- “Help Me To Find Kokomo”: A Guide To Beyond Chicago (March 30, 2026)
Since its inception in Los Angeles in 2013, Beyond Fest has gone on to establish itself as the largest film festival in the United States focusing primarily on horror, science fiction, fantasy and related genres, presenting a consistently strong program of new releases (including a number of premieres), retrospective screenings, shorts programs, special guests and the proverbial much, much more. For those of us not based on the West Coast, their programs have been a consistent source of envy for many movie fans.
To that end, Beyond Fest has at long last decided to spread its goodness into a different time zone. From April 2-5, they, in conjunction with MUBI, will be presenting Beyond Chicago, a program of 30 titles ranging from the first local looks at a number of highly touted films to a number of cult classics, a number of them presented in the miracle of 35MM, all of which will be showing at the city’s most hallowed movie palace, the Music Box Theatre.
The festival kicks off on April 2 with the local premiere of “Obsession,” the new film from Curry Barker, who made a splash in 2024 when his $800 YouTube feature “Milk & Serial” garnered a lot of attention from the horror press, who wondered what he might be able to accomplish with a larger budget. For his follow-up, he gives us the story of an amiable goof (Michael Johnston) who is desperately in love with his childhood friend/co-worker (Inde Navarette), but while she cares for him, it is clearly only as a friend.
One day, he goes into a novelty shop and finds a “One Wish Willow,” a tchotchke that allegedly grants the user one wish. As it turns out, a.) the thing actually works and b.) wishing for someone to feel undying love for you without any sort of consent is perhaps not the wisest of ideas. Judging from the response that the film has already received following its screenings at Toronto (where it was the center of a bidding war that saw it sold to Focus Features, who will be releasing it on May 15) and SXSW, it would seem as if he has indeed lived up to the promise of his earlier work.
For the Closing Night slot on April 5, the fest will be holding the World Premiere screening of another eagerly anticipated title, “Faces of Death,” Daniel Goldhaber’s reimagining of the 1978 “Mondo Cane” riff that was little more than a collection of scenes of people dying in any number of gruesome ways that, if you believed the hype from everyone from moral watchdogs to the kid on the playground who snuck a look at an older sibling’s copy, were real. (Spoiler Alert: Most of them were obvious fakes.)
Rather than redo the faux-documentary schtick, Goldhaber and co-writer Isa Mazzei (both of whom will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A) have reconceived it as an overtly fictional narrative, in which a video platform moderator investigates whether or not a series of apparent snuff videos are merely fakes or something much worse, starring the likes of Barbie Ferreira, Dacre Montgomery, Jermaine Fowler and—because you can hardly say to have a major film festival in 2026 without her appearing on your screen at some point, the increasingly-ubiquitous pop goddess Charli XCX.
Among the other major titles on the program, Ben Wheatley’s “Normal” (4/3) finds Bob Odenkirk (who will be appearing along with co-writer/producer Derek Kolstad) once again stepping into the role of unlikely action hero, this time as the sheriff of a seemingly bucolic Midwestern town who finds himself running afoul of all the locals (including the likes of Henry Winkler and Lena Headey) in the wake of a bank robbery that goes sideways.
The carnage continues with Kenji Tanigaki’s “The Furious” (4/4), a martial arts thriller about a seemingly ordinary father (Xie Miao) whose daughter is kidnapped by child traffickers and who teams up with a journalist (Joe Taslim) to rescue her and other abducted children in the most bone-crunching ways imaginable.
In “One Spoon of Chocolate” (4/4), the latest work from musical icon-turned-writer/director RZA (scheduled to take part in a post-screening Q&A), a former military veteran (Shameik Moore) is released from prison and relocates to his small Ohio hometown to make a new life, only to run afoul of a group of local racist goons in a series of confrontations that quickly and violently escalate in the tradition of the classic blaxsploitation films of old.
Even more blood spills in “Over Your Dead Body” (4/5), a remake of the Norwegian dark comedy “I Onde Dager” from Jorma Taccone (currently scheduled to attend) about a couple (Jason Segel and Samara Weaving) who go off to spend some time at a secluded cabin to fix their fraying marriage, not realizing that a.) each is actually planning to do away with the other and b.) an unforeseen twist will force them both to put their plans on hold, at least temporarily.
On the documentary front, “Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth And Nothing Butt” (4/2) recounts the story of the legendary 1980s underground band co-founded by Gibby Hanes and Paul Leary, both of whom will be on hand for the screening along with director Tom Stern, and charts the ways in which they would go on to influence alternative culture for years to come.
Of the bigger new titles, perhaps the most intriguing is “Rose of Nevada” (4/2), the latest work from Mark Jenkin, whose last film, “Enys Men” (2022) was a quietly but deeply unsettling low-fi thriller about a wildlife volunteer whose stay on a supposedly uninhabited island to observe a rare flower begins to take on the form of a waking nightmare. In this one, which, like its predecessor, was shot in 16MM to give it a grainy, tactile look, an empty fishing boat (whose name supplies the film’s title) turns up on the shore of a fishing village in Cornwall 30 years after it set out and never returned.
