Best new films – quick links
Best new films this week
Pasa Faho – 1 June (SBS On Demand)
Film (2025). Azubuike is a charming shoe salesman who is just making ends meet in Melbourne. When his 12-year-old son, Obinna, moves across the country to live with him, the estranged pair struggle to find stability in an already turbulent time.
With the news that Azubuike’s shop is to be sold to developers, the two must find answers or risk losing more than just the shoe shop. Winner of the Best International Feature Film at the 2025 AFRIFF Globe Awards. Made in association with SBS.
Carol – 1 June (MUBI)
Film (2015). Todd Haynes’ luminous adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt remains one of modern queer cinema’s defining love stories, tracing a tender and emotionally charged relationship in 1950s New York through extraordinary performances from Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.
Beast – 4 June (Stan)
Film (2026). Russell Crowe is commanding as Sammy, the trainer whose relationship with champion fighter Patton James embodies tough love, hard-won forgiveness and the complex bonds between mentors and the fighters they shape.
Beast is a powerful story of redemption, sacrifice, and the unbreakable bonds of family that pulse through every frame.
From the ScreenHub review:
As Beast joins the hordes of sports-focused action dramas where packing a punch, and landing one, is the noblest deed there is, this new Australian film makes those declarations itself.
Beast might be a mixed-martial arts movie rather than a boxing film, but it loves and embraces the latter’s long-established tropes.
Sometimes those proclamations are verbal, and also thoroughly unnecessary. Before the feature’s climactic fray, revenge and redemption earn a mention, for instance, as if viewers aren’t already keenly aware that this is a flick partly about vengeance and vindication. Read more …
Dead of Winter – 5 June (HBO Max)
Film (2025). In a remote Minnesota blizzard, a grief-stricken loner (Emma Thompson) stumbles upon a young woman held captive by a desperate, armed couple. Forced into action, she becomes an unlikely protector in a brutal fight for survival. Starring Thompson, Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca, and directed by Brian Kirk.
Office Romance – 5 June (Netflix)
Film (2026). Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein star in a saucy rom-com about a secret office romance and the chaos two workaholics get into following their hearts.
Starring Jennifer Lopez, Brett Goldstein, Betty Gilpin, Bradley Whitford and Amy Sedaris.
Recent best new films
Journey Home, David Gulpilil – 27 May (SBS On Demand)
When Australia’s most renowned Indigenous actor David Gulpilil passes away far from his Homeland, his family struggle against huge logistical challenges to fulfil his final wish, to bury him on his Homeland, over 4500 kilometres away.
The incredible access granted to the filmmakers is David’s family’s gift to the world, continuing his legacy of sharing his culture.
Propeller One-Way Night Coach – 29 May (Apple TV)
Film (2026). Directed, written, produced and narrated by John Travolta. The story follows young airplane enthusiast Jeff (Clark Shotwell) and his mother (Kelly Eviston-Quinnett), as they set off on a one-way cross-country odyssey to Hollywood in the golden age of aviation, which transforms a simple flight into the trip of a lifetime.
The Long Walk – 30 May (HBO Max)
Film (2025). Teens participate in a gruelling high-stakes contest where they must continuously walk or be shot by a member of their military escort. Starring Francis Lawrence, Cooper Hoffman, Ben Wang and Mark Hamill.
