The Film Stage

While 2026 still has a bit of bloom on its rose—personally speaking, entirely outside the scope of world events—Criterion is already halfway through the year. They’re beginning the latter stretch formidably: July’s line-up boasts nine titles and a box set, from two (or three!) figures on American cinema’s Mt. Rushmore to a title I honestly […]

The post The Criterion Collection’s July Lineup Features The Elephant Man, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and Mike Mills on 4K first appeared on The Film Stage.

The first thing we hear in Mother Mary is the sound of Michaela Coel’s voice. She anticipates Mother Mary’s arrival and warns us that this story is cursed. Anyone who has been watching television for the last decade could recognize the richness and clarity of her tone. But now, on the big screen, we get […]

The post Mother Mary Review: An Intimate, Metaphysical Two-Hander first appeared on The Film Stage.

Watching David Lowery’s Mother Mary made me think, in some unexpected way, of a scene early in Todd Field’s Tár, in which Lydia Tár dresses down a Juilliard student for his proud indifference to the Western canon. Field has said that Tár was having an argument with a younger version of herself: two people, two […]

The post David Lowery on Mother Mary, Beyoncé, and Transposing His Concerns Onto a Pop Icon first appeared on The Film Stage.

There’s a reason behind the odd credit at the start of Amrum: “A Hark Bohm film by Fatih Akin.” While the two collaborated before on the latter’s In the Fade, this project had a different beginning. Bohm wrote the script to direct himself before realizing he wouldn’t have the strength to do so. Raised on […]

The post Amrum Review: Fatih Akin Examines the Insidiousness of Fascism Through Coming-of-Age Lens first appeared on The Film Stage.

By all accounts a massive achievement in the legacy of Godzilla films, Takashi Yamazaki’s 2023 epic Godzilla Minus One went on to bring over $116 million worldwide on a budget of $10-$15 million, along with nabbing Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards. After receiving praise from the likes of Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, […]

The post Godzilla Returns to New York in First Teaser for Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus Zero first appeared on The Film Stage.

A selection at TIFF, NYFF, San Sebastian, and more, Milagros Mumenthaler’s acclaimed drama The Currents was picked up by Kino Lorber, who have set it for a release next month. Ahead of a release beginning May 29 at Film at Lincoln Center in NYC and June 5 at Laemmle Royal in LA, the new trailer […]

The post The Currents Trailer: Milagros Mumenthaler’s Acclaimed Drama Arrives This May first appeared on The Film Stage.

Ildikó Enyedi, director of the Oscar-nominated On Body and Soul, has brought together Tony Leung and Léa Seydoux for Silent Friend, which tells three stories connected to a tree over a period of more than 100 years. Following the film’s Venice and TIFF premieres, 1-2 Special will now give it a U.S. release beginning May 8, […]

The post Tony Leung Finds Earthly Connection in Exclusive Poster for Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend first appeared on The Film Stage.

Whatever the last great horror movie was, I doubt it was so strange or compelling as City Wide Fever. Shot on video, seemingly whenever the talent had free time from whatever else they were doing, this is a film rejects the eye-deadening digital that defines so many genre movies that go for prestige only to […]

The post Josh Heaps on the DIY Horror of City Wide Fever first appeared on The Film Stage.

It’s no surprise Rachel House gives the first credit at the end of her feature debut to Te Kāhui Tupua, the mountain at the center of The Mountain. Co-written by Tom Furniss (from his original story), the film follows a young girl (Elizabeth Atkinson’s Sam) who decides to climb their peak in order to request […]

The post The Mountain Review: A Cute Kiwi Tale About Friendship first appeared on The Film Stage.

Following last week’s unveiling of the main sections of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, we now have the lineups for three sidebars. First up and most notably, Directors’ Fortnight has revealed its promising lineup, which includes Kantemir Balagov’s Butterfly Jam, starring Barry Keoghan and Riley Keough, Radu Jude’s Diary of a Chambermaid, Lisandro Alonso’s Double […]

The post Cannes Directors’ Fortnight 2026 Lineup Includes Radu Jude, Lisandro Alonso, Kantemir Balagov, Clio Barnard & More first appeared on The Film Stage.