ICE CREAM MAN
In Eli Roth‘s latest deranged installment, Ice Cream Man, a quaint seaside town gets rocked when an evil, dairy-centric pied piper turns the kids in town to murderous lemmings. An unlikely group of 12-year-olds who did not partake in the product band together. Can they survive middle school and make it to summer break alive?
Jared finds himself the target of every bully in town. His empathetic, quick-witted, lactose-intolerant nature proves resourceful when all the other kids transform into supernatural maniacs from the treats they’ve consumed the night before that last week of school. In true Roth fashion, what you see is never what you get, and no one is safe. Roth does not give a rat’s ass where your line in the sand exists.
The cast is phenomenal. Charlie Storey plays Piper, the featured deranged girl and pseudo-leader of the rabid pack of littles. She is terrifying. Eli Roth is Jared’s dad. Spectacularly snarky, Eli writes a slick character every time. Ari Millen gives the Ice Cream Man a happy-go-lucky vibe that immediately creeps viewers the fuck out. He never says a word, but is easily a fan-favorite baddie.
Shiloh O’Reilly gives Tommy an abundance of swagger. He is a solid addition to the cast. Sarah Abbott delivers a brilliant physical performance as Jared’s older sister, Lizzie. Kiori Mirza Waldman nails the socially aware preteen, offering an unexpected but welcomed complexity. Charlie Zelyzer gives Jared the most fun, charming, watchable star power. Cast him in everything immediately.
Practical FX and makeup effects are as gruesome and memorable as we’ve come to expect from Roth’s resume. Kills are diabolical, and the children’s subsequent actions are bonkers—a huge shout-out to Appled Arts FX Studio and Morot FX for their work. Brandon Roberts‘ music is appropriately unhinged. I hear you, Snoop Dogg.
Roth consistently pushes the envelope in horror, delivering unforgettable films that leave a mark on your psyche and make you laugh at their intrusiveness. The lore created by Roth combines a generational curse, the church’s abhorrent crimes, and an immigrant’s supernatural revenge plot. Yes, all the things wrapped in one absolutely bananas package.
Ice Cream Man arrives on the heels of Weapons, but here we have a more comedic angle, and the children target all adults. It plays more along the lines of Cooties (2014). Ice Cream Man is a sick treat, as satisfying going down as it is coming back up. Always stay through the credits.
ICE CREAM MAN will be In Theaters Nationwide on August 7, 2026.
DIRECTED BY: Eli Roth
WRITTEN BY: Eli Roth & Noah Belson
STORY BY: Eli Roth
PRODUCED BY: Eli Roth, Kate Harrison
CAST: Ari Millen, Benjamin Byron Davis, Eli Roth, Karen Cliche, Dylan Hawco, Sarah Abbott, Shiloh O’Reilly, Kiori Mirza Waldman, Charlie Zeltzer, Charlie Storey
SYNOPSIS: Ice Cream Man follows an idyllic summer town descending into madness when an ice cream man serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results.
RUN TIME: 86 minutes
RATING: Unrated
GENRE: Horror
DISTRIBUTOR: The Horror Section
OFFICIAL SITE: www.icecreammanmovie.com
SOCIAL HANDLES:
@horrorsectionstudios (IG, FB, YT, Threads) | @thsstudios (X) | @ths_studios (TikTok)
HASHTAG: #icecreammanmovie
Filmmaker Rob Rice‘s incredibly uncomfortable Tribeca 2026 film Ponderosa follows Zeke, a young man targeted by a wealthy patron as his mother’s restaurant chain falters. George thinks he’s mentoring Zeke, but the reality is a collection of bizarre, forced encounters.
For more Tribeca 2026, 
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The cast has a few solid performances, and true to form in the history of horror films, a large number of the ensemble are most definitely NOT high school-aged, nor are any of the staff remotely close to real-life teachers. Frankly, I love this weird tradition. Lexi Graves and Teon Kelley are genuinely fantastic. David Howard Thornton, best known to fans as Art The Clown, sticks out for his over-the-top shenanigans, but quite frankly, his energy saved me from paying bills on my phone during the final third.
The score features repetitive synth notes, reminiscent of 80s slashers. The edit could use a shave. The set looks closer to a flop house rental than a family home. The practical makeup on David Howard Thornton is super fun. Spoiler Alert: The janitor kill is probably my favorite.
