Here’s some movies to look out for on the festival circuit throughout 2026.

The Contraception Fair:

Camille, a young woman who wants to stop taking the birth control pill, finds herself in the ‘Female Contraception Fair’, an imaginary place where the female contraceptive methods all compete for her attention, pressuring her to make a choice.

With some fantastic visuals and an accompanying pink and feminine aesthetic, this movie demonstrates the importance of women’s periods and breaking taboos, as well as some fantastic performances from the entire cast, helping to push forward the point “Contraception is a choice, not an obligation”.

Bleeding:

Mollie, a young woman in her twenties, is struggling with her mental health. She writes a diary entry, pouring out all the emotions she can’t express aloud. Her words reveal the depth of her isolation and the hopelessness of feeling all this pain bleed out of her without anyone noticing.

A movie that is beautifully shot and filled with raw emotion, this movie demonstrates the importance of speaking about mental health, all directed by a fantastic leading performance from Mollie Lockwood. One of the most important films on the festival circuit right now.

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A prison officer is deeply affected by by an interaction with a traumatised inmate and attempts to emotionally harden himself in order to get back to work, but repressing his emotions pushes him to the edge again.

A reflection on the PTSD caused by the broken ‘justice’ system on both people in prison, and prison officers, this movie is represented by two brilliant leading performances, a gritty editing and visual style and gives an eye opening look into the reality of prison treatment.

Where Have All The Boys Gone?:

When the men in Billie’s life start vanishing without explanation, she’s drawn into a strange and growing mystery no one else can see.

Linking into themes of men’s mental health and reaching out to friends, this movie uses a blend of humour, confusion and raw emotion to create a gripping story relating to mental health, using a combination of quick fire editing cuts, whip pan shots and a modernised, clean palette. One of the strongest films circulating throughout the festival circuit.

(Mum):

When young runaway Lyley ends up on the streets, she meets an older homeless woman called Jo, who everyone on the streets refers to as ‘Mum’. Mum tries to teach Lyley how to survive on the streets, but when it transpires that Lyley is mixed up with the local drug dealer, the pair are suddenly put in grave danger. As the two women try to find safety, their bond develops into something much deeper.

With two fantastic leading performances, this movie explores homelessness and being alone, with a story that brings found family and trust to the forefront. This movie finds a brilliant way of using gritty visuals with quick pace editing, and does this so well.

Dogbone:

16-year-old Mark plays football to stay connected to his late father. But after a teammate’s suicide, the silence around him grows louder. Burdened by a brutal coach and the weight of buried grief, Mark begins to unravel, caught in a game that’s abused him rather than healed him.

One of the greatest short films I have ever seen, this movie takes a very emotional weight and uses teenager mental health to explore it. A gut wrenching story, accompanied with beautiful visuals, fantastic sound and video editing. This movie is something that demands to be seen on the big screen.

Got Guts:

On the evening of a much anticipated first date, May is tormented by the symptoms of her IBS. As much as she soldiers on, her stomach is hell-bent on flushing her night down the toilet.

After living with debilitating IBS for the last 27 years, writer/director Georgia Leigh-Taylor made a film which documents the struggles of an IBS sufferer with a comedic spin, aiming to break down the stigma attached to female bowel movements.

Make a Wish:

Struggling to decide whether to try for a baby with Sausage, Womb must face her fears when she encounters the Period Poo Genie.

A witty and fever dreamish animation, this movie explores the men and women sides of wanting to have a baby, dealing with the emotional weight and challenges. It’s a creative approach to showcasing a serious discussion, and does so through fun and laughs.

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It’s been a couple of years now since we saw Tom Holland’s adaptation of everyone’s favourite web slinging hero on the big screen, and since then, the universe of Marvel has evolved extensively, including the multiverse and even the face of the new team of Avengers.

But one thing for sure has not changed, and that is that no one knows about Peter Parker being Spiderman.

Spiderman Brand New Day takes us back to Brooklyn as we follow Peter Parker on his own, isolated, depressed, and struggling to find the balance between being himself and being Spiderman after the events of No Way Home. He is learning how to become a friendly neighbourhood Spiderman, helping civilians and the government themselves, until he comes up with a new threat that tests Peter to the limits.

Spiderman Brand New Day feels like a new era for Spiderman and for Tom Holland’s universe, being led in a more grounded and comic book led tone by the fantastic directing and storytelling from Destin Daniel Cretton and Amy Pascal. Spiderman has become what us fans have begged to see for so long - his own person. For years now, Spiderman has been so heavily involved in the MCU, that he became roped into the new phase, barely giving any time to adapt him as a character, but finally, he has his time to shine.

This is, without a doubt, Tom Holland’s best Spiderman movie, built on feelings of freedom, loss, relationships and self doubt, as Peter Parker grapples with his mind, and becomes more sucked into his superhero side than ever before. Holland puts on one of his strongest performances to date, bringing emotional weight, but also a euphoric feeling to this role. Every combat scene is done so well, and the reference to the comics with the recreations of fights with different characters is truly what Spiderman is about.

