- Cannes 2026: Clarissa, Atonement, Butterfly Jam (May 16, 2026)
The Director’s Fortnight sidebar of the Cannes Film Festival has become a target of debate in recent years, sometimes viewed as “the films that didn’t get into the main Cannes program.” While it may be true for a few films, there’s a lot of quality in DF, not only exemplified by the excellent clip reel of films that have played in this program over the years but just last year in a diverse slate that included standouts like “Miroirs No. 3,” “Yes,” and “Dangerous Animals.” And this year’s program boasts one of the best films of Cannes 2026, a subtle drama that has already been picked up by Neon. The first few days of 2026 revealed a second standout already; we’ll talk about the third film in this dispatch, widely considered the worst of the fest so far, later.
Let’s start at the top with Arie and Chuko Esiri’s confident “Clarissa,” a film with a tender, sensual visual language that also boasts some heady ideas about the ripple effect of colonialism. Working from the narrative of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, the directors of “Eyimofe: This is My Desire” deftly navigate multiple character arcs across two time periods, not only never losing the emotional and intellectual threads of the piece but enhancing them through their craft. They’re also phenomenal directors of performance, guiding an ensemble that will surely be among my favorites of the year. There’s not a false note from a single cast member, from the ones you recognize to the new faces.
Sophie Okonedo (also so great in the upcoming “Mouse”) plays Clarissa, a wealthy women in a conflicted Nigeria, where violence breaks out daily but far away from her palatial Lagos estate. That’s where she plans to host a party, and much of “Clarissa” sees her ordering her staff around to make sure it goes off perfectly. While the party is being prepared, familiar faces spring back into Clarissa’s life, including the deeply melancholic Peter (a heartbreaking David Oyelowo), who has never gotten over the unrequited love he felt for Clarissa decades earlier. Clarissa is married to the stable-but-boring Richard (Jude Akuwudike), and one senses early on that she settled for stability over passion, but it wasn’t really with Peter, but with a girl named Sally (Nikki Amuka-Bird), who also finds her way to the party after dropping her child off for a trip at the nearby airport.
“Clarissa” flashes back to the early days of these upper-class potential lovers, and the Esiris do a better job of casting parallel performers than I’ve seen in years. Forget de-aging; just find a casting director who’s this good. Young Clarissa is played by the captivating India Amarteifio, who a young Sally (Ayo Edebiri) clocks as pretty snobbish from a young age. Clarissa is dating Peter (Toheeb Jimoh, using that Sam charm from “Ted Lasso” effect as an emotional weapon), who wants to be a writer but withers under her criticisms.
Against this backdrop of young intellectuals who would become Nigerian elites that mingle with the leaders of the region at fancy parties, we meet a soldier named Septimus (Fortune Nwafor, a Lagos actor with a bright future who appeared in the Esiri’s last film). Septimus is faced with dwindling supplies and shaky leadership before he’s struck by a traumatic event that shapes his future in a way that the Clarissas of the world don’t have to consider.
From the beginning, Jonathan Bloom’s cinematography is practically another character in this remarkable ensemble. The camera lingers on river water, dewy grass, and blowing sand, transporting us to the region instead of just filming it. He often shoots through panes of glass in Clarissa’s house, giving us the sense of eavesdropping and framing characters like a widescreen image within the image. It’s not a showy visual language, but it’s a poetic one that adds so much veracity to the entire production.
Of course, that wouldn’t work without the grounded, subtle performances. Okonedo conveys only glimmers of regret at a life that could have been or a sadness over the one she chose, and it’s the restraint that makes her work so powerful. It’s an especially strong contrast against the more vibrant work from Amarteifio and Jimoh. Seeing the smile of young Peter and how it will become the shell of a man played by Oyelowo adds such poignance.
So many movies like this would be fractured, but there’s a coherence to “Clarissa” that’s breathtaking, a vision of people at different beaches on the river of life, connected by the flowing water of time.
Reed van Dyk’s “Atonement” couldn’t be more different in terms of storytelling but shares a similar sense of truth-seeking that elevates it from a standard PTSD drama. Genuinely harrowing before becoming deeply moving, Van Dyk’s debut looks at an act of extreme violence from three perspectives: the perpetrator, the survivor, and the witness. It has a few beats in the center that feel like they could have used a bit more restraint, but it recovers nicely, and stays anchored to truth through a trio of excellent performances from people who clearly took this project very seriously, refusing to simplify or exploit this true story into melodrama.
