If you’ve already perused our massive summer movie preview, then our deeper glimpse into May should have too many surprises. Aside from a rather dire Hollywood slate to kick off the season, the arthouse and international offerings are a rather eclectic batch. We’ll also be providing extensive coverage from Cannes Film Festival, so make sure you are subscribed to our newsletter to not miss a beat.
15. Tuner (Daniel Roher; May 22)
Following the release of the rather troublingThe AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, Oscar-winning director Daniel Roher’s narrative debut will arrive this month. The TIFF and Telluride selection Tuner is a fast-paced immersion into a troubled piano-tuner’s dive into a criminal underworld. While taking one too many notes from Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, including a script just as far-fetched, it is quite a showcase for both Leo Woodall and Roher’s rhythmic style.
14. Magic Hour (Katie Aselton; May 15)
Kate Aselton came to SXSW this year with Their Town (our review here), and her previous feature Magic Hour, which premiered at the festival last year, will now be getting a theatrical release this month. Written by Aselton and her husband, Mark Duplass, the drama stars the director, Daveed Diggs, Brad Garrett, and Susan Sullivan, following two people who escape to the desert to navigate an unexpected and challenging new phase of their relationship.
13. Backrooms (Kane Parsons; May 29)
In a summer movie season once again full of sequels and reboots, one piece of I.P., per se, that actually has our interest is Kane Parson’s directorial debut Backrooms, inspired by his “creepypasta” web series and with a cast including Renate Reinsve, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, and Avan Jogia. The trailers have hinted at a true evolution from his previous work to something that will be quite unnerving to experience on the big screen.
12. Been Here Stay Here (David Usui; May 15)
Watch an exclusive clip above.
A vibrant community portrait of a town slipping away due to climate change (and the religious residents reckoning with reality), David Usui’s Been Here Stay Here takes an intimate look at a handful of the few hundred people that make up Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay. In what would make an illuminating double feature with the recent Sundance stand-out The Lake, Usui takes a level-headed, humanistic approach to exploring a massive environmental issue that will lead to true catastrophe if no action is taken.
11. The Misconceived (James N. Kienitz Wilkins; May 8)
James N. Kienitz Wilkins’ 3D-rendered feature The Misconceived, a stand-out at Rotterdam earlier this year, brings a fresh, humorous perspective to the state of the creative industry. Rory O’Connor said his IFFR review, “Seven years after collaborating on The Plagiarists, writers James N. Kienitz Wilkins and Robin Schavoir return with The Misconceived—another incisive, inventive movie about the anxieties faced by the never-quite-made-it creative class. Directed by Peter Parlow, that earlier film played with the tropes of found-footage horror to tell a story about untested urban liberalism and the dual tyrannies of artistic authenticity and writer’s block. The Misconceived—described in press notes as an acidic satire and more than lives up to that corrosive billing—is a little harsh on the eyes, but it swims in similarly rich thematic waters and doesn’t skimp on formal experimentations.“
10. Renoir (Chie Hayakawa; May 29)
Returning to Cannes a few years after her acclaimed feature debut Plan 75, Chie Hayakawa unveiled her Tokyo-set period drama Renoir in the competition section, and it now arrives in U.S. theaters this month. Rory O’Connor said in his Cannes review, “With all its quotidian detail (shot in gorgeous, faded colors by DP Hideho Urata), the appearance of veteran actor Lily Franky, and glacial pace, Renoir is a coming-of-age story that will be familiar to fans of Hirokazu Kore-eda, but there’s little (if any) of his sentimentality here. Hayakawa’s gaze is as consistent as it is observant, presenting the joys and perils of a formative summer in equal light. The story follows Fuki (Yui Suzuki), an introverted 11-year-old doing her best to feel through adolescence. Her father (Franky) is stuck in a hospital bed with cancer while her mother, Utako (Hikari Ishida), stresses over work. Often left to her own devices, Fuki retreats into her imagination and takes an interest in hypnosis, which she practices on a woman upstairs and a new friend from her language school. The film is set in 1987, during Japan’s economic bubble, and reflects some of Hayakawa’s own experience of losing her father at a similar age.”
