OPENING August 24 to 30, 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 August 24 – 30 that are of particular interest. Titles highlighted in red have links to full reviews:
Tuesday, August 25
- Over/Under – Bulldog Film Distribution – USA – Drama co-written and directed by Sophia Silver. Childhood friendship can be a time of innocence, enchantment and perpetual excitement as portrayed in Sophia Silver’s modest yet assured debut feature, Over/Under.
Wednesday, August 26
- The Last Sunrise – Amazon MGM Studios (Prime) – USA – Drama. A young American woman with health challenges finds unexpected romance with a charismatic local during her summer in Majorca, forcing her to weigh her heart’s desires against family obligations and her planned return home.
- Toxic – Phars Film (Cinemas) – India – Action film co-written and directed by Geethu Mohandas. As Portuguese rule crumbles in Goa, Raya rises through betrayal and bloodshed to claim the city’s underworld, only to learn that power always demands a price.
Thursday, August 27
- If I Tell You – Suncatcher Productions (Cinemas) – USA – Drama co-written and directed by Tessa Blake. 12-year-old Michael enjoys a carefree boyhood until the day his mom comes home with a black eye and a busted lip. She won’t talk about it, his dad avoids him, and his granny shushes him as he strives to unravel the mystery that has altered his once-close family.
Friday, August 28
- Filipiñana – Kino Lorber (Cinemas) – international co-production – Drama. Teen Isabel’s attraction to Dr. Palanca at her country club job turns dark as she uncovers violence beneath the club’s facade and discovers their disturbing connection from the past.
- Finding Emily – Focus Features (Cinemas) – UK / USA – Romantic comedy directed by Alicia MacDonald. When a lovesick musician is given the wrong number for his dream girl, he teams up with a driven psychology student to find her. Together, they spark a hilarious campus-wide frenzy that tests their own hearts and ambitions along the way.
- Penny Lane Is Dead – Shudder – Australia – Horror film written and directed by Mia Kate Russell. Set in 1986, during a scorching Aussie summer, three best friends’ celebration at a beach house turns into a blood-soaked fight for survival when a prank goes horribly wrong.
- The Salt Path – Rialto Distribution (Cinemas) – UK – Drama directed by Marianne Elliott. A couple lose their home and later discover the husband has been diagnosed with a terminal illness as they embark on a year long coastal trek.
- The Sun Never Sets – Independent Film Company (Cinemas) – USA – Drama. A woman’s relationship with her older, divorced boyfriend hits a rough patch just as her ex reappears in her life, leading to complicated emotions and messy entanglements in the Alaskan wilderness.
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.