His performance is backed up by some fantastic performances from the rest of the cast. Zendaya is a changed version of MJ in this, grown up yet still actively involved in helping Spiderman. Every scene she has with Tom Holland is gorgeous, and builds the foundations of them trying to rekindle their bond that Peter wants back. Their on and off screen chemistry makes for an electrifying duet performance. Jon Berthnal is also a fantastic edition to this movie, and helps the overall feel of the movie be more grounded. The conflicting working relationship between Frank and Peter is hilarious to see on screen, with the two having fantastic banter that also has its emotional vulnerabilities.

Flowers do also need to go to Sadie Sink for her performance in the movie, which, without giving away her character for people who haven’t seen, helps build the foundations for the next Marvel movies. She is intense and driven by revenge filled ambition, but when it comes to it, puts on a fantastic emotive and eye opening performance.

This movie serves as a brilliant representation of the feeling in the teenage years, and not knowing what your true importance is, and realising that right now, you’re exactly where you need to be without putting pressure on yourself - and there is no better person to tell that message than Spiderman.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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It’s taken me so long to even try and find the words to explain how I feel about this latest masterpiece, because not enough words will ever be able to explain how a movie like this event exists - because just, how?

The Odyssey is one of those movies that, once in their lifetime, people need to experience, and I think people are doing themselves a huge discredit by not going to see this movie while it is in cinemas. There is something so special about seeing something that has been years in the making come to life in this way, with these performances, the soundtrack, the visuals and cinematography and the storytelling.

Christopher Nolan has once again smashed it out to the park by, again, creating something masterful and captivating. Any doubt people had about this movie has been quickly shut down.

Teaming once again with Ludwig Göransson, who previously composed the soundtrack for Academy award winning Oppenheimer, and Hoyte van Hoytema, who created the beautiful cinematography for Dunkirk and Interstellar, Nolan creates a feast for the eyes, every scene crafted so meticulously and poetically, it feels that every scene you watched takes you on a transcendence journey back to Ithaca, as you weave your way through these beautiful locations and set designs.

These scenes go hand in hand with some incredibly strong performances. Matt Damon puts on a brilliant show a Odysseus, as he grapples with an emotional, headstrong leader who slowly over the progression of the movie is breaking down, and finds that maybe by winning the war, they haven’t truly won it all. Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus play mother and son so effortlessly well. Hathaway holds her own as a strong female leader, but also fights her own battles awaiting her husband’s return, while Holland puts on a great performance in one of, in my opinion, his best roles yet. He commands the screen, especially in every moment he hears about the stories about his father, and the final half an hour he puts on a physically great performance in combat.

Outside of this, there are other fantastic performances that deserve their flowers. Robert Pattinson, who is stealing the show in 2026, plays a masterful villain, manipulative yet weak and feeble. Zendaya, with a short amount of screentime, leaves a long lasting impact on the movie as Athena, haunting the narrative, working masterfully next to Damon. I could go on and on about the performances, because they are that good.

It felt like, at the time of the announcement coming round about Nolan’s Odyssey ambition, that it would be a hard challenge to turn this piece of history into a visual story, but it has been done with absolute perfection, marking one of the movies of 2026 and also, maybe, one of the films of the decade.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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This week marked the release of the new Dune Part Three trailer, giving fans a look into the final installment of the franchise and story of Paul Atreides. Directed once again by Denis Villeneuve, Dune Part Three takes us forward 17 years after the events of the second movie, focusing on Paul Atreides as his fight for the galactic imperium continues, as well as his journey to bring freedom to the Fremen.

Returning cast include Golden Globe Winner Timothee Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Zendaya as Chani, Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Javier Bardem as Stilgar and Josh Brolin as Gurney Haleck to name a few, with newcomers also entering the cast such as Robert Pattinson as Scytale and Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides.

This new trailer gave us a deeper look into how the future has impacted our characters, and also just how much the stakes have raised for Paul, even after the way that Dune Part Two ended. We see the conflicting relationship between Paul and Chani since the end of the second film, our first look at the return of Duncan Idaho in his new capacity, the changes Paul has gone through as a leader, turning into the dark prophecy he once dreamt of.

Speaking at the Global Trailer Launch Event in London today, when asked about the rumours of Denis taking a break to focus on other projects, Timothee Chalamet praised the work of Denis Villeneuve, saying “He could’ve taken years in between these projects, but instead he buckled in and we got it done right away.”

Dune Part Three releases in cinemas across the UK on December 18th.

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Jaws. Indiana Jones. ET. The list goes on. These are just some of the iconic films that legendary director, Steven Spielberg has created in his time being in the film space.

