Movies Screening This May
May at Pivot has a bit of everything, and none of it is ordinary.
Jodie Foster speaking French. A goshawk named Mabel. Imaginary neighbours who start writing back. A nine-year-old in 1990s Iraq baking Saddam Hussein’s birthday cake. Warwick Thornton back in the desert. And Miranda Priestly, twenty years later, still terrifying.
There are Q&As, a Mother’s Day special, and a live national event that won’t be repeated. Find the one that pulls you in. We’ll keep the projector warm.
A Private Life
Paris. A shocking death, a determined psychiatrist, and a truth no one else wants to see. When Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira, Waiting for Bojangles, AF FFF22) is found dead, the authorities rule it a suicide. But her psychiatrist, Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster in her first major French-language role), refuses to accept it. Convinced that Paula’s husband Simon (Mathieu Amalric, Sink or Swim, AF FFF19) is involved, she decides to investigate on her own – even if it means venturing far beyond her professional limits. With the help of her ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil, Love Boat, AF FFF25) and a hypnotist whose sessions trigger unsettling visions, Lilian is plunged into a labyrinth where memory, intuition, and doubt collide. Each vision brings her closer to the truth… or deeper into danger. Jodie Foster delivers a riveting performance worthy of her two Oscars and four Golden Globes, and showcases her sensational linguistic and emotional precision. Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski (Other People’s Children, AF FFF23), the film reimagines the investigative thriller with a bold twist – blending tension, dark humour, and witty couple dynamics within a charged psychological setting. Premiering at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, this sharp, stylish investigation keeps audiences guessing until the very end. Do not miss it!
A Private Life
Paris. A shocking death, a determined psychiatrist, and a truth no one else wants to see. When Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira, Waiting for Bojangles, AF FFF22) is found dead, the authorities rule it a suicide. But her psychiatrist, Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster in her first major French-language role), refuses to accept it. Convinced that Paula’s husband Simon (Mathieu Amalric, Sink or Swim, AF FFF19) is involved, she decides to investigate on her own – even if it means venturing far beyond her professional limits. With the help of her ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil, Love Boat, AF FFF25) and a hypnotist whose sessions trigger unsettling visions, Lilian is plunged into a labyrinth where memory, intuition, and doubt collide. Each vision brings her closer to the truth… or deeper into danger. Jodie Foster delivers a riveting performance worthy of her two Oscars and four Golden Globes, and showcases her sensational linguistic and emotional precision. Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski (Other People’s Children, AF FFF23), the film reimagines the investigative thriller with a bold twist – blending tension, dark humour, and witty couple dynamics within a charged psychological setting. Premiering at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, this sharp, stylish investigation keeps audiences guessing until the very end. Do not miss it!
Alphabet Lane – Filmmaker Q&A
A one-off special event! Stay around after the screening for an entertaining Q&A with writer/director James Litchfield. An isolated couple lose control of a joke about imaginary friends. This darkly funny thriller follows Anna (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) and Jack (Nicholas Denton), a young couple who have recently moved to the country. With the reality of their new situation failing to live up to their expectations, as a joke they invent imaginary neighbours to cope with their growing loneliness. As letters begin to arrive from their new friends, what started out as a joke soon comes to take over their entire relationship.
Alphabet Lane – Filmmaker Q&A
A one-off special event! Stay around after the screening for an entertaining Q&A with writer/director James Litchfield. An isolated couple lose control of a joke about imaginary friends. This darkly funny thriller follows Anna (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) and Jack (Nicholas Denton), a young couple who have recently moved to the country. With the reality of their new situation failing to live up to their expectations, as a joke they invent imaginary neighbours to cope with their growing loneliness. As letters begin to arrive from their new friends, what started out as a joke soon comes to take over their entire relationship.
Calle Málaga (Malaga Street)
María Ángeles (Carmen Maura), a spirited 79-year-old Spaniard, has spent her life in the Spanish Quarter of Tangier, where she now savors her golden years. Maria’s world is turned upside down when her daughter arrives from Madrid, determined to sell the family apartment. To protect her home and the memories it holds, she fights back and, unexpectedly, rediscovers love and sensuality.
Calle Málaga (Malaga Street)
María Ángeles (Carmen Maura), a spirited 79-year-old Spaniard, has spent her life in the Spanish Quarter of Tangier, where she now savors her golden years. Maria’s world is turned upside down when her daughter arrives from Madrid, determined to sell the family apartment. To protect her home and the memories it holds, she fights back and, unexpectedly, rediscovers love and sensuality.
