Diane Carson – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THE NATURAL STATE (Telluride FF 2026) – Review by Diane carson

September 11, 2026 Diane Carson documentary, Julie Thayer, Matthew Dougherty, Telluride Film Festival 2026, The Natural State, U.G. Krishnamurti

At the heart of The Natural State, a decidedly unusual documentary, is the emphatically reluctant Indian anti-guru U.G. Krishnamurti. And yet, in a daring endeavor, director Matthew Dougherty relentlessly probes the charismatic appeal of U.G. who repeatedly and adamantly tells his followers that he has no secrets or truths to share with them and that, moreover, he has no interest in changing them. Rejecting that pronouncement, in 1989, abandoning her family, Julie Thayer left New York City for the Swiss Alps, eventually attaching herself and her psychological wellbeing to U.G. Ignoring his periodic commands to go away, Julie filmed hundreds of hours of U.G. while also keeping a diary of her despair alternating with ecstasy. Drawing on Julie’s footage and writings, Dougherty interprets the curious and nonsensical events defining U.G. and his uninvited entourage.

Reviews

TWIGGY – Review by Diane Carson

September 10, 2026September 11, 2026 Diane Carson documentary, Fran Dresher, Joanne Lumley, Justin de Villeneuve, Leigh Lawson, Lesley Hornby, Michael Witney, paul mccartney, Sadie Frost, Tommy Tune, Twiggy

As engaging and straightforward as its title luminary, British director Sadie Frost’s documentary Twiggy skillfully explores this multitalented model, film, theater, and television star. Through candid interviews with Twiggy, her daughter Carly, husband Leigh Lawson, numerous friends, and others with whom she worked, a personal and professional profile emerges of a multifaceted, largely unaffected, vivacious talent. With a factually oriented approach to Twiggy’s life, Frost balances Twiggy’s good luck at 16 to be dubbed “The Face of ‘66” by London’s Daily Express and thereafter catapulted to stardom with her dedication and hard work for succeeding decades.

Reviews

LEARNING TO FLY – Review by Diane Carson

August 28, 2026August 30, 2026 Diane Carson Aiesha McAdams, documentary, Eszter Csillag, Jim Walmsley, Learning to Fly, Rod Farvard, ultramarathon runners, Western States Endurance Run

Watching the pain and fortitude required for 100-plus mile ultramarathoners, the question that recurs is “Why?” The daunting challenge of the grueling distance (almost four traditional marathons back to back) is compounded in several races that require running uneven, gravel trails through the night with a total elevation gain of over 18,000 feet. The most difficult 108 mile Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) involves a loop around that 15,781 foot mountain with an elevation gain of 32,800 feet and an equivalent elevation descent. Runners must finish in under forty seven hours. Painfully and reluctantly, some will have to withdraw. Others will complete the course to their incalculable delight, even as they collapse at the finish line.

Reviews

TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA – Review by Diane Carson

August 28, 2026August 30, 2026 Diane Carson gillian anderson, Hannah Einbinder, horror parody, Jane Schoenbrun, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Credit writer/director Jane Schoenbrun for a truthful title for her Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. A sendup of slasher films that indulges that genre’s expectations in clever, albeit alternately gory and erotic ways, the story is quite simple. In deep snow, twenty-nine-year-old filmmaker Kris Williams makes a reverential visit to Billy Presley in an isolated cabin on a lake, deep in the Pacific Northwest’s forests. Obsessed with the Camp Miasma franchise, Kris has set her sights on a Camp Miasma reboot.

Reviews

THE ODYSSEY – Review by Diane Carson

July 16, 2026July 19, 2026 Diane Carson Anne Hathaway, charlize theron, Christopher Nolan, Homer, John Leguizamo, Lupita Nyong'o, matt damon, Robert Pattinson, The Odyssey, Tom Holland, zendaya

Experiencing the film on its own terms transports the viewer into a multidimensional world. Its non-linear unfolding of multiple challenges and seductions remains clear and informative, as it navigates flashbacks and the trials of the Cyclops, Circe, the Sirens, and rebellion in the face of the belief that Odysseus has offended the gods, not the least of them Poseidon. The final confrontation achieves, as it should, a satisfying conclusion to Nolan’s admittedly distinctive interpretation.

