Middle Life Review + Our Favorite Films of 2026 So Far and Most Anticipated for the Rest

Middle Life Review + Our Favorite Films of 2026 So Far and Most Anticipated for the Rest

This week on Two Girl Cinema Club, we’re talking about our favorite films of the year so far. We have a lot of overlap here, but a couple are unique to each of our lists. Funnily enough, our top three were the same! We also discuss some of our most anticipated films for the rest of 2026. There are many that we hope to see at upcoming film festivals and others that we don’t have much info about yet. What are some of your favorite films of the year and which ones are you looking forward to seeing? Be sure to share your picks with us!  We were also able to see a screener of an upcoming film called Middle Life. This will receive a limited release at the middle of the month, and hopefully a larger release after that! Middle Life is a heartwarming story of two people who are brought together by unique circumstances and develop a friendship while navigating different struggles in their life. We don’t want to give too much away, but you can listen to more of our review in the episode! If you love us, leave us comments on social media and YouTube, or write a review with your 5-star rating. If you write us a nice review, DM us and we’ll send you some of our new stickers! Don’t forget to follow our socials, and find us on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. New episodes of Two Girl Cinema Club drop every Friday! TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@twogirlcinemaclubpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twogirlcinemaclubpod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47bRko9RaTTCsPoEUfjrfN?si=6e27a23055884826 [https://open.spotify.com/show/47bRko9RaTTCsPoEUfjrfN?si=6e27a23055884826] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-girl-cinema-club/id1672867717 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-girl-cinema-club/id1672867717] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Steven Spielberg Week (A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can + Full Toy Story 5 Review)

After reviewing Disclosure Day last week on Two Girl Cinema Club, we needed validation that Spielberg really is a visionary. Before we dive in, we discuss some industry news, give a full review of Toy Story 5 since Ailish was able to watch it, and Hannah recaps House of Wax. We do go on a bit of a tangent about how films look different these days compared to years ago, so just be prepared for that! In previous episodes, we have watched other Spielberg films and were impressed by their plot, direction, and production. After watching Disclosure Day, we felt it was time for us to watch some more of his sci-fi films to see how they compare. A.I. Artificial Intelligence is about an AI bot designed as a child goes on a journey to become a real boy to gain the love of his mom. The premise might sound a little cheesy, but it actually becomes quite emotional with the performance of Haley Joel Osment. We also get a side plot with Jude Law as AI Gigolo Joe and humans rebelling against the existence of AI bots in their world. We thought the CGI looked great in this and the world of Gigolo Joe was bright and exciting. Minority Report is a film we had heard a lot about, but had never seen. This is an A1 performance by Tom Cruise and Spielberg is also firing on all cylinders. There are a lot of things happening in this film, so you really have to pay attention and it’s definitely worthy of a rewatch soon. Again, we were very impressed by the CGI here! Finally, we rewatched Catch Me If You Can. This is a classic young Leo film and the story is engaging even after multiple watches. We can also really see the parallels between this and Marty Supreme, even though the overall tone is different.  If you love us, leave us comments on social media and YouTube, or write a review with your 5-star rating. If you write us a nice review, DM us and we’ll send you some of our new stickers! Don’t forget to follow our socials, and find us on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. New episodes of Two Girl Cinema Club drop every Friday! TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@twogirlcinemaclubpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twogirlcinemaclubpod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47bRko9RaTTCsPoEUfjrfN?si=6e27a23055884826 [https://open.spotify.com/show/47bRko9RaTTCsPoEUfjrfN?si=6e27a23055884826] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-girl-cinema-club/id1672867717 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-girl-cinema-club/id1672867717] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Summer Heat (Streetcar Named Desire, Y Tu Mamá También, Wild Things)

We’re back with our regularly scheduled Friday episode of Two Girl Cinema Club! Summer is officially here, so we’re watching some films where you can feel the heat radiating off the screen in multiple ways. Before we dive into these films, Hannah gives her review of Toy Story 5 and we discuss the franchise as a whole. We also talk about the trailer for Disney’s new movie, Hexed, that recently dropped, and how we think Disney is missing the mark with their animated kids content.  This week, our films are set in summer and the tensions are high. We couldn’t believe Y Tu Mamá También has been out for 25 years because we remember how much hype surrounded it when it was released. Watching this filled a blindspot for both of us and we loved the way it was filmed because it really felt authentic. If you listened to yesterday’s episode where we discussed Disclosure Day, that was one of our biggest complaints about many films today. While the overall theme of this film is a bit scandalous, we felt it was dealt with in a way that didn’t feel gross and predatory. Streetcar Named Desire is an absolute classic with Vivian Leigh and Marlon Brando firing on all cylinders. It’s truly amazing to see these two work their magic on screen and there are many complex themes explored in this film, especially for the time period. Lastly, we have Wild Things. This is another film that’s been highly discussed in pop culture, but we hadn’t seen fully. There were so many plot twists, it was hard to keep up, but it ended up being a fun watch that we both agreed we would revisit in the future.  If you love us, leave us comments on social media and YouTube, or write a review with your 5-star rating. If you write us a nice review, DM us and we’ll send you some of our new stickers! Don’t forget to follow our socials, and find us on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. New episodes of Two Girl Cinema Club drop every Friday! TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@twogirlcinemaclubpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twogirlcinemaclubpod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47bRko9RaTTCsPoEUfjrfN?si=6e27a23055884826 [https://open.spotify.com/show/47bRko9RaTTCsPoEUfjrfN?si=6e27a23055884826] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-girl-cinema-club/id1672867717 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-girl-cinema-club/id1672867717] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Theater Thursday: FIND YOUR FRIENDS, Goat Girl, Disclosure Day

