Best new films – quick links
Best new films this week
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.
Beast Race – 7 August (Prime Video)
Film (2026). In a dystopian future, Rio de Janeiro lies in ruins and has become the setting for a deadly race. What was once the ‘jogo do bicho’ (animal game) has now turned into a violent competition among runners, each representing an animal, risking their lives to compete for a cash prize that can change their lives.
However, to compete, each runner must offer another person as collateral. Only the winners recover their loved ones. The game has become a symbol of oppression for many and entertainment for the majority, who bet on their favorite runners, further widening the gap between the rich and the poor.
Beast Race stars Matheus Abreu, Rodrigo Santoro and Isis Valverde.
Army of Shadows – 7 August (MUBI)
Film (1969). Jean-Pierre Melville’s film tells the story of a group of French Resistance fighters during the Occupation. Based on Joseph Kessel’s novel and filmed with Melville’s signature style, the movie is more about what it takes to survive and the price people pay than about war itself. Lino Ventura and Simone Signoret deliver powerful performances.
Song Sung Blue – 8 August (Binge)
Film (2025). Follows the true story of a husband-and-wife Neil Diamond tribute act, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson.
Recent best new films
The Dink – 24 July
Film (2026). The Dink follows washed up former tennis prodigy Dusty Boyd (Jake Johnson), who has been reduced to coaching unruly children at his father Chuck’s (Ed Harris) suburban country club.
Desperate for his father’s approval, Dusty blindly supports Chuck’s vendetta against the new craze taking over the club: pickleball. But when Dusty reaggravates an old injury, taking away his ability to play tennis, he resorts to the unthinkable in the name of rehab.
He not only tries pickleball but, thanks in part to his enchanting new partner, Candace (Mary Steenburgen), he finds himself actually enjoying it. Torn between two worlds, Dusty is forced to finally face the ghosts of his past athletic failures, including his childhood nemesis, Andy Roddick (Andy Roddick).
Ultimately, Dusty is drawn into a desperate battle for the future of the club, his father’s affection and his very identity.
The Sheep Detectives – 24 July (Prime Video)
Film (2026). Every night, a shepherd reads aloud a murder mystery, pretending his sheep can understand. When he is found dead, the sheep realise at once that it was a murder and think they know everything about how to go about solving it.
Starring Hugh Jackman, Brett Goldstein and Patrick Stewart.
A Useful Ghost – 24 July (MUBI)
Film (2025). Something unusual is happening at a family-run appliance factory: spirits have started to possess the products. March, the factory owner’s son, is grieving after his pregnant wife dies from dust poisoning. His world changes when he is reunited with her, now in the form of a vacuum cleaner.
A Useful Ghost is surreal, funny, and politically charged, using absurdist storytelling to explore love, grief, and collective memory.
72 Hours – 24 July (Netflix)
Film (2026). To save his career, a 40-year-old ad exec (Kevin Hart) joins a crew of twentysomethings for a wild Miami bachelor party after they mistakenly add him to a group chat.
Starring Kevin Hart, Marcello Hernández and Teyana Taylor.
