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Our Hero, Balthazar
Oscar Boyson‘s dark, complex, and grossly timely film, Our Hero, Balthazar, has arrived to jar you. Affluent Manhattan private school student Balthazar finds himself taking advantage of the cultural tragedy of mass shootings for validation and attention he’s missing from his absent mother. When his efforts to impress his activist crush fail, Balthazar concocts a demented plan.
Void of any real feelings, his apathetic worldview is fueled by pills, money, and online dopamine hits. When a scholarship classmate, Eleanor, rejects his creepy attempts to connect, Balthazar decides to make a move so dangerous that he couldn’t possibly understand the ramifications. Balthazar’s over-the-top TikTok videos pique the interest of a random commenter. To gain her affections, he sets out to “save a potential school shooter,” or so he claims. But really he’s playing God.
Enter Solomon, the face behind the computer screen. Solomon exists in the shadow of his pyramid-scheming, supplement-hawking father. Catfished by Balthazar, Solomon decides that having a friend is more important than harming a genuine connection. As the tension ramps up between bravado and action, the relationship proves deadly on every level.
Asa Butterfield is haunting as Solomon. At first glance, he seems to embody the red pill manosphere, toxic masculinity persona to the nth degree. But the lack of control and loneliness manifest in people-pleasing and big talk to hide feelings of failure and to please his scumbag father.
Jaeden Martell delivers a breathtaking performance in the titular role. His ability to move through the spectrum of emotions within the same beat is chilling. Balthazar is a manipulative asshole, often manic. His tunnel vision energy is very ADHD presenting, and yet to discern between diagnosis and entitlement is all shades of grey. Martell is a chameleon. It is an award-worthy turn, and I hope people are paying attention.
Butterfield and Martell are an exhilarating pair. Emotionally, they are the same person. Watching them bounce off one another is a masterclass. Both characters are part victim and part product of their environment. The give and take is dazzling.
The score is unforgettable, moving between upbeat after-school special (this is a compliment), death metal riffs, and quieter, deeply sinister pieces. The handheld camerawork is incredibly immersive. It makes you an unwitting accomplice to every moment.
Boyson and Ricky Camilleri‘s script is a freight train. Tackling AI, influencer and incel culture, political theatre, poverty, gun regulation, and media culpability, Our Hero, Balthazar, will permanently imprint on your brain. Between cinephiles, activists, and traumatized generations of kids and adukts, the film will undoubtedly trigger every feeling imaginable. It’s an impressive feat of storytelling and a candid look at our reality. Our Hero, Balthazar, is a prime example of how essential the art form of filmmaking is.
Our Hero, Balthazar Trailer:
Rotten Tomatoes Certified-Fresh Pitch-Black Comedy Available for Digital Rental and Purchase August 11, 2026 from WG Pictures and Radial Entertainment
| The film stars Martell, Butterfield, Chris Bauer (“The Wire,” “True Blood”), Jennifer Ehle (“Pride and Prejudice,” Saint Maud), Anna Baryshnikov (“Dickinson,” Love Lies Bleeding), Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, “The Recruit”), Becky Ann Baker (“Girls,” “Freaks and Geeks”), Avan Jogia (“Twisted,” “56 Days”) and Pippa Knowles. |
| Runtime: 96 Minutes | Rated R |
Daniel Blake Schwartz‘s very personal Tribeca 2026 drama Cotton Fever explores the trappings of addiction. The film follows the lives of interconnected drug users in Massachusetts. 
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.
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Shane West, heartthrob to a generation of women like me thanks to A Walk To Remember, still exudes an effortless charm that leaps off the screen. As Jared, he taps into a terrifying rage. Morgan Kohan gives Claire every bit of herself. It’s the arc we die for. Bravo to Zelda Williams for playing Jared’s human counterpart (more of her, please), and to director Alexander DeSouza and Ashley Brandon for the seamless editing. Magali Lafeur nails the production design.![Morgan Kohan in HOLO_[JULIAN LOMAGA]_5](https://i0.wp.com/reelnewsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/Morgan-Kohan-in-HOLO_JULIAN-LOMAGA_5-scaled.jpg?resize=678%2C367&ssl=1)
DeSouza creates an ominous atmosphere. Screenwriter Alexander Hernandez-Maxwell pulls on our darkest desires and intrusive thoughts. Fans of Severence, Westworld, and the 2024 doc, ![Shane West In HOLO_[JULIAN LOMAGA]_32](https://i0.wp.com/reelnewsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/Shane-West-In-HOLO_JULIAN-LOMAGA_32-scaled.jpg?resize=678%2C367&ssl=1)
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Samara Weaving plays Caroline with both a curious innocence and a ferocious need. A woman with deep-seated mommy issues and supposed free will looking to feel seen. Kyle Gallner, AKA My Music Boyfriend (IYKYK), AKA Scream King, is our charming bad influence, Oliver. A whip-smart, observant, effortless hustler, his journey is just as complex as Weaving’s. Gallner always makes it look easy. The two share a goo-goo-eyed chemistry that makes the knees weak. You are buying every dangerous and sensual beat.
As their crimes progress from petty to armed, Caroline’s conscience creeps in, and a close call digs a deeper hole for her and Oliver. Rehmeier keeps the audience on their toes from the get-go, using Oliver’s teaching techniques to lure you into his game, but suspect a potential long con. But Rehmeier and writer Tom Dean are smarter than that with a script that knocks it out of the park. 
Of course, the score god Chris Bear did the music. Bear, Rehmeier, and editor Justin Krohn understand the emotional impact of a strategically placed song. The red, white, and blue costumes (which match the opening credits) are iconic. Rehmeier’s ability to create a visual identity in his films is truly chef’s kiss. 
