Kevin Jones

The Bride! ★★★ The Bride! is a reclamation. Opening with text hyping up the creation of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley as being done “on a dare,” writer and director Maggie Gyllenhaal boldly steps into th…

I dug #TheBride. Does it all work? No, it is messy and a bit scattershot. But, it is a fun ride with wacky performances from the whole cast and Maggie Gyllenhaal flexing her creativity. It's a blast and is smart. My review for @cineccentric.bsky.social: #FilmSky

My Wife Cries ★ To anyone who made it through the roughly one and a half hours of Angela Schanelec's contrived conversation piece, it might seem preposterous that this is still a relatively bearable sample of the German director-writer’s vacant work. Said oeuvre is a permanent presence at the Berlinale, where she has had more than half a dozen films, half of them in competition.

Angela Schanelec's My Wife Cries is a blunt picture of the emotional distance between a man and his wife. Read Lida Bach's Berlinale 2026 review below:

Light Pillar ★★½ Immobility, introversion, and isolation make for a timely, if occasionally exhausting, focus for Xu Zao's dreamlike debut feature Light Pillar. Premiering in the Perspectives section of the 76th Berlinale, the melancholy genre hybrid combines animation with live-action sequences into a science-fiction symphony oscillating between tender romance, social critique, and wry humor. The Chinese director, who also penned the screenplay and storyboards, sets his symbolic story in the near future where the alluring accessibility of virtual worlds promises an easy escape from loneliness and social disconnection.

Xu Zao's Light Pillar is a dreamlike feature film debut that explores themes of technology and culture. Read Lida Bach's Berlinale 2026 review of Light Pillar below:

The River Train ★★★ Dream, drama, and documentary intertwine in Lorenzo Ferro and Lucas A. Vignale’s ambitious, though often arcane coming-of-age tale, premiering at the 76th Berlinale’s Perspectives section. Th…

#ICYMI: Lida Bach reviews #LorenzoFerro & #LucasAVignale 's #TheRiverTrain. Read her thoughts on the #Berlinale2026 film below:

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Dao ★★★½ With his third Berlinale competition feature after 2012’s Aujourd’hui and Félicité in 2017, Alain Gomis reaffirms himself as one of contemporary cinema’s formative chroniclers of cultural ide…

#ICYMI: Lida Bach reviews #AlainGomis' #DaoMovie. Read her thoughts on the #Berlinale2026 film below:

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Not a Hero ★★½ After Village Rockstars in 2017 and the following year’s Bulbul Can Sing, Rima Das returns to Berlinale’s Generation section—dedicated to films for children and teenagers—with another tender …

#ICYMI: Lida Bach reviews #RimaDas' #NotaHero. Read her thoughts on the #Berlinale2026 film below:

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Lali ★★½ Making its own little bit of cinematic history as the first fully Pakistani production to be selected for Berlinale’s Panorama section, Sarmad Sultan Khoosat’s supernatural satire combines bl…

#ICYMI: Lida Bach reviews #SarmadSultanKhoosat 's #Lali. Read her thoughts on the #Berlinale2026 film below:

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Young Mothers ★★★ The Dardenne brothers have dedicated their filmography to telling stories about marginalized individuals within European society. Their latest, Young Mothers, is a natural fit for the directors, depicting the lives of five teenage mothers and their efforts to build lives for themselves and their babies. Each of the mothers is dedicated to ensuring their babies will have better lives than their own, and this is sought out by different means influenced by the mothers’ upbringings. 

The Dardenne Brothers' Young Mothers is a testament to the strength and resilience of youth and the hope found in building a better future. Read Alex Sitaras' review of Young Mothers below:

People still saying they 100% won't vote for x, y, and z Dems if they're on the ballot in 2028. Just madness.

Yes, we must keep working to get the best possible candidates, but jesus fuck do you not understand the stark difference between a "bad" Dem and [waves hands all around] this?!

