Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell
Director: Kane Parsons
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: May 29, 2026 (Theaters)
I’d be happy to live in the Backrooms, if you’re asking me. Honestly! Maybe I’m being a little foolhardy, but I’m pretty confident I generally do a better job of keeping my anger in check than Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character, and that seems like an important quality for survival. Although, hang on, wait a minute.
I just remembered something crucial.
I didn’t see a single goshdarn window anywhere in the Backrooms! That’s a huge no-no. I can’t settle in a permanent residence without any windows. But I still believe that it would be nice enough for regular check-ins. After all, when I saw Mark Duplass staring intently at a monitor, I was like, “I could do that!”
Oh by the way, which one’s Pat? (CREDIT: Tribeca/Giant Pictures/Screenshot)
Starring: Various Trans/Nonbinary/Queer Comedians, Julia Sweeney
Director: Rowan Haber
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Rating: Unrated
Is it still time for androgyny? Was it ever? That’s an especially tricky matter when considering Pat O’Neal Riley, Julia Sweeney’s signature SNL character of indeterminate gender. Pat has left quite the (mostly positive) impression on filmmaker Rowan Haber, but they’ve recognized that the character’s legacy is at best complicated for people who are nonbinary and/or trans or otherwise not fitting easily within a gender binary.
So now Haber’s documentary We Are Pat assembles a group of queer comedians (along with Sweeney herself) to try to figure out if Pat can have a worthwhile place in the comedy world in the 2020s. Is that question satisfactorily answered in the doc? Not exactly, but that ambiguity is probably the best we could have hoped for. If Pat means anything to you in any sort of way, then We Are Pat almost certainly has a message you’ll appreciate hearing.
Scooping up that Bread (CREDIT: Jennifer Clasen/Sony Pictures)
Starring: Nate Bargatze, Mandy Moore, Stella Grace Fitzgerald, Birdie Borria, Charlotte Ann Tucker, Will Forte, Colin Jost, Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Cherry, Kate Berlant, Martin Herlihy, Maddox Batson, Brett Cullen
Director: Eric Appel
Running Time: 99 Minutes
Rating: PG
Release Date: May 29, 2026 (Theaters)
There’s a scene in The Breadwinner (featured prominently in the trailer) in which Nate Bargatze (playing the similarly named Nate Wilcox) is caught in the middle of eating a donut while his wife makes her pitch to the sharks on Shark Tank. And then the sharks just roast him mercilessly. (Mr. Wonderful is arguably even more villainous here than he was in Marty Supreme.) To which I say: let the man eat his donut in peace! There was a time when I could down eight donuts in one sitting and still have plenty of energy for the rest of the day. Nowadays, though, just one is plenty filling. So any time that those rings of dough can be fully enjoyed should be treated like a blessing.
Grade: Will Forte and Martin Herlihy Were the Best Parts (Colin Jost Was Pretty Good Too)
TFW you hear about all the great movies coming out in June 2026 (CREDIT: Paramount Pictures)
They keep making new movies, and some of them are even worth watching. Here’s what’s at the top of the slate for June 2026:
Scary Movie (aka Scary Movie 6): My viewership of the previous entries in this lowest-common-denominator horror parody series is spotty at best. But the trailers this time are genuinely making me laugh. Plus, Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back!
Scary Movie (6) will waltz right into movie theaters on June 5.
TV
–Rafa Limited Series (May 29 on Netflix) – One of the greats, with the cameras following him.
-AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy (May 31 on Netflix) – Laughter and such.
–Password Season Premiere (June 2 on NBC) – I appreciate Keke Palmer’s colorful glasses.
Music
-Violet Grohl, Be Sweet to Me
-Guided by Voices, Crawlspace of the Pantheon
-Paul McCartney, The Boys of Dungeon Lane
-Kurt Vile, philadelphia’s been good to me
Sports
-NBA Finals (Begins June 3 on ABC) – I’m rooting for the Knickerbockers.
