My Favorite First Watches of 2026.

My favorite first watch of 2026 was Columbus by Koganda i had really not seen anything about this film before watching it. I was not familiar with Koganda's work at all had not watched any of his previous work and went into this movie blind and i left completely floored. This movie was one of the most beautifully shot films i have ever seen every frame of this movie could be a wallpaper the Cinematographer Elisha Masters is a magician with the camera. The main reason this movie looks so good is the perfect use of architecture to set up these long wide shots with amazing backgrounds. It also layers into the story of the movie because Casey Played by Haley Lu Richardson is obsessed with the architecture of her hometown Columbus Ohio she feels like the town still has a town still has more to offer than what the other main character Jin played by John Cho thinks. I find this movie to be an amazing showing of grief loss and also taking the leap of faith in life.

CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH

Cha Cha Real Smooth was my biggest surprise of this year i did not know much of anything about the movie before watching it. I was not familiar with Cooper Raiff at all i was simply just browsing apple Tv because i got a free trial and decided to watch it and it really blew me away. When i first watched it i remember thinking that it was good i was not as high on the movie as i am now but i thought it was Dakota Johnson second best role to Materialists. It really has been as i have been sitting with the film for months( i watched it in January) that i have loved it more and more. This film has so much heart in the story i was really impressed with Cooper Raiff given he wrote directed and produced this film although i do not think the script isn't anything out of the ordinary here it is a pretty much cookie cutter romance his performance elevates this film. He portrays a fresh out of college graduate who does not really know what to do until he gets the idea from his family to be a party organizer for bar mitzvahs here he discovers a unique love and friendship with a young mother and her autistic daughter. The way cooper portrays an outgoing but also awkward young person who seems to use the masking of being outgoing to hide his inner problems and issues is a performance that i think will resonate with a lot of people. I personally found it moving and the arc he goes on throughout the movie especially towards the end when accepts his relationship with the mother and continues on. The Last thing i have to touch on is Dakota Johnson performance i said it earlier but this truly one of her master classes what she brings to this movie the emotion she brings particularly in a bathroom scene i feel like is some of her best work. She does an outstanding job at playing a mother who is constantly being judged by the others in this Jewish mom circle and in a relationship she wants but still entertains someone else i think because he reminds her of a time that she used to have. I do not want to spoil most of it but go watch cha cha real smooth it is an amazing film.

PERSONA

Persona was a very much a film that i could not take my eyes off the screen on first watch, i was not really familiar with Ingmar Bergman's work at all before this. I had went in fairly blind only looking at the letterboxd score of 4.0 i did not even read the description for this film. I had never went into a movie this blind before and honestly after this experience i realize i need to do this more. Persona was a wild ride of a film for some backstory this film takes starts in a mental asylum with a patient who was very famous actress Elisabet played Bibi Andersson who suddenly decides to stop talking. Alma played by Liv Ullmann is the caretaker of Elisabet we follow these two on basically a remote get away. I have to say i think these two performances are my favorite ever in film i know that is a big statement but i was simply floored by them. The emotion that Liv Ullmann brings playing this nurse who wants to understand this women who will not talk but also she confides in Elisabet she tells her things she hasn't told anyone. The vulnerability quickly turns into a knife as Elisabet tells the head nurse that Alma some bad things that leads alma to resent her. If there is one thing that everyone reading this should know about me is that i am a huge fan of mute performances or masked performances. I find it surreal that an actor can portray such emotion without talking and just through facial elements. What Bibi Andersson does as Elisabet showing so much emotion and raw tension without saying a word for majority of the movie. This film has really made want to take a deep dive into Ingmar Berman catalog and i cannot wait to find even more gems.