The Bride movie poster

#NowWatching in theaters #TheBride #FilmSky

The Secret Agent ★★★½ The Secret Agent is a time machine transporting viewers to 1977 Brazil. The sights, sounds, and feeling, all come to life in director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s sprawling neo-noir political thriller. It follows Armando (Wagner Moura), who was a university professor before drawing the ire of the authoritarian Brazilian government. As the film begins, he is traveling to Recife where his son Fernando (

Kleber Mendonça Filho's The Secret Agent is ambitious in scope and scale, but impressively distills its numerous themes while providing a thrilling and magical experience. Read Kevin Jones' review below:

The Secret Agent ★★★½ The Secret Agent is a time machine transporting viewers to 1977 Brazil. The sights, sounds, and feeling, all come to life in director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s sprawling neo-noir political thriller. …

#TheSecretAgent really impressed me. Wagner Moura is terrific. Thematically ambitious and impressive in both scope and scale, Kleber Mendonça Filho's film never out-reaches his grasp. Read my full review for @cineccentric.bsky.social: #FilmSky

Hamnet ★★★½ Part of the artistic achievement of Chloé Zhao’s absorbing account of genius and the personal grammar of grief is not only to build a strongly fictionalized protagonist who can hold up agains…

#ChloéZhao 's #Hamnet is released today on home media. Read why we recommend the film below:

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The Plague ★★★½ Teenage boys are horrifying. That much is clear from The Plague and its opening scene. A swimming pool is filmed from below the water with the dark blue water and eerie lighting contributing to a sense of unease. This is heightened by droning synth music as the boys dive into the pool, disturbing the calm water. As the camera slowly approaches one of the boy’s bodies from underwater as if he were prey, we’ve just about experienced every trick in the horror playbook in…

Charlie Polinger uses horror filmmaking techniques to tell a memorable coming-of-age story set at a boys-only water polo summer camp. Read Alex Sitaras' review of The Plague below:

Trial of Hein ★★½ There is a strange stage-like quality to Kai Stänicke's first feature Trial of Hein, premiering in the 76th Berlinale’s Perspectives section reserved for cinematic debuts, one that is so uniform it suggests the historical drama might be based on a theater play. While the allegorical tale of young Hein (Paul Boche) returning after years on the mainland to his remote home village on a tiny island, where nobody seems to recognize him, has no direct source material, strangeness lies at its core.

Kai Stänicke's Trial of Hein is a homecoming story of a man returning to his remote village where nobody seems to recognize him. Read Lida Bach's Berlinale 2026 review of Trial of Hein below:

Berlinale 2026: At the Sea, Queen at Sea, Nina Roza, The Loneliest Man in Town There were two movies in the 2026 Berlinale Competition lineup with oddly similar titles. As fate would have it, one of them was among the best in the section, and one of them was the absolute wors…

#ICYMI: Sean Erickson shares his thoughts on several Competition titles from #Berlinale2026. Read below:

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Not a Hero ★★½ After Village Rockstars in 2017 and the following year's Bulbul Can Sing, Rima Das returns to Berlinale’s Generation section—dedicated to films for children and teenagers—with another tender observation of the bonds and ruptures of growing up. The Indian director-writer's newest story seems especially close to her heart, as many of its lively vignettes, reaching from the playful to the softly painful, sprung from watching her nephew.

Rima Das' Not a Hero tells a youth- and family-driven story that leans on whimsy. Read Lida Bach's 2026 Berlin International Film Festival review of Not a Hero below:

Lali ★★½ Making its own little bit of cinematic history as the first fully Pakistani production to be selected for Berlinale’s Panorama section, Sarmad Sultan Khoosat's supernatural satire combines black comedy, melodrama, and psychological horror into a visually arresting, if occasionally opaque, cultural critique. Set in the administrative capital Sahiwal, the scenario opens at a Punjabi wedding where sinister rumors undermine the exuberance.

Sarmad Sultan Khoosat's Lali is a genre hybrid of black comedy, melodrama, and psychological horror that acts as Punjabi cultural critique. Read Lida Bach's 2026 Berlin International Film Festival review of Lali below:

Berlinale 2026: Yellow Letters, In a Whisper, Rose Let’s catch up with the Competition, shall we? When I wrote about Rosebush Pruning I mentioned that a lot of the festival’s early films seemed to be playing it a little safe. But that’s not to say …

#ICYMI: Sean Erickson shares his thoughts on a selection of the Main Competition titles from #Berlinale2026. Read below:

