By Roger Costa
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Looking at the troubles faced by three Palestinians siblings co-existing with the Israeli occupation, Oscar nominated director Scandar Copti’s invigorating dramatic thriller is a precise exercise in psychological suspense. The narrative feels so real, it often looks like a documentary, thrilling, on the heartbeat. Copti casts an intensely humanistic and vigorous eye over the characters, following their dilemmas and troublesome circumstances. A man trying to terminate his Israeli girlfriend’s pregnancy, his eldest sister getting ready for marriage and the youngest involved in a car accident after the Purim festivities at her university. Each story is connected through the family saga and form a special portrait of the Arab-community in Haifa, and what takes to be an Arab under those circumstances.
Amidst them, there is their mother (fiercely performed by Wafaa Anoun) who’s scrambling with financial struggle and setting up her daughter’s wedding. She gives a top-notch performance, a stormy and grounded mother impossible to forget.
Contemplative and unpredictable, Copti scores a beautifully relatable modern family story.
(A Film Movement Release. Opens Friday, December 5th at Film Forum).
LITTLE TROUBLE GIRLS
Intensely erotic and seductively observational, Urska Djukic’s directorial debut is a masterclass in female character study. Exploring the coming of age of a shy Catholic choral teenage girl with authenticity, the director demonstrates total command of the material and the fabulous cast. While rehearsing for an upcoming performance at a Convent, Lucia sees herself completely attracted to the much older construction worker on duty around the property. Showing signs of distraction and impulsiveness, Lucia befriends Ana-Marie, who is ahead of her time and indulges her into risky adventures and heated experiences. Punctuated by a simmering erotic tension and addressing the first stages of female sexuality with candor and honesty, Slovenia’s Official entry for the 2026 Oscars is a vibrant discovery.
(A Kino Lorber Release. Opens Friday, December 5TH at IFC Center. Director in person at selected shows).
PEACHES GOES BANANAS
A revelatory exploration on the life, creative process and personality of Queer icon, singer, performer and activist Peaches, this avant-garde documentary is an accurate piece of “artistic provocation”. Director Marie Losier spans 17 years in the life of the feminist provocateur, following her around the world on tour, her residency in Berlin, her deeply affecting connection to her parents, and the empathic relationship with creative partners. Each pit-stop is fueled by her artistic visions and live performances, as well as revealing testimonies on how she faced prejudice, obstacles and trauma. There’s also a very curious part where we see her working at a childcare, teaching them music and art. Losier gives the doc a fashionably original style, both in imagery and sound, articulating engaging interviews with the electrifying live punk music. The result is a penetrating and intimate look into the artist’s heart and soul.
(A Film Movement Release. Opens December 3rd at Anthology Film Archives. Filmmaker in person at selected screenings).
FACKHAM HALL
Combining the gorgeous recreation of large-scale period pieces set in aristocratic estates with the goofy debauchery of extreme mockery, this outrageously funny British comedy is a very committed comedic project that shoots joke after joke, efficiently and incessantly. The plot sees a pick-pocket called Eric Noone (a charming Ben Radcliffe) as he arrives at the Davenport estate to fill in as a porter. There, he is embraced by their youngest daughter Rose (the always great Thomasin McKenzie) forming a special (and of course, forbidden) bond. As they face eviction, the family tries to persuade Rose into a forced marriage in order to save their social status and property. But a murder turns everyone into a suspect, complicating their plans. As the film opens, elegantly in its gorgeous recreation in the likes of “Downtown Abbey”, it rapidly sets its tone of ridiculousness, cynicism, self-mockery and absurdism found in “Airplane”. The fine screenplay works the idea very well, making director Jim O’Hanlon’s fast paced, irreverent parody an apologetic radical comedy.
(A Bleecker Street Release. Opens Friday, December 5th at Regal Union Square and AMC Empire and others).
MANAS
Mariana Brennand’s Amazon-set domestic violence drama is this year’s most assured directorial debut. It is also one of the boldest, most courageous and most essential cinematic experiences you’ll have this year. It is a film that needs to be lived through- you must see it and feel it how it crawls on the skin, reflecting in one of humanity’s most sordid violent behaviors: sexual abuse. The film centers on Marcielle, a 13-year-old girl living very poorly with her parents and siblings in a riverside community. Sexual abuse has been part of male cultural practice in that remote area of Brazil, and the protagonist is one of many victims. Her journey is vividly captured by director Brennand, delivering a powerful meditation on women’s rights and endurance. Her artistry is so perfectly realistic, the result feels like she’s done this many times before. As a first timer, Brennand announces herself as major female filmmaker, one who’s aware of her times’ need for justice and repair. And then, there’s young actress Jamilli Correa who’s capable of taking your breath away, captivate, hypnotize and ultimately shatter you. There are several moments throughput the film where Jamilli proves to be a natural acting force, she’s unique, spontaneous, incredibly touching: taking the photo for her identity card, cleaning shrimps with her mother and making a request to sleep in the hammock, consenting to engage in an intimate situation, and during a questioning. As the young girl facing transformational trauma, holding on to anything that could give her hope and a sense of innocence, Jamilli Correa gives a breakthrough, a revelatory performance that lingers with you for days. It’s a masterwork in drama and naturalism rarely seen in cinema, something in the level of the giants, the great masters of humanistic dramas like the Dardennes, Koreeda or Malick. It’s impressive, it’s harsh, the subject is polemic and very difficult to discuss but it is necessary, urgent. It’s a film that serves as a vehicle of reparation, rescue and salvation. It’s a courageous cinematic voice, giving voice to the silenced women who need to set themselves free from both system and society and find human dignity. Seeing this film makes you believe in the collective power to change the world with the talents one is given. It encourages you to stand up for righteousness. No wonder it has been embraced by so many people worldwide and has won major awards and honors at every single festival it’s screened. It’s a humanitarian call that reveals the promising talent of its filmmaker and the unique charisma and power presence of a star-in-the-making. What a revelation!
(KimStim will release it in 2026. The film is eligible for Golden Globes, Oscars and other awards consideration).
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