twists and action feel like the filmmakers were trying too hard to create something shocking or impressive.
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Sendo já o oitavo da saga, esperava estar mais farto. Mas como estão bem espaçados já sabe mais a tradição do que um exagero. Podem continuar a vir.
Sebastian Zavala @ Ventana Indiscreta [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It delivers three outstanding short films, one that could have been better, and thankfully, only one that didn’t convince me at all. A pretty decent result, really.
Vicious
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: Dakota’s committed scream performance at least makes the unwatchable pic almost watchable.
Videoheaven
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …Perry examines the rise of the commercial videotape, the differences between independent video stores and large commercial chains like Blockbuster and how both television and movies incorporated the home-viewing culture.
David Gonzalez @ Thecinematicreel.com
- Excerpt: , Alex Ross Perry’s Videoheaven arrives like a long-lost time capsule—tangible, personal, and achingly nostalgic. Directed with both passion and heart, this documentary is more than a story about the VHS and video store era; it’s a poignant examination of what we lose when the physical spaces that once shaped our identities and self-discovery disappear.
The Vile
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Pode desiludir quem procura o terror convencional, mas é uma experiência de horror cultural e um grande passo para o cinema árabe se afastar das tradições e estereótipos.
Virtual Girlfriends
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
Visions
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: O filme foi um desafio estético. Paisagens deslumbrantes, efeitos visuais perfeitos. Só peca pela extenuante jornada mental.
Vulcanizadora
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: This is a film that has elements of both James Wan’s “Saw” and Kelly Reichert’s “Old Joy,” an indelible mix of friendship, doubt, despair and expiation.
Wall to Wall
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: Two thirds of a great movie.
War 2
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
War of the Worlds
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A feature film whose script seems to have been written in an afternoon, full of logical holes, ridiculous reactions, and frankly embarrassing product placement.
Watch the Skies
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: This 2022 Swedish film is being released in U.S. theaters as the first feature to use Flawless’s Truesync AI dubbing process, which not only provides translation, but syncs the actors’ lips to the new language…a fun romp
We Strangers
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: In the film’s best scene of writing, direction and acting, Ray changes the power dynamic, manipulating Jean into a $100 fee for a ‘friendly’ reading and of course, she delivers, having absorbed enough information from what she’s seen and Jean’s surroundings to formulate an educated analysis.
We Want the Funk
- Excerpt: “Let the groove take over”
We Were Dangerous
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: We revel in [the leads’] spirit and autonomy; their awareness of just how messed up the situation is. By never shying away from those horrors, watching this trio consistently rebel only amplifies the potency of their inspirational battle cry.
Went Up the Hill
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Credit Krieps and Montgomery for embodying the vulnerability, fear, and yearning that propels these characters to allow themselves to be used as vessels for the other’s healing.
What Does That Nature Say to You
Kenji Fujishima @ Slant Magazine
When Fall Is Coming
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Luminous octogenarian Hélène Vincent compels as the sympathetic but potentially guilty Michelle, supported with equally riveting and ambiguous performances from Balasko and Lottin, only Sagnier parading her emotions unequivocally.
Where the Night Stands Still
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Where the Night Stands Still” may test the patience of viewers who are not fond of slow cinema, but at the same time, it is a beautifully restrained, slow-burning character study that uses form to mirror emotional distance, and tension to entertain. Dela Cruz seems like a filmmaker who is bound to leave a lasting impression in the future, particularly within the festival circuit.
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: This is the kind of film I love. The story revolves around a perfect woman with high expectations.
White Flowers and Fruits
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In the end, these uneven elements bring “White Flowers and Fruits” down, leaving it as a work filled with emotion and good intentions that are not always presented effectively. At times, it is also clear that the production would have benefited from more refined post-production. On the other hand, the commentary on grief—how one must learn to live with pain rather than attempt to erase it—reveals that Sakamoto possesses a thoughtful and promising artistic voice. She simply needs to further polish her narrative approach.
White Snow
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Despite these technical limitations, “White Snow” stands out as an excellent political drama, one that highlights the absurdity of systemic repression and rigid notions of political correctness, while also functioning as a deeply personal journey of a mother toward a state that could even be described as enlightenment.
Who Killed the Montreal Expos?
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: Yes, it is filled with resentment and frustration, and rightfully so. But it is also a love letter to the Expos, a team that – for a short while – brought pure joy to those that followed them.