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The River Train ★★★ Dream, drama, and documentary intertwine in Lorenzo Ferro and Lucas A. Vignale's ambitious, though often arcane coming-of-age tale, premiering at the 76th Berlinale’s Perspectives section. The festival’s platform for debut features with an unusual or innovative style becomes a perfect showcase for the deceptively straightforward premise, connecting a set of suggestive scenarios that waver between symbolism and surrealism. Magritte and de Chirico seem among the many stylistic inspirations for the somnambulist story of 9-year-old Milo (

Lorenzo Ferro & Lucas A. Vignale's The River Train is an imaginative coming-of-age story set in Buenos Aires. Read Lida Bach's Berlinale 2026 review of the film below:

Chronicles from the Siege ★★★½ Life continues in spite of death in Abdallah Al-Khatib's visceral feature debut that turns to moments of absurdist humor and surreal horror to convey the daily terror of existence under permanent occupation. After years of acclaimed documentary work, the Palestinian-Syrian director crafts an intense war ensemble that makes the fragmented realities and constant fight of the oppressed palpable with minimal means and impressive invention.

Abdallah Al-Khatib's Chronicles from the Siege tells a story of survival in an unnamed city that has been ravaged by war. Read Lida Bach's Berlinale 2026 review of the film below:

How to Make a Killing ★★★ In his directorial debut Emily the Criminal, director John Patton Ford offered a cynical and dark noir updated for the modern day. In his sophomore feature, How to Make a Killing, he again tackles …

#ICYMI: @kevinjones1.bsky.social shares his thoughts on #JohnPattonFord 's sophomore film #HowtoMakeaKilling. Read below:

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Wuthering Heights ★½ For her third feature film, oft-discussed director Emerald Fennell tackles Emily Brontë’s classic novel Wuthering Heights. As has been done in past adaptations of the novel, it focuses entirely on …

#ICYMI: @kevinjones1.bsky.social reviews #EmeraldFennell 's #WutheringHeights. Read his review of the film below:

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The Secret Agent movie poster

#NowWatching in theaters #TheSecretAgent #FilmSky

Crime 101 ★★★ Crime 101 is one for lovers of classic crime movies. An adaptation of Don Winslow’s novel of the same name, director Bart Layton’s film plays like an homage to these films. The era of cool, classic…

#ICYMI: @kevinjones1.bsky.social reviews #BartLayton 's #Crime101. Read his thoughts on the film below:

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Berlinale 2026: A Prayer for the Dying, The Blood Countess, Sleep No More Within the sprawling festival program, the Berlinale Special section isn’t an easy one to pin down. Over the years it’s maintained its status as a high-profile part of the lineup, often showcasing …

#ICYMI: Sean Erickson shares his thoughts on a few films from the #Berlinale2026 Special section. Read below:

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La grazia ★★★ La grazia is a political drama of a bygone era (a less jaded one). It is set in the last months of President Mariano De Santis’ (Toni Servillo) term. This weighs on De Santis as his decisions now w…

#ICYMI: Alex Sitaras reviews #PaoloSorrentino 's latest film #Lagrazia. Read his review of the film below:

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A Private Life ★★½ Director Rebecca Zlotowski’s A Private Life is a fun and mostly light murder mystery comedy centered on psychiatrist Dr. Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster). Her patient Paula (Virginie Efira) recently d…

#ICYMI: @kevinjones1.bsky.social reviews #RebeccaZlotowski 's #APrivateLife starring #JodieFoster. Read his thoughts on the film below:

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Exploring Jacob’s Ladder and The Life of Chuck as Cinematic Maps of Dying Exploring horror, film, and pop culture, all while celebrating the creators, history, and artistry that keep the genre alive.

ICYMI: Recently, I happened to watch both JACOB’S LADDER & THE LIFE OF CHUCK around the same time & how they both depicted the process of dying cinematically hit me so hard that I decided to write about them. Available to ALL subscribers: from-the-desk-of-the-horror-chick.ghost.io/exploring-ja...

Berlinale 2026: Previewing the Competition Once again, Berlin’s cinematic high holidays are upon us, with the 76th edition of the Berlinale film festival set to begin on February 12th, with the opening night selection of Shahrbanoo Sadat’s …

#ICYMI: Sean Erickson is providing coverage of #Berlinale2026. Read his preview of the festival below:

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