Father Mother Sister Brother
FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER is a feature film, though carefully constructed in the form of a triptych. The three stories all concern the relationships between adult children, their somewhat distant parent (or parents), and each other. Each of the three chapters takes place in the present, and each in a different country. FATHER is set in the Northeast US, MOTHER in Dublin, Ireland, and SISTER BROTHER in Paris, France. The film is a series of character studies, quiet, observational and non-judgmental – a comedy, but interwoven with threads of melancholy.
Father Mother Sister Brother
FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER is a feature film, though carefully constructed in the form of a triptych. The three stories all concern the relationships between adult children, their somewhat distant parent (or parents), and each other. Each of the three chapters takes place in the present, and each in a different country. FATHER is set in the Northeast US, MOTHER in Dublin, Ireland, and SISTER BROTHER in Paris, France. The film is a series of character studies, quiet, observational and non-judgmental – a comedy, but interwoven with threads of melancholy.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
Never-before-seen footage, exclusive voice messages, and accounts from Jeff Buckley’s inner circle paint a captivating portrait of the gifted musician who died tragically in 1997, having only released one album.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
Never-before-seen footage, exclusive voice messages, and accounts from Jeff Buckley’s inner circle paint a captivating portrait of the gifted musician who died tragically in 1997, having only released one album.
Met Opera 2025-26: Eugene Onegin
Following her acclaimed 2024 company debut in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, soprano Asmik Grigorian returns to the Met as Tatiana, the lovestruck young heroine in this ardent operatic adaptation of Pushkin. Baritone Igor Golovatenko reprises his portrayal of the urbane Onegin, who realizes his affection for her all too late. The Met’s evocative production, directed by Tony Award–winner Deborah Warner, “offers a beautifully detailed reading of… Tchaikovsky’s lyrical romance” (The Telegraph)
Met Opera 2025-26: Eugene Onegin
Following her acclaimed 2024 company debut in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, soprano Asmik Grigorian returns to the Met as Tatiana, the lovestruck young heroine in this ardent operatic adaptation of Pushkin. Baritone Igor Golovatenko reprises his portrayal of the urbane Onegin, who realizes his affection for her all too late. The Met’s evocative production, directed by Tony Award–winner Deborah Warner, “offers a beautifully detailed reading of… Tchaikovsky’s lyrical romance” (The Telegraph).
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Almost twenty years after making their iconic turns as Miranda, Andy, Emily and Nigel—Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci return to the fashionable streets of New York City and the sleek offices of Runway Magazine in the eagerly awaited sequel to the 2006 phenomenon that defined a generation. The film reunites the original main cast with director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna, and introduces an all-new runway of characters including Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu, Patrick Brammall, Caleb Hearon, Helen J. Shen, Pauline Chalamet, B.J. Novak and Conrad Ricamora. Tracie Thoms and Tibor Feldman also reprise their roles as “Lily” and “Irv” from the first film. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is produced by Wendy Finerman, and executive produced by Michael Bederman, Karen Rosenfelt and McKenna. The film debuts exclusively in cinemas April 30, 2026.
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Almost twenty years after making their iconic turns as Miranda, Andy, Emily and Nigel—Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci return to the fashionable streets of New York City and the sleek offices of Runway Magazine in the eagerly awaited sequel to the 2006 phenomenon that defined a generation. The film reunites the original main cast with director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna, and introduces an all-new runway of characters including Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu, Patrick Brammall, Caleb Hearon, Helen J. Shen, Pauline Chalamet, B.J. Novak and Conrad Ricamora. Tracie Thoms and Tibor Feldman also reprise their roles as “Lily” and “Irv” from the first film. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is produced by Wendy Finerman, and executive produced by Michael Bederman, Karen Rosenfelt and McKenna. The film debuts exclusively in cinemas April 30, 2026.
The Drama
A happily engaged couple is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails.
The Drama
A happily engaged couple is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails.
The President’s Cake
In 1990s Iraq, 9-year-old Lamia must bake Saddam Hussein’s birthday cake. She scrambles to find ingredients for this compulsory task while facing potential punishment if she fails.
The President’s Cake
In 1990s Iraq, 9-year-old Lamia must bake Saddam Hussein’s birthday cake. She scrambles to find ingredients for this compulsory task while facing potential punishment if she fails.
