a24 – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

WEEK IN WOMEN: Rebecca Hall is Guest Director at Telluride Film Fest 2026 – Brandy McDonnell reports

September 3, 2026September 3, 2026 Brandy McDonnell a24, Julie Huntsinger, netflix, rebecca hall, telluride film festival

Acclaimed British-American actress, writer and director Rebecca Hall is serving as guest director for the 2026 Telluride Film Festival in Colorado. Hall is selecting a series of films to present at the 53rd festival, running Sept. 4-7. Festival organizers annually select a top film enthusiast to join in the creation of the festival’s program lineup. The guest director serves as a key collaborator in Telluride Film Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas, unique perspectives and overlooked films to the festival. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Hall’s film selections, along with the rest of the festival lineup, will remain a secret until just before opening day.

Reviews

THE INVITE – Review by Susan Granger

September 3, 2026September 4, 2026 Susan Granger a24, Edward Norton, olivia wilde, penelope cruz, Seth Rogen, The Invite

I’m glad I waited to see The Invite on Prime Video because – while Olivia Wilde helms this forebodingly unpredictable sex comedy – it’s not worth a trip to the multiplex. Adapted by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones from the Spanish film Sentimental (2020), it’s basically a four-hander, set in San Francisco. What happens is for you to discover – as all four actors play their parts convincingly. Reminiscent of but not nearly as good as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? it’s yet another deep dive into a tense, troubled, middle-age marriage.

Reviews

THE INVITE – Review by T.J. Callahan

June 29, 2026July 1, 2026 T. J. Callahan a24, Edward Norton, olivia wilde, penelope cruz, Seth Rogen, The Invite

If you like edgy dinner parties that promise the possibility of sex, drugs and a rock n roll of emotions, then make sure you RSVP for The Invite. Olivia Wilde directs herself, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz in this relationship dramady that will leave you evaluating your own partnership. The film takes place in the living room of the San Francisco apartment of Angela (Wilde) and Joe (Rogen). They’ve invited their rather lively upstairs neighbors, Hawk and Pina (Norton and Cruz), over for dinner, but when the party spirals into unexpected places, Angela and Joe don’t know if they’ve reignited the spark in their troubled marriage or lit the flame that burns it down.

Reviews

ETERNITY – Review by T.J. Callahan

November 18, 2025 T. J. Callahan a24, Callum Turner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, elizabeth olsen, Eternity, John Early, Miles Teller

Movie goers have been waiting forever for a fresh, new romantic comedy and finally Eternity happened. It’s a love triangle of heavenly proportions. The original script, taken from the Blacklist of best unproduced screenplays, is sweet, sentimental and silly. It examines the different types and stages of endearment. Passionate love, comfortable love, progressive love. It’s nostalgic. Eternity is the whole package.

Reviews

SORRY, BABY – Review by Lynn Venhaus

July 14, 2025 Lynn Venhaus a24, Baby, E.R. Fightmaster, Eva Victor, John Carroll Lynch, kelly mccormack, lucas hedges, naomi ackie, Sorry

When bad things happen to good people, the wind is understandably knocked out of one’s sails – and the loving, concerned people around them. Sorry, Baby is a specific, bittersweet look at how Agnes, a young woman in graduate school, is affected by a sexual assault, and her recovery in the aftermath. Eva Victor, who wrote, directed and starred in this revelatory black comedy-drama, is a fresh new voice that demonstrates how an assured female point of view is sorely needed in modern filmmaking.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: A24 brings Eva Victor’s SORRY BABY to theaters – Brandy McDonnell reports

June 11, 2025June 16, 2025 Brandy McDonnell a24, cannes film festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Eva Victor, Sorry Baby, sundance film festival

Starring, written and directed by filmmaker Eva Victor (Billions), the Sundance Film Festival 2025 hit Sorry, Baby opens June 27 in theaters, released by A24. A24 acquired worldwide rights to the film for close to $8 million just days after Sorry, Baby earned a standing ovation at Sundance Film Festival, where Eva Victor also won the coveted Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.

Reviews

THE LEGEND OF OCHI – Review by T.J. Callahan

April 15, 2025April 20, 2025 T. J. Callahan a24, Emily Watson, helena zengel, Isaiah Saxon, The Legend of Ochi, willem dafoe

A24 is testing the family film waters with The Legend of Ochi, meant for the entire clan to enjoy together, but kids under 10 may be bored and/or scared. It’s not flashy or fast paced even though the film is only 96 minutes. Kid characters carry shotguns. The mother smokes. But there are lessons to be learned and hearts are warmed. The Legend of Ochi is a quirky flick that will win you over if you give it a chance. It’s a symphony of sights and sounds with an old fashioned story attached.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK October 11, 2024: THE LAST OF THE SEA WOMEN

October 6, 2024October 7, 2024 Jennifer Merin a24, Apple TV+, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, haenyeo, Jeju Island, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Malala Yousafzai, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, south korea, Sue Kim, The Last of the Sea Women

“Men can’t handle this job,” declares one of the disarmingly charming Korean haenyeo featured in director Sue Kim’s engaging documentary The Last of the Sea Women. And it’s hard not to agree as you watch these strong, confident women in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s freedive to harvest food and other bounty from the ocean so that they can earn a living to support themselves and their families. There’s no question that this is women’s work. Once you learn about the haenyeo and their skills and traditions, it’s impossible not to want them to succeed in everything they do.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK September 6, 2024: LOOK INTO MY EYES

August 31, 2024August 31, 2024 Jennifer Merin a24, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, documentaries, jennifer merin, lana wilson, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, look into my eyes, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, Nikenya Hall, nikki fowler, psychics

Whether or not you believe that psychics truly have the ability to channel the dead or intuit the future, you’ll be hard pressed not to appreciate the comfort and empathy they offer the people who seek out their services in the poignant documentary Look Into My Eyes. Writer/director Lana Wilson captures intimate readings and personal stories without judgment, holding space for the feelings of both the psychics and their clients.

Reviews

SING SING – Review by Diane Carson

August 10, 2024August 11, 2024 Diane Carson a24, Colman Donimgo, Greg Kwedar, Pat Scola, Rehabilitation Through the Arts, Sing Sing

Sing Sing. The words evoke images of Jimmy Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces. Director Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing bears little resemblance to Hollywood’s prison films, all to its credit. For Kwedar and inmates prove without doubt the marvelous value of their Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, begun at the upstate New York Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison in 1996. Contemporary events unfold with a theater group of prisoners: auditioning others, casting, deciding on a comedy they’ll write and perform, rehearsals, debates, and a performance. Solid dialogue reveals their personalities as the men reach out and struggle to understand each other. All of this occurs in close quarters dotted with outdoor breaks, exchanges of deeply heartfelt, poignant revelations more honest than most experience in the external, open-air world. Memorable, it invites careful observation and insights into complex individuals.

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