“Atonement” opens in Baghdad in 2003, introducing us the Khachaturian family, led by Mariam (Hiam Abbass). As the city erupts in violence, the Khachaturians survive a bombing near the relative’s home at which they’re staying, choosing to try to leave that part of the region to go back to their family house. The commute leads them into the heart of a firefight between U.S. Marines and Iraqi insurgents. Soldiers on a roof in the city center have been told to shoot on any car that attempts to pass due to how many have been used as weapons against American soldiers. With her sons and even a baby grandchild in the car, Mariam enters a nightmare of gunfire, and not everyone survives.
In these early, terrifying scenes that have a tactile realism that recalls “The Hurt Locker,” we also meet one of the soldiers on the roof shooting at the Khachaturians, Lou D’Allesandro (Boyd Holbrook). When a reporter from The New York Times named Michael Reid (Kenneth Branagh) comes to the area shortly after the tragedy, Lou confronts him with bravado. After all, why did they drive toward the shooting? What did they think was going to happen?
A decade later, Lou is deep in the grip of PTSD. He takes drugs to manage and shakes when he thinks about Baghdad. To achieve some sort of healing, he contacts Reid in the hope that he can coordinate a meeting with Mariam and her family so they can talk about that day.
Even in the heat of war, what is a soldier who takes an innocent life owed? What is a mother who had to grieve an impossible amount that day expected to give? And what roles do journalists play in connecting the two? There’s a line in a PTSD meeting about how a gun fires both ways, impacting the person it hits and the one who pulls the trigger.
Van Dyk is delicate, mostly avoiding melodrama except for a few missteps, trying to ask these questions through nuanced character work, especially from Holbrook and Abbass. The former is always good, and one hopes this is the part that finally breaks him, while the latter is incapable of a bad performance. Their scenes together have an immediate emotional power, both of them unsure of what to demand and what to give.
The final scene of “Atonement” is a beauty, an unexpected group of people working together to find that which has been lost.
Finally, there’s the opening night film of Director’s Fortnight: the atrocious “Butterfly Jam” from “Beanpole” director Kantemir Balagov. Talented people are sucked into the vortex of this brutal drama that purports to be about toxic masculinity but has absolutely nothing to say about its hot topic. Worst of all, so little of it feels truthful that its extreme violence become little more than button-pushing, an exercise in audience torture.
The best way to read “Butterfly Jam” is that it was actually written by its 16-year-old protagonist Temir (Talka Akdogan) because this is a script that sees the world through the eyes of a confused teenager. Temir is a successful wrestler at his school in Newark, and he clearly adores his father Azik (Barry Keoghan), who makes the best delens in town at the family’s Circassian diner, where they also work with Azik’s sister Zalya (Riley Keough). A troublemaking Johnny Boy character enters these mean streets in the form of Marat (Harry Melling), one of those guys who you know is going to do something wrong or horrible or both to initiate the final act of the film. And I haven’t even mentioned the giant bird or the Chekhov’s Cotton Candy Machine.
Balagov’s characters don’t have the depth for this to work as a study—a fellow wrestler of Temir’s named Alika (Jaaliyah Richards) is offensively underwritten to an almost comical degree in that we know two things about her by movie’s end: she wrestles and she has acne.
Keoghan, Keough, and Melling can be such complex performers, but you can see them wrestling (sorry) with this script in every scene to the degree that they often feel like they’re in different movies. Keough especially seems eager to rise above the nonsense around her, and not just in character.
- Cannes 2026: All of a Sudden, Think Good (May 16, 2026)
Confession: I am an absolute sucker for any movie in which a character grabs dry-erase markers and begins drawing diagrams to illustrate a novel theory about how capitalism, democracy, and the natural world interact.
That remarkable exegesis—and it is remarkable, as riveting a scene as Cannes has offered so far—takes place about an hour and 45 minutes into “All of a Sudden,” the Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s return to competition after “Drive My Car” in 2021. Is every one of the film’s 196 minutes necessary? Yes and no: One way of understanding the film’s worldview is that every minute we spend truly communicating with someone else is worthwhile.
