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Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival · 2026

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2026

Best Of Festivals

Programme

36 films · 16 reviews

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Armony

A 55-year-old truck driver who is only truly comfortable in solitude. After his sister’s disappearance, he is forced to care for his six-year-old niece, Carlotta, but after forging a family the unit comes under threat.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2026; Director: Dario Albertini; Stars: Valerio Mastandrea, Asia Argento, Clara Tramontano, Pamela Schettino, Ornella Muti)

Behemoth!

Portrait of a gifted cellist's complex life.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Tony Gilroy; Writer: Tony Gilroy; Stars: Pedro Pascal, Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, Will Arnett, Hank Azaria, Alexa Swinton, Kaya Ralls, Erik Griffin, JoBeth Williams, Margarita Levieva, Matthew Lillard, Adam Rose, Vincent Oppido, Eden Epstein, Miles Anderson)

The Beloved (El ser querido)

A director and his estranged daughter, a struggling actress, make a movie together, forcing them to confront their troubled past

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2026; Director: Rodrigo Sorogoyen; Writer: Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Isabel Peña; Stars: Javier Bardem, Victoria Luengo, Raúl Arévalo, Marina Foïs, Mourad Ouani, Raúl Prieto, Melina Matthews, Núria Prims, Pablo Gómez-Pando, Malena Villa, Laura Birn, Chos, Pepa Gracia, Raquel Ferri, Conchi Albiñana Espejo)

Black Money For White Nights (Cherni pari za beli noshti)

Review preview for Black Money For White Nights

The directors with their fifth feature take a humane view of the plight of their subjects but spare us any over-sentimentality

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
After years of saving money from the small bribes they collect, 60-year-old Marina and her husband Gosha from Bulgaria are preparing for their dream trip to St Petersburg to witness the White Nights. But when Russia invades Ukraine and the travel agency vanishes with all their savings, the couple’s dream collapses.

(Country: Bulgaria, Greece; Year: 2026; Director: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov; Writer: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov, Decho Taralezhkov; Stars: Tanya Shahova, Margita Gosheva, Ivan Barnev, Ivan Savov)

Full review

La Bola Negra

Review preview for La Bola Negra

La Bola Negra was an unfinished work in a life cut short but the film named (variously) for it is extension and tribute and triumph.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
Drama exploring the inter-connected lives of three gay men.

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2026; Director: Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo; Writer: Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo; Stars: Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González, Milo Quifes, Lola Dueñas, Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close, Lorenzo Zurzolo)

Full review

Brace Your Heart (Garrat du váimmu)

Review preview for Brace Your Heart

Kernell’s drama feels embedded within the community and the landscape.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Ejva inherits her late father's reindeer herd. As she struggles to keep the herd thriving, local leader Heaika falls for her, and though hesitant, she feels compelled to accept. But everything changes when Nejla, Heaika's cousin, arrives.

(Country: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Bulgaria, Iceland; Year: 2026; Director: Amanda Kernell; Writer: Amanda Kernell; Stars: Elli-Sara Valkeapää, Andte Gaup-Juuso, Vincent Niia, Nils Peder Gaup, Siri Marakatt, Risten Alida Siri Skum)

Full review

Brave New Love

Hypnotherapist Kate lives happily with her husband, Orla, and their daughter, Athena, while simultaneously maintaining a deeply romantic relationship with Andreas. After years of secrecy, contradictions and forbidden feelings, the fragile balance of her choices begins to collapse and she is forced to confront her double life.

(Country: Denmark, Sweden, Greece; Year: 2026; Director: Maria Bäck; Writer: Maria Bäck; Stars: Kathrine Thorborg Johansen, Anders Danielsen Lie, Simon Sears, Noemi Carbone Mannov, Angeliki Papoulia)

Bunker

When an architect accepts a morally ambiguous project - building a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire - his wife begins to question their marriage after 17 years together.

(Country: France, Spain; Year: 2026; Director: Florian Zeller; Writer: Florian Zeller; Stars: Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Paul Dano, Stephen Graham, Eileen Atkins, Mark Gatiss, Nimmi Harasgama, Jamie Bisping, Christos Lawton, Karen Ascoe, Shelley Williams, Abe Jarman, Greta Bellamacina)

The Debut

Review preview for The Debut

Eisenberg’s obvious love of amateur dramatics provides The Debut with a foundation that feels akin to a warm hug.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A shy housewife is unexpectedly cast in a local am-dram original musical. Under the spell of the strong-willed and enigmatic director, she loses herself in the role.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Jesse Eisenberg; Writer: Jesse Eisenberg; Stars: Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu, Jesse Eisenberg, Cara Buono, Bernadette Peters, Lilli Cooper, Colton Ryan, Maulik Pancholy, Eldar Isgandarov, Bonnie Milligan, Patrick Fabian, Danny McCarthy)

Full review

The Echo Chamber

Drama focused on a co-dependent couple who cannot let go or break free.