9. The Wizard of the Kremlin (Olivier Assayas; May 15)
Following up one of his smallest-scale films, Suspended Time, Olivier Assayas’ latest is the epic political drama The Wizard of the Kremlin, based on Giuliano da Empoli’s novel and starring Jude Law as Vladimir Putin alongside Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Tom Sturridge, Will Keen, and Jeffrey Wright. Savina Petkova said in her Venice review, “Audiences resisted Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice because they feared the idea of Donald Trump being a movie’s protagonist, but never in its runtime does The Wizard of the Kremlin show any ambivalence towards its main character. Without daring to question Baranov as a narrator, Assayas’ film consents to be interpreted as cynical. Because what is it, if not cynical, to insist on turning a chain of events that are still unfolding into a compact story? We may be used to recognizing films that fetishize something through their form, but we seemingly need to be wary of a content-fetish too.”
8. I Love Boosters (Boots Riley; May 22)
Following his directorial debut Sorry to Bother You, Boots Riley is back with his follow-up I Love Boosters starring Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza González, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle, and Demi Moore. John Fink said in his review, “A parody of dialectical materialism (you’ll understand what this means when you see the film), superficial economies, and the cult of fast fashion, I Love Boosters—the second feature from rapper, activist, and filmmaker Boots Riley—proves a spirited and hilarious comedy in its first two acts before falling back on action-comedy tropes in its finale. Perhaps there’s no way to fully sustain the gonzo energy delivered in its set-up, which initially offers a sharp critique of capitalism as biting as Riley’s debut feature Sorry to Bother You.”
7. Two Pianos (Arnaud Desplechin; May 1)
It’s been quite some time since a film by the great Arnaud Desplechin has received a U.S. theatrical run, and thankfully that changes this week. C.J. Prince said in his TIFF review, “The past rears its not-so-ugly head in Two Pianos, Arnaud Desplechin’s latest film exploring the ways gorgeous people make an even bigger mess out of the messiness of life itself. Set amidst the world of classical music in Lyon, this tale of a tortured pianist’s reunion with his also-tortured first love contains the literary and melodramatic elements one normally expects from Desplechin, who––having not received a theatrical release since 2017’s Ismael’s Ghosts––has unfortunately fallen out of favor in the U.S. Fortunately that’s not the case in his home country, where he’s maintained a prolific output that continues attracting some of France’s top actors. With Two Pianos he’s put together a rich, thoughtful look at how we can shape our lives around our biggest regrets.”
6. The Currents(Milagros Mumenthaler; May 29)
A selection at TIFF, NYFF, San Sebastian, and more, Milagros Mumenthaler’s acclaimed, mysterious character study The Currents will arrive this month. Jourdain Searles said in her NYFF review, “Writer-director Milagros Mumenthaler paints an intimate portrait of a woman trying to reckon with her fractured identity, trying not to fall into the grip of madness. Mumenthaler understands that motherhood requires an element of performance that reminds the mother that her life is no longer hers alone. Though the love for her daughter is still there inside, she cowers from it, preoccupied with inspecting the current shape of her life. In therapy, Lina expresses a fear of water’s power and the strength of a current that could wash her away. It’s as if she now knows the fragility of her existence, and that the confidence that once governed her was washed away when she jumped off the bridge. Despite the eccentricity of her fears, the emotions behind them are painfully relatable to any woman who feels that the inertia of her life has taken over.”
5. Blue Film (Elliot Tuttle; May 8)
World-premiering at the 2025 Edinburgh International Film Festival and making its North American premiere at Newfest to much acclaim, Elliot Tuttle’s Blue Film has already stirred up some controversy, touching on subject matter perhaps too taboo for many distributors. Thankfully, Obscured Releasing will give a roll-out to the chamber drama that, beyond its provocative logline best left unspoiled, is a wonderfully nuanced two-hander exploring loneliness, attraction, and trauma with stand-out performances from Reed Birney and Kieron Moore.