This is a film that takes the time to understand two people deeply, and to watch them taking the time to understand each other. Marie-Lou (Virginie Efira) is the director of a nursing home; Mari (Tao Okamoto) is a director of experimental theater. They meet by chance in Paris, and Mari invites Marie-Lou to a production that she is staging. Perhaps improbably, each is fluent in the other’s native language. It emerges that Marie-Lou studied anthropology at Wakeda University in Japan, while Mari studied philosophy at the Sorbonne. (The stars, meanwhile, apparently had to learn Japanese and French for their respective roles. Expect both to be frontrunners for the festival’s best-actress prize.)
The similarly named women also share a basic decency and generosity. At work, Marie-Lou is trying to introduce a patient-centered care method, Humanitude, and is facing resistance. The training is demanding and—as Marie-Lou explains in nearly as much detail as Mari uses in her capitalism-vs.-nature diagrams—the method won’t achieve its full benefits unless all the staff members participate.
For her part, Mari has, up to this point, kept private about the news that she is suffering from Stage 4 cancer. (The title refers to how quickly her final, fatal spiral may come.) Her theater piece, “Up Close, No One Is Normal,” performed by her creative partner, Goro (Kyozo Nagatsuka), concerns a psychiatrist named Franco Basaglia (1924-1980), who pushed for an end to mental hospitals as they existed in Italy. Instead, he favored a less carceral, more community-based approach.
Marie-Lou’s experience as a caregiver and Mari’s artistic skills make them an unlikely team. Mari visits Marie-Lou’s workplace; Marie-Lou travels to care for Mari in Kyoto. The film’s plea for careful listening and attention admittedly seems a little quixotic, even woo-woo, and the narrative might have benefited from some thorniness. There are times when I wondered if Hamaguchi was presenting a rosier depiction of end-of-life care—from the perspectives of both patients and medical professionals—than is plausible for most people. With the exception of a resentful, long-serving nurse, the characters are almost unfailingly kind to one another. And any fan of Frederick Wiseman’s institutional portraits might marvel at the relative placidity of Marie-Lou’s center, Garden of Freedom, although there is a subplot that concerns her bosses’ push to maximize profits.
Even so, the film is rooted in real life. Hamaguchi’s screenplay was inspired by a book called “When Life Suddenly Takes a Turn,” which consists of published correspondence between an anthropologist, Maho Isono, and a philosopher, Makiko Miyano. From this, he has created a narrative that has room to wander. The director has sporadically opted for drawn-out running times since at least the 317-minute “Happy Hour” in 2015, and like that film, “All of a Sudden” makes it all but impossible to distinguish between what’s indulgent and what’s essential. And frankly, I could have watched another hour of Mari drawing on her white board.
It’s been five years since the festival launched a new section called Cannes Premiere, and it’s still not clear to me what that section is supposed to be about. Some of the docket consists of directors the programmers usually like but apparently couldn’t bring themselves to put in competition (but also didn’t want to lose to Venice in the fall). The rest of the lineup seems to be films that might otherwise have landed in the long-running Un Certain Regard sidebar but were somehow deemed too commercial.
Géraldine Nakache’s “Think Good,” an engrossing portrait of a troubled marriage, falls into the mainstream category. Its main distinguishing factor is that several of its major characters are observant French Jews, a group that is not often seen onscreen. (Nor do I ever think I’ve seen a film about two French Jews who meet in Dubai and are married by a rabbi who is based there.)
In the opening scene, Gil (Monia Chokri) is shown visiting a mikvah, or ritual bath. When she returns home, she tells her husband, Jacques (Niels Schneider), that although she put her film-crew career on hold when their daughter was born, a cinematographer has offered her a temporary job. Jacques wonders if the gig will interfere with their plans to have a second child or if Gil will see her ex on the set. But that sort of pettiness turns out to be only the beginning.
Nakache uses a time-hopping structure to show how Jacques is not merely a jealous husband, but also an abusive one. He interferes with Gil’s contact with family and friends. He sets up baby-monitor cameras to surveil her in the house. He makes obsessive phone calls to keep her from her career. The title refers to a line in which Gil is encouraged to resort to self-delusion: “If you think good,” she is told, “only good things will happen.” The story’s trajectory is fairly predictable, but a powerful final shot closes the movie on a strong note, and Chokri’s volatile, layered performance carries the film.
- Cannes 2026: Table of Contents (May 15, 2026)
The 2026 Cannes Film Festival starts Tuesday, May 12th, running through May 24th. The Ebert team returns this year with coverage of all of the major films in review and video form.
Below is a running index of our reviews, dispatches, and video reports from the festival.
