The Next Best Picture Podcast

"Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie" is a Canadian time-travel mockumentary-adventure film directed by Matt Johnson ("BlackBerry") and written by Johnson and Jay McCarrol. The film stars Johnson and McCarrol as fictionalised versions of themselves in a band called "Nirvanna the Band" as they attempt to book a gig at the Rivoli, a bar and restaurant in Toronto, even though they have never actuall...

"Pillion" is an erotic comedy drama film written and directed by Harry Lighton, based on the 2020 novel "Box Hill" by Adam Mars-Jones. The film stars Harry Melling as a timid gay man and Alexander Skarsgård as an enigmatic biker who starts a BDSM relationship. The film had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the section's Best Screenpl...

For Episode 478, Ema Sasic, Megan Lachinski, Nadia Dalimonte, Amy Kim, and Lauren LaMagna join me to discuss the 2026 DGA, AACTA, BSC, and SCL winners, and how their wins impact the Oscar race. We also give our predictions for what we believe will win the CDG and MUAHS awards later this week. For last week's poll, with the conclusion of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, we asked, "Which Film From T...

For this week's main podcast review, Dan Bayer and Tom O'Brien join me to discuss the latest film from Óliver Laxe, "Sirāt," starring Sergi López, Bruno Núñez Arjona, Richard Bellamy, Stefania Gadda, Joshua Liam Henderson, Tonin Janvier, and Jade Oukid. Co-written with Santiago Fillol, Laxe's film had its world premiere in the main competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jur...

"The President's Cake" is a drama film written and directed by Hasan Hadi, starring Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Sajad Mohamad Qasem, Waheed Thabet Khreibat and Rahim AlHaj. The film had its world premiere at the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the section's Audience Award and the Caméra d'Or. It was selected as the Iraqi entry for Best International Feature Fil...

"The Love That Remains" is a comedy-drama written and directed by Hlynur Pálmason, starring Saga Garðarsdóttir and Sverrir Guðnason. It had its world premiere in the Cannes Premiere section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where the lead animal actor, Panda, won the Palm Dog Award. It was selected as the Icelandic entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, but it was no...

"My Father's Shadow" is a 2025 drama film directed by Akinola Davies Jr. in his feature-length debut, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother, Wale Davies, and starring Gotham Award winner Sope Dirisu. It follows a family reunion during the 1993 Nigerian election. The film had its world premiere at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first Nigerian f...

"Kokuho" It is a 2025 Japanese historical drama film directed by Lee Sang-il and written by Satoko Okudera, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Shuichi Yoshida, starring Ryo Yoshizawa, Ryusei Yokohama, Mitsuki Takahata, Shinobu Terajima, Min Tanaka, and Ken Watanabe. It had its world premiere in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, where it received positive r...

It's that time of the year! It's our annual Sundance Film Festival recap podcast. For the 2026 film festival, and the final one in Park City, Utah, we have Ema Sasic, Cody Dericks, Sara Clements, and Daniel Howat joining me from Next Best Picture. Please take a listen as we reveal our favorite films from the festival and give you all a preview of the best that's to come in 2026. Thank you for list...

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, Sara Clements, Dan Bayer, Lauren LaMagna, and Giovanni Lago join me to discuss the latest film from Park Chan-wook, "No Other Choice" starring Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Le...

"Send Help" is an American survival horror film produced and directed by Sam Raimi and written by Mark Swift and Damian Shannon. The film stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien as an employee and her boss, respectively, who become stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash and attempt to survive while tension rises between them. It is Sam Raimi's first conventional horror/thriller film sinc...

For Episode 477, Amy Kim, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, and Ben Langford join me to discuss the 2026 BAFTA, WGA, and ACE nominations, which we received after this year's Oscar nominations. We also give our predictions for what we believe will win the DGA Awards later this week. For last week's poll, for the Oscar nominations we asked, "Which Oscar Nomination For The 98th Academy Awards Made You The Happ...