Although the fates of those on board remain a mystery, the boat’s owner (Edward Rowe) nevertheless elects to put it back to work, a move that seems like a spectacularly bad idea even before the discovery of the words “Get off the boat now” carved into the wood below deck. However, two young men—financially struggling family man Nick (George McKay) and drifter Liam (Callum Turner)—sign on for some quick and much-needed cash and ship out with an appropriately grizzled captain (Francis Magee) for a few days of fishing.
What happens next, I will not even hint at to allow you to discover for yourself. Suffice it to say, something happens—something strange and disturbing that the two men find themselves responding to in increasingly different ways. Although one could easily imagine the basic elements gathered here being put to the service of a traditional horror narrative, that is not what Jenkins has given viewers. Instead, as he did so memorably with “Enys Men,” he is less concerned with creating standard-issue “BOO!” moments designed to get viewers jumping than with creating a moody cinematic dreamscape where the line between reality and nightmare is so blurred that the audience is just as baffled as the characters are regarding which is which.
Those who are in the mood for cheap shocks and gallons of gore may grow frustrated with the film’s enigmatic tone and low body count (unless you include the fish). However, those looking for something that is both undeniably strange and quietly disturbing—particularly if you were an admirer of “Enys Men”—should make an effort to check this one out.
On the retrospective front, the festival is offering up a canny mix of fan favorites and odd obscurities. Before appearing at the screening of “Normal,” Bob Odenkirk will be hosting a showing of a 35MM print of “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (4/3), Joseph Sargent’s enormously entertaining thriller about a New York subway train being held for ransom featuring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Jerry Stiller and one of the greatest final moments in screen history.
Similarly, before his screening of “One Spoon of Chocolate,” RZA will be presenting “The Kid with the Golden Arm” (4/4), Chen Chang’s 1979 period martial arts epic about members of a security firm transporting a fortune in gold taels through a stretch of land filled with a wide assortment of dangerous criminals intent on stealing it all.
The festival will also host the world premiere of the new 4K restoration of the 2008 screen adaptation of “Speed Racer” (4/3), with co-writer/director Lilly Wachowski participating in a pre-screening Q&A.
Iconic Japanese cult actress Meiko Kaji will be making her first Chicago appearance for screenings of three of her classic films—the world premiere of the 2K restoration of “Silver Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler” (4/3), a revenge thriller in which she co-stars with Sonny Chiba, and a double-feature of “Lady Snowblood” and “Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41” (4/4), two visually stylish and super-bloody action epics that would serve as key influences for Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” saga.
For the late-night crowd, there will be a midnight screening of Paul Morrissey’s still-jaw-dropping horror-comedy hybrid “Flesh for Frankenstein” (4/4), in the miracle of 3D, to serve as a tribute to the late, great Udo Kier, who delivered one of the most unhinged performances of his career—which, if you are familiar with his career, says a lot—as the mad doctor looking to create a new master race with the help of the severed head of Joe Dallesandro.
If that wasn’t enough, thanks to sponsor MUBI, the festival will also be presenting a number of free screenings, though tickets are still required for admission. “Camp” (4/3) tells the story of a seemingly cursed young woman who goes off to work as a counselor at a camp for troubled youth but cannot shake her sense of doom. “The Yeti” (4/3) follows a team assembled to search for a tycoon and an adventurer who have gone missing in a harsh stretch of northern Alaska, only to find themselves in the territory of the titular creature.
“Flush” (4/3) is an outrageous French entry in which a guy runs afoul of the wrong people and finds himself left for dead with his head stuck in a squat toilet and struggling with everything from possible drowning to an attack by a drug-addled rat. “Phase” (4/4) is a British sci-fi film about a pregnant woman who, after being exiled from a space station, goes off in search of the father of her child.
“Bulk” (4/4) is another film from Ben Wheatley, this one a sci-fi mind-bender in which experiments in string theory go wildly out of control with increasingly surreal results. In “Imposters” (4/4), after a couple’s infant son is kidnapped, the mother discovers a way to bring the child back, but over time, the father becomes increasingly convinced that what she has brought back is not their son.
“The Kirlian Frequency” (4/5) is an Argentinian chiller about a radio show whose spooky and ostensibly fictional on-air tales are becoming a grisly reality. The first film produced by the company belonging to Indonesian action star Iko Uwais (best known here for the “Raid” films), “Ikatan Darah” (4/5) about a martial artist whose career was cut short by injury who is forced back into action when her brother runs afoul of a criminal syndicate.
“Cruel Hands” (4/5) is an Australian thriller about a woman who, along with her young son, escapes from her abusive husband to a remote farmhouse, where she eventually has to defend them against her husband, the police, and raging brushfires.
A trio of older titles is also part of the free series. “Blood Brothers (& Other Delights)” (4/4) is a collection of super-gross, zero-budget films made in the 1980s and traded through the mail by Mike Diana, an underground cartoonist whose self-published work, Boiled Angel, would lead to his conviction in the 1990s for artistic obscenity. “Small Kill” (1991) is an almost indescribably weird thriller about a degenerate psychopath—played by none other than Gary “Radar” Burghoff (who also co-directed the film—who goes around kidnapping children and killing them if their parents don’t cough up the ransom.
