Best new films – quick links
Best new films
Fuze – 21 August (Prime Video)
Film (2025). When a massive bomb discovery forces a citywide evacuation, bomb disposal commander Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) races to stop a catastrophic detonation – while, above ground, criminal mastermind Karalis (Theo James) and his brutal partner (Sam Worthington) use the lockdown to execute a precision bank heist.
Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Saffron Hocking and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
The Loneliness of Lizards – 21 August (MUBI)
Film (2025). Inês Nunes’s first feature is a subtle Portuguese-Spanish co-production that introduces a promising new voice in European independent cinema.
Hamnet – 22 August (Binge)
Film (2025). Jessie Buckley won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of grieving mother Agnes Hathaway in Hamnet. Also stars Paul Mescal.
From ScreenHub‘s review:
‘What’s in a name? the doomed Juliet asks Romeo in a little play by William Shakespeare you may have heard of?
‘Though a different fragment of that text appears in Chloé Zhao’s England-set Hamnet, which just closed the British Film Festival before opening nationally on 15 January, the idea of nominative determinism howls through this heartsore film like wind in the woods.
‘Adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s historical fiction of the same name, with the author as co-writer, Hamnet underlines that names matter. They tie us to our families, for better or worse, sometimes saddling us with fates beyond our control. All have layers of deeper meaning.
‘So there’s a chill in the air, as an opening intertitle announces that, during the 16th century, given names were often interchangeable.’ Read more …
Recent best new films
The Assistant – 14 August (MUBI)
Film (2019). The film follows Jane, a recent college graduate and the youngest assistant at a major New York film production company, through a single workday. She arrives before dawn and leaves long after dark. During her day, she files papers, cleans the office, books flights and manages the schedule of a boss who is never seen but whose presence is felt in every room and every conversation.
Australian director Kitty Green crafts a film that works through subtle details and suggestion. Julia Garner’s performance shows the strain of working in an environment built on complicity and pretending not to know.
Plainclothes – 15 August (HBO Max)
Film (2025). A police officer works undercover to lure and arrest men who display lewd behaviour in public restrooms. However, he soon finds himself torn between duty and desire when he develops a secret connection with one of his targets. Written and directed by Carmen Emmi.
Starring Tom Blyth, Russell Tovey and Maria Dizzia.
Don’t Say Good Luck – 14 August (Netflix)
Film (2026). Sophie Birenbaum is ready for the spotlight as the lead in her high school musical – until she’s suddenly facing more drama at home than on the stage.
Starring Sunny Sandler, Melanie Lynskey and Max Greenfield.
Ancestral Visions of the Future – 14 August (MUBI)
Film (2025). Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese returns with his most ambitious work so far. The Lesotho filmmaker, known for the extraordinary This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection, one of the most important African films of the last decade, has created a style that blends spiritual urgency with formal innovation. His films draw on oral tradition, shared memory, and the landscapes of southern Africa.
A Global Exclusive on MUBI.
The Last House – 7 August (Netflix)
Film (2026). A family mysteriously sealed inside their home must work together to survive dwindling resources and the ominous force keeping them trapped.
Starring Greta Lee, Wagner Moura, Gabriel Barbosa and Emma Ho.