Full Reviews
Propeller One-Way Night Coach review: Travolta’s directorial debut never takes flight by Brian Tallerico
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma review: Slasher fans get the homage they deserve by Brian Tallerico
Video Reports
Cannes 2026 Video #1: The 79th Cannes Film Festival Begins! by Chaz Ebert
Cannes 2026 Video #2: A Look Back at Day One of the Fest by Chaz Ebert
Cannes 2026 Video #3: Nagi Notes, Camp Miasma, Werner Herzog by Chaz Ebert
Festival Dispatches
An Essential Showcase in a Difficult Time: Cannes Film Festival 2026 Preview by Lisa Nesselson
Cannes 2026: The Electric Kiss by Ben Kenigsberg
Cannes 2026: Fatherland, Parallel Tales by Brian Tallerico
Cannes 2026: Nagi Notes, Ashes by Ben Kenigsberg
Cannes 2026: Ken Russell’s The Devils, Pan’s Labyrinth, Moonlighting by Brian Tallerico
- Cannes 2026: Ken Russell’s The Devils, Pan’s Labyrinth, Moonlighting (May 15, 2026)
The Cannes Classics program has become one of its most interesting sections, offering restorations of great films from around the world, and they slotted arguably the hottest ticket on the Croisette this year in “Ken Russell’s The Devils,” a complete version of the masterful director’s controversial film. Released theatrically in October 2026, it will serve as the launch of Clockwork, a branch of WB dedicated to this kind of thing, and it sets the bar as high as possible for this new brand. People have been asking for a full version of “The Devils” for decades, and the result is absolutely mesmerizing, a 4K restoration from the original camera negative that amplifies the film’s remarkable production design.
Russell’s film has been accurately praised for what can only be called its fury: it’s a movie that looks at the conflict between church and state and wants to burn it all down, but only after the orgy. This uncut version, which restores the infamous “Rape of Christ” sequence along with an amazing beat at the end that I won’t spoil just in case you haven’t read about it, feels angrier than ever. A filmmaker friend told me the night before that he had seen Russell’s film fifty times but felt like he had never really seen it until this viewing. And it’s not just the new footage: it’s the complete package, one that is going to drive nails into the hands of moviegoers later this year.
Famous critic Mark Kermode introduced the film by saying that Russell saw it as his only political film, but this masterpiece was so controversial that it never really reached theaters in the form preferred by the filmmaker until 2004, when Kermode helped him assemble the director’s cut for the first time. The years since saw further restoration, and fans will now be able to experience something that has been a sort of Holy Grail for movie lovers for half a century.
Based loosely on true events in the French city of Loudon in the 17th century, “The Devils” is the story of Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed), a charismatic priest who becomes the enemy of the flamboyant King Louis XIII (Graham Armitage) and Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue). When a nun named Sister Jeanne des Anges (a fearless Vanessa Redgrave) accuses Grandier of being a demonic figure who has warped her convent into a carnal fury, the exorcisms and the tortures begin. Before you know it, naked nuns are writhing all over Derek Jarman’s spectacular sets, and “The Devils” forces viewers to question to whom the title refers: the creatures allegedly possessing these women or the men using them for their political needs.
“The Devils” is a righteously furious movie, a piece that works as a display of carnal depravity so intense that the censors chopped it up before releasing it, but also one that’s so subversively smart. It’s the kind of film that you’re unpacking thematically while watching nuns hump a statue of Jesus Christ.
In other words, it’s a lot of movie, and now we can finally experience all that Russell wanted us to experience. Get thee to an arthouse.
You should also take the chance to see Guillermo del Toro’s 20th anniversary restoration of his masterpiece, “Pan’s Labyrinth” later this year, although he’s still working on polishing it up to an even more pristine version than the one that opened Cannes on Tuesday. It’s hard to believe it could look better than this edition. What’s most striking this time is the intensification of the color palettes from the greens in the woods to the cold blues that surround the evil Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), but the whole thing just looks better than ever.
It’s also notable how timeless “Pan’s” looks in 2026 thanks to its reliance on practical effects, make-up, and production design instead of special effects. It sounds clichéd, but it quite literally hasn’t aged a day, and its themes feel as timely as ever. “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a film about courage in the face of evil; it is about holding onto hope in a time of darkness and believing that there are forces beyond our comprehension that can keep the monsters locked away. I found it more moving than I ever have before, a reminder of the power of storytelling to comment on our reality by transporting us to a fantasy.
