IFFBoston Fall Focus 2026 Wrap-Up

The structure of IFFBoston Fall Focus is frustrating if you live far outside the city. Their primary concern are local residents, which is as it should be. But driving over an hour after work and paying to park to catch a single movie is hard to justify too many times in a month. If it was still confined to a single (very extended) weekend, then grabbing a hotel room may make sense. But the split last year seems like it's here to stay, and unless all the films in which I'm interested play in a single part, that's not really viable.

As such, I caught fewer films than last year, but almost were good. As usual, I've limited this post to mentioning the very best, what continues to demonstrate how happy I am about attending.

Let's get to it!

Behemoth!

Tony Gilroy's directorial debut, Michael Clayton, is in my all-time top ten. So that his following two films failed was huge disappointment (although I kind of liked 2009's Duplicity). Even more frustrating, they precipitated his retreat back to writing for nearly fifteen years. But in Behemoth!, that masterpiece finally gets the follow-up it deserved.

Behemoth! isn't on the level of Michael Clayton, not by a long shot. But the notes that keep it from those heights are what grant it a unique flavor of charm. The narrative is engaging despite meandering forward through flashbacks, accompanied by the present day orchestral scores he's recording. A picture of various threads through this period of his life sneak up on you and converge wonderfully by the end. In so many ways, he's forced to confront the ripple effects of his past, slowly coming to accept that doing so doesn't have to be scary. A few of its ideas could have used further exploration, and certain details could have been left ambiguous to keep the focus on what's really important. But I loved every moment of it from start to finish.

Oh, and Olivia Wilde's scorching hot streak continues, stunning you in a daring green dress before knocking you out with her quick wit, laugh out loud emotional daggers, and precisely exaggerated facial expressions.

US Release Status: December 4

All of a Sudden

The first and last hour of Japanese auteur Ryusuke Hamaguchi's newest film features some of the most affecting and deeply humane filmmaking of the year. Virginie Efira is excellent as Marie-Lou, the director of a nursing home attempting to implement a more personal style of care that preserves their residents' dignity. The demands this places on the medical staff causes stress and strife, and Hamaguchi ensures we feel every moment of it. In the thick of all this, she meets Mari (Tao Okamoto), with whom she shares an instant and intense bond. For as good Efira is, Okamoto is somehow even more captivating and warm, embodying deep wisdom and furthering the film's humanity.

As their night-long conversation begins, however, the screenplay grows more stilted and didactic, and we get a numerous Wikipedia-style explainers and advertisements of both people and ideas. Although it's at most a third of the runtime, the runtime means you're forced to sit through it for an hour or so as the drama and emotion slip away.

The final hour pulls out of the nosedive and returns us to a different but equally transcendent plane, which both reminds you why you were so bought in to begin, and makes that middle chunk stick out even more like a sore thumb. The result is a very good film that doesn't live up to the quality of his other recent work.

US Release Status: November 25 (limited)

Wild Horse Nine

Writer/director Martin McDonagh's latest buddy comedy sees John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as CIA agents taking a break from their work undermining Chilean democracy in 1973 to vacation on Easter Island. Chris (Molkovich) is out of fucks to give, opining about how "democracy lead to gay, leads to cheese", and matter-of-factly admitting to his involvement in a number of sensitive operations over the years. Lee (Rockwell) is left to humor him and cover his tracks, even as Chris slowly proves to be far more lucid than he appears. He has a number of quieter, reflective moments in which his past catches up to him, inflecting its dark humor with death and legacy and pondering whether our individual actions even matter. This gives it a unexpected bittersweet edge, a warmth-tinged sadness I didn't see coming.

Molkovich is excellent, easily shifting gears from hilarious to heartfelt on short notice. Although Rockwell is crucial to the film working; his reactions (both physical and verbal) embody our own confusion at how to react to Chris' antics.

It's only held back by a script with too many narrative cul-de-sacs and a handful of clunky scenes that drag out, nakedly amping up the comedy, and feeling contrived as a result.

US Release Status: Currently in wide release

Everytime

Describing the plot of Everytime makes it seem like an unassuming European drama: a teenage girl (Carla Hüttermann) falls to her death, and we rejoin her mother (Birgit Minichmayr), little sister (Lotte Keiling), and boyfriend (Tristán López) a few months later as they try to adjust, eventually going on a family holiday to Tenerife.

But that undersells the lyrical nature of Sandra Wollner's third feature, the well-observed shift in everyone's demeanor that is only apparent in light of the confident, carefully studied first third, and the surreal, abstractly poetic closing sequence that is roughly the final third of the film. It's deceptively dense and emotional, and the filmmaking is absolutely remarkable, with the camera occasionally feeling like the eyes of an unseen character taking it all in.

However, the ending is part of the problem. As visually and narratively creative as it is (or maybe because of it), it's quite difficult to fully absorb on a single viewing. It begins to fold in on itself in fascinating ways that send your mind in a variety of directions, unable to settle on one that satisfies. The visuals in this section are stunning, but they must push through your confusion to make an impact. I'm eagerly awaiting a second viewing, in order to begin deciphering.

US Release Status: February 12, 2027 (limited); currently in an awards qualifying run

Honorable Mentions: La Gradiva

If you want my thoughts on all of the 9 features I watched, check out my Letterboxd.