When it comes to naming legendary filmmakers, he will always find a way to etch himself into the list of the greats, and for me, he is the greatest of all time. His films have a sense of familiarity, and whisk you off to different words, galaxies, and take you beyond the stars. He has mastered the art of creating a captivating, indulging movie that leaves you thinking long after the credits roll - which is exactly what his new movie, Disclosure Day, does so perfectly.

Spielberg’s latest movie takes audiences through the whirlwind of emotions covering secrecy, justice, motivation and manipulation, as well as relationships and understanding what we think we may never understand.

Disclosure Day focuses on a meteorologist, Margaret (Emily Blunt) and a cybersecurity expert, Daniel (Josh O’Connor) who find themselves at the center of a movement to expose the government’s cover-up of extraterrestrial secrets kept in secret by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), with the movement led by Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo). With the help from Daniel’s girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewton), they work to expose what has been disclosed from the public for so long.

This movie treats you to some absolutely delightful performances, with the main standout being Emily Blunt as Margaret Fairchild. She is absolutely spellbinding in a performance that is emotionally unforgiving and driven by confusion and uncertainty. There is one particular scene in this movie involving Margaret and Daniel on a train, which while watching I was completely taken aback by the entire scene. It’s crafted so beautifully that you can’t help but be struck by the performance on screen. Josh O’Connor also once again shines in this movie, giving a compelling, strong headed performance as a character who is thrown into the deep end with leading the movement for exposing the secrets. He acts brilliantly alongside Eve Hewton, who gives a captivating performance as Jane. Every scene with her and Colin Firth where they talk telepathically is utterly fantastic.

The story of this film is incredibly fast paced and intense, not really giving the audience the moments it may need to take a breather and prepare themselves for what is coming next. The film throws you into the deep end right from the start, not giving the audience much time to gather an understanding of what is happening, but when you do understand and the stars align, you are transcended into a movie so special. It’s intense, captivating, and as the audience at times you dare to look away from the screen from the sense of missing something. The last 20 minutes of this movie is one of the best cinema moments I have seen for the whole year. I was speechless watching everything unfold in front of the characters in such a captivating way.

The visuals back this story up in such a fantastic way, whether they accompany a small conversation between two characters, or if there is an action sequence happening. There is a super intense moment in the movie where we start to understand these two characters in a deeper way, and every shot magnetises you to the screen. This is all encapsulated in an utterly beautiful score by the iconic John Williams. I implore all of you reading to go and listen to “Celestal” from the soundtrack.

In summary, this movie isn’t going to be for everybody, but this is for the fans of Steven Spielberg who missed him, who love him, who treasure him. With a spellbinding and intense story, beautiful visuals and performances, this may be one of his best films yet.

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I am of course talking about The Odyssey.

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There is something about this movie that seems to be captivating audiences from around the world, maybe it’s the casting maybe it’s the visuals maybe it’s the storytelling but everything about this film is ringing to be absolute perfection. I am a huge Christopher Nolan fan personally and I love the work that he’s done on other films like Inception and Oppenheimer for example so already off the bat, I’m excited to see how he takes this iconic story and turns into a vision.

But what is it about The Odyssey that is so captivating?

It’s very common knowledge by now that Christopher Nolan likes to use the same people in his movies because he knows he can get the best out of them performance wise, and there is no exception with returning cast members coming back for The Odyssey, including Anne Hathaway, Robert Patterson and more.

But this time, we get some new additions in Zendaya, Tom Holland, and we’ve also got Matt Damon coming in. We’ve got some amazing people coming into this cast and I’m really excited to see what performance he gets out of these actors. It’s been known for a while now that if there is one director that they can get the best performance out of somebody, it is Christopher Nolan.

It’s also very common knowledge that Christopher Nolan has absolutely mastered the art of creating a movie that is such a feast for the eyes.

I don’t think The Odyssey will be any exception to that because of the back from the trailers that we’ve got and the promo material we have seen this film looks stunning. Nolan is of course a man who likes to try and use as minimal CGI as he possibly can and I think it’s been really interesting in all of the promo material seeing at this talk about the legitimate set and the actual set pieces they’ve had to do, for example, filming on boats in the middle of an ocean.

What I like about Christopher Nolan’s movies and the actual aesthetic and the visual looks of his movies is that there is just, every single time, particular shots that absolutely staple themselves in your brain. Whether it was the explosion shots of the bomb going off in Oppenheimer or whether it’s any shot and Inception where we were going for an absolute whirlwind of the mind messing with the characters.

His use of colour framing symmetry, positioning and composition is what makes his film so visually stunning.

He also has a dynamic pairing with composer and musician Ludwig Göransson, who’s of course worked on Tenet and Oppenheimer previously, winning the award for Best Soundtrack for Oppenheimer in 2023. Ludwig is able to craft his music in such a particular way that the audience feels completely taken into the scene of the movie, feeling every emotion, using instruments to create natural noises, finding ways to link into cultures and, in this instant, take you into the myths and legends.