Wildcat
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews.com
- Excerpt: The story is contrived and convoluted.
- Excerpt: When Harry Met Sammy
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: James Nunn’s Wildcat is a surprisingly well-made action thriller that rises slightly above Kate Beckinsale’s recent fare.
William Tell
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
Wish You Were Here
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Stiles’ production is fine…and she has elicited some natural performances from her ensemble, but taste is a more difficult thing to measure and with “Wish You Were Here,” she errs on the side of fantastical excess.
Nell Minow @ Rogerebert.com
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Stiles’ direction is assured, the performances are believable and charming, and the story is presented in such a way that it ends up being emotional without feeling too manipulative.
Witchboard
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: It’s hard to overstate just what a colossal disappointment Witchboard is.
The Woman in Cabin 10
Jason Pirodsky @ The Prague Reporter
The Woman in the Yard
Jeff Schaefer @ The Marquee Topic
- Excerpt: A day-time horror film from director Jaume Collet-Serra, starring Danielle Deadwyler.
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: I appreciate that it tries to convey something, and although I still think it’s worth watching — especially now that it’s available on streaming —I can’t help but think that something better could have been done with this premise.
A Woman Is a Woman
- Excerpt: Not a musical itself so much as a stylish and energetic homage to the genre, A Woman is a Woman introduced the world to the actress who would come to embody the Godardian woman: a Danish-born model called Anna Karina. Now available in a new 4K restoration produced from the original 35mm negative and sound negative, A Woman is a Woman has never looked or sounded better—but Karina’s effervescent charm remains the film’s most valuable asset and the main reason it deserves to be revisited.
Women Who Run Hollywood: Four Documentaries by Clara and Julia Kuperberg
- Excerpt: The French title, which translates to And Women Created Hollywood, gives a better indication of the content of this documentary, since its focus is on the early years of Hollywood…
A Working Man
- Excerpt: A solid, no-frills action thriller that delivers exactly what you’d expect—bone-crunching fights, gruff one-liners, and Statham doing what he does best.
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: If you want Statham cracking skulls and taking names, you’ll get it in A WORKING MAN—just expect a more convoluted route than necessary.
- Excerpt: David Ayer should just keep making action-thrillers for the rest of his career! A Working Man fits right in his wheelhouse.
Diego Salgado @ Sofilm [Spanish]
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It’s nothing more or less than what you can expect from a new Jason Statham film. It’s hard-hitting action where the protagonist is so precise and invincible that it doesn’t take him much trouble to take down legions of baddies.
The World Will Tremble
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The quick pace and fluid passing of time is the [film’s] best feature because this escape becomes less about the characters than the act itself. Everything they sacrifice proves [their eye-witness account] will always be more important than their lives.
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews.
- Excerpt: Fascinating untold true story of Holocaust prisoners escaping from a Polish death camp in 1942.
WTO/99
- Excerpt: The uneven quality of the source material gives the documentary a handmade feel, and that feels true to the protests: there’s no central authority running things, just a lot of people who don’t feel they have to be perfect or have all the answers to protest against what they think are serious wrongs.
Yadang: The Snitch
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: With Guy Ritchie-style editing, slick club scenes, and a fast-paced narrative, the film is as stylish as it is brutal. Its depictions of drug use may lean toward the exaggerated, but its commentary on corruption in law, police, and politics is timely and powerful. Featuring standout performances from Kang Ha-neul, Yoo Hae-jin, and Park Hae-joon, this is one of 2025’s must-watch Korean thrillers.
- Excerpt: Do enjoy the ride, but then offer a quiet prayer to the real world that this cinematic buffet of revenge will remain the on-screen exception rather than the real-life norm.
Yanuni
Nuno Reis @ Antestreia [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Mas é urgente ver, reconhecer que é grave e admitir que temos um problema ímpar em mãos.
You, Me & Her
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Married filmmakers director Dan Levy Dagerman and star/writer Ringel consider how opening a marriage sexually, and more importantly talking about it, may help repair diverging paths and responsibilities…a concept only partially realized.
You’re Cordially Invited
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: This is a case of a movie catching me at the exact right place and time. What can I say? I had fun with this one.
Zodiac Killer Project
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: A must see for any fans of the true crime genre, “Zodiac Killer Project” is destined to make you laugh, think and perhaps be taken aback by the lack of ethics often employed…You’ll never watch a true crime documentary the same way again.
