Festival Circuit 2026

[Yakushima]

Stuff I saw at the 2026 Festival du Nouveau Cinema

Thank you for the report, Mr Sausage! Now I hope to catch some of these before too long.

[Matt]

I'm happy to hear the Mandico doesn't veer too far away from his usual outré style. I was worried that stars and a budget might constrain him, but if it has only done so in terms of story and plot, I can live with that.

[Mr Sausage]

It’s clear that no one told Mandico to tone down anything, and the two actresses are nothing if not game. I suspect the problem is that Mandico felt that style alone was enough to transform and elevate the conventions of the basic story, and I didn’t feel he quite managed it the way he did with the adventure story and sci-fi conventions of his first two. Maybe he underestimated just how familiar the trajectory of this kind of story has become? Still, the filmmaking here is absolutely mad.