Dir: Rebecca Zlotowski, France, 2026, Mystery/Thriller. Jodie Foster, Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira. In French with English subtitles. "Considering the subject matter, A Private Life shouldn't be as funny as it is. But in Jodie Foster's hands, it's a darkly comedic triumph... This witty thriller sees Foster as an American psychiatrist in Paris turned amateur sleuth as she investigates the sudden death of a patient... with the film's core mystery wrapped in golden-leafed Parisian streets, mid-century modernist furniture, and an almost exclusively auburn and navy costume palette, A Private Life is an autumnal delight... Lillian is a psychiatrist firm in her ethical principles, which are tested when her patient Paula dies suddenly by suicide... she can't quite shake the feeling that she didn't see Paula's death coming, refusing to doubt her own psychiatry skills or deep connection to her patient, and launching into her own private investigation, she suspects foul play... She finds a fellow amateur sleuth in her charismatic ex-husband Gabriel, whose relationship with Lillian forms the film's unexpected true heart... They almost gleefully attempt to uncover Paula's secrets as exhilarated citizen detectives... As Lillian channels her misplaced guilt into sleuthing... Zlotowski's film becomes more than a simple whodunnit, but a surprising, comedic, and brilliantly performed exploration of relationships and the extent to which we let people in. It's a perpetual irony, Lillian acknowledges, ‘knowing people's secrets and not being able to act.’ But ultimately, act she does." - Shannon Connellan, Mashable

Charlottetown Improvisation Laboratory returns to City Cinema for a fifth and final volume. This live concert experience transforms the theatre into an intimate listening room. Double bassist Adam Hill will lead an ensemble of five musicians in an exploration of improvisational music that crosses genre and style. This iteration of the Lab will feature Iván Garnica on guitar, Julain Molnar on voice, Olasunkanmi Omotosho on violin, and Trevor Grant on drums. The program will present the premiere performance of a new composition by each member of the ensemble, as well as a few not-so-standards. Through the use of “structured improvisation” the performers will bring their diverse musical experiences together to create a common language that communicates across boundaries. Guaranteed to be a one-of-a-kind musical event. No Passes

Dir: Jeannot Szwarc, US, 1980, Drama/Romance/Fantasy. Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer. "A charming, witty, passionate romantic drama about a love transcending space and time, Somewhere In Time is an old-fashioned film in the best sense of that term... In the finely wrought screenplay Christopher Reeve is a young Chicago playwright who becomes mysteriously fascinated by a 1912 photo of a stage actress (Jane Seymour). Reeve is drawn to a hotel on Mackinac Island in Michigan, where it transpires they actually did meet and have an affair at the time the photo was taken." - Variety. "Somewhere in Time is the epitome of a cinematic love story. It is literally saturated in romance, from John Barry’s timeless score, through the intoxicating performances from Reeve and Seymour and the heart-wrenching story from the king of fantasy storytelling, Richard Matheson. Funny, smart, touching and, did we mention romantic? Somewhere in Time is a masterclass in acting, writing and emotive cinema. Required viewing." - Grant Kempster, Starburst Magazine

Dir: Alizé Jireh, US. 2025, Documentary. Lærke Heilmann, Alizé Jireh, Kiana Weltzien. "Women & the Wind is a thought-provoking voyage of discovery as three women sail from North America to Europe in 30 days, following plastic pollution on a renovated catamaran. It’s a story of adventure and reconnecting with nature. The three women are Alizé Jireh, director and cinematographer, Kiana Weltzien, captain and frequent solo sailor, and Lærke Heilmann, first mate and ocean conservationist... It’s a sharp, poignant and well edited account of their perspective on life, each other, and nature – and it might just be one of my favourite films of the year. The drive behind this project is to film and share our impact on the ocean... It's all captured by Jireh’s phenomenal cinematography... What the film does most brilliantly is balance the heaviest of subjects with the charm, laughter and love shared by these women. Each tells her story, and we learn what drives them... Exploring the subjects of life and our relationship with nature, it could easily stray into the pretentious, instead it tells a story of reflection, how it feels to be so far from land, what life means to them with total disconnection. Remaining poignant, poetic, and honest." - Oliver Hackett-Watson, Filmbuffer No Passes

