What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 18th June 2026.

The 34th annual Raindance Film Festival takes place this year from Wednesday 17th June through until Friday 26th June in central London, England. Raindance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the UK and is based in the heart of London’s buzzing West End film district. The festival was established in 1992 and showcases feature film and shorts by filmmakers from around the world to an audience of film executives and buyers, journalists, fans and filmmakers. Each year, Raindance attracts some 16,000 visitors including about five hundred industry professionals into London. Raindance Film Festival is officially recognised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences USA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the British Independent Film Awards. Selected shorts will qualify for Oscar and BAFTA considerations. 

This year the festival will open with the UK Premiere of Michel K. Parandi’s Sci-Fi thriller 'April X', and close with the European Premiere of Kirsty Bell’s documentary 'Eddie Cochran: Don’t Forget Me', with a further eighty-three narrative and documentary features, 112 short films and twenty-seven immersive projects. Forty-eight of the features, 56% of the total, come from first-time Directors.

In the Best International Feature category, are the following ten films :-

* 'April X' - from the USA and Romania and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Michel K. Parandi. A high octane, near future thriller about twins Bax and April. When April goes missing, Bax searches every dark corner of the post Soviet cityscape trying to find her, ultimately descending into madness. 

* 'Born to Lose' - from the USA and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Joseph Zentil. A young biker grapples with his father's troubled legacy and escalating debts to a local gangster. As he races to restore a vintage motorcycle to save himself, he must confront family secrets and forge his own identity. International Premiere.

* 'Frank' - from Estonia and Written and Directed by Tonis Pill. Following a serious domestic violence incident, 13 year old Paul arrives in an unfamiliar town where in his pursuit of happiness he makes one bad decision after another. His seemingly inevitable downfall is thwarted, however, by a strange disabled man. UK Premiere.

* 'Jardines Del Bosque' - from Mexico and Co-Written and Co-Directed by Alex Barragan, Diego Barragan, and Co-Produced and scored by Alex Barragan and Edited by Diego Barragan. Three friends remember the summer of 2014 when they were preteens and an older girl from their neighbourhood disappeared one day without a trace. As their search intensifies, what began as an innocent game of detectives slowly turns into a dark mystery that changes them forever. World Premiere.

* 'Lost Land' - from Japan, France, Malaysia and Germany and Written, Directed and Edited by Akio Fujimoto. The film follows four-year-old Shafi and his nine-year-old sister Somira, Rohingya refugees, who embark on a perilous journey from a refugee camp in Bangladesh to Malaysia to reunite with their family. UK Premiere.

* 'My Daughter's Hair' - from Iran and Directed by Hesam Farahmand. Tohid and his wife and children have an average life. Until a very simple event shatters the story of their lives. UK Premiere.

* 'No Lastname' - from Iran and Written and Directed by Mohammed Reza Sattari. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an undocumented family living on society's margins struggles with poverty, grief and emotional collapse. As death and desperation close in, fragile relationships begin to fracture. World Premiere.

* 'PARO - The Untold Story of Bride Slavery' - from India and the USA and Co-Written and Directed by Gajendra Ahire. Sold at thirteen, stripped of her children, and betrayed by every promise of safety, Chand’s final act of defiance transforms unimaginable suffering into a powerful call for justice and change. UK Premiere.

* 'Silent Rebellion' - from Switzerland and Co-Written and Directed by Marie-Elsa Sgualdo. 15-year-old Emma, pregnant after a rape, defies her repressive rural Protestant community to carve a path of self-determination, transforming trauma into a catalyst for emancipation while confronting the moral hypocrisy of the village and the spectre of World War II around her. UK Premiere.

* 'Tokyo Nightfall' - from Japan and Written, Directed and Edited by Yuto Shimizu. After his sister Anna dies by suicide following a traumatic encounter in high school, Amenashi drifts through grief and guilt. Drawn to a clandestine mass-suicide gathering in Tokyo, he enters a nightclub where he and two friends confront entrapment, despair, and the buried emotions that bind them to life. World Premiere.

For the full line up of all the feature narratives, documentaries, short films, animated films, the other award categories, and a whole bunch of other good stuff, you can go to the official website at : http://www.raindance.org/festival

Looking ahead to this weeks five new release movies coming to a big screen Odeon near you, we kick off with an American thriller in which an aged Robin Hood grapples with his past life while in the hands of a mysterious woman after being critically injured. Next up we have an American animated adventure comedy drama film that sees another sequel to this hugely popular franchise, in which Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang's jobs get exponentially harder when they go head-to-head with a new threat to playtime. Then we turn to an Australian coming of age romantic supernatural horror film where two star-crossed teenage boys must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most - each other. This is followed by a French offering in which a wealthy heiress whose plan to stage a landmark concert is derailed by the clashing egos of the virtuosos recruited for the performance. And closing out the week we have a real life drama about Supermodel Kate Moss who embarks on a journey of self-discovery when acclaimed artist Lucian Freud offers to paint her portrait.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'THE DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD' (Rated MA15+) - this American thriller offering is Written and Directed by Michael Sarnoski who made his first feature in 2021 with the multi-award winning film 'Pig' and which he would follow up with 'A Quiet Place : Day One' in 2024. He is set to Write and Direct a live-action film adaptation of the video game 'Death Stranding', which is currently in active development with a release date yet to be announced. This film is a dark adaptation of the 17th-Century ballad 'Robin Hood's Death', by an unknown Writer.

