1. Between the Mountain and the Sky

Between the Mountain and the Sky is an extraordinarily moving documentary that follows humanitarian Maggie Doyne’s life over a period of two decades in Surkhet, Nepal. An American who first moved to the region during her pre-university gap year to work with orphans, Maggie ultimately chose to stay and devote herself to caring for a growing number of orphaned children in the region. Her story is one of immense grace and harrowing loss, buoyed by her effervescent kindness and her steadfast dedication to the dozens of young lives she has helped raise as her own. Since founding the BlinkNow Foundation in 2007, she has helped build and sustain the Kopila Valley School along with a children’s home, women’s center, health clinic, Big Sisters’ Home and a new campus in Surkhet. Her memoir "Between the Mountain and the Sky: A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss, Healing and Hope" was published in 2022 and with the help of producers Mark and Jay Duplass, the documentary is now available to watch online for free (or by donation) at www.betweenthemountainandthesky.com

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2. Weapons

Weapons is a masterful mystery-horror film that poses the question: How would a community react if an entire fifth-grade class were to disappear without a trace? Weapons explores this baffling scenario through the perspectives of six disparate characters, including the class’s young teacher Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) and a parent named Archer Graff (Josh Brolin). The story of their efforts to locate the 17 children unfolds alongside the exploits of volatile police officer Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich), homeless addict James (Austin Abrams), school principal Marcus (Benedict Wong) and the sole remaining student from Justine’s class Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher). Their stories are interwoven to create a dramatic pastiche of suspense, trepidation and outright horror. Tip of the proverbial hat to Amy Madigan as well, who portrays Alex’s elderly aunt Gladys—her presence growing increasingly dubious as the storyline progresses. Written and directed by Zach Cregger (Barbarian), Weapons is a stunningly original and wildly inventive new entry in the horror genre: razor-sharp, impossible to predict and genuinely terrifying.

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3. Sentimental Value

Sentimental Value is a bittersweet Norwegian drama starring Renate Reinsve as Nora Borg, a fledgling actress from Oslo. Nora and her sister Inga (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) are the children of filmmaker Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård), a once renowned talent whose career has steadily declined. As children, Nora and Inga watched as their parents' marriage ended in heartbreaking divorce, which Gustav used as an excuse to depart Norway altogether. Returning to his homeland years later, Gustav approaches Nora to portray the lead character in his new film, one inspired by her grandmother, a member of the Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. Nora refuses the role, maintaining long-held animosity toward her father, to which Gustav pivots to young American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) to play the part. The storyline follows as Gustav struggles to bring his film to fruition, shooting in the family home while navigating complex relations with both daughters as well as his young star. Co-written and directed by Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World), Sentimental Value is a finely observed drama about artistry and familial relations, anchored by its naturalistic performances and underlying questions about the nature of forgiveness.

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4. Marty Supreme

Marty Supreme is an adrenaline-soaked thrill ride starring Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, the titular purveyor of table tennis, beginning in the early 1950s. Based on the real-life exploits of Mauser, the film details his rise from the streets of the Lower East Side to the heights of international competition. Along the way, Marty navigates myriad adversaries while working days in his uncle’s shoe shop, moonlighting as a ping-pong ringer and carrying on a messy relationship with his married childhood friend Rachel (Odessa A’zion). Convinced the only way out is international glory and desperate to raise the funds to travel to Japan, Marty soon crosses the line between ambition and outright criminality. Complications arise when he falls into an affair with Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), a faded film star, while simultaneously attempting to ingratiate himself with her wealthy husband Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary). Chalamet is electrifying throughout, carrying the full weight of Mauser’s ramshackle existence while hustling, conning and cajoling every step of the way. Co-writer/director Josh Safdie (Uncut Gems) strikes gold in this depiction of a new cinematic anti-hero in all his urgency, bluster and unbridled confidence.

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5. Hamnet

Hamnet is a deeply affecting historical drama starring Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley as Agnes Hathaway, set in late-16th-century Stratford-upon-Avon. The film follows Agnes as she builds a life for her family in their rural abode while Will drifts to and fro through London’s stage world. The family operates under quiet routine until their twin children Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) and Judith (Olivia Lynes) fall ill with the plague. As the family scrambles to remain intact, the storyline evolves into an intimate portrait of grief, with Agnes bearing extraordinary loss while Will searches for the language necessary to convey their heartbreak. The film culminates in the first performance of "The Tragedie of Hamlet" at London’s Globe Theatre, as young actors pay tribute to their loss, with the beleaguered Agnes in attendance. Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel and co-written by O’Farrell and director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland), Hamnet is a stunningly heartfelt depiction of devastation and the transformative power of artistry—turning a family’s private sorrow into public elegy.

