REVIEWS
Post-film thoughts.
We Are Aliens: Friendship and the Scars It Leaves
Who hasn’t stared at the ceiling for hours, late at night, replaying an embarrassing memory from middle school over and over again? We Are Aliens (2026) takes this feeling and pushes it to its limit, and, as someone who tends to get stuck in the past, I immediately felt like the film was made for me.
Tana: Music as Heritage
The film allows us to admire the Mongolian landscapes, rendered in all their majestic vastness. The steppes, mountains, and fields surrounding Tana become powerful presences which are more than beautiful backgrounds—places that resonate with the stories of her ancestors.
The Invite: Wilde’s Triumphant Return
Helped along by excellent performances from each of the four actors, the film weaves an elaborate game of push and pull through both poignant moments and hilarious banter that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
The Violinist: On War and The Sound of Music
Marking the first time that a Singaporean production not only won the award but took part in the Festival, The Violinist won the hearts of the Annecy jury through its blending of intense orchestration and a tense love story across the backdrop of the Japanese occupation of Singapore.
Tangles: A Poetic Tale of Hope and Grief
Capturing the heart-wrenching weight of every interaction between Sarah and her mother, the film lets the emotion take over through subtle changes in everyday situations, without forcing it upon its audience.
Iron Boy: A Charming Portrait of Childhood
Every step of the process reflects the director’s loyalty to his hometown. Voice recordings were done with non-professional actors—including Clichy’s son—in a farm in Beauce, location scouting was conducted in the same place, and one of the only songs used in the film was chosen in honor of his sisters. As a result, Iron Boy feels like an immersion into Clichy's childhood, comforting in the nostalgia it brings but also disarming in its complexity.
Minions & Monsters: Keeping Hollywood Alive
Minions & Monsters is not the first to point to Old Hollywood, but it’s particularly resonant as viewers find joy and amusement in the idea of these lovable little creatures so intentionally recreating scenes that are otherwise considered serious moments of cinematic history.
Supergirl: Seeking Justice
It’s riveting to see Kara on the big screen at full power. Her fight scenes are captivating and full of fun choreography, and Alcock’s perfect blend of rage and despair bubbling under the surface of Kara’s nonchalant exterior completely embodies the iconic hero.
Leviticus: Desire, Distorted
But the most impressive part of Leviticus is that it doesn’t pretend the shame or fear start and end. There is not a full stop. There is no natural conclusion to hurtle toward. And there is no definitive expiration on the tension queer people feel all their lives.
Is God Is: Sins of the Father
Harris perfectly blends the silly with the sinister, crafting unique and quirky characters that provide moments for off-hand situational comedy but also slowly grow the dark cloud that is their father. By the time his face graces the screen in the final act, his reputation precedes him.
Tuner: All Ears on Roher
If a film doesn’t engage an audience well, scattered audience reactions can feel lame and serve to reinforce a film’s unfunniness. Fortunately, Tuner’s well-written and well-paced screenplay ensured plenty of laughs and a good time for the Sundance audience.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die: The Future Is Bright, Right?
On a random evening in a Los Angeles diner, a “man from the future” (Sam Rockwell) assembles an unlikely team of strangers to rid the world of a rogue artificial intelligence. What follows is a frantic race to save humanity from its own creation.
The Drama: Ignorance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
Balancing the film’s weaker moments and its tendency to rely on rather superficial aspects of its story, Zendaya and Pattinson both deliver impressively nuanced interpretations and manage to bring a strong physicality to the internal struggles of their characters.
Wasteman: Who We’ve Left Behind
Shot over the course of only 18 days, Wasteman (2026) is an adrenaline rush that never subsides. It is a pressure cooker of a film. There is a consistent, thrumming tension in even the stillest moments thanks to a searing script by Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran.
Sukkwan Island: Love Out in the Cold
After a long career with supporting roles, Arlaud’s talents are finally omnipresent on screen. Shifting seamlessly between a chilling anger and a playful energy, his performance as Tom leaves the audience feeling like we should be walking on eggshells.
Julian: An Ode to Queer Love
Carried by Nina Meurisse in the role of Fleur and Laurence Roothooft as Julian, the Belgian-Dutch drama beautifully translates the expectations the couple had for gay rights through their unusual project, as well as the hardships of navigating love and grief.
The Christophers: Soderbergh's Artistic Dialogue
Unlike Soderbergh’s previous film, 2025’s sexy spy thriller Black Bag, the director takes a more muted, intimate approach as he attempts to find the connection between art and relationships.
Seahorse: On Connections and Feeling Seen
Sometimes the past is too hard to let go and it keeps coming back for us. At the same time, SXSW 2026 Narrative Feature competitor Seahorse poses a question: Is the past holding us back or are we the ones incapable of letting go and moving forward?
Project Hail Mary: Full of Grace, Friendship, and Science
Directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, with a formidable score by Daniel Pemberton and impeccable production design by Charlie Wood, Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary is brought to life with the purpose of making it a visual experience.
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo: Queerness in All Its Grandeur
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo is a reinvented Western, in which the sad and lonely cowboy is replaced with a vengeful teenage girl, and the luxuriant mountains with the scorching plains.