After being seriously injured in a brutal battle that he thought would be his last, Robin Hood (Hugh Jackman) finds himself being nursed back to health by a mysterious woman, Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer). As he recovers, he begins to reckon with his violent past of crime and murder, and as feelings of regret set in, Robin finds an unexpected chance at salvation. Also starring Bill Skarsgard as Little John, with Murray Bartlett and Noah Jupe, The film saw its World Premiere screening at the Sydney Film Festival earlier this month and is released here in Australia and the US from this week.

'TOY STORY 5' (Rated G) - is an American animated adventure comedy-drama film Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, and is Co-Written and Directed by Andrew Stanton, whose prior feature film making credits take in his 2003 debut with 'Finding Nemo' and which he would follow up with 'WALL-E' in 2008, 'John Carter' in 2012, 'Finding Dory' in 2016 and 'In the Blink of an Eye' released earlier this year. This film is the fifth main instalment in Pixar's 'Toy Story' film series and the sequel to 2019's 'Toy Story 4'. Including the spin-off film 'Lightyear' from 2022, those five films have grossed almost US$3.3B at the worldwide Box Office from combined production budgets of US$720M. Here then, after Woody (voiced again by Tom Hanks) left Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) to help abandoned toys find owners, Jessie (Joan Cussack) becomes the leader of Bonnie's room, with Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) as her second-in-command. However, a now-eight-year-old Bonnie has become enamoured of her new favourite plaything, a frog-like tablet named Lilypad (Greta Lee). Also starring the voice talents of Conan O'Brien, Tony Hale, Bonnie Hunt, Ernie Hudson and Keanu Reeves. The film is released Stateside this week also.

'LEVITICUS' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian romantic coming of age supernatural horror film is Written and Directed by Adrian Chiarella in his feature film Directing debut. The film explores the dark consequences of religious fanaticism when two teenage boys - Naim (Joe Bird) and Ryan (Stacy Clausen), subjected to a radical conversion therapy ritual, are hunted by a supernatural entity that takes the form of the person they desire most - each other. Also starring Mia Wasikowska, Ewen Leslie and Nicholas Hope. It saw its World Premiere showcasing at this year Sundance Film Festival at the end of January, and is released here in Australia and the USA this week, having garnered universal critical acclaim.

'THE MUSICIANS' (Rated PG) - is a French musical comedy drama film Co-Written and Directed by Gregory Magne in only his third feature film making outing following 'L'air de rien' in 2012 and 'Perfumes' in 2019. Wealthy heiress Astrid Carlson (Valerie Donzelli) finally succeeds in fulfilling her late father’s dream - to bring together four Stradivarius (two violins, a viola and a cello) for a unique concert, eagerly expected by music lovers around the world. But Lise Carvalho (Marie Vialle), George Massaro (Mathieu Spinosi), Peter Nicolescu (Daniel Garlitsky), and Apolline Dessartre (Emma Ravier), the four virtuosos recruited for the occasion, are incapable of playing together. The rehearsals are one ego crisis after another. With no solution in sight, Astrid decides to go and find the only person who, in her eyes, can still save the event, Charlie Beaumont (Frederic Pierrot), the composer of the score. The film was released in its native France in early May 2025, and only now does it arrive in Australian cinemas thirteen months hence.

'MOSS & FREUD' (Rated MA15+) - this UK and New Zealand Co-Produced real life drama film is Written and Directed by James Lucas in his feature film making debut, although he is acclaimed for his Writing and Executive Producing his Academy Award winning short film 'The Phone Call' in 2013. Here, in 2002, at age 28, Kate Moss (Ellie Bamber) is already the greatest fashion icon of our time. Endlessly watchable, never predictable, always natural and utterly unpretentious. Kate shaped a generation. Yet she still yearns to be seen, truly seen. In a bold move, Kate enters Lucian Freud's (Derek Jacobi) the famed British painter and draughtsman, who is regarded as one of the foremost 20th Century English portraitist -  studio. Two British cultural titans converge, and Kate bares herself. Freud's genius explores Kate's hidden depths. Her complexity unfolds. A mesmerising rapport develops. The wild party scene fades whilst self-discovery takes centre stage. Tension mounts. Truths emerge. Kate finds her voice, her strength, her true self. Kate blossoms from supermodel to eternal muse. This is a journey into the heart of an icon. After sittings over the course of many months, the resultant painting was auctioned in 2005 for £3,928,000. The film had its World Premiere screening at the BFI London Film Festival in mid-October last year, was released in the UK in late May, and arrives in select Australian cinemas this week. 

With five new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-