With The Odyssey only 2 weeks away, this could very much ending up being the blockbuster of the summer, and also the year. Only one question stands in the way…Can Nolan stick the landing?

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Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Michael centres around the life and upbringing of pop music icon, Michael Jackson, diving into his childhood, the start and rise to stardom of the Jackson 5, and then taking its focus into Michael’s solo career, his rise to fame, the instant love for his first albums, ending with the start of his first big solo tour. The film at its core is a beautiful and highly cinematic celebration of a music icon, bringing his performances from the past to life through match cut sequences, some utterly brilliant costuming and makeup choices, as well as what can only be described as a brilliant cast.

The movie gives us the typical linear narrative structure you see with most biopics, starting right from the beginning of when Michael was a young boy, being worked by his wretched father, Joseph Jackson, to be the lead singer in the Jackson 5, who, might I add, is played by an absolutely wonderful young talent in Juliano Valdi, before throwing us into his adult years when all he wanted was the freedom to do his own thing. This linear narrative is brought to life through some brilliant set design and spellbinding musical performances from the cast, making the audience feel as if they are living in the moment with the brothers and Michael once he goes solo.

The two standouts of this movie are the characters with the most conflicting relationship, Jafaar Jackson as his prolific uncle, Michael Jackson, and Colman Domingo, Michael’s pushy and demanding father, Joseph Jackson. Jafaar Jackson deserves all of the praise and roles the world can offer him after this performance, cause his encapsulation of his uncle is truly a spectacle. Each mannerism, on and off stage that Michael had Jafaar brings into his performance, perfecting the voice and performative attitude and body language everyone loved his uncle for. The years of practice to perfect this representation of his relative is outstanding, dancing and singing his way through this movie spectacularly one beat at a time, almost like it was human nature.

Colman Domingo is also outstanding as the haunting and manipulative Joseph Jackson. A man who was feared by his family, yet loved at the same time, Domingo brings an aura to this performance, leaving haunting impressions on the audience all while being accurate to the situations he put his sons into, especially the tiresome work he put into the Jackson 5 and trying to manipulate Michael once the fame came to his youngest son.

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This film gets one thing so right, and that is the performative element of it. Each performance in this movie by the Jackson 5 and Michael himself once going solo is spellbinding, making you feel as the audience you were watching the performance live way back when. The personal highlights of performance sequences comes with the match cut performance at the Motown in the 80’s, where Michael sings Billie Jean to a sold out audience. Every scene replicates the original footage filmed at the Motown during the original performance, which is stunning. The other standout is the Thriller sequence. The movie takes a 7-8 minute spotlight on arguably Michael’s most popular song, honing in on the creative process and the making of one of, if not, the most iconic music video of all time, once again match cutting the original source material scene-for-scene.

People may argue that the movie missed the mark with showing some character development within Michael’s life, but when a movie successfully is able to bring the audience nostalgia, perfect performances and an utterly fantastic representation of an icon, what is there not to love?

Overall, Michael is something for the big screen, led by an absolute blinding performance from Jaafar, one that has made his family, and uncle, highly proud. Each music sequence will transcend you and teleport you back to the 80’s, making everyone wish that once in their life, they should step back and look at the special talent that was Michael Jackson.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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The series will focus on telling the story of an aging and down on his luck private investigator, Ben Reilly, played by the iconic Nicolas Cage, in New York in the 1930s, who is grappling with his past life of being the city’s beloved superhero, Spider-Noir.

Nicolas Cage will see himself reprising the role of the character he voiced in 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse”, while Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot will be serving as the series co-runners.

Jack Huston will join the cast, playing Flint Marko/Sandman, Hollywood legend Brendan Gleeson will be playing crime boss Silvermane, Li Jun Li is playing a nightclub chanteuse named Cat Hardy, Abraham Popoola is Tombstone and Andrew Caldwell is Megawatt.

Lamorne Morris, Lukas Haas, Karen Rodriguez, Cameron Britton, Cary Christopher, Michael Kostroff, Scott MacArthur, Joe Massingill, Whitney Rice, Amanda Schull, Amy Aquino, and Andrew Robinson will also star throughout the series.

The first two episodes will be directed by Harry Bradbeer, director of the Enola Holmes series, alongside executive “Spider-Verse” producers, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal.

Sony Pictures Television is producing the series which will be available to watch in both black-and-white, as well as colour, and is looking to be released on Prime Video and MGM+ on May 27th.

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We discussed the inspiration behind the movie, cinematography, storytelling and the process of taking a hard hitting narrative and portraying it in the best way.

The Drama seemed to be built on the foundation of a confusing and hidden plot, centralising itself around a soon to be married couple, Charlie and Emma, who a week before their wedding day expose their biggest secrets to one another to strengthen their marriage, only to find that Emma has been sitting on a secret that threatens to throw their marriage into disarray.

