What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 30th July 2026

The New Zealand International Film Festival this year takes place from Wednesday 29th July through until Sunday 9th August in the city of Auckland, located in the north of New Zealand's North Island. This is a national event whose aim it is to enhance the appreciation of, and engagement with, global art and culture by providing access to a diverse range of high-quality film. A programme of between 150-170 features is presented in Auckland and Wellington. The Festival opens in Auckland one weekend and gets underway in Wellington the next, overlapping for ten of their respective seventeen-day seasons. A smaller programme then travels to eleven further centres including Dunedin, Hamilton, Nelson,  Napier and Christchurch. The consolidation of several separately evolved Festivals into a single event known as The New Zealand International Film Festival occurred for the first time in 2009. In 2020, the Festival was rebranded 'Whanau Marama : New Zealand International Film Festival' . . . . . so reads the official website.

This years Opening Night Film presentation is 'Big Girls Don't Cry' from New Zealand and is Written and Directed by Paloma Schneideman in her debut feature film. It’s the summer school holidays of 2006 and stormy fourteen-year-old Sid (Ani Palmer) is desperate to reinvent herself. She lives with her dad (Noah Taylor) and older sister (Tara Canton) in a rural town near Omaha in the Auckland Region, the usually-sleepy beach destination that, during the summer, brings an influx of holidaymakers - a fresh audience for Sid’s performance of her ideal self. Not a girl, not yet a woman, she’s aching to be recognised as a grown up by her family, by boys, by the bewitching older girls who seem so impossibly at ease in themselves and their bodies, namely her older sister’s friend Freya (Rain Spencer). 

The Closing Night Film is 'Coward' from Belgium, France and the Netherlands and is Co-Written and Directed by Lukas Dhont. Set in the trenches of World War I, on the Western Front, a platoon of young Belgian soldiers joins the ranks of the foot soldiers fighting the Germans in the mud and dread. Among them is Pierre (Emmanuel Macchia), a tall farmer of few words who soon witnesses the atrocities of the battlefield. When away from the front, the soldiers find respite in the extravagant performances of a cabaret troupe led by the dainty son of a tailor, Francis (Valentin Campagne). His delicate appearance and his imaginative singing and dancing casts a spell on dreamy-eyed Pierre, who feels an intimate connection that he dares not speak about.

In the 'Fresh' strand of films being showcased, this section is representative of first narrative features from bold new voices in international cinema. There are fifteen films in this strand as given briefly below :-

* '9 Temples to Heaven' - from France, Norway and Thailand, and Written, Directed and Co-Edited by Sompot Chidgasornpongse. A gently funny exploration of family, faith and the tensions between Thailand’s spiritual and modernist dimensions.

* 'Ben'Imana' - from France, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Norway and Rwanda and is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo. This powerful drama wrestles with truth, justice and forgiveness during community-based reconciliation proceedings eighteen years after the horrors of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

* 'Blue Heron' - from Canada and Hungary and Directed by Sophy Romvari. A portrait of a family in crisis told through the perspective of a young child as she struggles to understand her older brother’s increasingly unsettling behaviour.

* 'Elephant's in the Fog' - from Nepal and Co-Written and Directed by Abinash Bikram Shah. A missing daughter. A forbidden love. A community the world has never seen on screen – until now.

* 'First Light' - from Australia and the Philippines and Written and Directed by James J. Robinson. A ruthless workplace cover-up by a powerful family throws a nun into an existential crisis.

* 'Goodbye, Cruel World' - from Belgium and France and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Felix de Givry. A bullied 14-year-old sends farewell letters to his classmates and vanishes, but when a girl from his school spots him wandering the streets at night, the two begin to build a fragile, secret world of their own.
* 'If I Go They Will Miss Me' - from the USA and Directed and Co-Edited by Walter Thompson-Hernandez. A portrait of a young boy caught between his own burgeoning artistic identity and his father's rigid expectations of masculinity.

* 'La Gradiva' - from France and Italy and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Photographed by Marine Atlan. Following a high school group travelling to Naples and Pompeii, frames this story of unrequited love and adolescent turmoil against a backdrop of precious artefacts from ancient history.

* 'Sad Girlz' - from France, Mexico and Spain and Written and Directed by Fernanda Tovar. This film explores the power of female teenage friendship in the aftermath of a sexual assault at a New Year’s Eve party.

* 'Sleepless City' - from France and Spain and Co-Written and Directed by Guillermo Galoe. This film portrays a vivid depiction of the maligned, frequently misrepresented Roma shanty-towns on the fringes of Madrid.

* 'Strange River' - from Germany and Spain and Co-Written and Directed by Jaume Claret Muxart. Seeped in sunshine with rhythmic hints of fleeting childhood fantasy, this film is a sensitive, poetic and intuitive exploration of adolescent awakening.