For many, “Pan’s” is the film that broke Guillermo del Toro. Arthouse goers knew about the quality of “Cronos” and “The Devil’s Backbone” (and a lot of people loved “Hellboy,” while some of us loved “Blade II”) but this is the one that truly revealed his storytelling gifts.
Watching “Pan’s” in 2026 also feels rewarding in terms of how his career moved from there to here. One can see the wonder that would grow in different ways in projects like “Crimson Peak,” “The Shape of Water,” and “Frankenstein.” Guillermo del Toro loves his monsters because he sees us in them. He is a crafter of fantasies, but there’s a human core in all of his best work and watching this one with not only him but star Ivana Baquero in the room added to the emotional impact.
I can’t hide my love for this film so don’t consider this an unbiased opinion, but I’m hopeful that this restoration will bring “Pan’s Labyrinth” to a new generation, opening doors to imagination the way it did for the last. I know I’m taking my kids to see it again.
Finally, there’s the very different “Moonlighting,” from Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski. Released in 1982, this Jeremy Irons-led dramedy was a hit with Siskel & Ebert, the latter giving it four stars and the former naming it his #1 film of that year. It hasn’t held up as well as that trivia might imply, but it’s still an effective study of an exploited work force at a time of international tumult. And a reminder that Irons has been hitting home runs for over four decades.
The Oscar winner is wonderfully fidgety as Nowak, an electrician who has come to London in 1981 with three Polish workers who speak no English and aren’t really allowed to be working there. They’ve been hired as cheap labor to renovate a house, but only Nowak really knows the extent of the danger. If they’re caught, they’ll be kicked out of the country, and the project will fail. He tries to keep them hidden as costs rise to such a degree that Nowak has to devise an elaborate shoplifting scheme at the grocery store nearby to keep them from starving to death. While this is happening, martial law is declared back in Poland, stranding Nowak even further. These are men without a home, trying to build one for someone rich.
Skolimowski keeps “Moonlighting” humming in terms of pace, and he wrote a witty script, but literally none of this works without what Irons brings to it. Not only does he narrate the entire thing, but he embodies the kind of instinctual working-class leader who does what it takes to get a job done. When he’s cut off from his homeland and his cash, he improvises, finding new ways to get through each day. In that sense, it’s a story that feels timely as immigration debates rage and we hear new stories about abused workforces every day. There are a lot of Nowaks out there.
- The Night I Danced On Stage With Michael Jackson (May 15, 2026)
One sultry summer night in Chicago around 1966, I was backstage at the Broadway Strand with my dance troupe, The Foscoettes. The Strand, as it was called then, was located on Chicago’s West Side. On this night, it was transformed into a variety show space similar to the more famous Regal Theater. But most nights, it doubled as a skating rink.
As my fellow Foscoettes and I were getting ready to perform our modern dance number, I observed the other groups waiting with us in the Green Room. One that particularly caught my eye was “The Boys from Gary,” as we called them, consisting of perhaps an 8-year-old Michael Jackson and his older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and perhaps Marlon. His brothers were older adolescents and/or teenagers, and so were jovial and eager to talk with us dancers as we practiced our stretches outfitted in our leotards and tights.
While the rest of us laughed and talked, Michael stood apart from the pack, looking down shyly at the floor. We signaled for him to join us, but he declined. Something about him reminded me of shy boys in my own family, so I pulled on my duster to cover my leotards and walked over to Michael to engage him in conversation. He looked up, his eye catching my own. In that millisecond of exchange, it was clear that we trusted each other. I sat down, and we began to speak in low tones so as not to call attention to ourselves. I could sense from his smile that he felt more comfortable interacting in this one-on-one way.
As our conversation continued, I invited him to sit on my lap, as I would have with my own younger cousins. He complied. He looked at me with his big brown eyes, and we talked about dancing, singing, and whether it was scary to go on stage. I have to admit that I don’t remember the entirety of our conversation, and it never occurred to me that I might be sheltering a kid who would grow up to be the most famous entertainer in the world, not to mention the undisputed “King of Pop.”
Soon, the announcer called our groups to perform. The Foscoettes went first, as I recall. And then the announcer called “The Boys From Gary.” We were standing just offstage, so we saw this miraculous change in Little Michael. Once they went on stage, some magic beam from above transformed that timid little boy into a whirling dervish of talent! We were all enthralled by his singing and dancing. The rapidity of the changing light in Michael’s eyes and the shift of his body to accommodate his otherworldly moves caused all of us to cheer with laughter. Having performed their numbers, they signaled to the Foscoettes to come back out on stage to dance with them. It was electric! That night left no doubt in my mind that Michael and his brothers would go far. (Although my brain couldn’t comprehend at that time just how far.)