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I went into this movie with little to no expectations, wondering what this big secret could be and just how much of an implication this would have on their marriage, and from the first watch, this movie is a fantastic watch, yet something that you may only need to watch once, because this is one of the most intense and nerve wracking films you may ever watch.

Director Kristoffer Borgli takes a quite compelling and eye opening story, built on the foundations of revealing the truth about the youths of America and the struggles and lengths they feel they need to go to to find happiness and peace, and compiles this in with two characters that are truly thrown into uncharted waters after all hell breaks loose, alongside some absolutely great dark comedy moments, giving you as the audience those moments of humour in a situation so harrowing. The editing of this movie does the funny moments so much justice, with quick cuts, moments of pure silence as the chaos unfolds and awkward moments settle in and some absolutely ace on lines of dialogue built of dramatic irony.

Performances from Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are off the charts with this movie, gripping you in right from the beginning. Zendaya’s story as a character is one that sparks emotion; even when you’re not meant to feel it directly for her. Her dialogue and quips bounce delightfully well off of a Robert Pattinson who is at the top of his game right now. His portrayal of Charlie is funny, hysterical, yet some what nerve wracking to watch, especially when we see his character evolution throughout the movie.

To wrap this whole thing up, the third act of the movie is some of the most intense and nerve wracking things I have ever seen in cinema. The movies takes any nervousness you felt in the first two acts and ups the anti by 100 and makes you truly so nervous to see what’s happening in the final moments of the movie. The twists and turns that are revealed will shake the audience to the core, especially with the execution of certain things.

Overall, The Drama is a fantastic movie built on brilliant foundations, with its tension and idea of creating a haunting narrative built up with dark humour. Performances are off the charts, making this a must watch movie this year.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I recently had the pleasure of screening Vanessa Lynn Esteves and Kevin Micallef’s latest work, Christopher and The Bug. As someone who treasures animation that pulls at the heartstrings and lingers long after the credits roll, I can say this film hits the mark perfectly.

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The story centers on Christopher, a grumpy and isolated owl who has spent a lifetime guarding his solitude. Having grown up without friends, he’s mastered the art of being alone, until a persistent bug invades his space.

What follows is a charming tug-of-war as Christopher tries to evict his unwanted guest while inadvertently confronting his own deep-seated loneliness.

It’s a heartwarming narrative built on the delicate foundations of friendship and vulnerability. While Christopher’s grouchiness masks a tender heart, the Bug is a masterclass in character design; despite being “invisible” for the duration of the film, its presence is felt in every frame. Visually, the short is a triumph.

The hand-drawn 2D aesthetic feels like a storybook come to life, with intricate details that make the entire viewing experience feel incredibly intimate. Each scene has a beautifully crafted colour palette, making each scene feel autumnal and moody, matching the very theme of the characters we have presented to us. Meanwhile, as the story progresses and you warm up to Christopher more as a character, the colours get brighter, showing a more upbeat atmosphere and giving you a more visual representation of the emotions in the movie.

Overall, Christopher and The Bug is a heartwarming movie that tugs at the heartstrings, makes for an enjoyable viewing experience, and come the ending, you’ll gain a little smile when you see the little house.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mooncrest is a small town of Lynchian proportions. It’s home to Cliff, who is green, a little jaded, yet desperate for love and adventure. When the prickly, charismatic Marg turns up out of the blue, claiming to be his mother, Cliff is drawn into her world of dubious choices in the hope of excitement and a sense of belonging. Nick Butler’s film is a low-fi delight.

Amidst the vibrant chaos of South Asia, we meet three ‘Hijra’ (transgender females) - Momo, Neshi and Jannat - as they explore friendship, freedom and self-expression in a world that seeks to erase them. While Momo garners recognition through performance; Neshi finds solace online; and Jannat seeks financial independence and love elsewhere. But a golden thread binds the three together - their resilience, humour and fierce self-determination in the face of violence and erasure.

Already confirmed to be returning to the franchise is Emily Blunt as Evelyn, Millicent Simmonds as Regan, Noah Jupe as Marcus and Cillian Murphy as Emmett, but it’s now been confirmed by DiscussingFilm on X that Jack O’Connell (Sinners, 28 Years Later), Katy O’Brian (The Running Man, Love Lies Bleeding), and Jason Clarke (Pet Sematary, House of Dynamite) will be joining the cast.

John Krasinski is set to direct this installment, same as the first two movies.

A Quiet Place III will continue the Abbott family’s fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic world, overrun by deadly aliens that hunt by using sound, meaning that any noise you make can get yourself killed.

The film is expected to pick up from where the second film ended, where our characters were able to reach a safe island community, bringing more intense and silent moments to create another intense movie.

While the full plot is under wraps, the film has a confirmed release date of July 30th, 2027.

