Drama – Unspool Hollywood

CLARISSA: Review

Release Dates: December 11, 2026, in the United States

Directors: Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri
Writer: Chuko Esiri
Based on novel “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf
Starring: Sophie Okonedo, David Oyelowo, Toheeb Jimoh, India Amarteifio, Jude Akuwudike, Danny Sapani, Modesinuola Ogundiwin, Chuks Joseph, Fortune Nwafor, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Joke Silva, Ayo Edebiri
Run time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Genre: Romance, Drama
Country: United States, Nigeria, Egypt
Language: English

When class and money can not shield you from mental health challenges

Directors’ Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri ‘CLARRISA’ tells the story of Clarissa (Sophie Okonedo), as a teenager, young Clarissa (India Amarteifio), and into adulthood as prepares for her dinner party during Nigeria’ independence and her relationship with her life long friends: Peter (David Oyelowo), Clarissa's former lover, young Peter (Toheeb Jimoh), Sally (Nikki Amuka-Bird) , Clarissa's estranged friend, young Sally (Ayo Edebiri). It explores the tragedy of was through the eyes of an army soldier Septimus (Fortune Nwafor), suffering from PTSD.

Richard (Jude Akuwudike) Clarissa's husband, Young (Richard Ogranya), Ugo (Danny Sapani), Clarissa's friend, young Ugo (Kehinde Cardoso), Aisha (Modesinuola Ogundiwin), Septimus' wife, Lady Maryam (Joke Silva), Ugo's boss, Chuks Joseph as Evans, and Joy Sunday as Comfort

CLARISSA puts a spotlight on mental health that can impact on anyone, rich, poor, civilian, or soldier and how people deal and cope with their mental health.

An adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway,” CLARISSAS provides a unique perspective of the African cultures and the norms in their societies while staying true to essence of her novel. A great film.

Directors Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri film portrays a deeply moving look at the complexities of people and their struggles and does an excellent job of showing the challenges that the characters face.

Cinematographer Jonthan Bloom captures the life, hopes and struggles of each of the characters. And brings you into the film.

Writer Chuko Esiri script just a fantastic job of giving movie goers a true sense of Africa and the things a place unique to Nigeria. The dialogue and plot provide credible interactions.

Blair McClendons editing flows from scene to scene, its is going back and forth to their teenage years to the present day.

Costume Designer Eniola Dawod helps bring the film and Africa to life with the colorful and vibrant cloth and designs. Reminding you, you are not in London, but on a journey to Africa.

Adapting the Virginia Woolf novel and setting Nigeria Abraka, Delta State, and Lagos, Nigeria is a wonderful way represent the people and culture of Africa. It made it easy to immerse oneself in a reimaged country and its people.

The music by Kelsey Lu works well within the scenes. Whether it is at Clarissa’s party, and throughout the film includes the sadness of war and its effect on the human spirit.

CLARISSA is a vivid reminder of the mental health challenges faced by human beings, regardless of their station in life. Money and social class are never a guarantee one will be spared from mental health struggles. CLARISSA is a great film you must see.

Distributor: NEON
Production Co: Per Capita Productions, Invention Studios
Producers: Theresa Park, Nicky Weinstock, Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri
Run time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Starring: Sophie Okonedo, David Oyelowo, Toheeb Jimoh, India Amarteifio, Jude Akuwudike, Danny Sapani, Modesinuola Ogundiwin, Chuks Joseph, Fortune Nwafor, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Joke Silva, Ayo Edebiri
Directors: Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri
Writer: Chuko Esiri
Casting: Nina Gold
Cinematographer: Jonthan Bloom
Editor: Blair McClendons
Music: Kelsey Lu
Casting: Nina Gold
Costume Designer: Eniola Dawod

QUEEN AT SEA – A Film by Lance Hammer Opening in New York on October 30th

Director and Writer: Lance Hammer
Starring Juliette Binoche, Tom Courtenay, and Anna Calder-Marshall
Genre: Drama
Run time: 2 hours 1minutes
Countries: United Kingdom, United States
Language: English

In Queen at Sea, Amanda (Binoche) and her stepfather (Courtenay) struggle with a moral issue that divides them. Has Amanda’s mother (Calder-Marshall), who is suffering from dementia, lost the ability to make critical decisions in her own best interests? If so, who is responsible – a spouse, a child, an institution – for making that determination. While navigating love and the fragile boundaries between care, protection, and autonomy, increasingly difficult choices need to be made, and repercussions spiral out of control.

