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Festival coverage

Palm Springs International Film Festival

2 January – 13 January 2026

You can check out the best of last year's crop and the big name films up for awards at this festival, along with a selection of promising new works. Kicking off the festival schedule for 2026, it's full of promise.

The festival runs from 2 to 13 January.

Other years (5)

Latest reviews

  • The Testament Of Ann Lee
    Review preview for The Testament Of Ann Lee

    Made with consummate care, the film stands out for its exquisite cinematography.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    An epic fable inspired by the life of Ann Lee, the founder of the Shakers, a radical religious movement that began in the late 1700s.
  • Late Shift
    Review preview for Late Shift

    One of the most telling details is how human warmth becomes a luxury item.

    Edin Custo · 3 out of 5
    Drama following a nurse on a late shift at a busy hospital.
  • Arco
    Review preview for Arco

    It’s the sort of sweet-natured fable that makes adults nostalgic for childhood, but both the near and far futures it presents are, to children themselves, already likely to seem out of date.

    Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
    In 2075, a 10-year-old girl, Iris, witnesses a mysterious boy in a rainbow suit fall from the sky. It’s Arco. He comes from an idyllic far future where time travel is possible. Iris shelters him and will do whatever it takes to help him return to his time.
  • All That's Left Of You
    Review preview for All That's Left Of You

    Dabis controls revelation with discipline, letting meaning accumulate rather than announcing itself, so that what finally emerges feels earned rather than engineered.

    Edin Custo · 4 out of 5
    After a Palestinian teen confronts Israeli soldiers at a West Bank protest, his mother recounts the series of events that led him to that fateful moment, starting with his grandfather’s forced displacement.
  • The Plague
    Review preview for The Plague

    Borrowing tropes from horror, the film adds an uncanny undercurrent to its drama.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    At an all-boys water polo camp, a socially anxious 12-year-old is pulled into a cruel tradition targeting an outcast with an illness they call “The Plague.” But as the lines between game and reality blur, he fears the joke might be hiding something real.
  • Left-Handed Girl
    Review preview for Left-Handed Girl

    The title stops being metaphor and becomes a wound you can watch forming in real time.

    Edin Custo · 4 out of 5
    A single mother and her two daughters return to Taipei to open a night market stand. Three generations of family secrets begin to unravel after the youngest daughter who’s left-handed is told by her traditional grandfather to never use her "devil hand”.
  • The Voice Of Hind Rajab
    Review preview for The Voice Of Hind Rajab

    There is some very good work here, and all of it tempered where it needs to be, to give due prominence to Hind herself.

    Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
    January 29, 2024. Red Crescent volunteers receive an emergency call. A six-year old girl is trapped in a car under fire in Gaza, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the line, they do everything they can to get an ambulance to her.
  • KPop Demon Hunters
    Review preview for KPop Demon Hunters

    The film was conceived by Korean American Maggie Kang and it benefits from a knowing humour, playing affectionately with its stereotypes.

    Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
    A world-renowned K-Pop girl group balance their lives in the spotlight with their secret identities as demon hunters.
  • Reedland
    Review preview for Reedland

    Writer/director Sven Bresser lets events unfold slowly and makes great use of silence.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    When reed cutter Johan discovers the lifeless body of a girl on his land, he is overcome by an ambiguous sense of guilt. While taking care of his granddaughter, he sets out on a quest to track down evil. But darkness can thrive in unexpected places.
  • No Other Choice
    Review preview for No Other Choice

    Park keeps inviting us to laugh, then forcing us to confront what, exactly, we’re laughing at.

    Edin Custo · 4 out of 5
    When a man loses his job he finds himself drifting before deciding to take things into his own hands...

A–Z of Palm Springs International Film Festival 2026 reviews

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