“Sheila and the Brainstem” (4/5) is a strange 1989 sci-fi satire about a guy who travels to a subterranean world where he finds the Brainstem, which he believes holds the power of immortality, only to have it stolen in a convenience store by a trio of punks who mistake it for beef jerky. In addition, there are two blocks of short films, “Strange Frequencies” (4/4) and “And Then What” (4/5).
As tantalizing as most of these titles may seem, I have saved the most notable part of the lineup—one that may go down as one of the must-see screening events of the year—for last. On April 5, the festival will be presenting the local premiere of “Boorman and the Devil,” the eagerly anticipated film from director David Kittredge (who will be in attendance) chronicling the wild history behind one of the strangest would-be blockbusters of the 1970s, “Exorcist II: The Heretic,” John Boorman’s infamous follow-up to the groundbreaking 1973 horror classic “The Exorcist.”
Presumably realizing that anyone watching “Boorman and the Devil” will then immediately want to seek out “Exorcist II” to see it for themselves, the festival is following up the documentary with a rare screening of an original 35MM print of the film, marking its first appearance on a Chicago screen in a long time. Although it received much derision back in the day and is usually regarded as one of the worst sequels ever made, its reputation has begun to improve over the years, with no less an authority than Martin Scorsese making a case for its worth.
Personally, I think the film is a straight-up masterpiece, one of the most audaciously bizarre American films of the Seventies—particularly for one produced on such an immense scale—and one that continues to look better with each passing year. (Disclaimer: Both I and fellow critic and Music Box’s own Steve Prokopy are featured in the doc.)
Scoff if you must, but I can assure you that it is a film that, once seen, you will never forget, and yes, I mean that in a good way. Besides, now that films like “Heaven’s Gate” and “Sorcerer” have gone on to finally receive the acclaim they deserved, we need another once-scorned auteurist epic reclamation project. I cannot think of a more deserving work.
Beyond Fest Chicago runs April 2-5 at the Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport). Tickets for the main screenings are on sale now. Tickets for the free screenings will be available to Music Box members on April 1 and to the general public on April 2. Tickets can be purchased online at musicboxtheatre.com. For additional information on the festival, go to beyondfest.com.
- Home Entertainment Guide March 2026: Anaconda, The Housemaid, Killers of the Flower Moon, More (March 30, 2026)
10 NEW TO NETFLIX
“Anatomy of a Fall““The Bad Guys 2““Blackberry““The Bling Ring““The Creator““Night Catches Us““Nobody 2““Nuremberg““Sisu: Road to Revenge““The Unknown Country“
10 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD
“Anaconda“
It’s almost impressive how much this movie devolves into something that’s ultimately significantly less fun or funny than the Ice Cube & Jennifer Lopez original. It starts promisingly enough, with Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Steve Zahn, and Thandiwe Newton playing old friends who try to rekindle their love for B-movie filmmaking by rebooting 1997’s “Anaconda,” but end up making an action movie themselves. When the movie turns to try to become a sort of A-budget B-movie, it collapses. The humor disappears, the action is bad, and the ensemble falls victim to their worst instincts. Watch the original instead.
Special Features
Hiss-terical Outtakes & Bloopers
Deleted & Extended Scenes
A Ride Into Chaos with Jack & Paul
Friends in the Wild: The Cast
The Snake Charmer: Tom Gormican
Reinventing the Legend: Anaconda
“The Blade” (Criterion)
One of the more wonderfully unpredictable inclusions in the Criterion Collection lately is this Tsui Hark banger, a movie that was once named one of the top 50 action films of all time in a Time Out poll but hasn’t really found an audience stateside. Hark, the director of classics like the “Once Upon a Time in China” series and the writer of “The Killer,” is one of the most widely recognized action masters of all time, and it’s nice to see Criterion recognize that with one of their strongest releases of the year so far. They commissioned an informative commentary by an expert on Hong Kong cinema and a new video essay, and accompanied them with a documentary featuring Hark and a Q&A from the 2011 New York Asian Film Festival.
Special Features
New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
New audio commentary featuring Hong Kong cinema expert and producer Frank Djeng
Action et vérité (2006), a documentary featuring director Tsui Hark, coscreenwriter Koan Hui, and actor Xiong Xin-xin
New video essay by filmmakers Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou (Every Frame a Painting)
New York Asian Film Festival Q&A with Tsui from 2011
Alternate English-dubbed track
International-version opening and end credits
Trailer
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by author Lisa Morton
“Hallow Road“
The director of the incredible “Under the Shadow” returned in 2025 with this mind-f*ck of a movie that seems to either work for you or it doesn’t. (It didn’t work for our very own, Matt Zoller Seitz.) I saw it back at SXSW in 2025 and found it remarkably effective, a chilling two-hander with great work from Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys as parents who believe they are going to a hit-and-run involving their daughter, but may be on a very different kind of road. Blending folk horror, parental anxiety, and maybe even elements of an old-fashioned ghost story, Anvari never lets the film stray too far from its greatest asset: the deep skill sets of his talented stars.