* 'Too Many Beasts' - from France and Germany and Co-Written and Directed by Sarah Arnold. Set amid the forests and farmlands of northeastern France, this film transforms a local feud between farmers, hunters and corrupt authorities into a wildly entertaining reflection on power, class and humanity’s uneasy relationship with nature.

* 'Trial of Hein' - from Germany and Written and Directed by Kai Stanicke. Mystery swirls around Hein's return to his native island after fourteen years on the mainland. Is it really him? The villagers hold a trial, to determine if it is really him and probe into the strangers identity.

* 'We Are Aliens' - from Japan and Directed and Co-Edited by Kohei Kadowaki. This anime feature is set in an ordinary Japanese town, where two boys, Gyotaro and Tsubasa, form a friendship as primary school students but as years drag on, betrayal and rejection fracture their once special bond. Later, lingering impacts of school bullying set off a chain of events that will ultimately lead to a violent confrontation as adults.

* 'Yesterday the Eye Didn't Sleep' - from Belgium, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Rakan Mayasi. A truck in flames, a woman gone, and two sisters left to pay the price.

For the full run down of all the other film strands being screened at this years NZIFF, plus a whole lot of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : http://www. nziff.co.nz

Turning the focus back to this weeks three new movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, we kick off with the 38th instalment in the MCU that sees our forgotten Peter Parker now living alone as a full-time web-slinging hero until mounting pressure triggers a dangerous change and a powerful new enemy emerges. Then we have a Brazilian dystopian drama film in which to maximise economic productivity, the government orders elderly people to move to remote housing colonies, but a 77-year-old woman refuses and embarks on a journey through the Amazon that will change her destiny forever. And closing out the week we have a documentary that showcases restored footage that reveals the untold story of the iconic tour that helped launch WHAM!

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three 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.

'SPIDER-MAN : BRAND NEW DAY' (Rated M) - this American Superhero film is based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man and is the 38th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and the fourth instalment in the MCU 'Spider-Man' series following 'Spider-Man : Homecoming' in 2017, 'Spider-Man : Far From Home' in 2019 and 'Spider-Man : No Way Home' in 2021. These first three films, all starring Tom Holland as the web-slinging hero, grossed a total US$3.94B at the global Box Office off the back of combined production budgets of US$535M. This film is Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton who made his feature film debut with 'I Am Not a Hipster' in 2012, and which he would follow up with the likes of 'Short Term 12' in 2013, 'The Glass Castle' in 2017, 'Just Mercy' in 2019, and 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' in 2021 - also an MCU offering. This film is part of the MCU's 'Phase Six' which began with 'The Fantastic Four : First Steps' released in mid-2025. 

Following Dr. Stephen Strange's spell at the end of the last instalment - 'Spider-Man : No Way Home', the world has forgotten that Peter Parker (Tom Holland) exists. Four years later, Parker anonymously protects New York City as the hero Spider-Man and investigates a powerful new threat while his superpowers undergo a surprising and potentially dangerous evolution. Also starring Zendaya as MJ, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds, Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle aka Punisher, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner aka Hulk, Michael Mando as Mac Gargan aka Scorpion, Tramell Tillman and Sadie Sink. The film is released this week too in the US.

'THE BLUE TRAIL' (Rated M) - is a Brazilian, Mexican, Chilean and Dutch Co-Produced dystopian drama film, and is Co-Written and Directed by Gabriel Mascaro, who made his narrative feature film debut with 'August Winds' in 2014, and would follow this up with 'Neon Bull' in 2015 and 'Divine Love' in 2019. In an effort to boost the economy, the government creates distant colonies for the elderly, ensuring them a comfortable end to their lives. Teresa (Denise Weinberg), a 77-year-old, finds herself unexpectedly included in the programme due to a lowered age threshold. With only days left before her relocation, she decides to defy her fate and embarks on a journey through the Amazon to fulfill one last wish - to take her first aeroplane ride. Because permission is refused, she secretly embarks on a boat trip as an illicit passenger and has numerous encounters along the way. The film saw its World Premiere at the main competition of the Berlin International Film Festival in mid-February 2025, where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. It has garnered generally positive critical reviews and has so far grossed US$345K at the Box Office, having done the rounds at many worldwide film festivals throughout last year. 

'WHAM! 10 DAYS IN CHINA' (Rated M) - this UK documentary film is is Directed by Mike Christie who has over forty Directing credits specialising in films, TV series and documentaries about action sports, music and arts. In 1985, Wham! performed in China as part of their 1984/85 tour, the Big Tour. The duo, which consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, became the first Western pop group to visit the country. During their ten-day visit, the duo performed concerts in Beijing and Guangzhou on 7th and 10th April respectively. The 90-minute film consists of 'newly restored footage' and personal interviews with Andrew Ridgeley, 'members of the touring party', and fans. The film is released worldwide this week before being broadcast in the UK on BBC Two and BBC Music. 

With three 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-