Dir: Gus Van Sant, US, 2025, Crime Drama. Dacre Montgomery, Bill Skarsgård, Al Pacino, Cary Elwes. "Bill Skarsgård leads this thoroughly gripping based-on-fact kidnap drama. He plays Tony Kiritsis, an Indianapolis businessman who, in 1977, snaps and abducts a mortgage broker, Richard Hall, after a business deal goes sour. Taking Hall to his apartment in full view of the police, he puts a 'dead man's wire' around his captive's neck, attached to a shotgun, that will trip if the cops try to intervene. From here, he tries to negotiate his demands, with TV news crews adding to the chaos. Director Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk) pays obvious tribute to fellow film-maker Sidney Lumet, notably bank robbery tale Dog Day Afternoon, especially with the casting of Al Pacino in a pleasing cameo as Hall's unsympathetic father. There are potent turns, too, from Colman Domingo and Myha'la as, respectively, a local radio DJ and TV news reporter, although its hard to look past Skarsgård, quite sublime as Kiritsis, a man whose headline-grabbing fight against corporate bullies feels timely and resonant." - James Mottram, Radio Times

Dir: Maria Friedman, US, 2025, Musical. Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez. "Stephen Sondheim's musical-that-goes-backwards was a smash on Broadway in 2023... In the summer of 2024, right after its triumph at the Tony Awards, where it won best musical revival, several performances were filmed live at New York City's Hudson Theater, and edited into the smart, intimate film that you can now catch for the price of a movie ticket. The story takes three best friends - composer Franklin, playwright Charley and novelist Mary - from the dissolution of their friendship in 1976 (it goes backwards, remember) to the dewy-eyed kids they were on the roof of their apartment building on the night Sputnik passed overhead in 1957. Which is to say, this show about creative types learning about life and showbiz gets happier (and more bittersweet) as it progresses. That proved confusing for audiences in 1981… but the creative team fixed the problems in various revivals, and this one is as assured as any smash. The central performances, electrifying on stage, remain pretty stunning… Radcliffe, who grew up on film sets, capitalizes on the camera's intimacy more than his co-stars, but they're all terrific… the score is breathtaking, the lyrics scintillating, the emotions true, and as a Sondheim lyric has it, ‘that's the sound of a hit.’" - Bob Mondello, NPR

Music PEI Presents: Music Video of the Year Nominees Screening with This is Spinal Tap & This is Spinal Tap II: The End Continues Tickets $10 for the 1st show, $15 for both Come see PEI Music videos on the big screen! Music PEI presents a screening of the 2025 nominees for Music Video of the Year, followed by the classic Rock & Roll mockumentaries This is Spinal Tap and This is Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. The nominees for Music PEI’s Music Video of the Year Award presented by Anchor Fest are: Absolute Losers - Star Sweeper, Directed by Griffen O’Toole Dazey// We haven’t spoke in years, Directed by Hannah Bridger// KINLEY - Marrying Me, Directed by Ashley Anne Clark// Lennie Gallant - Counting on Angels, Directed by Matt Lodge// Logan Richard - The Grass Is Blue (Everywhere I Go), Directed by Bailey Dockendorff Followed By: This is Spinal Tap Dir: Rob Reiner, US, 1984, Comedy. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer. "The funniest film about rock ever made." - The Sydney Morning Herald Spinal Tap II: The End Continues Dir: Rob Reiner, US, 2026, 83 min, Comedy. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer. "A sequel that will do your heart good." - Film Ireland No Passes

Dir: Park Chan-wook, South Korea, 2025, Dark Comedy/Thriller. Lee Bryong-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Woo Seung Kim. In Korean with English subtitles. Nominated for three Golden Globes including Best Picture and Best Actor, Winner TIFF International People’s Choice Award. “If the slapstick humor of Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times developed a sense of bloodlust alongside its overwhelming empathy, it would look a whole lot like Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice. The fallout of an untimely layoff for a long-tenured paper worker provides the premise of a pitch-black comedy... Rather than beat his competition in a tough job market, Man-su decides to eliminate them. He goes from getting the axe to wielding one... along with a gun and any number of other creative weapons... When the head honchos of giant corporations offer nothing but platitudes that there is 'no other choice' but to sacrifice their laborers at the altar of profits, it only makes sense that workers would eventually apply that ruthless market logic of scarcity to each other... Park expertly fuses genres, navigating deftly between broad satire and taut thriller… A hearty helping of gallows humor delivered with a marvelously mordant twist by the talented acting ensemble also cuts across both modes of filmmaking... Its centerpiece kill sequences feature some of Park’s most dazzling technical filmmaking spectacles yet... [Based on] Donald Westlake’s novel The Ax.” - Marshall Shaffer, The Playlist