Special Features
Making of Hallow Road
“The History of Sound“
It sinks a bit too deep into its own pretentious melancholy, but there are still so many wonderful choices in Oliver Hermanus’ follow-up to his Oscar-nominated “Living.” It’s another tentpole in Josh O’Connor’s insane 2025 in which the hardest-working actor in indie cinema stars alongside another of the strongest performers of his generation, Paul Mescal. The two play lovers who travel the American Northeast “collecting songs,” recording folk tunes from various regions in the early 20th century. It’s a delicate, character-driven piece with gorgeous craft, including fluid, lyrical cinematography from Alexander Dynan and music from Oliver Coates. The MUBI Blu-ray has a perfect video transfer, but, sadly, includes no special features. It’s nice to see that a streaming service that also releases its films on physical media gives people who want to own them a tiny bit of bonus material.
“The Housemaid“
This is one of the most fascinating hits of 2025, a movie that no one on Earth would have guessed would gross close to $400 million worldwide at the box office. It turns out that the often overly serious awards season and increasingly depressing world headlines lead people to crave well-done escapism. A throwback to the domestic thrillers of the ’80s and ’90s, this entertaining flick stars Sydney Sweeney as a housemaid who takes a job with a couple played by Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar. At first, the woman of the house seems to be a bit unhinged, but this adaptation of the hit novel has more secrets to reveal. It’s imperfect, but it’s also a lot of fun, which Hollywood blockbusters seem increasingly rarely allowed to be.
Special Features
Audio commentary with Director Paul Feig
Audio commentary with Paul Feig and Creative Team
A Peek Inside – Featurette
Deleted Scenes
From Page to Panic: Making The Housemaid
Theatrical Trailers
Secrets of the Winchester House: a Housemaid Tour
“Is This Thing On?“
Bradley Cooper followed up his Oscar bait “Maestro” with a more personal, nuanced, frankly better dramedy that’s loosely based on the life of John Bishop. Will Arnett does his best film work to date as Alex, who is ending his marriage amicably with Tess, played by Laura Dern. When Alex wanders into a comedy club one night, he decides to take the open mic, discovering that he’s got a knack for the art form. When Tess discovers he’s sharing their family secrets on stage, her response isn’t what you might expect. It’s a bit too long, but Arnett and Dern are so wonderfully likable that they make it worth a look.
Special Features
Mic Drop: Making Is This Thing On? — Go behind the scenes as filmmakers and cast open up about the inspirations behind this story of love, loss, and starting again. Get a glimpse into working with a remarkable ensemble and hear about how the team developed their comedy sets.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” (Criterion)
Thank God. It looked for a long time like the best film of 2023 would never have a physical release, stuck in the limbo of streaming originals that have kept so many of the best Apple and Netflix offerings from ever getting the treatment they deserve. Criterion’s release for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” is their best of the year. It has a gorgeous 4K master that looks richer than it does on Apple TV, joined by informative, enlightening special features that gather not just the main players like Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone but the film’s cultural advisors and experts. As Scorsese shoots his follow-up with DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, go back to revisit one of the best films of its era, now on physical media.
Special Features
New 4K digital master, approved by director Martin Scorsese, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
New documentary featuring Scorsese, actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, author David Grann, Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, Osage cultural consultant John Williams, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, and other members of the cast and crew
“WahZhaZhe”: A Song for the Osage, a new documentary illuminating the film’s final shot, featuring Scorsese, Chief Standing Bear, and six members of the Osage Nation
Excerpted archival interview with director of photography Rodrigo Prieto
Excerpts from the 2023 Cannes Film Festival press conference featuring Scorsese, DiCaprio, Gladstone, Chief Standing Bear, and actor Robert De Niro
Short program on Noah Kemohah’s cover art
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio
PLUS: Essays by critic Vinson Cunningham and film programmer Adam Piron
“Lurker“
I don’t love that MUBI is releasing bonus-free Blu-ray discs, especially when it’s for a film like Alex Russell’s “Lurker,” a thriller that feels like it would be enhanced by a commentary or featurette unpacking its fascinating themes. We’ve seen stories about obsession in the tech era, but none quite like Russell’s, which suggests that there’s a more symbiotic relationship here than a typical stalker-celebrity dynamic. Theodore Pellerin plays an ordinary guy who gets access to the inner circle of a celeb played by Archie Madekwe. This unique film won Independent Spirit Awards for Best First Screenplay and Best First Feature. Yeah, it’s that good.
“The Spongebob Squarepants Movie: Search for Squarepants“
Our esteemed editor-at-large’s 4-star review of this animated hit was one of the most popular of 2025, an ode to the boundless joy of well-done children’s entertainment, along with, well, butts. It’s crazy to think that SpongeBob SquarePants has been part of the pop culture firmament for over a quarter-century now, and that he still has enough fans for this movie to succeed at the multiplex. Sure, it’s no “Zootopia 2,” but SpongeBob still has its fans, some of whom were kids when the show was on Nickelodeon and can now show it to their own rugrats. After all, butt humor is for all ages.
Special Features
The SpongeBob Ensemble: The Veteran Voices: Returning cast in the voiceover booths.
The SpongeBob Ensemble: The New Crew: New cast members in the voiceover booths.
The Flying Dutchman: Animated Artistry + Live Acting: The cast and crew on creating the Flying Dutchman.
From Bikini Bottom To The Underworld: The production designers on animating the Underworld.