The Stranger (L’étranger)
The superb new film from multi-award winning writer/director François Ozon (‘Swimming Pool’, ‘8 Women’, ‘Under the Sand’), THE STRANGER is a gripping adaptation of Albert Camus’ landmark novella about a detached young expat under trial for murder in French-colonised Algeria. Summer, 1938. Meursault (Benjamin Voisin, ‘Lost Illusions’), a quiet and unassuming clerk in his early thirties, attends his mother’s funeral. The next day, he begins a casual affair with Marie (Rebecca Marder), a colleague randomly encountered at the local baths, and quickly slips back into routine. However, daily life is soon disrupted by his volatile neighbour (an excellent Pierre Lottin, My Brother’s Band), who draws Meursault into an altercation involving an ex-lover. And then, one blisteringly hot afternoon, an inexplicable event occurs on a beach, one that will see Meursault’s very moral standing brought to question… Visually resplendent with sensuous black-and-white images, Ozon’s elegant and masterfully realised film shines a contemporary lens on Camus’ classic tale of dissociation and morality, capturing the beauty and heat of a charged society on the boil. Both impactful and mysterious, THE STRANGER is must-see French cinema of the highest order.
The Stranger (L’étranger)
The superb new film from multi-award winning writer/director François Ozon (‘Swimming Pool’, ‘8 Women’, ‘Under the Sand’), THE STRANGER is a gripping adaptation of Albert Camus’ landmark novella about a detached young expat under trial for murder in French-colonised Algeria. Summer, 1938. Meursault (Benjamin Voisin, ‘Lost Illusions’), a quiet and unassuming clerk in his early thirties, attends his mother’s funeral. The next day, he begins a casual affair with Marie (Rebecca Marder), a colleague randomly encountered at the local baths, and quickly slips back into routine. However, daily life is soon disrupted by his volatile neighbour (an excellent Pierre Lottin, My Brother’s Band), who draws Meursault into an altercation involving an ex-lover. And then, one blisteringly hot afternoon, an inexplicable event occurs on a beach, one that will see Meursault’s very moral standing brought to question… Visually resplendent with sensuous black-and-white images, Ozon’s elegant and masterfully realised film shines a contemporary lens on Camus’ classic tale of dissociation and morality, capturing the beauty and heat of a charged society on the boil. Both impactful and mysterious, THE STRANGER is must-see French cinema of the highest order.
Wolfram
Warwick Thornton’s ‘Wolfram’ unfolds in 1932 Central Australia and is the follow-up film to his acclaimed ‘Sweet Country’ (2017). Aboriginal children are forced into “wolfram” (tungsten) mining until violence entangles them with ruthless outlaws. At the heart of the story is Pansy (Deborah Mailman) who is longing for her stolen children. A tightly wrought frontier western rooted in real family history, ‘Wolfram’ sees Aboriginal siblings Max and Kid forced to work in the mines under Billy’s control. When Billy dies suddenly, Max is kidnapped by outlaws Frank and Casey, while Kid refuses to let him go. At Kennedy’s station, the brothers encounter Philomac, the boy from ‘Sweet Country’ (2017), now older and indentured. Brought together by circumstance, the three seize a fragile chance to escape before dawn, pursued by Kennedy and the outlaws in a relentless chase across the desert. Along the way they find temporary refuge with Chinese miners Shi and Jimmi. At the story’s emotional core is Pansy, a mother longing for the return of her lost generation. ‘Wolfram’ is a taut western of kinship, survival and colonial reckoning in the Central Desert.
Wolfram
Warwick Thornton’s ‘Wolfram’ unfolds in 1932 Central Australia and is the follow-up film to his acclaimed ‘Sweet Country’ (2017). Aboriginal children are forced into “wolfram” (tungsten) mining until violence entangles them with ruthless outlaws. At the heart of the story is Pansy (Deborah Mailman) who is longing for her stolen children. A tightly wrought frontier western rooted in real family history, ‘Wolfram’ sees Aboriginal siblings Max and Kid forced to work in the mines under Billy’s control. When Billy dies suddenly, Max is kidnapped by outlaws Frank and Casey, while Kid refuses to let him go. At Kennedy’s station, the brothers encounter Philomac, the boy from ‘Sweet Country’ (2017), now older and indentured. Brought together by circumstance, the three seize a fragile chance to escape before dawn, pursued by Kennedy and the outlaws in a relentless chase across the desert. Along the way they find temporary refuge with Chinese miners Shi and Jimmi. At the story’s emotional core is Pansy, a mother longing for the return of her lost generation. ‘Wolfram’ is a taut western of kinship, survival and colonial reckoning in the Central Desert.