VIFF 2026 | Cinematic Hope – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi Reacts 'All of a Sudden'

"It would be wonderful if the impossible was possible."

Neon / Elevation Pictures

VIFF 2026—Celebrated Japanese auteur Ryûsuke Hamaguchi makes his French-language debut in the monumentally affecting care home dramedy, All of a Sudden (aka Soudain or Suddenly Feeling Unwell). Woven with thoughtful critiques and dissections of late-stage capitalism, the process of experimental theatre, caring for the elderly, and, of course, smoking cigarettes, the French-Japanese film is a moving treatise on treating everyone with the care and attention they deserve in a consumer-driven society.

VIFF 2026 | Jordan Firstman Looks After the Heartwarming 'Club Kid'

"Did you ever lose ten years?"

A24 / Elevation Pictures

VIFF 2026—Long Island native and gay comedian Jordan Firstman makes his impressive directorial debut in the surprisingly touching adult queer comedy, Club Kid. Essentially a riff on the basic premise of the Adam Sandler comedy, Big Daddy, Firstman's Peter is a hedonistic party promoter who learns he has an adorable ten-year-old son (Reggie Absolom) he never knew about when they are unceremoniously dropped on his New York City doorstep.

VIFF 2026 | Lee Chang-dong Documents South Korean 'Possible Love'

"But his eyes are so sad."

Pinehouse Film / Anonymous Content

VIFF 2026—Possible Love (aka Ga-neung-han sa-rang), South Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong's first film in eight years, follows two couples from opposite socioeconomic backgrounds in a class-conscious drama, similar to Parasite, also co-starring actress Cho Yeo-jeong. It's another maserfully slow burn interpersonal drama of simmering (possibly sexual) tension.

VIFF 2026 | Julianne Moore Stages 'The Debut' Named Mona

"You got the part!"

A24 / Elevation Pictures

VIFF 2026—Actor/filmmaker Jesse Eisenberg writes and directs The Debut, starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti as a meek New Jersey housewife and powerhouse community theatre director, in a blistering musical comedy, The Debut, which bears more than a few passing similarities to the famed The Simpsons episode, "A Streetcar Named Marge."

VIFF 2026 | Mahershala Ali Worships 'Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother'

"Is this your secret weapon?"

Orion Pictures

VIFF 2026—From the ashes of the never-made Blade reboot comes Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, a religious hitman thriller by Pakistani-American filmmaker Bassam Tariq and starring two-time Academy Award-winning actor Mahershala Ali, made after their long-in-development Marvel vampire film fell apart. It's a strange but searing crusade of faith and violence wrapped in a mission of Muslim fatherhood.

VIFF 2026 | Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve Discipline 'Fjord'

"When violence is involved, they take it very seriously."

Neon / Elevation Pictures

VIFF 2026—Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu directs Fjord, a blistering Norwegian family legal drama starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as conservative parents of five who move from Romania to her native (much more left-leaning) Norway, clashing with their more liberal newfound village community. The Palme d'Or winner revels in its divisive skewering of both close-minded fundamentalist Christian values and judgmental progressive liberal ideals.

VIFF 2026 | 10 Most Anticipated Films (You Should See)

"VIFF is quickly becoming the archetype of the modern film festival."

Image | Zak Design Studio

VIFF 2026—(August 26, 2026) Fall film festival season is on the horizon. Rejoice, as our city's eleven-day arthouse filmmaking showcase, the 45th edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival, is just around the corner next month. Plan accordingly for VIFF's yearly output of mixed-media entertainment programming, anchored by hundreds of Canadian and global films, screened across the city in celebration of contemporary cinema.

REEL | Top 10 Films of 2026 So Far

"I put the not in astronaut!"

Amazon MGM Studios / Lord Miller Productions

Click on each film title to read its corresponding review:

1) Project Hail Mary ¹ (dirs. Phil Lord & Christopher Miller)

2) The Drama ² (dir. Kristoffer Borgli)

3) Mile End Kicks ³ * (dir. Chandler Levack)

4) Obsession (dir. Curry Barker)

5) Blue Heron * (dir. Sophy Romvari)

GENRE | Staying 'A Safe Distance' Away x SXSW 2026

"Would you like to take a ride on my time machine?"

Drafthouse Films / Vortex Media

A Safe Distance, SFU Film alumnus Gloria Mercer's debut feature-length film, stars local actor Bethany Brown as a woman stranded in the woods by her petulant boyfriend (Chris McNally) after she rebuffs his marriage proposal while on an anniversary camping trip in rural British Columbia, who then becomes both emotionally and criminally entangled with an attractive but dangerous bank-robbing couple (Tandia Mercedes and Cody Kearsley).

VIFF 2025 | 'Pillion' – Alexander Skarsgård Controls A Rom-Dom-Com

"I have an aptitude for devotion."

Vancouver International Film Festival

VIFF 2025—The comically mismatched romantic pairing of Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård stars in English filmmaker Harry Lighton's explicit yet crowd-pleasing directorial debut, Pillion, based on British author Adam Mars-Jones' 2020 novel Box Hill. Framed as a stylish, BDSM-themed gay biker romance, both actors are fearless yet earnestly sweet in their tender but often graphic courtship.

REEL | Top 10 Films of 2025

"No fear. Just like Tom f*cking Cruise!"