In this rhythmic psychological thriller, a lonely aspiring teen actress finds herself drawn to an acting teacher who pulls her into a web of desire and control, blurring the lines of seduction and obsession.
After backing out of a suicide pact that leaves her husband dead, a sheltered farmer’s wife flees the shame and hidden debts that destroyed their life together and disappears into the port city of Eilat, where an unexpected bond with migrants, refugees, and a compassionate hotel manager forces her to rebuild herself from nothing and discover a life beyond the one she was told to live.
After a crushing breakup, Lucy moves back in with her eccentric single dad and dives into bad dates, false starts, and growing pains. Big-hearted and sharply funny, Lucy Schulman is a charming comedic coming-of-age story from multihyphenate Tribeca alum Ellie Sachs.
After a breakup, rudderless millennial Jane hires a team of Gen-Z consultants to reinvent her life. But what begins as a makeover soon spirals into a sharp social media satire about image, app culture, and the cost of becoming someone else.
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.
SXSW 2026 Watchlist
In Cold Light
Hellbent on backsliding into her old ways, Ava’s tough exterior hides a chasm of wounds. As her brother softens to her requests for drug connections, all hell breaks loose when she becomes a target and scapegoat for murder. Now, with the innocent lives of her family members in harm’s way, Ava must decide who she can trust and how far she will go to bargain for their safety.
Oscar winner
While the “why” takes longer to get to than I would have liked, and feels somewhat disjointed, In Cold Light is a definitive, gritty crime thriller. Helen Hunt briefly appears, and introducing her sooner would change everything. Both the editing and handheld camerawork are hypnotic. But it’s the visceral father-daughter dynamic that gets under your skin and stays there. Screenwriter Patrick Whistler delivers unresolved trauma on an astonishing level. Monroe and Kotsur make an undeniably compelling duo. I would love to see them back together, doing anything literally.
Untitled Home Invasion Romance
Jamie Napoli and Joshua Paul Johnson cleverly wrap comedy around Suzie’s unknown childhood trauma, introducing friends from her past. They place Kevin entirely out of his depth socially. Suzie grew up in incredibly affluent circles, and clues about her life before Kevin reel the audience into the twisty narrative. You’re laughing and questioning everything you see. Each scene reveals something new. When the tension builds to a peak, here comes Biggs to make you laugh out loud.
Anna Konkle, who I miss with my whole heart on PEN15, plays Heather, Suzue’s childhood best friend and current chief of police. Konkle is down to Earth, incredibly charming, and inarguably the most competent member of her force. Her micro-expressions speak volumes. 
The location is stunning. The lake house is the stuff of dreams, with tennis courts, a multilevel dock, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Mollie Goldstein‘s editing is top-notch. Camerawork from Zach Kuperstein is a phenomenal mix of styles, keeping the audience thoroughly engaged. After years in the industry, Biggs easily slides into the director’s chair. I am excited to see what he chooses next. 
While grading papers, Susan’s quiet night gets weird when her husband shows up in a panic. He explains that through his secretive research at Double Star Accounting, he can now predict the future. Edgar shares that his co-workers are after his knowledge and that Susan and their daughter, Taylor, are in danger. This sounds preposterous to her until two aggressive individuals knock on her front door demanding to know where Edgar is. As they threaten her family, Susan must decide who to believe.
THE DISINVITED
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
COYOTES
Brittany Allen plays sex worker Julie. Her ability to steal scenes is magic. 
This is essentially an ensemble survival horror. The CGI coyotes are a bit Twilight-y, but the practical FX are legit. The kills are super creative, and one is particularly gnarly and incredibly satisfying for genre fans. Scott’s occupation is a graphic novel artist. Director Colin 
NIGHT OF THE REAPER
Opening credits are fantastic. The production design team covers homes with classic ’80s Halloween decorations, and the repeated VHS static filter is chef’s kiss. Every single slasher trope we’ve come to love is utilized to build that creeping sense of dread. The synth score is fantastic. Homages to franchise favorites are endless. Everything from Poltergeist to Halloween, Max’s outfit looks like it’s straight out of Pet Sematery or a nod to Chucky, and the “Kimble, R” buzzer might just be a reference to Australian director Kimble Rendall. 
Casting is delicious. Ben Cockell is outstanding as Chad. Summer H. Howell (
Brandon Christensen, alongside his co-writer brother Ryan, understands how to build suspense while giving horror fans the kills they seek. As a fan of SUPERHOST, I am impressed by this narrative shift again and again. Christensen nails the element of surprise, flipping the script on their head when you least expect it. NIGHT OF THE REAPER is another solid addition to Shudder’s stacked catalog.
Don’t get ahead of yourself in viewing. ANYTHING THAT MOVES is far more than a high-concept soft porn. I mean, it is also that. The cast fearlessly embraces full frontal nudity, which is incredibly rare for male actors, but more importantly, it honors kink. Audiences will not expect the hidden trauma. Phillips also addresses the demoralization of sex workers.
Shot in Super 16mm, its gritty look completes the homage to 1970s adult films. The Joshua Rains‘s artwork is diabolically genius. The bright spotlight device that denotes an orgasm is brilliant. Casting Nina Hartley and Ginger Lynn Allen was a superior move, as the two essentially served as the film’s intimacy coordinators. By the way, can we acknowledge the importance of that role on a set? I am thrilled we’re adding a Stunt category to next year’s awards season, but Intimacy Coordination is also an art.
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