(Country: Italy, Belgium; Year: 2026; Director: Andrea Pallaoro; Writer: Ludovica Rampoldi, Ilaria Bernardini; Stars: Luca Marinelli, Alicia Vikander, Susan Sarandon)

Elephants In The Fog

In a small Nepalese village nestled in the heart of a forest populated by wild elephants, Pirati is the matriarch of a community of transgender women. But when one of her "daughters" disappears, she must choose between love and responsibility to her community.

(Country: Nepal, Germany, Brazil, France, Norway; Director: Abinash Bikram Shah; Writer: Abinash Bikram Shah)

Everybody Digs Bill Evans

When a jazz pianist loses his soulmate in a car crash, this is the story of what happens next.

(Country: Ireland, UK; Year: 2026; Director: Grant Gee; Writer: Mark O'Halloran; Stars: Anders Danielsen Lie, Bill Pullman, Laurie Metcalf, Isabelle Harriet)

Everytime

A tragedy brings a mother, daughter, and teenage boy together.

(Country: Austria, Germany; Year: 2026; Director: Sandra Wollner; Writer: Sandra Wollner; Stars: Birgit Minichmayr, Tristán López, Lotte Keiling, Carla Hüttermann)

Falling House (Moragheb)

A longtime prison guard is suspended for an unforgivable mistake and suddenly discovers his eldest daughter plans to emigrate to become a model. Determined to stop her, he does everything in his power to prevent her from leaving home.

(Country: Iran, Germany, US; Year: 2026; Director: Mohsen Gharaie; Stars: Farhad Aslani, Laleh Marzban, Rima Raminfar)

Fatherland

Review preview for Fatherland

The way Zischler and Hüller play their relationship is so wonderfully real and subtle and appropriately opaque for all us non-Mann family members, that it at times brought tears to my eyes.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
Drama focusing on Thomas Mann's post-war life, as he and his daughter embark on a road-trip across Germany.

(Country: Poland, Germany, Italy, France; Year: 2026; Director: Pawel Pawlikowski; Writer: Pawel Pawlikowski; Stars: Sandra Hüller, Hanns Zischler, August Diehl, Anna Madeley, Devid Striesow, David Menkin, Joachim Meyerhoff, Enno Trebs, Theo Trebs, Waldemar Kobus, Daniel Wagner, Fritzi Haberlandt, Milan Peschel, Joanna Kulig, Christophe Falconnet)

Full review

Furies

Amid Lebanon’s real-life, corruption-induced bank crisis – when depositors were and today still are denied access to their own savings – two women scheme a daring all-night heist to get their own money back and pay for a life-saving surgery.

(Country: Lebanon, Brazil; Year: 2026; Director: Rami Kodeih; Writer: Rami Kodeih, Nora Mariana Salim; Stars: Maria Nakouzi, Rym Mroue, Hasan Akil, Issam Bou Khaled)

La Gradiva

Review preview for La Gradiva

Pompeii becomes a place where fantasy is tested against historical violence, and where looking too closely can break the story one came to preserve.

Edin Custo · 4 out of 5
A group of French high-school students travel to Naples on a school trip to discover the ruins of Pompeii and the bodies petrified by Vesuvius. There, they are drawn into a dizzying descent.

(Country: France, Italy; Year: 2026; Director: Marine Atlan; Writer: Marine Atlan, Anne Brouillet; Stars: Antonia Buresi, Julie Sokolowski)

Full review

Heysel 85

Dramatic reconstruction of the tragedy that unfolded during the 1985 European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus at the Brussels stadium.

(Country: Belgium, Romania, Netherlands, Germany; Year: 2026; Director: Teodora Ana Mihai; Writer: Teodora Ana Mihai, Lode Desmet, Isabelle Darras; Stars: Matteo Simoni, Violet Braeckman, Josse De Pauw, Ben Segers, Fabrizio Rongione, Bobby Schofield, Jeroen Van der Ven, Dominique Dauwe, Jonathan Sawdon, Emanuela Ponzano, Pieter Verelst, Julian De Backer, Aran Bertetto, Michel de Warzee, Bruno Georis)

The Idiot(s)

Anna Dostoevsky loves her husband Fyodor. Fyodor loves his wife, but he also loves gambling and booze. Anna tries desperately to rid him of his procrastination so he can deliver a new novel and they can avoid destitution.

