2026 Melbourne International Film Festival

 

Melbourne International Film Festival: August 6 - 23, 2026.

Well its that time of the year again when MIFF rolls into town, and I thought that I would repeat what I did last year which is to list each title I am seeing at the festival on one central page.  Below is the list of titles that I am seeing, which will be updated with a star rating after I see each title.  Unfortunately, unlike the times I have done this in the past, I will not be reviewing every film that I see, as I just do not have the time nor energy to review forty four films.  To be honest, I would be surprised if I reviewed even half of them, but they will all definitely get a star rating though.  Those titles that I do review, will have links added to that said review on this page.  At the end of the festival, I will follow it up with my top ten list from the festival. 

• TWO SEASONS, TWO STRANGERS  (***1/2)
• ALL OF A SUDDEN  (***1/2)
• VICTORIAN PSYCHO  (***1/2)
• YELLOW LETTERS  (****)
• MARC BY SOFIA  (***)
• I SHOT ANDY WARHOL  (***)
• ROSE  (****)
• THE LATCHER  (**)
• HEN  (****)
• THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE  (****)
• THE CURRENTS  (***)
• MINOTAUR  (***1/2)
• THE FOX  (***1/2)
• BITTER CHRISTMAS  (***1/2)
• ALL THE LOVERS IN THE NIGHT  (**1/2)
• GONE TO EARTH  (**1/2)
• MAD RUSH  (***1/2)
• IMPOSTERS  (***)
• GHOST IN THE CELL  (****)
• PARALLEL TALES  (**1/2)
• ROSE OF NEVADA  (***)
• COWARD  (**1/2)
• SHEEP IN THE BOX  (***)
• NINO  (***1/2)
• NADJA  (**1/2)
• LA BOLA NEGRA  (***1/2)
• THE FRIEND'S HOUSE IS HERE  (***1/2)
• GENTLE MONSTER  (****1/2)
• KIM NOVAK'S VERTIGO  (***)
• ROYA  (****)
• THE FENCE  (**1/2)
• THINK GOOD  (***1/2)
• JOSEPHINE  (****)
• OF WOMB  (***)
• NAGI NOTES  [missed]
• FATHERLAND  (****)
• THE SUN NEVER SETS  (***1/2)
• MARAMA  (***)
• PRESSURE  (***)
• ROSEBUSH PRUNING  (**1/2)
• THE SAMURAI AND THE PRISONER  (***1/2)  *
• COYOTE VS. ACME  (***1/2)
• MY WIFE CRIES  (*1/2)
•  WICKER  (***)  

Well, that's it for MIFF 2026.  Overall, I thought it was just an average festival, but unfortunately festivals like this are slaves to the films being made in the moment, and 2026 isn't shaping up to be a banger year in cinema.  That said the majority of the films at MIFF were very good, with only a few duds out of everything I saw, but compared to the quality of last year's films, it is not even close.  Unfortunately for the first time in years I missed one of my booked MIFF sessions, Koji Fukada's "Nagi Notes", which was due to my train stopping for over an hour at a station due to a police operation two stations ahead, which was very frustrating.  Also you may see a * next to my score for Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "The Samurai and The Prisoner" because I was absolutely exhausted during my early morning screening and kept falling asleep, so it can't be considered a valid rating for the film, which is a shame because it was one of the films I was really looking forward to this year at MIFF.  I guess it is time for my Top Ten List of MIFF 2026, so here they are in reverse order:  

  

    10.  BITTER CHRISTMAS

      9.  THE FOX

      8.  HEN

      7.  ROSE

      6.  JOSEPHINE

      5.  YELLOW LETTERS

      4.  FATHERLAND

      3.  GHOST IN THE CELL

      2.  ROYA

      1.  GENTLE MONSTER  

 

There you have it, my favourite film at MIFF this year was none other than Marie Kreutzer's devastating and harrowing drama "Gentle Monster".  I look forward to doing it all over again next August for MIFF 2027.  See you then.