4. Silent Friend (Ildikó Enyedi; May 8)
In quite the match-up, Ildikó Enyedi has brought together Tony Leung and Léa Seydoux for Silent Friend, which tells three stories connected to a tree over a period of more than 100 years. Following the film’s Venice and TIFF premieres, 1-2 Special will now give it a U.S. release beginning next week. Savina Petkova said in her Venice review, “Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi is best known for her 2017 Golden Bear-winning film On Body and Soul, where an unlikely pair of characters met in a dream and, as deer, fell in love. This remarkably tender Berlinale winner is, in many ways, the precursor to Enyedi’s newest film, notwithstanding the fact that in-between came The Story of My Wife (2021), a period drama of an obsessive love affair starring Léa Seydoux. Not to say the latter is irrelevant: the English-language debut allowed Enyedi to expand the details of her singular worlds beyond language and cement herself as a European auteur to whom actors flock. While Silent Friend stars the indomitable Tony Leung (and also Seydoux in a small role), the real star of this film is a ginkgo tree. If On Body and Soul was fauna, Silent Friend is flora.”
3. The Last One for the Road (Francesco Sossai; May 1)
A far more recommended way to kick off the summer movie season than whatever sequel or reboot Hollywood is cooking up, Francesco Sossai’s delightful road trip movie The Last One for the Road is now in theaters. Rory O’Connor said in his review, “It doesn’t take long to work out where you are in The Last One for the Road––for the backroads of Veneto, Italy, Francesco Sossai’s delightful new movie has the unmistakable specificity of a life spent there. What you instead start to wonder is the when of it all. The protagonists are a pair of rogues in their 50s––one of whom, Doriano (Pierpaolo Capovilla), wears a shirt the color of a tobacco stain, the other, Carlobianchi (Sergio Romano), a style of bushy mustache I’ve rarely seen onscreen since Bruno Ganz sported a similar one in The American Friend. Only after stumbling into a group of Gen Z students––the most visible dressed in the headgear of an Egyptian goddess––late at night along a Venice canal do we realize that our heroes exist in the here and now. If it wasn’t for their innate knack for catching last orders, regardless of the watering hole, you’d almost call them men out of time.”
2. With Hasan in Gaza (Kamal Aljafari; May 29)
While there are no documentaries in the world that can give true justice to the pain experienced by the Palestinian people, Kamal Aljafari’s With Hasan in Gaza is one of the most poetic and profound to arrive thus far. Rory O’Connor said in his review, “The new documentary With Hasan in Gaza––a poignant, meditative portrait of a city now fighting for its life––works as both a travelogue and time machine. In 2001, the filmmaker Kamal Aljafari journeyed to Palestine in the hopes of finding Adder Rahim, a friend he made while serving seven months in the juvenile section of Israel’s Naqab Desert prison when he was 17 years old. During filming, Aljafari met Hasan, a guide who agreed to drive him the length of the country, down its coastal strip, during which time the director documented what he saw: children playing, rows of cars and buildings, bustling city streets.”
1. Our Land (Nuestria Tierra) (Lucrecia Martel; May 1)
It’s hard to believe it’s already been nearly a decade since the release of Zama, but Lucrecia Martel is finally back with her next feature and first feature-length documentary, Our Land (Nuestra Tierra). A deep-dive look into the murder of indigenous Argentine activist Javier Chocobar that brings an entirely new perspective to the true crime documentary, the astounding Venice, TIFF, and NYFF selection is now rolling out in theaters. Read Brandon Streussnig’s interview with the director.
More Films to See
- Hokum (May 1)
- Deep Water (May 1)
- The Python Hunt (May 8)
- Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft – The Tour Live in 3D (May 8)
- Obsession (May 15)
- In the Grey (May 15)
- Everybody to Kenmure Street (May 22)
- Manas (May 22)
- Saccharine (May 22)
- Forastera (May 29)
- Pressure (May 29)
- The Last Viking (May 29)