Looking for what to see in theaters? Our feature, updated weekly, highlights our top recommendations for films currently in theaters, from new releases to restorations receiving a proper theatrical run. While we already provide extensive monthly new-release recommendations and weekly streaming recommendations, as distributors’ roll-outs can vary, this is a one-stop list to share the […]
The post The Best Movies Now Playing in Theaters first appeared on The Film Stage.
Note: This interview was originally published in 2025. Sirat opens on February 6, 2026. As music thumps across the desert landscape of Morocco’s Atlas Mountains and ravers give themselves over to the endless bass, whispers of World War III echo in the margins. In Sirāt, Oliver Laxe’s fourth feature, pinning down exactly what the extraneous […]
The post “Images Are Dead”: Oliver Laxe on Sirāt and Spirituality first appeared on The Film Stage.
Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2025 Cannes coverage. Pillion opens in theaters on February 6. It wouldn’t be Cannes without a good scandal film. For 2025, British director Harry Lighton’s feature debut Pillion may be the one that sends the most people clutching their pearls. Centered on a dom-sub relationship […]
The post Pillion Review: A Provocative, Funny, and Touching Anti-Romance first appeared on The Film Stage.
Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2025 Cannes coverage. Sirat opens on February 6, 2026. For the French-Spanish filmmaker Oliver Laxe, a competition berth in Cannes has been a long time coming. Laxe was here in 2010 (You All Are Captains), 2016 (Mimosas), and 2019 (Fire Will Come) without once going […]
The post Sirat Review: Oliver Laxe’s Desert Trance Is a Grand, Adventurous Achievement first appeared on The Film Stage.
Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2025 Cannes coverage. The President’s Cake opens in theaters on February 6. Among the best things in The President’s Cake are the colors. There’s the deep red of a rooster’s comb as it peeks out from a young girl’s carrying pouch; there’s the white decorations […]
The post The President’s Cake Review: All the Ingredients of a Breakthrough Directorial Debut first appeared on The Film Stage.
Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2025 NYFF coverage. Scarlet opens in theaters on February 6. Across two decades of crafting animated features, director Mamoru Hosoda has made both intimate dramas like Wolf Children and high-concept films like the science-fiction spectacle Summer Wars. In 2019, his family fantasy Mirai was nominated […]
The post Scarlet Review: Mamoru Hosoda Simplistically Adapts a Timeless Tale first appeared on The Film Stage.
The shortest month of the year has a handful of cinematic highlights, including numerous films that qualified for awards last year but are now getting official roll-outs. Other notable releases include a contender for the funniest film of 2026, the latest from one of the most prolific directors working today, the long-awaited return of a […]
The post 10 Films to See in February first appeared on The Film Stage.
Gold is such an apt metaphor for greed. It’s shiny, it’s heavy, it’s superficial, and it’s obtained through someone’s hard labor. That labor is carried on the backs of the downtrodden and desperate while its benefactors maintain a comfortable distance. Gold prices are currently at an all-time high, a testament to the timelessness of its […]
The post Sundance Review: Ethan Hawke is Good as Gold in The Weight first appeared on The Film Stage.
Rock Springs works within a familiar genre framework––a family moves to a home in a town filled with strange people and is promptly haunted by spirits––to probe deeper ideas on the immigrant experience while exploring a Buddhist view of the afterlife. Divided into chapters, each from a different perspective, the film opens on Grace (Aria […]
The post Sundance Review: Rock Springs Tells an Ambitious Ghost Tale first appeared on The Film Stage.
After earning some of the finest acclaim of his career for May December, Todd Haynes was all set to embark on a 1930s, Los Angeles-set noir romance back in the summer of 2024. When Joaquin Phoenix got cold feet mere days before production was set to begin, the director had to go back to the […]
The post Todd Haynes to Shoot De Noche with Pedro Pascal and Danny Ramirez Starting Next Month first appeared on The Film Stage.
