Cinequest is winding up its in-person program today, and transitioning to its virtual festival, which I will cover tomorrow. Here are the Cinequest 2026 films that I hadn’t written about yet. The first two would have made my Best of Cinequest had I been able to screen them earlier:
- Dead or Dying: This acidly droll comedy satirizes modern self-absorption in a near future LA where, absurdly, there’s an epidemic of youngish people falling over dead. The film is a series of vignettes that are all pretty good, but the opener with a stunningly self-centered TV star (Alyssa Lemperis) is especially hilarious, as is one with two guys pitching a new app with a target market of bosses. First film for writer-directors John Purcell and Malin von Euler-Hogan. World premiere.
- American Muscle: n this taut, 80-minute neo-noir, Ray (David Thompson) is the mechanic at an isolated auto shop in rural Kern County. Ray is in serious debt to a very serious man, but he has a scheme for raising the payoff. Trouble is, his lender’s two very scary enforcers arrive to collect the money now, and Ray doesn’t have it. Just then, Ray’s long-estranged sister Maggie (Liana Wright-Mark) shows up unexpectedly. Ray’s financial deadline is accelerated, and he is plunged into a desperate and apparently hopeless race against the clock. In his first feature, writer-director Joel Veach creates a vivid milieu and delivers a perfect ending. Veach understands a great truth that is also a tenet of film noir: if you’re a loser, you can always find a way to make yourself a bigger loser. The dry emptiness of American Muscle’s Kern County makes the Bakersfield of Honey Don’t look like Mumbai. The intellectual curiosity of the bantering enforcers is a very funny homage to the characters of Vincent and Jules in Pulp Fiction. Very entertaining and a first-class neo-noir. World premiere.
Here are the others that I’m catching up writing about, in the order in which I liked them:
- Victoria: A young beautician faces an urgent decision – whether to elope with the boyfriend her parents have rejected for her. Pressure mounts as she must orchestrate her escape by the end of the work day, all while minding the beauty shop by herself. Absurdly, she is also babysitting a rooster destined for a religious festival at night. Excellent lead performance by Meenakshi Jayan and a very human, relatable story. First film for writer-director Siviranjini J. US Premiere.
- The Vanishing of Dolores Wulff: The elements that distinguish this true crime doc are 1) a murder solved after over forty years; 2) the impact of decades-long unresolved loss upon the victim’s children; 3) the family discomfort of the primary suspect being the father of the victim’s children; and 4) an appallingly funny Greek Chorus of hot-tempered knuckleheads in the extended family. Exceptionally resourced – we meet the family, the idiot would-be vigilantes and law enforcement. First feature for Paul Sadowski. World premiere.
- Lady D: A teen sister and brother find themselves homeless, on the unforgiving streets of Tirana, Albania. They fall into a seamy scene filled with dangers for them to escape or survive; their fortunes turn when they meet a mysterious, hard-ass woman who knows how to navigate the underworld. Writer-director Fatmir Koçi embues the film with verisimilitude, and nobody in Tirana is getting the Parent of the Year award. US premiere.
- 98 lbs of Dynamite: A disability from birth has left a man very physically tiny, and confined to a wheelchair. Nevertheless, he is relentlessly upbeat and funny, and aggressively embracing life. We meet his mom and learn her impact on his attitude. Feel Good. First film for writer-director Loren Goldfarb. World premiere.
- The Mechanics of Borders: A 19-year-old French Canadian guy, just out of foster care, has been establishing his own adult life, with an unpleasant first job and grubby first apartment; he has friends and a woman who wants to be his girlfriend. Suddenly, he gets a distress call from his long-estranged older sister who begs him to retrieve her from a bad situation in Arizona. Against his better judgment, he drives the two days to pick her up, and they embark on a road trip back to Quebec. Impulsive, volatile and unreliable, she is a hot mess. He is more functional, and she is more worldly, but both are emotionally scarred from their chaotic childhoods. On the road trip, they start to come to grips with the impact of their shared experience and to rebuild their relationship. Well-acted, with an especially powerful interlude while they wait for their van to be repaired, but the ending didn’t pay off for me. US Premiere.
- The Mainland: In this enigmatic Russian tale, a woman brings her son to a remote island to await something that we will eventually discover. Superb lead performance by Anastasiya Kuimova as her character undergoes a wide palette of emotions: moodiness, determination, lust, fatigue, ennui and longing. The stark island landscape is visually stunning. But there’s also a mysterious whale on her side – some magical realism that didn’t work for me. US premiere.
- Dancing on the Elephant: In this Canadian dramedy, an elderly woman (an excellent Sheila McCarthy) is moved from her home to an independent living facility. There she meets another female resident who is outrageously subversive. Not bad, but it mines the same material as much better geezer comedies like Cloudburst and Thelma. First narrative feature for directors Julia Neill and Jacob Z. Smith. US premiere.
- Lonely Nights: In this Mexican coming of age drama, an almost-college-age kid flounders socially. His parents and friends are rich, but he is directionless and socially awkward. He hires a hooker and then becomes infatuated with her – which everyone but him knows cannot last. It’s a well-crafted and sweet film, but I’ve just lost all patience with the patient with angst of the very privileged. First feature for director and co-writer Julian Acosta Vera. World premiere.
- Give It Up: A failing comic tries to restart his life by going on the road with yet another tour of one-night stands. Trouble is, this loser is too unlovable, so we just don’t care. World premiere.
- After Love: A decades-long marriage between two aging Iranian immigrants has long ago sank into bitter co-existence. The husband finally snaps, launching a series of misadventures for the two. This is supposed to be a comedy, but the two are so unlikable and some moments so transgressive, that it’s not watchable. World premiere.
Tomorrow, I’ll be posting about which of these films, along with others I’ve already written about will become available to watch in Cinequest’s virtual festival, Cinejoy.