Distributor: Curzon Film in the United Kingdom. Greenwich Entertainment in the United States
Producers: Tristan Goligher, Lance Hammer
Production Companies: The Bureau, Alluvial Film Company
Cinematographer: Adolpho Veloso
Editor: Lance Hammer
Sound Design: Kent Sparling
Costumes: Saffron Cullane
Production Design: Soraya Gilanni Viljoen

THE NORTH: Review

Director and Writer: Bart Schrijver
Starring: Bart Harder, Carles Pulido, Olly Bassi, Gráinne Blumenthal, Theo Fraser, Luisa Hendry, David Honeyman, McQuiston John, Chris Lawlor, Pep Planas, Jacob Smyth, Matthijs van de Sande Bakhuyzen, Sharon Verdegem, Steve Walker
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Country: Scotland
Language: English, Spanish, Nordic

Can you recreate moments of the past or do you start anew?

Director and writer Bart Schrijver’s THE NORTH tells the story of the long and grueling hike of Chris (Bart Harder) and Lluis (Carles Pulido), two childhood friends who connect after a decade to recreate their 600 kilometers journey through the Scotland’s Highland Way and Cape Wrath Trail

With the beautiful backdrop of the West Highland Way and Cape Wrath Trail, Chris is focused on his wife, starting a family, and his job, while Lluis is trying to find his purpose.

THE NORTH reminds you of the beauty and the benefit of being in nature and the importance of friendship and family. It is a very good film.

Cinematographer Twan Peeters captures the true essence of their journey. It gives you a place on the trail, making you feel you are hiking along with them.

Bart Schrijver writing creates meaningful and heartfelt conversations between Chris and Lluis as well as others, as they connect after 10 years and try to relearn about each other.

Editor Gijs Walstra brings the film together so Chris and Lluis story flows effortless from scene to scene.

THE NORTH, filmed in the real place of Scotland’s Highland Way and Cape Wrath Trail is an idle location for a film of two old friends on a more than 300 miles hiking journey. The hills, the valley, waterfalls, lakes, and ocean are beautiful backdrop and provide a sense of peace.

When Chris and Lluis reconnected after a decade’s absence by going on the hike of a lifetime, while finding out who they are today and to each other. Are people able to recreate moments of the past or is it necessary for people to start anew?

Distributor: Incredible Film
Production Co: Tuesday Studio
Director and Writer: Bart Schrijver
Run time: 2 hours and 12 minutes
Starring: Bart Harder, Carles Pulido, Olly Bassi, Gráinne Blumenthal, Theo Fraser, Luisa Hendry, David Honeyman, McQuiston John, Chris Lawlor, Pep Planas, Jacob Smyth, Matthijs van de Sande Bakhuyzen, Sharon Verdegem, Steve Walker
Cinematography: Twan Peeters
Editor: Gijs Walstra
Composer: Michiel Nieuwenhuijs

MISTRY GREEN: Review

Release October 9, 2026

Director and Writer: Chris Rock
Starring: Rosalind Eleazar, Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick, Topher Grace, Chris Rock
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Run time: 1 hour 43 minutes
Rating: R
Country: United States
Language: English

Fame and Family, Family and Fame

Chris Rock’s new film MISTY GREEN takes you on a journey with Misty Green (Rosalind Eleazar) determined to recreate the Hollywood success of her past. Zach (Adam Driver), a so-called friend of Misty. She seeks the help of Randy (Topher Grace), her former talent agent,

Jay Green (Daniel Kaluuya), Misty's brother, who knows a thing or two about the criminal justice system, Naomi (Anna Kendrick), what everyone needs in Hollywood, a friend, and Jordan (Chris Rock), a casting director that knows Misty from her glory days.

Misty is faced with many choices. She is pulled towards nurturing and the need of family with Jay’s challenges.

Is family those related by blood or love? The film evokes the question; would you do anything for fame or family?

MISTY GREEN remined me of Norma Desmond in the 1950 film SUNSET BLVD. And begs the question, when is it time to leave the stage and lights behind?

MISTY GREEN is a good film that tells the story.

What stands out to me is her love for her brother, Jay, and her bond with Naomi.

Chris Rock’s direction of the film helps to explain Misty’s story. And his script provides dialogue, plot, credible, unpredictable)

Cinematographer Kira Kelly captures the lows and highs of Misty.

Editor Adam Dicterow keeps the flows from scene to scene.

The costume design fits the time and style of the movie. A good reminder of 2026.

They could not have chosen a better location than Hollywood for the film. It gives the real effect of the days in the life of an actress. You have Hollywood Boulevard, Fox Studios backlot. Great reminders of Hollywood.location

The score from Marcus Miller works well with the scenes and provides the backdrop the comedy and drama of a life of an actress.

As with any actress, MISTY GREEN leaves you with the question, how far are you willing to go for fame and fortune?