The joy of the performances in Antoine Fuqua’s new movie, “Michael”—led by Michael’s own nephew, Jafaar Jackson, in the title role—took me back to the wonder of that evening. Over the years, as I watched Michael Jackson’s evolution, from the transformation of “the Boys from Gary” into the Jackson Five, followed by Michael’s own groundbreaking solo career, we all concluded that he is a rare talent.
Perhaps he lost his way in the years that followed; I don’t know any details. One day, we may find out. But for now, as Spike Lee noted in a recent interview, the abuse allegations against Michael would not have fit into the film’s timeline. Michael’s alleged misdeeds took place long after 1988, when the film ends, and the film acknowledges that there are many more stories left to tell. While modern-day cancel culture often aims to delegitimize the value of an artist’s work due to their personal actions, the phenomenal box office success of “Michael,” which grossed $423 million globally over its first two weekends, affirms that in some instances, the cultural impact of one’s work will long outlive the person who created it.
“Michael” reminds us of a time before the controversies and allegations, of the young man who overcame abuse administered by his own father to create some of the most enduring and beloved music of all time.
“Michael” also reminded me that, for someone not in the performing arts, I had the unbelievable fortune of being on stage dancing with another superstar, Prince, at the United Center in September of 2012. The occasion was a fundraiser hosted by Van Jones to benefit a charity. I donated to the cause and bought front row seats. At some point during the concert, Prince signaled for a few of us to come up on the stage to dance with him. Some of the dancers were on stage for only moments, but I chose to dance all around the entire stage with Prince! Why, I don’t know. I guess I was having fun. Days afterward, someone wrote to my daughter, Sonia, rather disapprovingly, “Did you see that lady prancing all around the stage with Prince?” “Yes,” Sonia replied, “That was my mother.” At this point in my life, it seems like a dream or a fairy tale. And I haven’t told my grandchildren about these instances yet. But now, perhaps I can.
There is an epilogue to my dance with Prince. At the Wedding Reception in Chicago for Mellody Hobson and George Lucas, Prince was the surprise performer! No, he didn’t invite anyone on stage that time. But as I was standing in front of the stage swaying to the music, he looked down, and I saw the beam of recognition in his eye. He pointed his guitar at me and strummed a few chords of welcome. You bet I beamed. One of the event planners, Yvonne McNair, confirmed that he recognized me. It is difficult to believe that both Michael and Prince are gone. As is Whitney, and so many others who left too soon.
Rest in peace, Michael Jackson and Prince, and thank you for demonstrating to me that one is never too old to keep dancing. I will have you both in mind the next time I hit the dance floor.
- Cannes 2026: Jordan Firstman's 'Club Kid' Film is a Delightful Surprise (May 16, 2026)
DJ Night Shift is taking the world by storm! One of the many surprises at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival is this delightful discovery playing in the Un Certain Regard section. Club Kid is the feature directorial debut of actor / filmmaker Jordan Firstman, and it's such a fantastic story of growing up in the big city. It plays a bit like Mike Mills' C'mon C'mon (a highly underrated film) but with way more cocaine & clubbing. I don't want that comparison to be awkward, because both films are amazing and both are about these shaggy guys spending time connecting with a young kid and learning from him. Club Kid really hit the sweet spot. It's a totally adorable and funny and uplifting tale of growing up. Infused with an authenticity and honesty that few films ever capture so effortlessly. Firstman wrote and directed and stars in this and, whether or not it's his own personal story doesn't matter, it's just a damn good film that is moving in its earnestness. It left me feeling so emotionally happy because not only is the film itself terrific but it's once again a potent reminder that as flawed as we all are, we're all capable of loving & being loved. And love really can move mountains. // Continue Reading ›
- Cannes 2026: Hamaguchi's 'All of a Sudden' is a Soulful Masterpiece (May 16, 2026)