See the full list of who took home an award below:

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Madigan, Weapons

Best Animated Feature:

Kpop Demon Hunters

Best Animated Short:

The Girl Who Cried Pearls

Costume Design:

Frankenstein

Hair and Make-Up:

Frankenstein

Best Casting:

One Battle After Another

Live Action Short:

It was a tie! The Singer and Two People Exchanging Saliva

Best Supporting Actor:

Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

Best Original Screenplay:

Sinners by Ryan Coogler

Best Adapted Screenplay:

One Battle After Another by Paul Thomas Anderson

Production Design:

Frankenstein

Visual Effects:

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Documentary Short:

All The Empty Rooms

Documentary Feature:

Mr Nobody Against Putin

Best Score:

Sinners

Best Sound:

F1

Best Editing:

One Battle After Another

Best Cinematography:

Sinners

Best International Film:

Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier

Best Song:

“Golden” from Kpop Demon Hunters

Best Director:

Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Best Lead Actor:

Michael B Jordan as The Smoke & Stack Twins, Sinners

Best Lead Actress:

Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare, Hamnet

Best Picture:

One Battle After Another

As we close out awards season for 2026, what was your favourite film of the year? Comment down below.

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Hoppers brings what is a completely original idea, that’s been in the works for multiple years now, to the biggest screens in the world through a fantastic story, a beautiful and artistic animation style, loveable characters and a message that drives forward the emotional value of the movie.

The story follows a young girl called Mabel (Piper Curda), who is completely in love with the world of nature and animals. Throughout the story, she is bashing heads with Mayor Jerry (Jon Hamm), who is planning to destroy the lake her and her grandma once spent all of their time at, so that he can build a bridge connecting the entire city. Mabel plans to steal from her college teacher her invention called a “hopper”, which can transfer human brains into the body of animals. This then turns her whole life upside down as she finds herself caught in a human v animal war to protect the lake and wildlife.

Off the rip, the story is gripping and such an enjoyable watch. What initially looks like a simple family adventure gradually reveals something deeper, bringing in a surprising amount of emotional weight and diving into certain themes. At its core, the film explores the importance of protecting nature and wildlife, while also touching on the personal search for peace and belonging - and in many ways, that journey is reflected through Mabel, who finds a sense of calm and purpose in her connection with the animals.

Character, or should I say animal design, is off the charts for this movie, with the audience being able to get an up close look into just how detailed the Disney animators have gone with showing each and every individual hair, whisker, speck and drop of water, giving us that golden animation style that we just love. Alongside this, you have some absolutely beautiful scenery and location building throughout this movie, each shot crafted with beautiful colours.

Performances around the board are stellar, with some of the standout performances for me being Piper Curda as Mabel, Bobby Moyinhar as the hilarious King George, and Dave Franco as the villainous and, actually quite scary, Insect King. The film is witty, loveable, a great watch - and potentially a golden movie by Disney to kick off 2026.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★/5

According to industry insiders, the teaser for the highly anticipated Dune: Part Three could debut in cinemas and online as early as Tuesday or Wednesday. If so, audiences will be getting their first glimpse of the final instalment of the franchise on the big screen, with a trailer reportedly running at around two and a half minutes.

The final installment of Denis Villeneuve’s much loved franchise will continue to star Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Anya Taylor Joy, Josh Brolin, Florence Pugh and sees the return of Jason Momoa.

Dune: Part Three also made headlines recently after it secured IMAX slots from 19 December onwards, edging out another highly anticipated film, Avengers: Doomsday, which is also currently scheduled for release on the same date.

Meanwhile, within the superhero universe, the first teaser trailer for Spiderman: Brand New Day will be shown next week as well. This trailer will mark the first official trailer release after 2-3 weeks of online speculation and leaks online on X and Instagram.

Tom Holland will be returning to the role of everyone’s favourite web slinging superhero, as well as Zendaya, Jacob Batalon and Mark Ruffalo as Hulk. It has also since been confirmed that Jon Berthnal will be reprising his role as The Punisher, and Sadie Sink has joined the cast, rumoured to be playing Jean Grey or Gwen Stacy.

Fans should make sure to keep their eyes peeled for the first trailers and look at these can’t miss movies of 2026.

Filming is currently underway in New York City, with the project currently pencilled in for a 12 March 2027 release.

The film will star Scarlett Johansson, Jacobi Jupe, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Sasha Calle and Chiwetel Ejiofor. While story details are still being kept tightly under wraps, what we do know so far is that the story is expected to follow a mother (Johansson) searching for answers as her child (Jupe) begins to display deeply unsettling behaviour.

Speaking about the project, Flanagan has said it’s a chance for him to make the “scariest movie” he’s ever attempted. Rather than leaning heavily on nostalgia, the film aims to honour the spirit of the original while carving out its own path.