Dir: Craig Brewer, US, 2025, Music/Drama/Biography. Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Michael Imperioli Heartland Film Festival Winner, Truly Moving Picture Award. "Sometimes you just need a feel-good movie and a good tearjerker, and writer/director Craig Brewer delivers both... Brewer explores the power of Neil Diamond's music through the stranger-than-fiction story of the tribute band known as Lightning and Thunder. Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson star as this musical married couple, known offstage as Mike and Claire Sardina... Fitting, then, that their breathtaking story is full of the emotional highs and lows of some of his most beloved songs. In Milwaukee, they are working as celebrity impersonators for state fairs and dive bars... One good date spirals into a jam session, a marriage, and a creative partnership that lasts the rest of their lives. Song Sung Blue charts their story through their musical courtship, co-parenting their kids from past relationships, and building a tribute band that makes them feel like rock stars as they bring unique life to Diamond's discography. The movie focuses mostly on Mike and Claire, their romantic highs and their tragic lows... Beyond that, Lightning and Thunder's family and story grow to envelope their collaborators and bandmates, allowing for a rich tapestry of characters to bring light and humor to the movie's darkest corners... Through thoughtful storytelling, an impeccable cast, and a smartly chosen soundtrack that places the performances of Diamond's songs thematically, Brewer creates a drama that is uplifting, heart-wrenching, and wondrous all at once. Bring tissues. Bring friends." - Kristy Puchko, Mashable

Dir: Nicholas Hytner, UK, 2025, Drama. Ralph Fiennes, Emily Fairn, Mark Addy, Taylor Uttley, Roger Allam. “Lovers of old-school quality, rejoice - director Nicholas Hytner, writer Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George), and leading man Ralph Fiennes have just the film for you. It will leave you with a song in your heart and, probably, a lump in your throat. This quintessentially British comedy-drama is set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Ramsden in 1916. Conscription has begun, and the glue that keeps the community together, the Ramsden Choral Society, is in danger of losing its hold. When the lads turn 18, they'll be sent to the front. Others have already volunteered, including Ramsden's chorus master… Enter Dr Guthrie (Fiennes), a once-celebrated musical director who is now turning a shilling in a local hotel… The Choral deftly changes gears between humour and poignancy: a laugh-out-loud first half becomes a profound second. The singers and Dr Guthrie lose themselves in the moment while reality waits in the wings. With a soundtrack by five-time Oscar nominee George Fenton the music in this gorgeous-looking film is beautiful - uplifting and elegiac all at once - and deserves to become a familiar friend… The Choral is a crowd-pleaser, but there's bite behind the bonhomie too.” - Harry Guerin, RTÉ.ie

Presented by Roving Picture Shows and Island Jazz. Dir: Julien Duvivier, France, 1930, Drama. Dita Parlo, Ginette Maddie, Andrée Brabant. Silent with English and French intertitles and live improvised music by Adam Hill and Diana Delirio. Adapted from an Émile Zola novel, the film describes the fate of a family-owned tailor shop that is driven out of business when a gigantic department store opens across the street. “Soaring camerawork, luminous decor, and stylish montage sequences make Au Bonheur des dames appear strikingly modern, yet it can be seen as an elegy to silent filmmaking. One of the last silent films shot in France, the film shows influences from silent cinema throughout the world—hand-held shots of street scenes from the Germans, crowd scenes from the Americans, a climactic montage sequence from the Soviets, and elaborate tracking shots and long takes from the French.” silentfilm.org

Dir: Susan Rodgers, Canada, 2025, Documentary. Stay afterwards and meet director Susan Rodgers! GRAND RIVER GRAND: Souls and spirits heal when people and horses at a small ranch on Canada’s east coast get involved! Grand River Grand is a sweet and poignant documentary series about a remarkable woman, her staff, and the selfless volunteers who run a joyful equine adapted learning program for adults and children at a horse ranch in scenic Grand River, Prince Edward Island. WILD HEARTS: Every job Candy Gallant has ever had was with animals and over the years she’s learned to care for a number of creatures. Injured raccoon? Skunk? Crow? It’s well known on Prince Edward Island that if you come across an injured animal or abandoned babies, they should be transported to Candy for care. A charitable organization with a board of directors as well as a lively transportation network have been set up to help, since Candy rarely leaves her small home — she’s always busy feeding vulnerable wildlife babies, who occupy every wall of her tiny house. She’s a colourful individual who applied every two years for decades for a permit from the province. Now, after more than fifty years of rehabilitating wildlife, she inspires others to pay attention to the natural world around us.