Is anyone truly normal? Aren't we all flawed? How do we evolve humanity knowing this truth? Can a bit of compassion save us? These are a few of the philosophical questions introduced in this phenomenal film. Walking out of my afternoon screening of this sublime film at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, I couldn't stop talking about it. Shaking with energy and excitement, I just blurted out sentence after sentence, word after word, about why it's so utterly masterful and beautiful and soulful and enchanting. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's new film All of a Sudden is a bona fide Masterpiece. Filmed mostly in Paris, it's Hamaguchi stepping out of his usual Japanese setting to tell his most masterful story yet – a profound look at humanity and how we must grow & how art can help us evolve. It's one of the most deeply soulful, philosophically mesmerizing, profoundly humanistic, exceptionally heartfelt films I have EVER seen. It's not only one of my favorite films of the year, it's instantly one of my personal favorites films of all-time. Hyperbolic as it may be to say that just after emerging from a screening, the film itself reminded me to always trust my heart, to express myself fully and clearly, and to be honest if I encounter any kind of art that is truly this moving and this impactful. // Continue Reading ›
- New Trailer for Classic Anime 'Tekkonkinkreet' 4K Remaster Re-Release (May 15, 2026)
"We don't wag our tails for anyone!" GKids has unveiled a brand new trailer for a 4K remaster & re-release of the cult classic called Tekkonkinkreet – celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. One of the iconic anime creations of the early 2000s, this first hit theaters in late 2006 and has since made its mark as the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Michael Arias and one of the early works from Japanese animation house Studio 4°C. Returning to theaters for two nights only this summer. Two boys defend Treasure Town and Yakuza try to take over and clear it for new development. Based on the award-winning manga by Taiyo Matsumoto, Tekkonkinkreet hits theatres on May 31st & June 1st in a new 4K remaster. Featuring stunning, action-packed visuals from STUDIO4°C and based on Taiyo Matsumoto's legendary manga, Tekkonkinkreet is a modern cult classic – a sensitive story of brotherhood & connection in a decaying world, now beautifully remastered in 4K. The film features the voices of Kazunari Ninomiya, Yû Aoi, Yûsuke Iseya, Kankurô Kudô, and Min Tanaka. If you haven't ever seen it – no better time than now to catch up with this. Enjoy. // Continue Reading ›
- Cannes 2026: Leah Nelson's 'Tangles' Film is an Animation Sensation (May 14, 2026)
"Animation is cinema. Animation is not a genre for kids. It's a medium for art, it's a medium for film." –Guillermo del Toro. This animated film from the 2026 Cannes Film Festival is one of the highlights of 2026 so far when it comes to animation. Tangles is the feature directorial debut from up-and-coming filmmaker Leah Nelson, adapting a graphic novel by Sarah Leavitt. Her book is subtitled "A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me" – it's an autobiographical tale of her experiences with a mother whose memory begins to degrade. Leah Nelson & her team took this story and turned it into an absolutely beautiful animated film, embracing the same B&W style from the graphic novel. Tangles is a B&W film with a few glimmers of color that pop up throughout. It's an emotionally devastating, unashamedly compassionate, brutally honest look at Alzheimer's disease and how hard it is for other family members to deal with when it gets worse. Yet it's also an emotionally invigorating and especially touching story in the way it's so open about vulnerability and hardship. Tangles is a singular animation creation that should connect with audiences all around the world. // Continue Reading ›
- Japanese Tokusatsu History Doc 'The Origin of Ultraman' Full Trailer (May 14, 2026)
"Children need to be shown something real." Toho Next & Tsuburaya Productions have unveiled the official trailer for a documentary film titled The Origin of Ultraman, retelling the history of this iconic Japanese franchise. This is opening in cinemas in Japan starting in July, though we're not sure when it'll show up in the US. This masterful film explores the origins of the legendary Japanese Tokusatsu series, Ultraman. Through the eyes of today's most influential visionaries, the truth behind Ultraman is finally unveiled. The doc brings together leading voices in cinema, Tokusatsu, and design. Plus interviews with world-renowned directors/creators: Guillermo del Toro, Hirokazu Koreeda, Hideo Kojima, Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi, Nicolas Winding Refn. As their perspectives intertwine, the true essence of Ultraman begins to take shape. This explores the series' one-of-a-kind worldview: where Kaijus are given complex backstories as meaningful as the hero's, and uncovers the enduring visual appeal of both the giants and the creatures. There was an awesome new animated Ultraman movie a few years ago. Yep, this sounds like a blast! Even if you're not an Ultraman fan already, you will be one by the end of this film. Enjoy the first look trailer below. // Continue Reading ›