Welcome to a bonus episode of Two Girl Cinema Club! We haven’t done a Theater Thursday in a while and we’re coming back to it with three films. First, we were able to receive two films as screeners which we are very grateful for. FIND YOUR FRIENDS is a film by Izabel Pakzad about five girlfriends who are ready to party in the desert. Unfortunately, the good times take quite the turn with danger seemingly following the girls through their journey. What was supposed to be a carefree trip turns into one of tragedy and survival when the girls are accosted by aggressive locals. This film stars Chloe Cherry, Bella Thorne, Helena Howard, Sophia Taylor Ali, and Zión Moreno.  We also watched Goat Girl which turned out to be a lovely surprise! Goat Girl is a Spanish arthouse film by Ana Asensio set in 1988 Madrid. It follows eight-year-old Elena as she prepares for her first communion and grieves her grandmother’s passing. This film stars some wonderful child actors (Alessandra Gonzålez and Juncal Fernåndez) who are able to bring so much emotion to their roles. Goat Girl explores the complexity of facing death, growing up, and societal issues through the lens of a child and it leaves you feeling connected to Elena. Disclosure Day is the news film from Steven Spielberg that has been talked about for months. Unlike the promotion leads you to believe, this film focuses on everything leading up to “Disclosure Day” and tackles nothing that comes after. The plot centers around the idea that life on another plant is real and a small group of people in the US have been running tests on them for decades. Unfortunately, this film doesn’t work for us from top to bottom. While we appreciate the mind and talent of Spielberg, Disclosure Day does not seem like something that will hold up a few years from now and we didn’t feel the emotional impact others have mentioned.  If you’ve seen any of these films, what are your thoughts? We’d love to hear them! Be sure to listen to our regular Friday episode tomorrow and don’t forget to give us a follow! TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@twogirlcinemaclubpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twogirlcinemaclubpod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47bRko9RaTTCsPoEUfjrfN?si=6e27a23055884826 [https://open.spotify.com/show/47bRko9RaTTCsPoEUfjrfN?si=6e27a23055884826] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-girl-cinema-club/id1672867717 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-girl-cinema-club/id1672867717] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Independent Films (Triangle of Sadness, Frances Ha, Keeper)

This week on Two Girl Cinema Club, we caught up on some independent films. While these films and their filmmakers may be popular now, they didn’t start out that way. We also discuss our plans for The Odyssey which releases about a month from now, Greek mythology, and our hopes for film festival season. Admittedly, we go off the rails a little, so please bear with us. When you think of independent films, you don’t usually think of ones that are as successful or known as the three we discuss in this episode. Triangle of Sadness premiered at Cannes in 2022 where it won the Palm d’Or and picked up traction at the Oscars. We had heard a lot about this film, but it was one we hadn’t gotten around to seeing. While we felt it was a little slow at the beginning, it really picked up in the second act and had us engaged until the end. Frances Ha is an early film written by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, and directed by Baumbach. This is another film that we had heard about, but never seen and we had some high expectations. Unfortunately, we just don’t vibe with the quirky, elder millennial chaos, and this wasn’t an enjoyable watch for us. Finally, we have Keeper by Osgood Perkins. Since Perkins is a known director, this film was picked up by Neon but it was met with mixed reviews. This leads us to a bigger conversation about Perkins, his most recent films, and what he has coming next. If you love us, leave us comments on social media and YouTube, or write a review with your 5-star rating. If you write us a nice review, DM us and we’ll send you some of our new stickers! Don’t forget to follow our socials, and find us on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. New episodes of Two Girl Cinema Club drop every Friday! TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@twogirlcinemaclubpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twogirlcinemaclubpod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47bRko9RaTTCsPoEUfjrfN?si=6e27a23055884826 [https://open.spotify.com/show/47bRko9RaTTCsPoEUfjrfN?si=6e27a23055884826] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-girl-cinema-club/id1672867717 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-girl-cinema-club/id1672867717] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.