Warner Bros. Pictures / Ghoulardi Film Company

Click on each film title to read its corresponding review:

1) One Battle After Another ¹ (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

2) Sentimental Value ² * (Affeksjonsverdi, dir. Joachim Trier)

3) Sinners ³ (dir. Ryan Coogler)

4) Marty Supreme (dir. Josh Safdie)

5) Train Dreams * (dir. Clint Bentley)

VIFF 2025 | Bi Gan Dreams A Cinematic 'Resurrection'

"The secret to eternal life is to no longer dream!"

Vancouver International Film Festival

VIFF 2025—Resurrection (狂野时代 aka Wild Times), visionary Chinese artist turned filmmaker Bi Gan's ambitious dreamscape odyssey of surrealist sci-fi slow cinema, is structured into six disparate but interconnected chapters, each revolving around one of the Buddhist senses, including the "mind." Set in a far future where most people no longer dream and, as a result, can live forever, things start off in a German expressionist style before transitioning into distinct twentieth-century cinematic eras in China.

VIFF 2025 | Cracking the Right 'Tuner' – A Piano Heist

"It's not about hearing. It's about feeling."

Vancouver International Film Festival

VIFF 2025—Oscar-winning Canadian documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher makes his narrative feature debut in the entertaining, piano-themed heist drama, Tuner. It stars English actor Leo Woodall as the titular piano tuner with a sensitive hearing condition that both makes him an unusually talented safe cracker while rendering him incapable of playing his instrument of choice.

VIFF 2025 | 'Mile End Kicks' Relives the Age of Indie Sleaze

"I can't date two guys in the same band."

Vancouver International Film Festival

VIFF 2025—Toronto-born entertainment writer turned filmmaker Chandler Levack continues to mine her own youthful personal experiences as she revisits the indie sleaze music scene (circa 2011) in her winning sophomore film, Mile End Kicks. Starring Euphoria actress Barbie Ferreira as a young music critic from Ontario who moves to Montreal's vibrant Mile End neighbourhood of artists to write a book about Alanis Morissette before becoming sidetracked after falling for a struggling indie rock band.

VIFF 2025 | Bradley Cooper and Will Arnett Joke, 'Is This Thing On?'

"I can't control when a character leaves me."

Vancouver International Film Festival

VIFF 2025—Actor/director Bradley Cooper and comedian Will Arnett (longtime real-life friends and once roommates) team up for possibly the most divorced guy energy movie ever made. In his third directorial outing, Is This Thing On? takes a turn from professional music to amateur open mic stand-up comedy in his hilarious dramedy about the artistry of telling jokes to strangers on stage in a dark room late at night.

VIFF 2025 | Park Chan-wook Refuses to Make 'No Other Choice'

"There's nothing I won't do."

Vancouver International Film Festival

VIFF 2025—No Other Choice (aka Eojjeolsugaeopda), acclaimed South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook's sharp economic thriller satire, uses the threat of murder as an amusing metaphor for how capitalist structures pit workers against each other. It's a stark but absurdist conception of a desperate future where the suburban family's dreams of an idyllic everyday existence are quickly fading away.

VIFF 2025 | 'Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie' Orbits the Past

"This is gonna be a copyright nightmare!"

Vancouver International Film Festival

VIFF 2025—BlackBerry director Matt Johnson revisits his well-loved but little-seen Toronto mockumentary television comedy, first a web series and then a short-lived cult Viceland sitcom, in the hilarious and aptly named Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. Essentially an out-and-out ripoff and possible copyright violation of Back to the Future, Johnson and his real-life friend and longtime collaborator, film composer Jay McCarrol, play fictionalized, unsuccessful musician versions of themselves, desperate to play a gig at the historic Rivoli nightclub with no real plan.

VIFF 2025 | 'Wake Up Dead Man' Resurrects Another 'Knives Out' Mystery

"Telling the truth can be a bitter herb."

Vancouver International Film Festival

VIFF 2025—Glass Onion writer/director Rian Johnson and his southern-fried detective actor Daniel Craig reteam for their third investigation in the whodunit sequel, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Co-starring a revelatory Josh O'Connor as arguably the true lead of the film, Johnson takes a detour into the religious thriller genre as he layers his ensemble murder mystery riff with thematic elements of faith, redemption, and resurrection.

VIFF 2025 | Holding Onto 'Sentimental Value' – Norwegian Blues

"Why didn't our childhood ruin you?"

Vancouver International Film Festival

VIFF 2025—The Worst Person in the World duo of Norwegian auteur Joachim Trier and his actress Renate Reinsve reteam for their searing generational family drama, Sentimental Value (aka Affeksjonsverdi). Set around an Oslo family home, Trier employs the processes of acting, performance, and directing as therapy for a fractured absentee father/daughter relationship.

VIFF 2025 | George Clooney Pays Tribute to 'Jay Kelly'

"I'm grateful I got to see the end before it ended."

Vancouver International Film Festival

VIFF 2025—The unofficial Mayor of Hollywood, George Clooney, stars as an aging movie star contemplating his life and legacy in the movies, away from his actual family, in renowned dramatist Noah Baumbach's latest comedy, the unimaginatively titled Jay Kelly. Prepare yourself for a stage-like, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-style look at past relationships where another successful, rich white man went wrong by alienating his loved ones, to only end up being surrounded by people he employs.