“Big Guy” by Ice Spice: Ice Spice music video
“Zodiac Killer Project“
When Charlie Shackleton’s project about one of the most famous cold cases in history fell apart, he decided to deconstruct the entire true-crime genre, making a movie about a movie that never was, illustrating the techniques filmmakers use to elevate stories of real violence. The result is one of the most captivating documentaries of 2025, a movie that doesn’t mock the true crime genre as much as pull back the curtain to reveal how it works. As a huge fan of the world of true crime, I found it a fascinating piece of work, and Music Box Films has accompanied it with several great special features that allow Shackleton to unpack his approach even further.
Special Features
Charlie Shackleton Q&A from the Chicago Premiere
Director Uncommentary Track
Full Evocative B-Roll Reel
Rejected Sundance Meet the Artist Video
Camera test Short Film
Letterboxd Videos about Paint Drying
Theatrical Trailer
- Apple TV’s “For All Mankind” Takes Bold New Leaps in Space and Scope in Its Fifth Season (March 27, 2026)
It’s wild to think, going into the fifth season of Apple TV’s lush, sorely underrated science fiction series “For All Mankind,” that Ronald D. Moore‘s alt-history saga began with a simple premise: What if the Russians beat us to the Moon by just a few weeks back in the 1960s? In the seasons since, Moore, along with current showrunners Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi, has extrapolated a vastly divergent timeline from that simple fracture, including radical shifts in the political winds (a lesbian POTUS? A moon base by the 1980s? The USSR still standing strong in the 21st century?).
Now, in its fifth season, the show’s infamous time jumps have taken us to an alternative 2012 in which Mars has not only been colonized, but might well be on the cusp of asserting its independence from Earth. It’s not quite the near-future fantasism of “The Expanse,” but as the years go by, it’s getting pretty damn close. And, blissfully, it’s carried all of its human heartache, expansive scope, and staggering production values into that great beyond, as mankind reaches further out into the stars than ever before, bringing all of its relatable foibles with it.
After the usual flurry of news headlines that accompanies the start of a new season (including hilarious Easter eggs like a still-alive John Lennon and Jay-Z collaborating on the hit “Grey Album”), “For All Mankind” gets its wheels and asteroids spinning fairly quickly. Years after the Happy Valley colony hijacked the Goldilocks asteroid in Mars’s orbit and defied Earth’s greed, the Martian colonists live in an uneasy peace with their terrestrial neighbors (thanks to a multinational coalition called the M-6 that manages the colony, alongside Costa Ronin’s Russian governor, Leonid Polivanov). And, of course, it’s still 2012, so the kids are still doing flash mobs and “Gangnam Style,” even in space.
For All Mankind (Kevin Estrada/Apple TV)
Astronaut Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman, rocking some of the show’s signaturely crunchy old-age prosthetics), now in his hobbling eighties, enjoys his final years in exile on the station, as a new crop of Martian kids—including his grandson, Alex (Sean Kaufman)—usher in the first generation of young adults who’ve grown up completely on the Red Planet. Meanwhile, Helios founder Dev Ayesa (Edi Gathegi) advances his plans to turn Mars into a self-sustaining colony, with none of those pesky supply runs from Earth required. On top of that, a small group of political activists, dubbing themselves the Sons and Daughters of Mars, and led by Season 4 man of the people Miles Dale (Toby Kebbell), begins murmurs of their own “Free Mars” independence campaign.
Like so many situations in “For All Mankind,” the colony is a powder keg just waiting for a match, and the first of many arrives in the form of a mysterious dead body found outside the habitat, which is quickly pinned on beloved Martian citizen (and North Korean defector) Lee Jung-Gil (C.S. Lee), who’s arrested by Martian peacekeeping forces (led by Mireille Enos, who gets to reunite with her “Killing” co-star Kinnaman this season). A hasty attempt to bust Lee out of prison sets off a chain of events that tests the Happy Valley colony more than ever before, forcing the hands of both Earth and Mars as the colonists begin a sincere bid to overthrow their Terran masters and strike out on their own.
Meanwhile, the spirit of exploration that dominated previous seasons of “For All Mankind” lingers, as Ed’s daughter, Kelly (Cynthy Wu), and Helios CEO Aleida Rosales (Coral Peña) begin a race to the next frontier: The moon of Titan, which might well be the first step in looking for new life in the universe. For all the domestic and, forgive me, terrestrial concerns that follow the show’s emphasis on Mars this season, it’s this eternal stretch further into the frontier that keeps the show’s bittersweet, humanistic idealism churning.
For All Mankind (Kevin Estrada/Apple TV)
As always, the show’s far-flung environs manage to stay grounded in the personal and political wrinkles of our age; this season touches on everything from immigration (intergalactic refugees known as “Craters,” so called because they sneak inside supply crates) to the threat of automation to the endless fight for workers’ rights. Corporations fight amongst each other to be the first to reach Titan, all while competing governments squabble for the fate of Mars and the people living on it.