-U.S. Women’s Open (June 4-7 on USA, Peacock, and NBC)
M & G & Friends (CREDIT: Lucasfilm/Disney/Screenshot)
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Lateef Crowder, Jeremy Allen White, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Blum, Jonny Coyne, Dave Filoni, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Martin Scorsese, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Matthew Willig
Director: Jon Favreau
Running Time: 132 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: May 22, 2026 (Theaters)
I had been hearing that The Mandalorian and Grogu felt like a few different episodes of the TV show strung together to make something feature-length. Then when I went ahead and saw this feature film, I found myself agreeing with that assessment! But I was nevertheless perfectly pleased with my decision to see this adventure on the big screen. For one thing, it was such a delight to hear Ludwig Göransson’s theme in surround sound. And the other music he composed was also banging! Plus, I could watch Grogu scamper and float about all day, particularly when he’s accompanied by those Babu Frik-species critters. All of those elements were in plentiful supply, and they all felt like home. And y’all know I love feeling like home when I’m at the multiplex.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to remember the very best that Saturday Night Live Season 51 had to offer. Here’s how I’m making it happen: I’m reminding myself of every new episode that aired between October 4, 2025 and May 16, 2026, and then I will enthusiastically detail the sketches, monologues, Weekend Update bits, and musical performances that I believe ought to be remembered among the most wonderful things about life in the 21st century.
Does Spider-Noir fight any bees? (CREDIT: Prime Video/Screenshot)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–I Love Boosters (Theaters)
–Ladies First (May 22 on Netflix) – Starring Sacha Baron Cohen in something silly.
–The Mandalorian & Grogu (Theaters)
–Passenger (Theaters)
–Tuner (Theaters)
TV
–Mating Season Season 1 (May 22 on Netflix) – Like Big Mouth, but animals?
–Rick and Morty Season 9 Premiere (May 24 on Adult Swim)
–Spider-Noir Season 1 (May 25 on MGM+, May 27 on Amazon Prime) – Get in the cage!
–Um, Actually Tournament of Champions (May 26 on Dropout)
Music
-Bleachers, everyone for ten minutes
-Future Islands, From A Hole In The Floor To A Fountain Of Youth
Sports
-French Open (May 24-June 7 on TNT, TruTV, and HBO Max) – Oh’clay!
La la la la la la la la (CREDIT: Paramount Pictures)
Starring: Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell, Melissa Leo, Joseph Lopez
Director: André Øvredal
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Rating: R for Some Fascinatingly Hardcore Gore
Release Date: May 22, 2026 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Tyler (Jacob Scipio) and his girlfriend Maddie (Lou Llobell) are living that van life, baby! But evil forces are lurking along the darkest roads. That’s a huge bummer, especially because their road tripping starts off really promising with Tyler asking Maddie to marry him. But after they pull over to help another driver in a bizarre accident, they start to become haunted by a spectral figure (Joseph Lopez) who looks like a greasy-haired preacher. His modus operandi involves hitching a ride onto their journey and then torturing them until he finally feels like gruesomely killing them. If they have any chance of surviving, they must turn to the ancient wisdom from the early days of the American roadways.
What Made an Impression?: Love/Hate Relationship: If there’s anything that Passenger gets unequivocally right, it’s the stark difference between driving at day and driving at night. The latter features wonderful vistas captured by cinematographer Federico Verardi that had me going, “I can’t wait to get back out on the open road.” Whereas the latter had me bemoaning, “I never went to get behind the wheel of an automobile ever again.” He Is the Passenger: What’s the deal with the villain at the center of this movie, anyway? It seems like he can kill as soon as he becomes attached himself to his victims, but he really draws things out with Tyler and Maddie. Maybe he’s like a cat toying with a mouse? There are some strong indicators that arming oneself with the iconography of St. Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) can offer protection from him. But that’s sporadic at best in practice. Regardless of all the questions the The Passenger raises, it’s no question that Lopez pulls off the quiet menace with aplomb. They Don’t Deserve to Die: Tyler and Maddie aren’t the most unforgettable horror protagonists ever, but they’re also far from the stupidest. They make reasonable enough decisions given the information that they have, and they’re generally supportive of each other despite a few conflicts along the way. Accordingly, Scipio and Llobell’s performances are sufficient for making us hope that they don’t die. And sometimes, that is adequate for delivering a satisfying tale of terror.
Passenger is Recommended If You: Believe hitchhikers are evil
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