Reviews

MADDIE’S SECRET – Review by Diane Carson

July 7, 2026July 13, 2026 Diane Carson Claudia O’Doherty, Eric Rahill, John Early, Kate Berlant, Kristen Johnston, Maddie’s Secret

First time writer/director John Early’s Maddie’s Secret presents an important issue in a poorly packaged, amateur effort that plays like a Hallmark television special. Casting himself (John Early) as the protagonist Maddie Ralph, the story begins with Maddie’s dishwasher job at Los Angeles’ Gourmaybe test kitchen segueing quickly to her social media success thanks to supportive husband Jake (Eric Rahill) posting her vegetarian creation. With six hundred thousand followers overnight, Maddie quickly gets promoted to recipe developer and on-camera presenter, inviting the ire of colleague chef Emily (Claudia O’Doherty).

Reviews

CAROLINA CAROLINE – Review by Diane Carson

June 22, 2026June 24, 2026 Diane Carson Adam Carter Rehmeier, Carolina Caroline, Kyle Gallner, Kyra Sedgwick, Samara Weaving

A sophomoric Bonnie & Clyde/Badlands copycat, director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s Carolina Caroline lacks complex characters and narrative creativity. Beginning three months after the main events, and thereby squandering any suspense concerning who will survive, Caroline (Samara Weaving) exits a motel room, throws up, and, after a driver exits his truck, steals it. Flashback to Caroline working in a rural Texas gas station when Oliver (Kyle Gallner) perpetrates a money payment/exchange con on the clerk. Confronting him, Caroline becomes enamored of his sophomoric philosophical justification and, shortly thereafter, agrees to hit the road with him, shoplifting, picking pockets, and robbing small town banks disguised with sunglasses and a black wig that is clearly exactly that. Unfortunately, this self-described “Southern gothic romantic crime thriller” fails to develop Oliver or Caroline beyond knee jerk simplicity.

Festivals

CANNES 2026 Film Festival Jury – Diane Carson reports

May 27, 2026June 1, 2026 Diane Carson 2026 Cannes International Film Festival Jury, Cannes 2026, chloe zhao, demi moore, Didier Allouch, Diego Céspedes, Isaach de Bankolé, Laura Wandel, Park Chan Wook, PAUL LAVERTY, Ruth Negga, Stellan Skarsgård

Asked by moderator Didier Allouch their reactions upon receiving the call inviting them to serve on this year’s jury, to a person each of the jurors expressed their delight at the honor. U.K. writer Paul Laverty said he immediately wondered if it was a hoax, his three sons “up to some mischief.” Director/writer Chloé Zhao described the upcoming days as a master class with those whose work she admired. Ethiopian/Irish actress Ruth Negga said, “My heart skipped a beat. This feels like poetry . . . the honor and privilege of a lifetime with such extraordinary artists.” American actress Demi Moore reiterated feeling “tremendously honored.” With amusement, Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård’s commented, “Finally. I’m so relieved I didn’t die first.” Concluding this round, Park Chan-wook humbly wondered if he was up to the task.

Festivals

Women Winners @ Cannes 2026 – Diane Carson reports

May 27, 2026May 31, 2026 Diane Carson Camera d’Or, geena davis, Marié-Clémentine Dusabejambo, Monia Chokri, Tao Okamoto, Un Certain Regard, Valeska Grisebach, Virginie Efira

The 79th Cannes Film Festival award ceremony held May 23, 2026, began on a high note with presenter Geena Davis noting that women have truly made advances in the filmmaking world. Smiling, she pointed to the 2026 official poster, a tribute to Thelma and Louise which premiered May 1991 at Cannes. There self-assuredly sit Geena Davis/Thelma and Susan Surandon/Louise atop the front seats of their iconic 1966 Ford thunderbird convertible, the car in which they escaped, at least for a while, patriarchal power. Honoring the film’s thirty-five year anniversary, the poster celebrates the pair’s enduring friendship, their challenge to male dictates, and assertion of their power. protagonist.

Festivals Reviews

BEN’IMANA (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson

May 23, 2026May 23, 2026 Diane Carson Ben'Imana, Cannes 2026, Clémentine U. Nyirinkindi, Hutus, Kesia Kelly Nishimwe, Marié-Clémentine Dusabejambo, reconciliation, Rwandan films, Tutsis, Un Certain Regard

In Ben’Imana, Rwandan writer/director Marié-Clémentine Dusabejambo integrates the personal with the political to gain specificity for a collective trauma. The title Ben’Imana means “the children of God,” signifying that the Hutus and Tutsis shared their language and culture, a paired community until the tragic 1994 Tutsi genocide at the hands of the Hutu militia massacre. Now, in 2012, reconciliation proceeds through public trials. With hopes that forgiveness will help heal the legacy of the massacre of up to a million people,

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