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Spotlight

Award winners and critical favorites, these auspicious films from the world’s most celebrated directors are the year’s most acclaimed and accomplished.


Shown in black and white, a massive mountain sits in the middle of a sprawling city. Sun streams through the clouds.

Below the Clouds Sotto le nuvole

Gianfranco Rosi  |   Italy

From the Oscar-nominated director of Fire at Sea comes an immersive and impressionistic portrait of communities living in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.

Italian, Arabic, Japanese, English
Environmental, Political, Social Commentary
An elderly man in a feathered headband stands in front of a mirror, putting in vampire teeth.

Dracula

Radu Jude  |   Romania, Austria, Luxembourg, Brazil

A vampire hunt, an AI-generated Vlad the Impaler, a vulgar folktale, and much more collide in this unforgettable retelling of the Dracula myth.

Romanian
Comedy, Film on Film, Literary Adaptation, Social Commentary
A young man in a dark gray suit sits at a table, his face tight with subtle anger.

Franz Franz

Agnieszka Holland  |   Czech Republic, Germany, Poland

In this mosaic cinematic portrait, young Franz Kafka pursues his passion for literature while grappling with family and work obligations in pre-World War I Prague.

German, Czech
Art, Biopic, Drama, Historical
A close up of a woman lying down in the sand, eyes glassy.

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Mary Bronstein  |   U.S.

With her life crashing down, Linda attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, a missing person, and a hostile relationship with her therapist.

English
Drama, Family Affairs, Women-Centered

Magellan Magalhães

Lav Diaz  |   Portugal, Spain, France, Philippines, Taiwan

Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan embarks on a brutal campaign of colonial conquest in Southeast Asia, but madness soon takes hold.

Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, French
Biopic, Drama, Historical

The Mastermind

Kelly Reichardt  |   U.S.

In suburban Massachusetts circa 1970, an unemployed carpenter turned art thief plans his first big heist. When things go haywire, his life unravels.

English
Art, Crime, Drama

Miroirs No. 3

Christian Petzold  |   Germany

After surviving a violent car crash in the countryside, dazed Laura is taken in by a mysterious local woman whose devoted care belies a dark past.

German
Drama, Mystery, Women-Centered

Orphan Árva

László Nemes  |   Hungary, U.K., France, Germany

Budapest, 1957. The young Andor’s life is turned upside down when a menacing, brutish man appears in town claiming to be his father.

Hungarian
Drama, Historical, Social Commentary

Palestine 36

Annemarie Jacir  |   Palestine, U.K., France, Denmark, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan

This powerful and suspenseful epic charts a group of characters caught up in the tumultuous historic moment when Palestinians united against Britain’s colonial rule.

Arabic, English
Drama, Historical, Political, Social Commentary

Resurrection

Bi Gan  |   China, France

In a future society that has lost the desire to dream, a curious creature catalogues the fantasies of rebel “Fantasmers,” creating a wild cinematic tapestry.

Chinese
Action, Fantasy, Film on Film, Science Fiction

Three Goodbyes Tre Ciotole

Isabel Coixet  |   Italy, Spain

This elegant and emotional drama finds Marta reeling after a breakup until a world-shifting diagnosis brings clarity and purpose to her life.

Italian
Drama, Literary Adaptation, Romance, Women-Centered

Two Prosecutors

Sergei Loznitsa  |   France, Germany, Netherlands, Latvia, Romania, Lithuania

1937. Investigating a case of wrongful imprisonment, a prosecutor embarks on a paranoia-infused journey to Moscow during Stalin’s Great Terror.

Russian
Crime, Drama, Historical, Political

Young Mothers Jeunes Mères

Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne  |   Belgium, France

Living together in a group home in Belgium, five teenage girls wrestle with the newfound responsibilities of parenthood in this warmly humanist social drama.

French
Drama, Family Affairs, Social Commentary, Women-Centered