No one is making movies quite like Bi Gan. His latest outing, Resurrection, is an enchanting, experimental cinematic voyager through time, space, and genre. It’s an exploration that takes us through the past, present, future, and back again. It’s a loving ode to a century of cinema history and a spectacular visual feast, with astonishing production design, immaculate sound work, and mesmerizing cinematography.

Bradley Cooper’s third feature film, Is This Thing On?, exhibits the same intrigue with romantic complexities and a passion for the arts that were on display in his previous films, A Star Is Born and Maestro. This time, however, the art form is stand-up comedy rather than music. The film follows Alex Novak (Will Arnett), who reaches an amicable decision with his wife Tess (Laura Dern) to separate. One night, Alex wants a drink, but the bar has a $15 cover charge. The bouncer informs him that people who sign up for the open mic night are exempt from the cover, so he signs up. This awakens something in him, and he rapidly develops a passion for performing stand-up. On the surface, Is This Thing On? seems like it would be a simple movie about a man coping with his impending divorce by pursuing stand-up comedy, but in reality, it’s so much more than that.

Mascha Schilinski’s Cannes Jury Prize-winning Sound of Falling is simultaneously sprawling yet incredibly intimate. It truly feels like traveling through time and inhabiting multiple lives. The film is set at a farmhouse in the Altmark region of Germany and follows the lives of four girls who lived there during distinct time periods. Alma (Hanna Heckt) lived there shortly before World War I. The farmhouse was Erika’s (Lea Drinda) home at the end of World War II. Angelika (Lena Urzendowsky) called the house her home in the 1980s. Lastly, Lenka’s (Laeni Geiseler) story is set in the present. Despite their different circumstances, there are surprisingly similarities that each girl shares. Sound of Falling is a haunting, beautiful film that feels poetic and almost impressionistic in its storytelling as it weaves in and out of each girl’s unique story.

Harry Lighton’s directorial debut, Pillion, is one of the most thoughtful and tender portraits of a BDSM relationship ever put to screen. Too often, cinematic depictions of BDSM lean on stereotypes—turning dominants into predators, objectifying submissives, or portraying the community as something seedy and dangerous. Pillion rejects those false and harmful clichés. Lighton approaches kink with surprising sincerity, crafting a film that’s erotic, intimate, and deeply romantic without ever slipping into judgment or sensationalism.

Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winning It Was Just An Accident is a masterclass in balancing tonal extremes. The film shifts between humor and rage with remarkable dexterity. Panahi injects a surprising amount of levity into a story that’s both dark and devastating, striking a pitch-perfect balance that keeps the audience laughing, engaged, and unsettled in equal measure. It Was Just an Accident is a captivating, darkly hilarious, and thought-provoking exploration of the futility of revenge and the vicious cycle of vengeance it perpetuates.

Nouvelle Vague is equal parts a love letter to the French New Wave and a hangout movie. Richard Linklater has been discussing his desire to make a film about the production of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless for over a decade, and with Nouvelle Vague, he turned that vision into a reality. It’s a film about the French New Wave shot in the style of the era. However, it’s difficult to say whether someone like Jean-Luc Godard himself would love it or hate it, as it feels like a loving homage that occasionally veers into unintentional parody.

Ronan Day-Lewis’ feature directorial debut, Anemone, is likely to spark accusations of “nepotism” because the film serves as his father Daniel Day-Lewis’ return to acting after retiring in 2017. However, the father-and-son duo also wrote the screenplay together, and their shared passion for this project is evident. Moreover, right from the film’s opening frames, it’s evident that Ronan Day-Lewis exhibits major promise in the director’s chair.

I know it’s a sin to review a movie by dwelling on what the movie could have been or should have been instead of what it actually is, but I made the mistake of reading a draft of Nora Garrett’s screenplay for After the Hunt prior to seeing the film. The script was so enthralling, I couldn’t put it down. The characters were despicable yet deeply human. They were complex, layered, and captivating. The social commentary was timely and sharp without feeling preachy. The narrative flowed with momentum and precision, steadily building up tension. It even threw in a few surprises, but ones that still made sense narratively. It was everything I wanted Todd Field’s TÁR to be, and more. Traces of that brilliance still linger in the version that made it to screen, but they’re buried beneath a mass of baffling changes and ill-conceived stylistic choices, resulting in a film that feels scattered, bogged down, and bewildering.

In September 2023, a single phone call shattered my world. Much like the protagonist in the opening scene of Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, I thought I had it all. After overcoming a childhood steeped in financial strain, I finally secured a job that freed me from living paycheck to paycheck. My success exceeded my wildest expectations, given the position from which I started. I thought I made it. But then, everything was ripped right out from under me in an instant.