For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Josh Parham, and Cody Dericks join me to discuss the latest film from Sam Raimi, "Send Help," starring Rachel McAdams, Dylan O'Brien, Edyll Ismail, Xavier Samuel, Chris Pang, and Dennis Haysbert. Written by writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, the film finds Raimi back in his wheelhouse for the first time since "Drag Me To Hell," embellishing o...

"A Poet" is a tragicomedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Simón Mesa Soto. An international co-production between Colombia, Germany, and Sweden, the film had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the section's Jury Prize. The film stars Ubeimar Rios as an obsessed poet who has achieved no glory, is aging, erratic, and has beco...

"The Testament Of Ann Lee" had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, where it received positive reviews from critics, with Amanda Seyfried receiving acclaim for her performance (often described as "career-best" and earning nominations from the Golden Globe Award and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress. Directed and co-written by Mona Fast...

The first of Pixar's two films this year, "Hoppers," hits theaters on March 6th. This sci-fi, spy-thriller-influenced nature flick could be considered a major departure for the famed animation studio. While previous Pixar films are plentiful in humor, "Hoppers" is their first truly comedy-first film. Ahead of the film's release in just over a month, Pixar invited Next Best Picture to the studio to...

For Episode 476, Ema Sasic, Nadia Dalimonte, Dan Bayer, Megan Lachinski, and Alyssa Christian join me to discuss the 2026 Oscar nominations for the 98th Academy Awards after they were unable to do so for our live reaction video to the nominations. It's been a few days since the initial announcement, and already we're looking at potential shifts in momentum, who got in vs. who was left off, and wha...

For this week's main podcast review, Megan Lachinski, Josh Parham, and Dan Bayer join me to discuss the latest film from Mona Fasvold, "The Testament Of Ann Lee," starring Amanda Seyfried, Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, Tim Blake Nelson & Christopher Abbott. Co-written with her partner in work and in life, Brady Corbet, and following up the monumental success of last year's "The B...

"Dead Man's Wire" is an American crime thriller film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Austin Kolodney, about the 1977 hostage standoff involving Tony Kiritsis and Richard Hall. It stars Bill Skarsgård as Kiritsis, alongside an ensemble cast including Dacre Montgomery as Hall, Cary Elwes, Myha'la, Colman Domingo, and Al Pacino. The film premiered out of competition at the 82nd Venice Interna...

For Episode 475, Nadia Dalimonte, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, Giovanni Lago, Daniel Howat, and Tom O'Brien join me for the year's biggest and most exciting episode to endlessly discuss what we think will be nominated for the 98th Academy Awards. Yes, it's our famous, comprehensive, epic annual final Oscar nomination predictions episode! We recommend you listen to this mammoth-sized episode in three pa...

For this week's main podcast review, Katie Johnson, Josh Parham, Dan Bayer, and Giovanni Lago join me to discuss the latest in the "28 Days" franchise, "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple," starring Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman & Chi Lewis-Parry. Directed this time by Nia DaCosta with another screenplay in the franchise by Alex Garland (And Danny Boyle serving as a Pro...

"28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" is a 2026 post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Alex Garland. It was shot back-to-back with its predecessor, "28 Years Later," and is the fourth installment in the "28 Days Later" film series. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, and Chi Lewis-Parry. Much like "28 Years Later," the film has rece...

"F1" (marketed as "F1: The Movie") is an American sports drama film starring Brad Pitt as Formula One (F1) racing driver Sonny Hayes, who returns after a 30-year absence to save his former teammate's underdog team, APXGP, from collapse. The film was directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer with a screenplay by Ehren Kruger, following their previous collaboration on "Top Gun: M...

"Sound Of Falling" is a German drama film co-written and directed by Mascha Schilinski. Starring Hanna Heckt, Lena Urzendowsky, Laeni Geiseler, Susanne Wuest, Luise Heyer, and Lea Drinda, it follows four generations of girls connected by a farm in the Altmark region of Germany. The film premiered in competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize. It has been selected as...

"Sirāt" is the new film from filmmaker Óliver Laxe, starring Sergi López as a father in search of his missing daughter, along with his son and a group of ravers in the deserts of southern Morocco. The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize. At the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and...