The Next Best Picture Podcast

"Left-Handed Girl" is an international indie drama written, directed, and produced by Shih-Ching Tsou, starring Janel Tsai, Shih-Yuan Ma, Nina Ye, Brando Huang, Akio Chen, and Xin-Yan Chao. Multi Academy Award-winner Sean Baker served as co-writer, producer, and editor. The film had its world premiere at the Critics' Week section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it received positive reviews...

"Now You See Me: Now You Don't" is an American heist film directed by Ruben Fleischer from a screenplay by Michael Lesslie, the writing duo of Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, and Seth Grahame-Smith, based on a story by Eric Warren Singer and Lesslie. The film is the sequel to "Now You See Me 2" (2016) and the third installment in the "Now You See Me" film series. The cast includes returning actors J...

"Come See Me In The Good Light" is a documentary film directed by Ryan White, following poet/activist Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley as they navigate an examination of love and mortality after Gibson is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. This tearjerking film on love and loss had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it received positive reviews and the Festival Favorit...

For Episode 465, Megan Lachinski, Cody Dericks, Daniel Howat, Tom O'Brien, and I are here to preview what's to come over the next several weeks for the 2025-2026 awards season as more nominations roll in from groups such as the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) and Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA). For this week's poll, we're revisiting our famous question, "Which Film Do You Think Is G...

For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Josh Parham, Joselyn Safadi, Dan Bayer & Daniel Howat join me to discuss the latest film from David Michôd, "Christy," starring Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, and Katy O'Brian. Based on former professional boxer Christy Martin, the film chronicles Martin's rise to becoming America's most well-known female boxer in the 1990s, and later...

"Belén" is an Argentine historical legal drama film directed by and starring Dolores Fonzi from a screenplay she co-wrote with Laura Paredes, Agustina San Martín, and Nicolás Britos. It is based on the non-fiction book Somos Belén by Ana Correa, which follows a lawyer's quest for justice when her client is falsely imprisoned for committing an illegal abortion. The film has been selected as the Arg...

"Nuremberg" is an American historical drama film written, co-produced, and directed by James Vanderbilt. It is based on the 2013 book "The Nazi and the Psychiatrist" by Jack El-Hai and tells the story of a psychiatrist, Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), who is challenged with determining if Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) is fit to stand trial at the Nuremberg trials. Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O'...

"Tinsman Road" is a found-footage horror thriller directed by Robbie Banfitch, who also stars in the film. Set in the backwoods of New Jersey, the film follows a young man as he investigates the mysterious disappearance of his sister and returns to his family's secluded home. The film employs slow-burn dread, utilizing quiet, naturalistic pacing to build tension in a found footage style, and has r...

For this week's third podcast review, Sara Clements, Dan Bayer, and Aaron Isenstein join me to review and discuss the latest film from Richard Linklater (and his second this year), "Nouvelle Vague," starring Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch, and Aubry Dullin. Marbeck plays Jean-Luc Godard as he shoots his feature debut film, "Breathless," one of the first feature films of the French New Wave in 1959...

"Christy" is an American biographical sports drama film about the former professional boxer Christy Martin, played by Sydney Sweeney (she also served as one of the film's producers), directed by David Michôd and co-starring Ben Foster. The film chronicles Martin's rise to becoming America's most well-known female boxer in the 1990s, and later her husband's attempt to murder her in 2010. The film h...

THIS IS A PREVIEW PODCAST. NOT THE FULL REVIEW. Please check out the full podcast review on our Patreon Page by subscribing over at - https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture For this week's second podcast review, Josh Parham, Megan Lachinski, Dan Bayer, and Giovanni Lago join me to review and discuss the latest film from master Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, "It Was Just An Accident," starring Va...

"Die My Love" is the latest film from acclaimed filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, written by Ramsay, Enda Walsh, and Alice Birch, based on the 2012 novel "Die, My Love" by Ariana Harwicz. It follows Grace (Jennifer Lawrence), a young mother who develops postpartum depression and, alongside her partner Jackson (Robert Pattinson), enters psychosis. The film had its world premiere at the main competition of th...

"Frankenstein" had its world premiere at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival and later screened at the Telluride and Toronto International Film Festivals. It received positive reviews for its direction and adaptation by Guillermo del Toro of Mary Shelley's beloved, iconic novel, as well as incredible craftsmanship from all areas of production, and performances from Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elord...

