Movies Update: What you won’t see at the big fall film festivals

September 11, 2026

	By Mekado Murphy

Hey, movie fans! As the fall movie season kicks off, we’re keeping our eye on some of the more interesting stories popping up at the big international festivals like Venice, Telluride and Toronto.

This week, our reporter Nicole Sperling got a look at “You Can See Everything,” a buzzy and revelatory new documentary on the Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. The film received a surprise screening at the Telluride Film Festival (and was recently added to the New York Film Festival lineup). It’s the kind of movie that could generate excitement without marquee movie stars, and indeed many of them are skipping the fall festivals. Here, Sperling explains why.

Another doc, which played at the Venice International Film Festival, also has viewers talking: a four-hour film about Elon Musk. We took a look at that one, too.

A few other things on our radar: maddening movies about infinite loops, ubiquitous visions of A.I. on our screens and how the most notorious animated coyote continues his hunt.

Enjoy the movies!

A half-smiling woman looks at a man whose face we can’t see.

A24

Here’s What You Won’t See at the Prestigious Fall Film Festivals

The major studios and their A-list stars are AWOL this season for a variety of reasons, forcing the festivals to scramble.

By Nicole Sperling

Two women sit on a train facing each other, making eye contact. One has long wavy red hair and wears an orange blouse; the other has long dark hair and wears a dark jacket.

Warner Bros. Pictures

‘Practical Magic 2’ Review: Live a Little, Live a Lot

The Owens women — and their curse — are back in the sequel to the cult classic film.

By Alissa Wilkinson

CRITICS’ PICKS

A man in medieval-style peasant’s clothing stands outdoors before a weathered building. Several people in similar attire are in the background.

Betina La Plante/Focus Features

Critic’s Pick

‘The Uprising’ Review: Sackcloth and Clashes

Andrew Garfield plays a traumatized serf in this action drama based on the first populist rebellion in English history.

By Jeannette Catsoulis

A silhouetted person stands in the middle of a dark, dense cornfield at night, lit dimly from behind.

Kino Lorber

Critic’s Pick

‘Black Zombie’ Review: Reclaiming Horror’s Haitian Roots

In her compelling documentary, “Black Zombie,” the director Maya Annik Bedward explores the dark history of an undead genre.

By Lisa Kennedy

A man wearing dark sunglasses is in a dark industrial space.

Cult Epics

Critic’s Pick

‘Don’t Play With Fire’ Review: An Incendiary 1980s Hong Kong

Aggrieved teenagers rampage in Tsui Hark’s restored New Wave crime thriller that mixes bloodshed and politics.

By Robert Daniels

An image of Liam and Noel Gallagher performing onstage.

Harriet T K Bols/Walt Disney Studios

Critic’s Pick

‘Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger’ Review: Together Again

The ’90s rock band was known for the tetchy relationship between the brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher. This documentary finds them in an unexpected place.

By Glenn Kenny

Two stylish women dressed in chic black outfits and holding champagne glasses stand by a railing decorated with lights at night.

Christophe Brachet/Netflix

Critic’s Pick

‘Call My Agent! The Movie’ Review: A Billet-Doux to Cinema

The gang gets back together in this genial comedy that picks up five years after the events of the show’s final season.

By Natalia Winkelman

MOVIE REVIEWS

A woman in a white jacket and matching hat is surrounded by well-wishers as she faces an immense cake with sprinkles on all sides for her 116th birthday.

Yoni Brook/Cinetic Media

Documentary Lens

‘The Oldest Person in the World’ and the Lessons of Mortality

The director Sam Green interviewed a succession of (mostly) women who held that title. The results make us contemplate our own time on Earth.

By Alissa Wilkinson

An image of a seated man holding a gun in firing position. Smoke swirls around him, in a reddish haze.

Inaugural Entertainment

‘The Fix’ Review: A Head-Spinning Mission to Iran

In an action film that won’t win any plaudits for sensitivity, Zachary Levi plays the leader of a Special Operations group that tries to recover hidden cash in Tehran.

By Ben Kenigsberg

A woman with a worried expression sits in a police car, with a man beside her. The car's red siren light is on.

Neon

‘Hope’ Review: Who Are the Baddies?

A high-octane Korean thriller probes what we watch and what it does to us.

By Alissa Wilkinson

Four women sit on a wooden bench outside an Italian villa.

Chip Bergmann/Perry Well Films 2/Netflix

‘Why Did I Get Married Again?’ Review: An Italian Escape

The third entry in Tyler Perry’s relationship series sticks to his basics, but with an intergenerational twist at a destination wedding.

By Beatrice Loayza

A man and a woman stand close together in a wood paneled elevator.

Amazon MGM Studios

‘Drawn Together’ Review: Forbidden Love

This bland riff on “The Bodyguard” is a mostly rote automation of its steamy feelings and ideas.

By Brandon Yu

NEWS & FEATURES

Fanny Sidney, in a suit and tie, and Camille Cottin, in a glamorous black outfit, stand close together holding drinks and leaning against a railing.

Christophe Brachet/Netflix

‘Call My Agent!’ Capitalizes on Its Pandemic Popularity With a Movie

Even George Clooney became a fan of the TV series during lockdown. So when the show was being turned into a Netflix movie, he signed up for a guest role.

By Elisabeth Vincentelli

A full-length portrait shows a man in gray jeans and dark gray jacket standing on a staircase, one hand in his pocket, the other reaching up to touch stairs above him.

Alana Paterson for The New York Times

Jacob Tremblay Found Fame as a Child Star. Now, He’s Playing the Unabomber.

A decade ago, he made a name for himself as a young actor in “Room” and “Wonder.” But Tremblay is ready for his next chapter.

By Ashley Spencer

Orion Pictures

Hollywood Visions of A.I.: Friendly, Then Deadly, Then Everywhere

Plots involving some kind of artificial intelligence are even part of soap operas. Here’s how they’ve evolved over the decades.

By Brooks Barnes and Matt Stevens

In a still from a movie, Elon Musk stands near a seated crowd with a large American flag raised above them.

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Critic’s Notebook

How Much Elon Musk Is Too Much? A Four-Hour Film Weighs In.

Much of what Alex Gibney’s documentary presents isn’t new. But in piecing it all together, he wants the viewer to take Musk seriously as a threat to democracy.

By Beatrice Loayza

STREAMING RECOMMENDATIONS

Yoshi, Mario and Luigi stand confidently in a colorful bedroom. Mario points upward holding a pink-wrapped gift, Luigi crosses his arms, and Yoshi wears sunglasses. A retro TV and cozy décor fill the background.

Nintendo and Illumination/Universal