Where the Hell is Anna? (2026)

“Love makes you do crazy things.”

When you find that special someone in your life, especially a friend, you will do anything for them. Even after years of separation or distance, you may find yourself wondering where they ended up and how they are doing. If you're lucky, you actually reconnect and pick up where you left off. That's exactly the place where Derick (Taylor Dupuis) finds herself, and also the last place she would ever imagine being.

In Where the Hell is Anna?, Derick lets the love for her estranged best friend Anna (Allison Shrum) get caught up in all kinds of unpredictable places. Namely, following Anna to the middle of nowhere after discovering she has joined a "wellness retreat" called Arcana. The plan is to become a member, stay calm, avoid drinking or eating any substances, find proof, don't panic, and come up with an escape plan. The rules are straight-forward enough in black and white, but pulling her and Anna out to safety is more complicated than it seems. Anna is fated to a ceremony of the highest honor that will prepare her for an idyllic higher-dimension ascendance called Summerland. But as Derick becomes more ingratiated with the women and lifestyle around her, all of their demons come back to haunt them.

Littermates (2026)

Gunfire echo throughout the English countryside as a helpless young man (later given the name Liam, played by Joey Bader) running for his life comes across Chester (Oliver Woolf) in the middle of a forest. He offers his hand and an escape to  safety. It's not exactly what Chester does but what he says - “Let me help you.” - that sets up the rollercoaster ride of Littermates.

If you watch enough dystopian dramas or post-apocalyptic films, these four words could be the exact call a distressed character needs to be rescued, or the threat that will draw them into an even more deadly situation than merely surviving a zombie apocalypse or natural disaster. To be honest and fair, just by the looks of Liam, he could use a lot of help. Out of breath, shell-shocked, and unaware of his surroundings, Liam's also lost his motor functions and he has no memory of who he is. But Chester is there like a guardian angel arriving just in the nick of time; to clothe, bathe, and help his new friend recover his speech and selfhood.

Backrooms (2026)

A picture of an abandoned room plastered in worn pastel yellow wallpaper took the internet by storm on 4chan in 2019. The internet myth went viral as millions of people came across the anonymous user's post on a paranormal board, and were collectively hit with a feeling of familiarity and surreality. Over the years, every other person's thoughts layered and confirmed the suspense what could this place mean? until it was reimagined on youtube with found footage films by director Kane Parsons. Individually, and collectively on reddits like r/creepypasta, the lore expanded further - turning the office walls and rooms into labyrinths filled with endless background noise, sterile florescent lights, and entities or monsters inhabiting the space.

This post contains spoilers.

Project Hail Mary (2026)

 

Everything is figure-outable. And in times like these days where the world is on fire and minute-to-minute news feels like we're past the brink of losing it all, it's refreshing to watch a film jettisoning us to space in the hope of saving humanity and holding into our future. Its star and my forever bae Ryan Gosling spent six years bringing the mammoth novel by Andy Weir to life, and a lot of that love shines on screen from the incredible production design and score, to the essential element of the film - his character's friendship with an alien Rocky, whose own planet is also being slowly eaten away by alien bacteria called Astrophage. 

Blue Moon (2025)

Set several months before songwriter Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) passes away of complications of pneumonia brought on by alcoholism, he spends a night out at the iconic restaurant Sardi's as his old songwriting partner Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) celebrates the premiere of Oklahoma! and goes on to have a legendary creative partnership with Oscar Hammerstein II. 

Director Richard Linklater essentially composes a play to film, centering on a one-set location and tiny ensemble to steer Robert Kaplow's wondrous script. As a dialogue driven drama, there's a His Girl Friday pace to the tone of what is said. Think about anything else than what is being heard on screen, and you might miss the string of fast paced one quips Hawke hits out of the park or the painful ruminations as Hart misunderstands his essential part in the grand scheme of theatre and fame.