Initial fan reactions appear to be somewhat divided. Some fans have expressed concern about how the film will be received, particularly given the mixed response to the most recent entries in the The Exorcist franchise. Others, however, do seem to feel optimistic, with many curious to see how Mike Flanagan will approach his new take on the iconic horror series.

We expect to see more news regarding casting soon for this movie, including further details regarding the plot and a behind the scenes look.

Where Did The Inspiration Come From To Tell This Story?

I met Kaylee 5 years ago through friends of friends, and we would just always meet at parties. I had just quit my job to go and work on my own stuff, which is the best excuse ever, and I had been writing fiction for a while and people always told me I should direct something, but knew nothing about directing. I was then sat on a beach in Oregon and Kaylee got out a beer from a beer cooler and ripped out this huge burp. I was like “How did you do that?!’ and she sort of brazenly went “I’m going to go for the world record…” and I just wanted to know everything. She started telling me about the world record, what she had recorded on a decibel reader, what beer she was drinking, and I just started asking questions about her process. I left that weekend and thought “This could 100% be a documentary!”

She is such a character, and she’s so dry. So, I started thinking about how maybe I should do it, but I tricked myself into thinking I couldn’t do it, so I tried to pass it on to my friends who are filmmakers and then they told me that I should do this one cause it was my idea. I was terrfied but I went for it, so it ended up falling into my lap.

Where Did The Visual Inspiration Come From To Give The Documentary a Cinematic Appearance?

When I decided to make a doc, I didn’t want to make it look like a doc! I called my friend Max Henderson who is our DOP and editor, and I met him on a commercial set, and he was filming it and I met him on set. I called him and sent “Do you want to make a documentary?” I had a couple of references, so one was God’s Country, which is a 1985 documentary, and there’s these incredible locked off shots of people lawn mowing, all boring things but visually lovely. Then, there was also Some Kind of Heaven which is a documentary about a retirement community, and it’s so absurd but awful, where it would be a taking head but something crazy would be happening in the background, and I loved that! There’s a movie where you watch this woman who is doing the most mundane tasks like peeling a potato or blending food, and it’s so cinematic and gorgeous, even though it’s mundane things.

We shot the movie in Portland, and we tried to take a lot of inspiration from the aesthetic of Portland, with the colours. The first thing I did was create a colour palette of woods, and greens, looking at the colours of forests and the colours in Kaylee’s house, so we built a colour palette surrounding her house to create the visuals and overall look.

Are there any Directors Not in the Documentary Space that informed your Cinematic Look?

When making the palette, I looked a lot at Ladybird by Greta Gerwig and the palette of that movie, cause it has these gorgeous greens and this stunning wood panelling and texture and it looked so gorgeous in the shots. There were some shots from Todd Haynes shots from Carol and some of the shots from that, and originally, I had way more macro shots planned, and there’s these pretty shots of Cate Blanchett drinking a martini with bright red lipstick on and had that on the board. They were definitely some people I thought of when creating this.

What Obstacles and Learning Curves did you have with This Filming Experience? What did it teach you as a First-Time Documentary Director?

I would never do anything again without a first AD, they are the driving force of a set. Me, Max and Cricket, who is our producer, all had to really think about what we were shooting and, we were wearing so many hats! Going through the technical process of getting it ready to play in surround sound has been crazy and you send off these files and you just kind of hope for the best, because you can’t test it unless you have a cinema! You have to simply trust everyone around you.

What Was The Reaction When You Found Out About The Film Being Screened at SXSW?

I mean, I can’t quite believe it! When Gabe, the festival programmer, called me and told me, I think I blacked out, and I honestly can’t even remember the call. It’s unbelievable, but I didn’t make this with the end goal for it to be at festivals, I just wanted to make it for me and for my own experience, and like I said, I had the story in my lap, and I just wanted to try it. It was one big experience, and the fact that it’s been received this way is so cool.

Has This Driven you On To Make More Documentaries and Movies In the Future?

Oh for sure! I have started writing, kind of a mocumentary version of what we have made, and sort of expanding it out, because the people in this story are so amazing, and there’s so many records out there! I love the tone we ended up with with this documentary, so I would love to continue and expand that. I love that people are picking up on the tone and people ask me if it’s real or not, and for me, that’s the perfect thing, cause we shot it more artfully than other docs, and cause the subject matter is so absurd, people don’t know if it is real, but I love that it makes people, and you (me) question it.

People were so open to this documentary, there reaction was to laugh and then say “I’m in!”. We had to use a lot of favours to do this, and we had so many supportive partners who helped us and was down to have. Max, for example, had made a documentary recently about a plane crash, so it was a complete shift of tone for him, and I did expect people to say “That’s dumb” but, I take dumb and stupid as a huge compliment.

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How Does It Feel Seeing Your Film Nominated For a BAFTA?