And all of these concerns are informed by a rapidly expanding and shifting cast of characters as expansive as they are endearing; this far into the future from the show’s alt-’60s remit, it’s astonishing that Wolpert and Nedivi are able to realistically keep some of its oldest characters around, while introducing new faces each season who fit seamlessly into the show’s ornate fabric. (Alongside Kinnaman, we also see series stalwart Wrenn Schmidt as the now-imprisoned Margo, still dispensing advice to Aleida about her Titan mission.) Enos and Sanchez stand out as some of the best new faces this season, and Ines Asserson excels as a young Earth marine with a chip on her shoulder related to some complicated characters from previous seasons. Even Kebbell’s Miles grows in prominence and passion as an everyday guy thrust into a leadership role by sheer entropy.
For all the elegantly rendered visual effects and meticulous NASA-core production design of the show, what wows most is the incredibly relatable human drama that plays out in between. The show’s third episode is a heartstopper, a moment of transition that feels like the end of an era, not just for the families who’ve poured multiple generations into this story (the Baldwins, the Stevenses, the Dales), but for all of humanity. Love, loss, maturation, all of these things play out in the brittle walls of spaceships and extraterrestrial habitats as strongly as they always have. While this review can’t speak to the final two episodes of the season, the first eight episodes elegantly set up a conclusion that should speak to the show’s interest in human endeavor at both the micro and macro levels.
At the end of the day, “For All Mankind” is a lush testament to humanity’s dogged desire to better itself, whether in individuals and communities finding the strength to build something where they stand, or in braving the unknown. With knowledge that this is the show’s penultimate season, and a Russian-set spinoff, “Star City,” is on its way, it’s tempting to hope that the whole series will stick the landing. No matter where it ends up, it’ll be worth the ride.
First eight episodes screened for review. New episodes air Fridays on Apple TV.
- Shuffling and Whittling and Experimenting: Austin Keeling and Lam T. Nguyen on Editing the Told-on-Screens Film “Mercy” (March 26, 2026)
In “Mercy,” Chris Pratt plays a police detective accused of murdering his wife. It takes place in the future, when the judicial system is turned over to an AI “judge” played by Rebecca Ferguson. Until the final third of the film, everything takes place in a cyber-courtroom. He is trapped in a chair and has just 90 minutes to defend himself. But he has access to all the records, all the surveillance, and all the witnesses he wants. That means it all plays out on a gigantic screen. And that means the film’s editors, Austin Keeling and Lam T. Nguyen, had to make sure that the audience could try to solve the mystery by observing a lot of information — files, security camera footage, interviews — on that screen.
In an interview with RogerEbert.com, Keeling and Nguyen talk about that process, as well as finding ways to make audiences process a lot of information without getting lost in data.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Everyone looks at screens all day. How do you overcome the audience’s screen fatigue and make looking at screens so vivid and involving?
AUSTIN KEELING: We ARE all looking at screens all the time, so keeping it fresh and interesting was definitely one of the biggest challenges. We got lucky that the script is about a murder investigation, so everything shown on the screens is directly linked to the central mystery. We made sure to justify the existence of each screen, only including it if it was connected to the detective work that Chris Pratt’s character engages in throughout the film. This draws the audience in, as each new screen presents a new clue or piece of information, allowing them to sleuth right alongside the main character.
LAM T. NGUYEN: Our objective was to create an immersive experience for our audience, and what sets this format apart is the incorporation of 3D elements in the screens. This unique hybrid format combines traditional filming techniques, screen-life elements, and 3D effects. During the editing process, we developed a digital camera that applied a blur (rack focus) effect and pan moves to our POV shots. This technique allowed us to establish a cinematic visual language that made the film entertaining and engaging, enabling our audience to follow the story effectively.
How do you direct our attention to what you want us to see and sneak information in the edges of what we see so we need to watch it again?
AK: Another huge challenge was juggling the massive quantity of assets in this film, both footage and graphics. We built the film by assembling “wide shots” of the Mercy courtroom and populating them with all the necessary assets for a given scene (footage of Judge Maddox, the courtroom background, video calls, security footage, websites, emails, etc.). We meticulously placed and animated each of these assets to exist in a master wide, and then created a “digital camera” to act as Chris’s POV. With this, we could zoom in and use keyframes to animate the camera to “look around” at various points in the room. This allowed us to focus the camera (and the audience’s attention) on key details throughout the Mercy courtroom while still retaining the extensive supplementary content at the edges.
LN: While editing this with our director, Timur Bekmambetov, we discussed that any important information should be placed in the center of the frame. We made a conscious effort to center everything important and then populate the surrounding screens afterward. We relied on our characters’ emotions to determine how quickly or slowly we looked at the screens. Since multiple screens are visible at any given time, everything has to be consistent and realistic to match the primary screen we are looking at. So there are definitely some easter eggs in there.
How do you balance what seems familiar or at least recognizable with some futuristic graphics that still have to be familiar enough for us to believe and process them?
LN: During pre-production, we explored all visual aspects of the film with Timur and the VFX team. There was a point at which things looked super futuristic and cool. However, Timur insisted on pulling that back and keeping it closer to our reality. Since the story takes place in 2029-2030, we wanted to advance the technology without straying too far from what we’re used to, so it’s more relatable for our audience when they experience the film. When I first met Austin, I brought up the Apple Vision Pro (since it was a new release at the time), and we used it as a baseline to develop the film’s visual language.