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Seven years after her Grammy Award-winning Amidst the Chaos, Sara Bareilles reunites with her closest collaborators to record a new album. What emerges is an intimate, cinematic process that lays bare the musician’s deep connections and inspirations in Tribeca alum Josh Alexander’s moving music documentary.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
Has a sequel ever been more fun? It’s a question worth sitting with, because the answer is almost certainly no.
Maybe it’s the sheer zaniness of the premise that makes expansion feel so natural. A woman marries into a cursed dynasty of obscene wealth, survives a wedding-night blood sport orchestrated in service of the devil, and then because the universe has a cruel sense of humor gets pulled right back in when the ruling families of the satanic council scramble to fill a vacant seat of power. The countdown starts again. There is a new estate. This one has a casino.
Perfectly blending horror and comedy once again, the film hits the ground running and does not relent for 108 minutes. Notably, it even manages some genuinely touching moments between sisters before hurling you back into the gleefully unhinged action, a trick that requires real skill to pull off without breaking the spell.
Jordan Dulieu (Danny) gives us an emo rocker heartthrob and villainous mayhem with equal fire. He is genuinely mesmerizing. Avalon Fast (Gen) is great. Her delivery is so natural, you might think she’s in a documentary. Alexandra McVicker (Anna) brings innocent ingénue energy. The three have stellar chemistry. I not-so-secretly wanted a threesome scene between them. Shout out to Intimacy Coordinator, Zoe Taylor, for the overall hotness. 
MacKay has a neon-saturated visual calling card and always provides a kick-ass soundtrack. Another genius collab with 
SXSW 2026 Watchlist
Mimics
Calling Mimics a light horror is anything but an insult. It is a genre-bender: a sweet love story, a character study in ambition, passion, and an eerie warning about the trappings of fame, all wrapped in culty folklore that wouldn’t surprise me if it were ripped straight from the bowels of Scientology. It’s a breezy genre film that twists in unexpected ways and one that puts Kristoffer Polaha’s underrated talents in the spotlight.
Combined, the location and camerawork are extraordinarily immersive. Fans of the Silent Hill gaming franchise will be in heaven. Viewers will find their eyes darting to every point on the screen. The wide angles from the security cameras keep you on high alert. INFIRMARY delivers the goods. 
OBSESSION
The plot is disorienting. Filled with time hops and something else supernatural, Carl finds himself both haunted by the past and stalked by some harassing force. Repeated aggressive and toxic interactions from strangers and others in Carl’s sphere throw the viewer’s understanding of the truth into utter chaos. 
Carl’s exes are beyond livid that he has inserted himself into the festivities. As the plot thickens, Lawrence and co-writer Matthew Mourgides insinuate that we are missing large pieces of the puzzle as the former fiend group offers an alternative version of what we have witnessed thus far with their dialogue. This off-kilter effect gets an assist from Lawrence’s editing. 
Sam Daly owns this film. His emotional swings are simultaneously relatable and unhinged. Daly is riveting. THE DISINVITED mashes up relationship drama and psychological horror in a mind-bending way. The final third is wild as hell. Jacob Fatoorechi and Jaco Caraco‘s classically string-heavy score is a perfect match. You must pay attention to every frame, and do yourself a favor: watch the credits. Even better, watch it again.
Alanna Ubach plays Emily’s mother, Sam. A former addict seeking redemption, Ubach is a pro, settling into a weighty role. For me, Ubach created some of the most memorable sidekick roles of the ’90s and early 2000s, carrying a Lili Taylor vibe with her comedic timing. It is a dramatic departure that is phenomenal.
Brittany O’Grady owns this role. Emily is in almost every shot, and O’Grady powers through unresolved trauma with ferocity. This fearless portrayal of a daughter dying for answers will pull you in. There is an undeniable gravity to this performance.
The mostly handheld camerawork subconsciously forces the audience to participate in the mystery and the emotional turmoil. Beyond the genre fare, IN OUR BLOOD also acts as a viewfinder for the vibrant yet desolate aspects of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Screenwriter Mallory Westfall provides clues, if you pay attention, so I suggest you do. Even with that said, the twists are absolutely clutch. Currently boasting a rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, IN OUR BLOOD is a gripping mix of horror and thriller. True crime fans will eat this up for dinner. I’m demanding a franchise from Kos and Westfall, ASAP.
Genre: Thriller/Horror
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