ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

Female Film Critics 24/375

Lists Weekly Releases 

OPENING May 18 – 24, 2026 – Margaret Barton-Fumo reports

Margaret Barton-Fumo , ,
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The Alliance of Women Film Journalists highlights movies made by and about women. With a vigilant eye toward current releases, we maintain an interactive record of films that are pertinent to our interests. Be they female-made or female-centric productions, they are films that represent a wide range of women’s stories and present complex female characters. As such, they are movies that will most likely be reviewed on AWFJ.org and will qualify for consideration for our annual EDA Awards, celebrating exceptional women working in film behind and in front of the camera. Our members are feature writers, columnists and regular contributors to a variety of media outlets and many of us publish regularly on the festival circuit. Our critical voices are widespread and diverse. We invite you to join us in tracking weekly releases of particular interest. And we welcome information about new films that will help us to keep our records updated and our critics alert. Below is a concise list of new releases set for the week of May 18 – 24 that are of particular interest. Titles highlighted in red have links to full reviews:  

Friday, May 22

  • Ask E. Jean – Abramorama (Cinemas) – USA – Documentary co-written and directed by Ivy Meeropol. E. Jean Carroll won two lawsuits against Donald Trump for defamation and battery. Beyond that, she built a career as a successful magazine writer and authored one of America’s longest-running advice columns.

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  • I Love Boosters – Neon (Cinemas) – USA – Dramedy. A group of shoplifters take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven by stealing her clothes and reselling them at a lower price, what they call “fashion-forward philanthropy.”

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  • Ladies First – Netflix – USA – Comedy directed by Thea Sharrock. A male chauvinist is transported to a matriarchal society, facing challenges from a formidable female version of himself.

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  • Manas – Kimstim Films (Cinemas) – Brazil / Portugal – Drama co-written and directed by Marianna Brennand. Aware that the future does not hold many options for her in a riverside community on Marajó Island, a 13-year-old girl decides to confront the violent machinery that governs her family and the women in her community.

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  • Saccharine – Independent Film Company (Cinemas) – Australia – Drama written and directed by Natalie Erika James. Hana, a lovelorn medical student, becomes terrorized by a sinister force after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes.

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  • Shakti – Amazon Prime Video / Buffalo 8 Productions – Nepal – Drama written and directed by Nani Sahra Walker. When her mischievous daughter falls mysteriously ill, a single mother is drawn into Kathmandu’s supernatural underworld of shamans and secrets, where resilience may be their only path to redemption.

Film descriptions are adapted from press releases. Titles highlighted in red have links to full reviews. Stay tuned in for next week’s releases! Contact us if we’ve overlooked anything.

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Margaret Barton-Fumo

Based in New York, Margaret Barton-Fumo has contributed to Film Comment since 2006. Her monthly online column, “Deep Cuts,” focused on the intersection of film and music. She has interviewed such directors, actors, and musicians as Brian De Palma, James Gray, Harry Dean Stanton, and Paul Williams, and has additionally contributed to Senses of Cinema and Stop Smiling. She is the editor of Paul Verhoeven: Interviews, published by the University Press of Mississippi.