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6. One Battle After Another

One Battle After Another is a frenetic dark comedy action-thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, a washed-up revolutionary hiding in the sanctuary city of Baktan Cross, California. Known in his youth as "Ghetto" Pat Calhoun of the radical collective "French 75", Bob shares explosive chemistry with fellow radical Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) before her disappearance. In the present day, Bob attempts to maintain a low profile while raising their spirited teenage daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) until their lives are upended by the reappearance of old nemesis Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn). The film quickly becomes a race against time as Bob turns to his stoic karate sensei Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio del Toro) for support. With Lockjaw’s people closing in, Bob and Sergio ricochet between shaky leads, blown covers and volatile firefights, desperate to reach Willa before Lockjaw captures her. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) and based on "Vineland" by Thomas Pynchon, One Battle After Another is a wildly ambitious American epic, replete with wonderfully idiosyncratic characters, absurdist turns and an infectiously comic sensibility.

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7. Eddington

Eddington is a boldly satirical neo-Western thriller starring Joaquin Phoenix as Joe Cross, sheriff of the small town of Eddington, New Mexico. The film is set in May 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic rages and Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) has imposed a lockdown and strict mask mandate. Cross disapproves of Garcia’s decision, arguing that the mandate violates freedom of choice, which sets the two of them at diametric odds. After several terse confrontations with Ted, who is running for re-election, Joe resolves to run against him in repudiation of Ted’s liberal politics. Emma Stone co-stars as Joe’s wife Louise, supportive of his cause, while Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward and Clifton Collins Jr. appear as key townspeople drawn into the escalating clash of opposing ideologies. By the time the race hits full velocity, replete with BLM protests, social media identity politics and the incursion of ANTIFA forces, the town’s petty local feud has metastasized into a full-blown civic breakdown. Written and directed by Ari Aster (Hereditary), Eddington is a scorchingly funny pressure-cooker of a film that plays like a dark mirror image of America at a seminal flashpoint in modern history.

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8. 2000 Meters to Andriivka

2000 Meters to Andriivka is a harrowing documentary produced and directed by Mstyslav Chernov, made in collaboration with FRONTLINE and the Associated Press. Embedding with a Ukrainian platoon during the 2023 counteroffensive against Russian forces, Chernov follows the soldiers as they fight their way through a heavily fortified strip of forest. The objective is Andriivka, a Russian-occupied village near the eastern city of Bakhmut, 2,000 meters away across mines, drones and constant artillery. An accumulation of combat bodycam footage, drone imagery and Chernov’s sober narration, the film follows the Ukrainian troops as they advance inch by inch, evacuate the wounded and brace for each subsequent advance. All the while, Chernov keeps his lens trained on the men themselves, capturing the quiet, human moments that are so often erased in the grand scheme of warfare. From the Oscar-winning team behind 20 Days in Mariupol, 2000 Meters to Andriivka is a stunningly immersive account of modern combat that eschews grandstanding in lieu of a far more honest depiction of fear, endurance and the moral weight of each hard-earned meter of land.

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9. Sinners

Sinners is an atmospheric Southern Gothic horror-thriller starring Michael B. Jordan in a dual role as Elijah "Smoke" and Elias "Stack" Moore. Identical twin World War I veterans, the brothers return home to Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1932 with stolen money and a plan. They buy an old sawmill and transform it into a juke joint for the local Black community, intent on building something lasting and making themselves untouchable in the process. As opening night approaches, they pull together a makeshift crew, including their young cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), a gifted young musician. Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku and Delroy Lindo appear as key figures as the brothers’ plan draws unwanted attention from a band of outsiders led by the ominous Remmick (Jack O’Connell). By the time the music is in full swing, the night rapidly devolves into a siege by Remmick and his people—the juke joint becoming a last stand against a supernatural evil that feeds on vulnerability as much as blood. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler (Creed), Sinners is a ferocious, blues-driven epic that turns one night of music into a brutal test of survival.

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10. Train Dreams

Train Dreams is a beautifully observed American period drama starring Joel Edgerton as Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad laborer. Orphaned as a child, Robert comes of age in the early 20th century, moving between remote camps in the Pacific Northwest as the railroad age reshapes the country. He falls in love with a local girl named Gladys (Felicity Jones) and marries her, attempting to build a permanent life on the Moyie River. Robert’s work continually draws him away for long stretches, however, leaving their domestic future unfinished. The storyline follows Robert through years of arduous routine and intermittent tenderness until a catastrophic wildfire reduces their home to ash—Gladys and their young daughter left missing. In the aftermath, Robert moves through a changing America carrying a private grief that never loosens its grip, haunted by memory and lingering questions about his family’s fate. Directed by Clint Bentley (Jockey) and based on Denis Johnson’s novella, Train Dreams is an uncommonly intimate portrait of labor, loss and endurance—rendered with rare grace and anchored by Edgerton’s quietly devastating performance.