I need to start having more self belief because every step of the way I’ve been like “There’s no way” and then it keeps just getting crazier, and with the BAFTA nomination I thought “This is just too far”. As much as you can believe me saying, I genuinely couldn’t believe it. I was online that day and the BAFTA website got overloaded with everyone checking. I filmed my reaction and I was expecting it (the website) to be like “Hah nope!” but my name is now there for some reason, and here we are! My wife was in the room and everyone then started phoning me, it was crazy!

I Love The Story So Much, Where Did The Inspiration Come From and How Long Have You Had The Idea?

I’ve had the idea for around 10 years, over 10 years as a little scribble. Sometimes I get ideas from moments in other films and then sometimes it’s the ending. I started with the ending of Solstice and thought “That is such a good ending” and that influenced the rest of the film. I started laying on top of the ending based on themes that emerged naturally, for example, being in the Arctic, which was such a huge factor for the film as it had to be set there to have this unique part of the Arctic Circle which is the many months of darkness and sunshine, so immediately knew I was in the circle, and then led into the themes of isolation. Everything felt very natural coming into play, and then my love for the stars as someone who grew up in rural Scotland with a beautiful night sky and wanted to celebrate the sky. I liked flipping the themes around with having the sun actually mean despair for him and then the night being what he wanted.

The Artistic Style Of The Movie Is Gorgeous. Where Did The Influence For The Style Come From?

I think the style, if you’re talking on realism and textures, there is always a charm to a cartoon character in a realistic world, like stop motion. I think some of the style is my instincts of what looks good! Another major influence is the old Pixar movies, like their short films, and the ability to get a photo real world paired with a cartoon looking character. Loads of it is just me following what I think looks good, and there is a journey there because behind me is a trail of paper of ideas that didn’t work, and I had to keep changing it until it worked.

As an Animator, What Films Influence You In Your Work and You As an Animator?

Story wise, the early Pixar films. Fidelity wise, of course they are a bit aged now, but at the time, Toy Story made me realise I want to become an animator and it was such an influence to me as a kid, like I can pause that film and say word for word what the dialogue is next! That storytelling from 95 to 05 was hit after hit of incredible stories and world building, as well as the short films that came with those films, so when they released the films, they came with a short film, and I would go to the cinema sometimes just to see them. I think the shorts inspire what I do now, with no dialogue, high content, and it seems to be leaking into the work that I do now.

The Process Of Animation Is So Complex, What Is The Most Difficult Part?

I can speak for myself, because of course other people might say different to me. My professional work is an animator so the movement has become easy for me, I trained at university for it, so I am most confident in that and I can almost zone out and stick a movie on and do it, and then when it comes to the end of the pipeline with rendering and the details, there’s a lot of very technical elements that I find to be more tricky, and it almost becomes a marriage of art and maths and physics, and it’s less natural for me. The analogy for me it animation goes from cooking to baking - so at the start, whatever looks good you can toss into the mix and it all works, but then at the end, it becomes baking as everything becomes exact and everything needs to be correct otherwise it won’t work. I just completely made that up but it works!

How Was Solstice So Different To Your Other Projects?

The more you learn, the more difficult it becomes because you learn about all of the little details that it takes, even if it technically becomes easier and you perfect it. Now when I make something, I have to make sure every detail is correct, like the textures and the environment and you sort of become a victory of your own success! You know so much of the pipeline so you now want to make things the best they can be. There’s so much more going on in the animation process! The film took about 4 years to make of my spare time, so I was spending mornings, evenings and weekends whenever I could, and it’s a long process and it’s not always a linear path, so sometimes it can be two steps forward and one step back with some new ideas or wanting to change something in character design, but that’s the joy of doing it by yourself and having no deadline, because if I want to push back, I’m not affecting anyone else. It’s just me being affected!

The Entire Journey Of Taking Solstice to Film Festivals and Now The BAFTA’s, How Has That Whirlwind of an Experience Been?

It’s ended in a great way but it definitely didn’t start out that way, because when I finished the film, I was in my house one day and clicked the final click and thought “Well, it’s done now!” and you can’t post it online because to do a festival run the film has to be offline, so it’s an anti climactic situation when you finish it, and then you submit to festivals for months and months and it’s hard because with your first festival submission, your a nobody and the film has not been anywhere so to try and get noticed is difficult, so it’s tricky! But then once you get noticed, it’s screened somewhere and it might win an award, and then once it does that, you might get noticed a bit more and get some more festivals because you have some awards and festivals under your belt. People might want to watch it a bit more seriously and it just snowballs and gets crazier and crazier and then all of that keeps going and then suddenly, I was in Tokyo winning Best Film at the ShortShorts, and now the BAFTAS.

Before I knew it, it just took off and originally it started as “Will this be as good as my last movie?” and then you think it’s not good, but by the end here you are, and it’s crazier than I ever imagined.

View the trailer for “Solstice” now!