Distributor: A24
Producers: Peter Rice, Chris Rock, David Worthen Brooks, Victoria Thomas
Production Companies: Macro Film Studios, Confluential Films
Run time: 1 hour 43 minutes
Starring: Rosalind Eleazar, Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick, Topher Grace, Chris Rock
Director and Writer: Chris Rock
Cinematographer: Kira Kelly
Editor: Adam Dicterow
Music: Marcus Miller

SICK World Premiere at FANTASTIC FEST 2026

Director and Writer: Agata Trzebuchowska
Starring: Konrad Kąkol, Katarzyna Łubik, Monika Niemczyk, Julian Świeżewski, And Eliza Rycembel
Producers: Patryk Sielecki, Adrianna Rędzia
Genre: Drama, Horror
Country: Poland
Language: Polish with English subtitles
Run time: 1 hour 30 minutes

FANTASTIC FEST 2026 OFFICIAL SCREENINGS

Friday, Sept 18 at 5:30PM (Theater 6)- WORLD PREMIERE

Saturday, Sept 19 at 8:00AM P&I Screening (Theater 8)

Thursday, Sept 24 at 5:45PM (Theater 6)

Thursday, Sept 24 at 5:45PM (Theater 7)

During the summer holidays, Maks (16) and his older sister Emma (19) are sent to the Polish countryside to care for their ailing grandmother. Trapped together in the heavy, stifling isolation of the summer heat, the siblings’ bond begins to shift into something unsettling and difficult to define. As tensions rise and boundaries begin to blur, their grandmother’s frail presence takes on an increasingly disturbing quality, turning a once-idyllic summer into a haunting passage into adulthood.

AGATA TRZEBUCHOWSKA is a director and screenwriter. She first gained international recognition for her lead role in IDA, directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and earned her an EFA nomination. Her short film debut, HEAT, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her subsequent short, VACANCY screened at top festivals across the world including Go Short and Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival. In addition to her feature-length debut SICK, she is currently in pre-production on THIS IS NO PLACE FOR YOU, a Polish-French co-production and URKE, a surreal mockument

THE ARROW AT REST AT EVERY INSTANT OF ITS FLIGHT – Premiering at Edinburgh Film Fest!

Releases August 14, 2026

Official Selection - Edinburgh International Film Festival - Lynda Myles Celebrates

Director and Producer: Theodore Schaefer
Writers: Patrick Lawler & Theodore Schaefer
Starring: Gus Birney, Jack Haven, Roberta Colindrez, Daniel Zolghadri, John Early, with Dylan Baker, Josh Mostel, Reed Birney, and Constance Shulman
Genre: Drama
Run time: 1 hour 21 minutes
Country: USA

Director and Producer Theodore Schaefer's new film THE ARROW AT REST AT EVERY INSTANT OF ITS FLIGHT is a satirical triptych that follows three young women, who all look identical. One girl stages a heist, another discovers her secret lover is also sleeping with her boyfriend, while the third sets out to save a woman from suicide.

Three seemingly disconnected stories unfold across New York City. Gus Birney stars as Violet, a jaded arcade worker, Sinopia, an upper-class professor bored with her marriage, and Jade, an endlessly cool young woman who decides to help a stranger out of her debt. Meanwhile, a woman with a suitcase (Constance Shulman) moves through the city in search of the doppelganger trying to take over her life. Surreal, comedic and reflexive, this film plays out like free jazz, with writer-director Schaefer deftly pulling us through this whirlwind black-and-white flight of fancy.

About Theodore Schaefer
A New York-based Director and Producer. His feature film debut, Giving Birth to a Butterfly, premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival to critical acclaim. The New York Times praised the film’s “enthralling sense of atmosphere” and Film Threat called it “Donnie Darko meets Twin Peaks.” The film was released theatrically by Cinedigm and Fandor in 2023. Theodore’s recent commercial work includes the viral Blockbuster ad that won three Cannes Lions, including the Gold prize for Breakthrough on a Budget (2023). Through Dweck Productions, Theodore has produced a slate of successful features, including We're All Going To The World's Fair (Sundance 2021, Utopia and HBO MAX), The Adults (Berlin 2023, Universal), Tendaberry (Sundance 2024), Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point (Cannes Directors Fortnight 2024, IFC), Vulcanizadora (Tribeca 2024, Oscilloscope), and Maddie’s Secret (TIFF 2025, Magnolia).

