OPENING October 19 to 25, 2026 – Margaret Barton-Fumo Reports

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 October 19 – 25 that are of particular interest. Titles highlighted in red have links to full reviews:  

Wednesday, October 21

• One in a Million – PBS Distribution – USA / UK / Germany – Documentary co-directed by Itab Azzam and Jack Macinnes. A Syrian girl’s decade-long journey to Germany and back, as she and her family face the challenges of war and life as refugees, showing both the hardships and hopes of starting anew.

Thursday, October 22

• Detention – Antenna – USA – Dramedy co-directed by Emma and Mark Cameron. Teenage misfits in Saturday detention bond through comedic and emotional moments when their counselor makes them open up instead of just sitting quietly.

 

• Miss Representation: Rise Up – Abramorama (Cinemas) – USA – Documentary directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Examines the rising backlash against women’s progress and the hostile landscape of technology designed to harass and, ultimately, silence women.

Friday, October 23

• The Cycle – Shudder – UK – Thriller. A daughter unravels her father’s dark past after his body, missing for 36 years, is found at a horrific crime scene.

 

• Fatherland – MUBI (Cinemas) – Poland / Germany / Italy / France – Historical drama. At the height of the Cold War, Fatherland centers on the relationship between the writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika—actress, writer and rally driver—as they embark on a road trip in a black Buick cruiser across a Germany in ruins.

 

• The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony – Cargo Films and Releasing – USA / Pakistan / Canada – Documentary written and directed by Habiba Nosheen. The birth of a gymnastics team in Pakistan provides an inspiring spark of light for a small group of girls on the margins.

 

• Love Language – Vertical (Cinemas, VOD) – USA – Romantic comedy. A social media writer starts a wedding vow business, but her world turns upside down when her latest client is engaged to her college crush.

 

• Making Marie Antoinette – MUBI (Cinemas) – USA / Italy – Follows filmmaker Eleanor Coppola’s behind-the-scenes documentation of her daughter Sofia Coppola directing the 2006 film Marie Antoinette, capturing the craftsmanship and challenges of being a young female director.

 

• Nuns vs. The Vatican – Italy / USA – Documentary co-written and directed by Lorena Luciano. A small group of nuns reveals an agonizing truth about the Catholic Church: the terrifying accounts of predatory priests torturing nuns.

 

• A Talent for Murder – Bleecker Street Media (Cinemas) – international co-production – Drama. A mysterious young man from a New York publisher is sent to Switzerland to persuade the renowned writer Patricia Highsmith to write one final installment of the Ripley anthology.

 

• Wicker – Black Bear (Cinemas) – UK / USA / Australia / Hungary – Dramedy co-directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson. An ostracized fisherwoman commissions the local basketmaker to weave her a husband, but when her wicker creation proves unexpectedly extraordinary, his presence ignites jealousy and upheaval that threatens their quiet village.

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.