(Country: Germany, Poland; Year: 2026; Director: Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert; Writer: Kasper Bajon, Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert, Bríd Arnstein; Stars: Johnny Flynn, Aimee Lou Wood, Vicky Krieps, Christian Friedel, Barbara Marten, Rainer Bock, Raphael Roger Levy, Jürgen Heimüller, Thekla Viloo Fliesberg, Thomas B. Hoffmann, Joshua Seelenbinder, Pawel Morawiak, Frederike Bohr, Alexander Schuster, Ulrich Wenzke)

The Incomer

Review preview for The Incomer

Grounded in whimsy and wonder but willing to embrace a dark edge

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
On a remote Scottish isle, siblings Isla and Sandy hunt birds and talk to mythical beings while fighting off outsiders. Their lives change when Daniel, an awkward official, arrives to relocate them.

(Country: United Kingdom; Year: 2026; Director: Louis Paxton; Writer: Louis Paxton; Stars: Domhnall Gleeson, Michelle Gomez, Grant O'Rourke, Emun Elliott, Gayle Rankin, Vanessa Donovan)

Full review See: Louis Paxton on grounding the humour of The Incomer in darker elements , Louis Paxton on isolation, animation and folklore in The Incomer

I Play Rocky

Review preview for I Play Rocky

Anchored by Anthony Ippolito’s performance – he not only bears a striking resemblance to Stallone, but his physical and verbal mimicry is uncanny.

Paul Risker · 3 out of 5
Sylvester Stallone, then a failing actor, writes the ultimate underdog story and must fight for his chance to play the role of a lifetime - Rocky Balboa.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Peter Farrelly; Writer: Peter Gamble; Stars: Anthony Ippolito, AnnaSophia Robb, PJ Byrne, Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts, Jay Duplass, Matt Dillon, Stephan James, Kiki Seto)

Full review

Jim Queen

When a virus that turns gay men straight sweeps through Paris, gym queen Jim has to race against time to find a cure before the community who worship him are wiped out.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2026; Director: Nicolas Athané, Marco Nguyen; Writer: Brice Chevillard, Simon Balteaux; Stars: Alex Ramirès, Jéremy Gillet, Shirley Souagnon, François Sagat, Elisabeth Wiener, Harald Marlot, Alex Brik)

Josephine

Review preview for Josephine

De Araújo is particularly good at evoking the emotional turmoil Jo feels.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
After 8-year-old Josephine accidentally witnesses a crime in Golden Gate Park, she acts out in search of a way to regain control of her safety while adults are helpless to console her.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Beth de Araújo; Writer: Beth de Araújo; Stars: Mason Reeves, Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Philip Ettinger, Syra McCarthy, Eleanore Pienta, Gretchen Klein, Nate Duncan, Tracy Todd, Grace Kelly Quigley, Malcolm Engel)

Full review See: Beth de Araújo Channing Tatum and others talk about a child's eye view of crime in Josephine

A Long Winter

Review preview for A Long Winter

Worse than incomplete, Haigh's film lacks a fully developed soul. This is in spite of striking aesthetic moments and sharply written scenes complemented by strong performances from the cast.

Paul Risker · 2.5 out of 5
Returning to his childhood home deep in the mountains, Mike is drawn back into the quiet rituals of family life as the clan prepares for the winter ahead.

(Country: UK, Canada; Year: 2026; Director: Andrew Haigh; Writer: Andrew Haigh; Stars: Fred Hechinger, Caitríona Balfe, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Kit Connor, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Furr, Susan Serrao, Anthony Timpano, Geoff Gustafson, Camille Sullivan, Martin Freeman)

Full review

Love, After All

The everyday life of a married couple at a turning point: Lore wants a divorce, after almost 40 years of marriage.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2026; Director: Andreas Dresen; Writer: Laila Stieler, Andreas Dresen; Stars: Dagmar Manzel, Joachim Król, Anna von Seld, Liane Düsterhöft, Christoph Hein, Clemens Meyer)

Low Expectations (Lave Forventninger)

Review preview for Low Expectations

The plot begins where screenwriting manuals would suggest a cut, in the aimless downtime of everyday life.

Lehel Fazakas · 3.5 out of 5
A successful young artist's career derails, forcing her back to her hometown. While teaching high school to make ends meet, she navigates depression and rediscovers herself in unexpected ways.

(Country: Denmark, Norway; Year: 2026; Director: Eivind Landsvik; Writer: Eivind Landsvik; Stars: Marie Ulven, Anders Danielsen Lie, Tone Mostraum, Embla Berntsen, Snorre Kinf Monsson, Clara Dessau)

Full review

Minotaur

Review preview for Minotaur

Zvyagintsev handles this material with his familiar control: psychological realism, cold visual restraint and an aversion to overt flourish.