Producers: Daniel April, Hannah Dweck, Hannah Kettering, Sherwyn Santos
Executive Producer: Jane Schoenbrun

View Official Trailer: The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 – Comic Con 2026

Developed by J. D. Payne, Patrick McKay
Showrunners: J. D. Payne, Patrick McKay
Based on The Lord of the Rings and appendices by J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Run time: 61–76 minutes
Theme music composer: Howard Shore
Composer: Bear McCreary
Country: United States
Language: English
Executive Producers: J. D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, Justin Doble, Gennifer Hutchison, Jason Cahill, J. A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Eugene Kelly, Bruce Richmond, Sharon Tal Yguado, Charlotte Brändström, Kate Hazell
Producers: Ron Ames, Chris Newman
Production companies: Amazon MGM Studios, New Line Cinema

View New Trailer: Chris Rock’s MISTY GREEN out October 2026

Director and Writer: Chris Rock
Starring: Rosalind Eleazar, Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick, Topher Grace, and Chris Rock
Genre: Drama
Country: United States
Language: English
Run time: 1 hour 43 minutes

Director Chris Rock's Hollywood drama MISTY GREEN tells her story of years after her Hollywood breakthrough, a talented actress whose career has stalled fights for her second act.

Producers: Peter Rice, Chris Rock, David Worthen Brooks
Director of Photography: Kira Kelly, ASC
Production Designer: Michelle Patterson
Editor: Adam Dicterow
Costume Designer: Neishea Lemle
Music: Marcus Miller

FOR THE LOVE OF A WOMAN In Select Theaters Starting Friday, June 26th

Director: Guido Chiesa
Starring Mili Avital, Ana Ularu, Ori Pfef, Alban Ukaj and Marc Rissmann

In the 1970s, Esther, an American woman mourning her mother, receives a letter that sets her on a journey to uncover a hidden chapter of her family’s history. With the help of Zayde, a university professor with secrets of his own, she begins searching for a woman who lived decades earlier in British Mandate Palestine.

The woman is Yehudit, whose arrival in a settlers’ village in the 1930s entangled the lives of three men: a widowed father, an idealistic farmer and a cattle trader. By tying together the threads that bind past and present, Esther and Zayde discover a shocking truth.

Based on the acclaimed novel The Loves of Judith by beloved author Meir Shalev, this English-language drama is directed by Guido Chiesa and stars Mili Avital (Stargate), Ori Pfeffer (Hacksaw Ridge, Munich), Moni Moshonov(Late Marriage, America), Menashe Noy (Gett, Tehran), Ana Ularu (Andor), Marc Rissmann (Game of Thrones) and Alban Ukaj (Quo Vadis, Aida?).

New York, NY // Quad Cinema, June 26

Los Angeles, CA // Laemmle Royal, July 10

Encino, CA // Laemmle Town Center, July 10

Chicago, IL // Wayfarer Theater, July 10

Delray Beach, FL // Movies of Delray, July 10

Lake Worth, FL // Movies of Lake Worth, July 10

Scottsdale, AZ // Harkins Shea, July 17

Sedona, AZ // Mary D. Fisher Theater, July 17

View Official Trailer: BY ANY MEANS in Theatres Only September 4, 2026!

Director: Elegance Bratton
Writer: Sascha Penn
Starring; Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Wahlberg, Nicole Beharie, Josh Lucas LisaGay Hamilton, LaChanze, Ethan Embry with David Strathairn and Giancarlo Esposito

Based on a true story, a young Black FBI agent (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is sent into 1960s Mississippi to investigate a wave of brutal killings targeting civil rights leaders. Forced to work alongside notorious mafia hitman Greg Scarpa (Mark Wahlberg), he finds himself pulled into a deadly hunt where justice and vengeance begin to blur.

When the system is broken, two men divided by everything agree on one thing: the law has limits. They don’t.

#ByAnyMeansMovie

Executive Producers
David Goldman, Brent Guttman, Mark Carmer, Chris Tremann, Petr Jakl, Lee Broda, Jeff Rice, Adam Kolbrenner, Sascha Penn, Wayne Marc Godfrey, Nicki Cortese, Chase Vergari, Gianni Benvenuto, Ibrahim Mohammed, Yasmyne Mohammed, Logan Coles, Jonathan Miller, Rob McGillivray, Mark Holder, Christine Holder, Richie Walls, Brando Eaton, Gregg Davis, Philip Schenkler, Kevin Lee, Jesse Fox, Dorit L. Hakim-Kramer, Lee Shira, Jonathan Oakes, Walter Josten, Patrick Josten, Brian Keefe, Kim Atwood Cleworth, Jason Pamer, Victor Moyers, Michael Rothstein, Samuel Hall, Warren Goz

Producers:
Alex Lebovici, p.g.a., Chester Algernal Gordon, p.g.a., Elegance Bratton, p.g.a., Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, p.g.a., Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson