Next Best Picture

Girls Like Girls announces Kiyoko as a filmmaker of great emotional maturity, one who can speak to young audiences without pandering to the hyperactive style that dominates the other media they consume. It’s a perfect film for Pride.

If Toy Story 5 doesn’t quite represent peak Pixar, it does find the studio willing to tinker with its established formula in little ways that make a big difference.

The strange world of Georgia Bernstein’s Night Nurse might not be on everyone’s wavelength, and the heightened aesthetic might be alienating. Still, the feeling of alienation is precisely what Bernstein excels at. Her feature debut shines for its uniquely mapped out story, and her distinctively hypnotic style leaves a reverberating impact long after the credits roll.

I Am Frankelda is a love letter to spooky stories and to those who write them. It’s about the agony of being misunderstood, the thrill of creating something only you can see, and the strength that comes from owning your nightmares.

Admirably weird but only intermittently funny, Never Change! never quite reaches the heights of the comedies it so clearly emulates.

[Sarnoski's] greatest accomplishment is crafting beautifully intimate portraits of these earnest subjects, set within aesthetically pleasing arenas that highlight impressive craft and alluring performances. It’s an inventive take on Robin Hood to strip away the merry men, nasty sheriffs, and pining love interests. This presentation is much more somber, yet in a way that conveys a far greater significance. It’s what turns what could have been a needless adaptation into a profound experience.

Despite the well-written screenplay, it still takes great skill to navigate the tonal shifts of June and Lela’s relationship, and both women do superb work.

Disclosure Day is a film made by a human being who has been asking the same question his entire life and who, finally and beautifully, seems at peace with the answer. Are you ready for the answer?

Ultimately, the success of Stop! That! Train! comes down to one simple question: Is it funny? And the answer is, mostly, yes. With the high ratio of jokes per minute, not all of them are destined to land, and some gags linger too long, slowing down what should be a breakneck pace. But the bits that do work are genuinely hilarious.

Like the band itself, Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial VS That’s the Weight of the World) seeks to honor the past while looking toward the future.