Edin Custo · 3 out of 5
A high-powered executive's meticulously controlled existence begins to unravel.

(Country: France, Germany, Latvia; Year: 2026; Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev; Writer: Andrey Zvyagintsev, Simon Lyashenko; Stars: Dmitriy Mazurov, Iris Lebedeva, Varvara Shmykova)

Full review

No Paradise If You Are Killed By A Woman

Review preview for No Paradise If You Are Killed By A Woman

The 40-something director is sensible enough not to sensationalise

Edin Custo · 4 out of 5
A Kurdish female sniper, has survived war but when she learns the younger sister she believed was dead may still be alive in Mosul, she returns on a rescue mission that forces her to confront the trauma of her past.

(Country: Iran, Norway; Year: 2026; Director: Halkawt Mustafa; Writer: Halkawt Mustafa; Stars: Avan Jamal)

Full review

The Smell of Apples

In the insulated bubble of white Apartheid South Africa, Marnus, a sheltered 11-year old boy accuses the grandson of his family’s domestic worker of steeling his fishing rod. A brutal chain of events is set in motion, shattering the illusion of his family’s wholesome facade.

(Country: South Africa, Netherlands, Chile, France; Year: 2026; Director: John Trengove; Writer: Christopher Ciancimino, John Trengove; Stars: Dawian van der Westhuizen, Hilton Pelser, Maude Sandham, Celeste Matthews Wannenburgh, Wian Carstens, Karoline Watson, Inge Beckmann, Courtlin Baron)

The Spiral (L'estrania)

Review preview for The Spiral

Up until the end laced with cheap pseudo-biblical references, this horror-drama serves as a fun and thrilling ride.

Marko Stojiljkovic · 3 out of 5
A woman unexpectedly shows up at her daughter’s home to reveal the truth about their family.

(Country: Belgium, France, Italy; Year: 2026; Director: Paolo Strippoli; Writer: Paolo Strippoli, Salvatore de Chirico; Stars: Jasmine Trinca, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Matilda De Angelis, Adriano Giannini, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi)

Full review

Violette

A police officer becomes intrigued by the woman who tends the local cemetery, and he begins to uncover secrets about her past.

(Country: France, Italy; Year: 2026; Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet; Stars: Leïla Bekhti, Matthias Schoenaerts, Sergio Castellitto, Dominique Pinon, Melville Poupaud)

What Belongs To Others (Cudze rzeczy)

Review preview for What Belongs To Others

In his modern world of apartment blocks and estranged family members, even comfort is cold.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Kasia earns her living by breaking into other people's homes. One day on the job she finds a dead body of a man and decides to move into his apartment and find out who he was. As she starts to piece together his memories, relationships and secrets, it awakens in her a dream of another life and gives her strength to make changes in her own.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2026; Director: Grzegorz Dębowski; Writer: Grzegorz Dębowski; Stars: Monika Kwiatkowska, Robert Mania, Ewa Pająk, Martyna Rozwadowska, Jadwiga Grygierczyk)

Full review

Wicker

A fisherwoman asks a basketmaker to weave her a husband.

(Country: United Kingdom, US; Year: 2026; Director: Eleanor Wilson, Alex Huston Fischer; Writer: Eleanor Wilson, Alex Huston Fischer; Stars: Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki, Marli Siu, Nabhaan Rizwan)

Wild Horse Nine

Review preview for Wild Horse Nine

Malkovich and Rockwell are magnetic.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
Shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, CIA agents Chris and Lee are dispatched from Santiago to Rapa Nui.

(Country: UK, US, Chile; Year: 2026; Director: Martin McDonagh; Writer: Martin McDonagh; Stars: John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Parker Posey, Tom Waits, Mariana di Girolamo, Paola Giannini, Ailín Salas, Samuel Wayt)

Full review

Yesterday The Eye Didn't Sleep

When someone sets fire to a car, a spark of trouble spreads through a tightly woven community.

(Country: Belgium, Lebanon, Palestinian Territory; Year: 2026; Director: Rakan Mayasi; Writer: Rakan Mayasi, Wahid Ajmi; Stars: Jawaher Mawlah, Reem Mawlah, Yasser Mawlah)

Youri

Amsterdam, 1982. When journalist Jan Brokken meets Youri Egorov – the world-famous Soviet pianist who fled his homeland because of his sexuality – an unexpected friendship begins.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2026; Director: Sander Burger; Writer: Sander Burger, Bastiaan Tichler; Stars: Levan Gelbakhiani, Joes Brauers, Julia Akkermans, Rick Paul van Mulligen, Len Leo Vincent, Julian Cruiming, Maria Gallo, Marco Verhagen, Koen ter Braak)