"Little Amélie or the Character of Rain" is an animated feature directed by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han. Produced by Maybe Movies and Ikki Films, it adapts Amélie Nothomb's acclaimed novel "The Character of Rain." The film premiered in the Special Screenings section at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and received positive reviews for its animation, storytelling, music, and voice acting. Directo...

For Episode 464, Josh Parham, Giovanni Lago, and I are here to recap the 2025 Gotham Film Award Nominations. For this week's poll, as "Predator: Badlands" is set for a wide release and "Sentimental Value" is scheduled for a limited release in theaters this weekend, we're asking, "Which Is Your Favorite Film Starring Elle Fanning?" We also reveal the winner of last week's poll, for the release of "...

For this week's main podcast review, Ema Sasic, Will Mavity, and guest Ben Langford join me to discuss the latest film from Yorgos Lanthimos, "Bugonia," starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone. With a screenplay by Will Tracy, the film is an English-language remake of the 2003 South Korean film "Save the Green Planet!" by Jang Joon-hwan that had it...

"Hallow Road" a psychological thriller film directed by Babak Anvari and written by William Gillies. It stars Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys as a couple who receive a distressing late-night call from their teenage daughter (Megan McDonnell) after she accidentally hits a pedestrian. Jumping in their car, they race to get there before anyone else stumbles across the scene. As they head deeper into t...

"Hedda" is a dramatic adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" written and directed by Nia DaCosta, starring Tessa Thompson in the title role, with Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman, Nicholas Pinnock, and Nina Hoss in supporting roles. The film premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews for its performances, DaCosta's direction, and modern take on the material. Hoss a...

THIS IS A PREVIEW PODCAST. NOT THE FULL REVIEW. Please check out the full podcast review on our Patreon Page by subscribing over at - https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture With the recent release of "Frankenstein" and the arrival of Halloween, the Next Best Picture team decided to revisit director Guillermo del Toro's 2015 gothic romance film "Crimson Peak," starring Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chas...

"Bugonia" is an absurdist black comedy film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos from a screenplay by Will Tracy that adapts the 2003 South Korean film "Save the Green Planet!" by Jang Joon-hwan. The film follows two young men who kidnap a powerful CEO, suspecting that she is secretly an alien who wants to destroy Earth. The film stars Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia S...

"Ballad Of A Small Player" is a British psychological thriller directed by Edward Berger and written by Rowan Joffé, adapted from Lawrence Osborne's 2014 novel of the same name. The film stars Academy Award-nominee Colin Farrell as Lord Doyle, a high-stakes gambler laying low in Macau, where he spends his nights playing baccarat. As his debts spiral out of control, Doyle finds an unlikely lifeline...

For Episode 463, Megan Lachinski, Dan Bayer, Alyssa Christian, Tom O'Brien, and I are here to recap the 2025 AFI Fest in Los Angeles, including the world premiere of "Song Sung Blue" and "The SpongeBob Movie: Search For Squarepants," how films such as "Jay Kelly," "The Testament Of Ann Lee" and "Train Dreams" played on a rewatch. For this week's poll, for the expansion of "Bugonia" to more theater...

"Dracula" is a Romanian satirical comedy-drama film written and directed by Radu Jude. The film title is inspired by the Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, "Dracula." Set in contemporary Transylvania, it explores the legend of Dracula through Romanian lenses while examining modern dystopia through the timeless allure of vampire lore, crafting a biting, gleefully profane takedown of A...

After Charlie Kaufman utilized one of Eva H.D.'s poems in his 2020 feature "I'm Thinking of Ending Things," the pair hit it off. While Eva had never worked in film before, Kaufman had likewise never directed another writer's work before. Nevertheless, the pair were kindred spirits, and set off to continue working together, and made their first short film together, "Jackals and Fireflies" in 2023....

For this week's main podcast review, Ema Sasic, Katie Johnson, and Tom O'Brien join me to discuss the latest film from Scott Cooper, "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere," starring Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham, Odessa Young, Gaby Hoffmann, Marc Maron & David Krumholtz. Written and directed by Scott Cooper and based on the 2023 book "Deliver Me from Nowhere...