AK: We wanted to make sure that the Mercy chamber was not too far-fetched or futuristic (the film takes place only a few years in the future, after all). We played around with a bunch of different designs and animations, but ultimately the collaboration with Timur and the VFX team led us to a simple, unadorned style for most of the floating screens. Lam and I looked at the Apple Vision Pro early on as a jumping-off point for organizing and animating screens in 3D space. And all of the websites and video call formats are based on existing references. Essentially, we tried to keep a level of familiarity in the UI and functionality of the Mercy system so that audiences would believe in the scenario and ease into the chaos and tension of this world.
Chris Pratt stars as Chris Raven in MERCY, from Amazon MGM Studios.
Photo credit: Justin Lubin
© 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
What do your home screens look like? Cluttered or very organized?
AK: I keep my home screen very clean and organized! I actually only have three folders on my desktop and nothing else. So the sequences in the film with all the screens of the Municipal Cloud flying past Chris were a fun challenge to tackle.
LN: I get annoyed if I leave a notification number on apps from my phone or laptop. I always try to clear out the notifications. I’m a minimalist, so my home screen is very organized. It’s the only way I’m able to focus, haha. However, my edit timeline can look very scattered and overwhelming at times, but I constantly clean up after every version of the edit.
What was your first conversation with Bekmambetov about the film like? What did he say his priorities were?
LN: Meeting Timur for the first time was an honor. He’s a true visionary who constantly thinks outside the box. I recall the first thing he told me was to do research on stock footage and user experience. He wanted the movie to be as authentic as possible. Our priority was also to focus on the story’s dialogue first, then populate it with visuals afterward. He provided a lot of trust in us and allowed us to explore various visions to present to him, and we would find a cohesive vision together.
AK: Timur was incredibly collaborative and trusting from day one. We had a general discussion about his vision for the film, and then he let us take a crack at putting together a pre-vis using stock footage, temp graphics, storyboards, and a table read Chris Pratt had done.
The main priority Timur had us focus on in this first pass was perfecting the rhythm of the back-and-forth dialogue between Chris Raven and Maddox, and using that as a backbone for the rest of the elements in the film. Lam and I built this version of the movie from the ground up (in less than three weeks!), and immediately started working with Timur to try out new ideas. We had daily discussions in which Timur would respond to the current edit and give us notes and experiments to try.
We continued to tweak the pre-vis right up until principal photography began, at which point the locked pre-vis cut served as a guideline for the shoot. Lam and I then began swapping out the temp assets for dailies as the footage came in. And once the shoot was over, we spent another 5 or 6 months in the editing room with Timur, shuffling, whittling, and experimenting with the materials we had to create the best version of the film possible.
How did you coordinate with Composer Ramin Djawadi?
AK: Working with Ramin was a great experience. We first worked with an Australia-based music editor named Rod Berling, who took some early ideas from Ramin (as well as material from his previous scores) and delivered temp score options for key sequences in the film. As we progressed and got notes from Timur, Ramin would send over more ideas and themes, which Rod then incorporated into his edits. It was a seamless process that allowed us to work with temporary music that tested many of the key sounds and themes Ramin eventually incorporated into the final score.
LN: Our initial meeting with Ramin was to discuss the emotions for each scene. So we reviewed our editor’s cut that had a temp score. Ramin provided his input and fresh insights on some scenes. Once he sent samples, they seamlessly integrated into the cut. Our notes were minimal, but he was an excellent collaborator.
How did you coordinate with the VFX team?
LN: Editorial and VFX had to work in complete unison at every stage of the edit. We developed a unique turnover workflow because each shot comprises 10 to 18 screens. While VFX for a single shot was manageable, replicating the visuals of the entire edit posed a significant challenge. Eventually, we established a workflow that became a true synergy for us. Our VFX Supervisor Axel Bonami, VFX Producer Bryony Duncan, and the entire VFX team were incredibly collaborative.
Timur, being a highly visual individual, insisted on approving the film’s visual aesthetics during the editing phase. Subsequently, VFX had to meticulously replicate every movement, rack focus, and edit placement. The VFX team demonstrated exceptional attention to detail and delivered an outstanding final look for the 3D glass effect, as well as the immersive, surreal environment they created.
AK: We worked very closely with the VFX team throughout the entire process, and we were lucky to have both Editorial and VFX in the same post house for the entire post-production timeline (first in Los Angeles, and then in Sydney). Because we were always making so many changes in the editing room, we had to communicate with VFX multiple times a day and continuously keep each other in the loop.
Almost no decision in the edit was made without input from the VFX side of the process; in fact, many of the biggest creative conversations on the film occurred in the editing rooms between Timur, Lam, and me, the producers, and the VFX team. Shout out to VFX Supervisor Axel Bonami and VFX Producer Bryony Duncan for being such great collaborators on this wild journey!
What movies did you see growing up that made you think about the role of the editor?
LN: I remember seeing “Memento” for the first time and being in awe of it. The film’s editing was masterfully crafted, and I studied it many times. That inspired me to become an editor. I admired Dody Dorn for editing that film and recall wishing it would be amazing to meet her someday. So it was very serendipitous that Dody jumped on board with our film at such a late stage in the process. She was complimentary about what Austin and I did, and she was amazing to work with, helping us get this film to the finish line. So we definitely want to give a shout-out to Dody Dorn to work on this film with us.
AK: That’s a tough one, but I guess it was the films I saw in the early 2000s that first made me notice editing and think about the art of filmmaking in general. Two movies that come to mind are “Requiem for a Dream” (for its very noticeable style and rhythm of editing) and “Magnolia” (for how it juggles and weaves together so many disparate storylines and characters).
What are you doing next?
AK: I’m still waiting for another movie to come my way, but when I’m not editing, I am the co-founder of an LA-based immersive theater company called E3W Productions. I’m currently developing two immersive theater activations in New Orleans and Los Angeles later this year.
LN: Currently, finishing up a feature called “Drifter” with Director/Actor Sung Kang (the “Fast and Furious” franchise). I’m very excited for the film once it comes out, as we are doing a unique marketing push for it.
- Netflix’s “Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole” Feels A Bit Overstuffed (March 26, 2026)
If the Netflix Norwegian crime thriller series “Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole” had been packaged into five or even six episodes, it might well have been masterful. Stretched over nine long chapters and stuffed with a dizzying array of subplots, the production stalls a bit in the middle and occasionally turns down some side roads that result in dead ends—but it’s still an effectively grisly and beautifully mounted effort, with superb performances from the ensemble cast.
About that title. If you’re a fan of the suitable-for-adaptation fiction known as Nordic noir, e.g., Stieg Larsson’s “Millennium” series (which became “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” film trilogy), the Kurt Wallander novels, et al., you’re no doubt familiar with the works of Jo Nesbø, whose books have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. The emotionally tormented Oslo police detective Harry Hole (pronounced “HAH-ree, HOO-leh”) has been at the center of more than a dozen Nesbø novels. Michael Fassbender portrayed Hole in the disappointingly underwhelming 2017 film “The Snowman,” which was plagued by production problems.
Nesbø is the creator and writer of what appears to be the first season of “Detective Hole” (it ends on a terrific cliffhanger), with the fifth novel in the Harry Hole series, “The Devil’s Star,” as the primary source material. A perfectly cast Tobias Santelmann delivers electric work as the brilliant but brooding, self-destructive Hole, who seems more comfortable at a crime scene than he does having a cup of coffee with a friend, while Joel Kinnaman is equal to the task as Hole’s police colleague, the ambitious and chillingly duplicitous Tom Waaler.
Harry Hole. (L to R) Ingrid Bolso Berdal as Ellen Gjelten in Harry Hole Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024
Also contributing greatly to that Nordic noir vibe: the use of dozens upon dozens of iconic Oslo locations, showcasing both the brightest and most lush as well as the dark and trash-lined underbelly of the city; a steady, blood-spattered stream of gruesome kills; and a typically effective and atmospheric score from the famed duo of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (“Hell or High Water,” “Wind River,” “Blonde”).
After an expertly filmed and shocking chase scene that opens the series, we fast forward some five years to the present day. Harry is still obsessing over the unsolved bank heist that precipitated that chase sequence, but he’s in a relatively good place. He has a strong bond with his likable, free-spirited partner, Ellen (wonderfully played by Ingrid Bolsø Berdal). He’s been sober for a healthy stretch of time. And he’s in a promising relationship with a single mother named Rakel (Pia Tjelta, outstanding)—though it’s going to take some effort for Harry to break through to Rakel’s adolescent son, Oleg (Maxime Baune Bochud).
Still, things are already beginning to unravel, both in Oslo and in Harry’s world. Rival gangs are bringing an unprecedented level of firepower to their turf wars. Harry has suspicions about the high-ranking Waaler, who flaunts his wealth (he makes a half-hearted claim about some kind of inheritance) and exudes menace even when he smiles in your direction. The body count starts to pile up, and it appears some of the murders are the work of a serial killer who leaves a trademark red diamond with his victims. (We don’t see the killer, but we hear his voice, in Swedish, repeating the same mantra: “Open your eyes. It’s a simple pattern. A red guiding star, a five-pointed devil’s cross, will show you the way.”)
Harry Hole. (L to R) Joel Kinnaman as Tom Waaler in Harry Hole Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024
We’re introduced to a green but promising journalist (Kelly Gale, doing what she can with an underwritten role) who is assigned to cover an unsolved murder case. Harry is haunted by nightmares in which the bloodied victims come to life. The great Peter Stormare enters the picture as a gang leader. We are treated to needle drops such as Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” and Wovenhand’s cover of “Ain’t No Sunshine.” A man who wears a clerical collar is having a clandestine love affair in Prague and may or may not be up to something nefarious.
You can see what I mean about the “overstuffed” thing. Swirling close-ups of fountains and sculptures reflect the series’ twisted funhouse-mirror atmosphere. An oppressive heat wave magnifies the escalating gang wars, while the night is often bathed in cleansing, heavy rains. This series vibrates with mood. Strong female characters abound in supporting roles, but at its heart, this is a hard-boiled two-hander pitting Santelmann’s flawed but redeemable Harry against Kinnaman’s complex and icily efficient Tom, who truly believes the end justifies the means. If “Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole” continues (there’s certainly a wealth of material to be mined from the novels), it could upgrade from good to great if it goes a bit leaner, a bit more focused. All the pieces are in place.
Whole season screened for review. Currently streaming on Netflix.
