I Swear (2026)

Aramayo has given a performance here that lives up to the hype and the awards he's won. I often struggle with performances (and films) about real people when the real people are involved as it is sometimes hard to separate the film making and story from the desire to be flattering to the person in question. And while I Swear does sometimes lean into after-school-special vibes, it rises above that mostly through its high level of performances and Jones' direction which manages to be very effective in telling its story, not just relying on audience sympathy. 

Again enough credit can't be given to Aramayo and the rest of the cast who bring their A-game. Aramayo never feels like he's doing a caricature and the script does a good job of blending humour with the pathos in a very respectful way. We are never laughing at John Davidson, we are laughing at our own humanity.  

The film is at its best when it is focusing on the relationships between the people. It builds up enough good will that when it starts to lean into the hero aspects of the narrative near the end that we are welcoming of seeing the progress brought about by people like Davidson through putting himself out there. And if we do walk out of I Swear all wanting to be a bit of a better person, that's not such a bad thing too.  

I Swear

Starring: Robert Aramayo, Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson, Peter Mullan, Scott Ellis Watson

Writer/Director: Kirk Jones

 

The Christophers (2026)

It's hard to imagine two actors who have more incredibly fascinating faces to watch than McKellen and Coel. Put them together, in a movie that is essentially a two-person show of two greats facing off against each other, and you have one of the most intensely watchable talky movies that you'll see in a long time. The Christophers, with its smart, hilarious, and touching script by screenwriter Ed Soloman, directed by master film maker Soderdergh, is a quiet little masterclass in how to make a film that will sit with its audience long after the credits roll. 

I was mesmerized from the first scenes as the film set up its clever and enticing premise. But it was when Coel and McKellen have their first moment together that this film grabs you by the collar and you can't look away. McKellen gives what may become my favourite of his performances (in a career full of candidates for that title) as he rattles on brilliant soliloquies that bely a just under the surface sadness and a lot of coping arrogance. He chews up everything around him while giving us so much under the surface, knowing just how to act for the camera in layers of emotions hidden beneath emotions. Opposite him is Coel, playing a thoughtful, patiently brilliant character who chooses to hold her struggles and passions within, seething beneath her piercing eyes. The two are completely complimentary of each other and help to elevate their partner so effortlessly. It has been a while since I have seen such an amazing screen pairing as this. 

And the story is just so wonderfully beautiful. There are elements of a scheme that draw us in but it is the nature of the characters' relationships that ground us, so that the films beautiful ending, which avoids doing a gotcha-style resolution for something far richer, far more satisfying. I left The Christophers so grateful for having just enjoyed it so thoroughly and eager to revisit it again. 

The Christophers 

Starring: Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, James Corden, Jessica Gunning 

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Writer: Ed Soloman

Mile End Kicks (2026)

There are a few things I appreciated about writer/director Levack's Mile End Kicks. As an anglo who lived in Montreal I related to a lot of the references, as someone who has fallen for the wrong people at certain times in our lives (who hasn't) I could feel for Grace no matter how many bad decisions she made, but most of all I loved the way Levack upends the structure of a rom-com to tell a different story. 

Mile End Kicks is set up like a regular romantic comedy. Young woman building her career is positioned between the handsome bad boy who is all wrong for her and the more relatable, but still handsome enough, good boy who we know she'll end up with in the end. But that is just her jumping off point. Instead of letting that play out she uses this to tell the story of Grace who is deeply screwed up herself, and fumbling her way to a sort of rock bottom to start putting herself back together. In most ways the boys are just the afterthought, things to move her through her own journey. 

Mile End Kicks does a great job of creating Grace as a fully rounded and deeply flawed character. Ferreira's performance is delightful with her big almost silly smile and character glasses masking all that disastrous choices she is making. I loved the humanity she brought to her. Grace could easily be a very unlikeable character but in Levack's and Ferreira's hands she is so painfully relatable. You end up rooting for her despite how much you want to figuratively smack her like Cher in Moonstruck; "snap out of it!" 

My main nitpick is the end which feels like it gets all wrapped up a little too easily. Perhaps I'm being hard on it. The film does imply she still has a lot to work with, but some of the resolution felt a bit rushed. Still, the romance here is with a time in our lives when we're messy and flawed and figuring it all out and that part is something that is easy to love.

Mile End Kicks

Starring: Barbie Ferreira, Devon Bostick, Stanley Simons, Jay Baruchel

Writer/Director: Chandler Levack

 

Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026)

Apparently Cronin forgot he wasn't making an Evil Dead movie. Everything about his Mummy movie is just an Evil Dead movie with a Mummy "skin" thrown over it. The Evil Dead movies, even Cronin's, don't work for me. I just don't find them scary. They rely on tired horror tropes (often involving puritanical repulsions to sexuality) and a lot of exercises in how gross the film can be. Lee Cronin's The Mummy feels like another retread of this and it was just boring.

Mummy films walk a thin line between falling into orientalist biases and western fascination with ancient Egypt in general. This film barely manages to stay above a colonialist world view. But in doing so it also misses out of taking advantage of the ancient Egypt-ness about it. Sometimes this film feels like a cheap and generic Exorcist rip off. There is an ancient demon and the characters must use a ritual to contain it. Everything in this film feels been-there-done-that. 