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HONORABLE MENTION

Souleymane's Story

Souleymane’s Story is a deeply absorbing French drama starring Abou Sangaré as Souleymane, a Guinean immigrant fighting to survive in Paris while his future hinges on his imminent asylum interview. Working as a food delivery rider on a borrowed account, Souleymane spends his days navigating traffic, chasing orders, dodging platform crackdowns and surrendering a cut of his earnings to the men who control his access to work. With his interview only days away, Souleymane is forced to memorize a prefabricated story of political persecution, rehearsing it between deliveries as exhaustion and anxiety erode his grip on the "right" version of himself. The story unfolds over a relentless span of hours, building to the asylum interview where Souleymane’s future rests in the balance—including the question of whether he can finally speak in his own words. Directed by Boris Lojkine (Camille), Souleymane’s Story is an incredibly compassionate and emotionally perceptive depiction of life on the margins of modern society.

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Splitsville

Splitsville is a sharply observed marital comedy starring Kyle Marvin as Carey, a good-natured gym teacher whose life unravels when his wife Ashley (Adria Arjona) informs him that she wants a divorce. Left reeling in dismay, Carey retreats to the seaside home of his closest friends Paul (Michael Angelo Covino) and Julie (Dakota Johnson), only to learn that their supposedly stable partnership runs on an open-marriage arrangement. Carey latches onto this concept as a possible way through the pain of his divorce, only to learn that it amplifies his insecurity in the long run. As boundaries dissolve and loyalties shift, the film follows two couples negotiating desire and resentment, each decision compounding the mess they continue to insist is under control. Co-written and directed by Covino (The Climb), Splitsville is a distinctly off-kilter look at modern intimacy, the bargains people build to avoid solitude, and how quickly the pursuit of 'freedom' can breed jealousy, retaliation and regret.

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The Voice of Hind Rajab

The Voice of Hind Rajab is a harrowing docudrama that reconstructs a single day of crisis with extraordinary immediacy. On January 29, 2024, Palestinian Red Crescent dispatchers receive an emergency call from Hind Rajab, a young girl trapped in a car in Gaza and pleading for rescue as gunfire surrounds her. The film follows the responders in real time as they struggle to keep Hind on the line, pin down her location, secure passage and deliver an ambulance to her, each delay shrinking their window of opportunity. Recordings of Hind’s real voice are incorporated into the reenactment, grounding the film in the unfiltered reality of the nightmare unfolding, while the camera remains trained on the adults desperate to manage a crisis they cannot physically resolve. Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania (Four Daughters), The Voice of Hind Rajab is a devastating reconstruction of a single emergency that widens into something much larger, capturing the helplessness of being trapped in a crisis where everything depends on forces entirely beyond your control.

Watch the trailer: The Voice of Hind Rajab

Is This Thing On?

Is This Thing On? is a warm, carefully calibrated comedy-drama starring Will Arnett as Alex Novak, a middle-aged New Yorker watching his marriage to Tess (Laura Dern) slip away. As their divorce becomes increasingly inevitable, Alex grasps for a new identity by throwing himself into the city’s stand-up comedy scene. Working small rooms and short sets with growing success, Alex finds that comedy serves as both an escape hatch and a form of therapy he desperately needs. Tess, meanwhile, is left to reckon with a split home, shared custody and the challenge of maintaining a manageable relationship with a spouse in the midst of profound personal change. Bradley Cooper, Andra Day, Amy Sedaris, Sean Hayes, Christine Ebersole and Ciarán Hinds appear as key figures in the couple’s circle of family and friends as the relationship between Alex and Tess evolves in surprising, unforeseen ways. Co-written by Arnett and directed by Cooper (A Star is Born), Is This Thing On? is a bittersweet relationship study about what happens when a breakup doesn’t necessarily end the relationship, but rather changes its terms.

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Secret Mall Apartment

Secret Mall Apartment is a playful and enjoyable documentary about a small group of Rhode Island artists who, in 2003, discover an unused cavity inside Providence Place Mall. Inspired to utilize the space, they decide to turn it into a hidden, fully-furnished hangout disguised as a real home. Over the ensuing four years they manage to outfit the space with furniture and decor, tap the mall’s electricity and build a locked wall to keep the space intact. They film their work and their late-night visits on consumer cameras, as the apartment evolves from an art stunt into a private refuge and a shared creative headquarters. The documentary frames the project as a pointed response to the city’s changing landscape, with the mall standing in for the kind of development that squeezes out the communities these artists grew out of. Directed by Jeremy Workman, Secret Mall Apartment is a clear-eyed look at youthful mischief and inspired creativity, not to mention what it means to build a pocket of freedom inside a society that increasingly treats space, privacy and belonging as commodities.

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