But it's not just that. The film's script is lazy. So many things happen that just would not happen, especially around rules of international travel and health care. The story requires so mach suspension of disbelief that I just couldn't anymore. 

So by the time the scene's overly drawn out final scene arrived, I was so bored and so done, I wished it was over. Perhaps people who really like his Evil Dead film will get excited for this. For anyone else, skip it. 

Lee Cronin's The Mummy 
Starring: Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace

Writer/Director: Lee Cronin

Thrash (2026)

I love me a disaster movie. What I look for in a good one is great characters thrown into a difficult situation, strategizing on how to survive, while working through their character issues. It's best when the overall "disaster" works as both the situational catalyst for the characters' arcs, but also as metaphor for what they are dealing with. Thrash doesn't get to any of that, instead just being a fun survival story which takes the premise of Sharknado but makes it more realistic. So what we get are a group of characters who have to deal with the flooding resulting from a storm while also facing off against a group of hungry sharks that are more than happy to eat whomever they come across. And lets just admit it, Shark movies are fun and touch on something deep within the human psyche. 

Thrash does what it needs to to be what it wants to be. It sets up who the characters are, that the storm is coming, and that there are sharks in the water. Then it just lets its adventure play out. It's a little lazy on the character development (everyone is pretty two-dimensional), but we get enough of a who's who to get invested. It's pretty obvious who will survive and who won't as Thrash follows all the rules of the genre. As in most disaster movies, people get what's coming to them. The central (likeable) characters all make it out alive with only those we hate getting justice by being eaten by the sharks, or those who step up to be heroes but aren't necessarily that important to us. Don't expect the movie to defy any of your expectations. But if you like a movie that does just what you want it to do, then Thrash is for you. 

The shark action is fun and the film keeps you on the edge of your seat. Scenrios are set up to make for great shark attacks. Kids stranded in a flooding house. A woman giving birth and having to save her baby while swimming in shark infested waters (which leads to the film's greatest line "Mama just has to go and fight so FUCKING sharks!"). If you can get over the silliness of the story, Thrash ends up being a lot of fun without tipping into extreme goofiness like the Sharknado films I referenced. 

Yes I know it probably sounds silly critiquing the film for not finding deeper meaning and more powerful story arcs for a Netflix original movie about sharks in a storm, but I've seen movies rise above their station and it's always a pleasant surprise when they do (Twister is a masterpice). And when they don't I remind myself it's fine and I can still enjoy it, which I did with Thrash. So yeah a part of me always wishes there could be more here but I still had a fun if somewhat forgettable time.

Thrash

Starring: Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak, Djimon Hounsou 

Writer/Director: Tommy Wirkola

Outcome (2026)

Inside the film Outcome, which is a little inside-baseball sometimes, is the story of someone attempting to face their mistakes and take accountability after years of avoiding it. He isn't presented as a bad person, and casting beloved actor, Reeves, clear reinforces this idea. Instead it's exploring the ways we can all reflect on what hurt we may have brought into the world and if there are ways to atone for that. 

Outcome leans a bit into the sleight side of things, not really wrestling too hard with its themes. That isn't a fatal flaw. It's charming and earnest while also being entertaining and quite honestly funny. Writer/director/star Hill is really fun to watch and he doesn't draw things too two-dimensionally. There is enough complexity here that ground the story even if it doesn't get too far into the weeds to really deal with some of it. 

I was impressed with Reeves who I often find gives rather wooden performances. Here he felt a bit more authentic. I also liked how the film used its many cameos, a tool that could have felt super gimmicky, but here feels rather effective. Some are more comic relief, and others are have moments with more pathos. 

Hill balances his film with a sweet level of humour and humility. It remains a bit surface but still enjoyable.

Outcome

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jonah Hill, Matt Bomer, Cameron Diaz, David Spade, Laverne Cox, Susan Lucci, Atsuko Okatsuka, Martin Scorsese, Drew Barrymore

Director: Jonah Hill

Writers: Ezra Woods, Jonah Hill

Fantasy Life (2026)

Matthew Shear has made an impressive debut as a writer and director with Fantasy Life. The film may be a bit meandering and doesn't feel luck it carries much weight. But it's pleasant, offering a meaty role to Peet who steps up. It might be a bit more "slice of life" and have less to say that I might have preferred, but it is still a rather awkwardly enjoyable story with loveable characters. 

Shear is judicious and efficient with his storytelling, not lingering long in any one moment or event. He often allows characters to refer to what happened without always showing it all to us. This lets us infer things. There is space here for imagination. He is inviting us to participate in the story somewhat. 

Fantasy Life is often quite organically funny without ever being about jokes. The humour comes from the situations and the characters, who most bungle through life and manage despite themselves. 

Casting Hirsh, Martin, Balaban, and Harper is a wonderful choice as they fill the screen with life and laughs, again very organically. Allowing himself and Peet to carry the more dramatic weight of the film. 

Still there isn't a lot of weight here. I think that's sort of the point. He's telling a story about rather regular Joes who just can't seem to quite find their grooves but without a lot of tragedy. This story lives in a middle space that sort of just breathes and fumbles. 

Fantasy Life

Starring: Amanda Peet, Matthew Shear, Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, Andrea Martin, Zosia Mamet, Jessica Harper, Holland Taylor 

Writer/Director: Matthew Shear