Tribeca Film Festival 2026 was a completely different experience than any festival I have attended before and represented a major step forward for TwilightRoom as both a publication and growing media brand. While the festival certainly showcased a wide range of independent films and documentaries, what stood out most was how deeply it embraced every corner of entertainment. From world premieres of major television projects and intimate independent features to anniversary screenings, cast panels, Q&As, and red carpet opportunities, Tribeca felt less like a traditional film festival and more like a full celebration of storytelling across every medium.
This year especially highlighted the strength of television and audience interaction. Seeing projects like X-Men ’97 Season 2 and Every Year After premiere to packed crowds, receiving early access to series like Alice and Steve, and attending the Survivor 50 panel and red carpet all showcased just how broad and exciting modern entertainment coverage has become. At the same time, the festival’s independent lineup provided the discoveries that make festivals so special, introducing us to documentaries, dramas, and smaller features that likely would have never landed on our radar otherwise. Tribeca thrives because it allows major studio releases and tiny independent productions to coexist in the same space, creating an environment where every screening feels like an opportunity to discover something unexpected.
TwilightRoom's Tribeca TV Ranking
1. X-Men '97 Season 2
88.0/100 –Jake Castorena – Wide Release: July 1
X-Men ’97 Season 1 is one of the best revivals of an old show ever done, and for Marvel it has been a shining beam of light through some tougher projects over the last few years. Since Tribeca Film Festival has had a great relationship with Marvel, having premiered the original Avengers movie over a decade ago, it felt like the perfect choice for the biggest world premiere of the entire fest. We are happy to report that after a time-jumping cliffhanger in Season 1 that ended a perfect season of television, the first two episodes return with the high-octane, beautifully grainy ’90s animation and emotional action sequences that won audiences over. With the X-Men split between the past, present, and future, we are able to focus more deeply on the original members in isolation while getting introduced to some of the fan-favorite mutants that haven’t appeared as much in the show thus far. Jubilee finally gets her moment to shine, Cyclops and Jean Grey get to be parents, and we get the first change in title card in the show’s history — all in what is one of the best opening two episodes in Marvel history, earning the two-episode premiere a combined 88/100 from TwilightRoom.
2. Every Year After
79.9/100 - Amy B. Harris - Wide Release: June 10
It is safe to say that television dominated the mainstream appeal at Tribeca this year, as the second biggest release behind X-Men ’97 was the new Prime Video romantic drama novel adaptation, Every Year After. As the show has released its full first season this week after its world premiere at the fest, it is clear that it is the next big thing for a genre that has captivated audiences through previous titles like The Summer I Turned Pretty and We Were Liars. Every Year After, however, feels like a refined version that is equally enticing but brings an emotion, real feeling, and maturity that makes the show truly shine. Now, this type of show — Every Year After included — will never be a revolutionary clinic in writing or perfect acting, but it certainly will be a major hit and is undeniably one of the most can’t-look-away pieces of media released this year. The Prime Video show’s world premiere was one of the most packed of the fest, and rightfully so, as it won over fans of the TikTok-famous book and blind audiences alike through its time-jumping romantic drama storyline, earning its debut season a 79/100 from TwilightRoom.
3. Alice and Steve
78.0/100 - Tom Kingsley - Wide Release: June 8
We are happy to have received an early screener and worked with Disney to watch the last TV release we checked out at the festival, Alice and Steve, ahead of its world premiere and wide-scale release. While the show absolutely will not work for every audience, it quickly establishes itself as one of the strangest and messiest romantic comedy series released this year. Built around the chaotic premise of older former lovers turned platonic best friends, only for Steve to unexpectedly become romantically involved with Alice’s daughter Izzy, the series leans heavily into awkward humor, emotional instability, cheating, collapsing marriages, and increasingly brutal relationship drama that becomes surprisingly difficult to look away from. The chemistry between the lead cast carries much of the emotional weight of the series, especially once the middle episodes begin focusing more heavily on emotional fallout rather than pure shock humor. While the writing occasionally becomes repetitive and the finale struggles to land several major storylines satisfyingly, Alice and Steve remains consistently entertaining because of its bizarre premise, uncomfortable emotional energy, and willingness to fully embrace anti-romantic-comedy chaos, earning it a solid 78/100 from TwilightRoom.
EXTRA MENTION: Survivor 50 Panel
TwilightRoom had the amazing opportunity of participating in the red carpet for the Survivor Season 50 panel, with interviews and up-close coverage alongside six of Survivor’s greatest names in history, including former winner Kyle Fraser and legend Cirie Fields. After covering the season over the last 13 weeks and being huge fans of the show since its inception, it was an absolute dream come true and a great first red carpet experience for the company. While the season itself was not screened at the festival, this experience was pivotal to our enjoyment of the fest and a big step toward working on a different side of film and TV coverage that the website and brand had yet to tap into. We have a full review of Survivor’s fiftieth season and an Instagram post with video highlights linked below.
TwilightRoom's Film Ranking
SPECIAL MENTION: Taxi Driver 50th Anniversary
95.8/100 –Martin Scorsese – Anniversary Screening + Q&A
1. Bob and David Climb Machu Picchu
82.0/100 - Michael LaHaie - Wide Release: N/A
Coming in at number one on our ranking of the films we got to check out at Tribeca Film Festival is the comedic, simple, and thoroughly entertaining Bob and David Climb Machu Picchu, a documentary outlining the four-day hike of two of the funniest actors from ’90s television, as they reflect on their lives since and what the hike means to them. The film immediately separates itself from the travel television reality shows that have been releasing almost every month, as it never takes itself too seriously, instead relying on what the two do best, funny bits, comic banter, and occasional education about the hike, all against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful places in the world. Getting to sit down and watch this film with David Cross and Bob Odenkirk in attendance, followed by a Q&A after the screening, it is clear the film is a passion project made with a whole lot of heart, and the comedy and wholesome nuance of the doc reflects this tenfold. Among a group of releases flooded with independent ideas and unique premises that really make you think, a nice simple 80-minute laugh that is undeniably a breath of fresh air, we hope the film gets the distribution it deserves, as it was one of the clear creative standouts of the festival, earning an 82/100 from TwilightRoom.
2. The Accompanist
79.8/100 - Zach Woods - Wide Release: N/A
At number two on our list is the simple, emotional, and beautiful story of a found family full of grief, loss, and love that pulls at the heartstrings in the best way, featuring the best performances of the festival in Zach Wood’s The Accompanist. After a little girl, Emily, accidentally reveals her grandfather has dementia, she is sent to live with Sylvia (played by Susan Sarandon), where the two find love in each other as they realize they each fill a vital role in the emotional void left in one another’s lives. Sarandon is absolutely outstanding here, a performance that needs to be seen by a wider audience, followed closely by a great child performance from Everly Carganilla as Emily. Even with a strong smaller role from Aubrey Plaza, this is a film that thrives on its thoughtful performances, and it certainly deserves the distribution to win a larger audience over as well. There are clear slow spots that make the pacing slightly inconsistent at times, as the narrative walks the line between overly emotional, complex, and simple quite a lot. However, this is not nearly enough to deter us from having The Accompanist as our favorite narrative feature of the festival, earning an 79/100 from TwilightRoom.
3. Odyssey
74.1/100 - Avi Belkin - Wide Release: N/A
One of the more quietly attended documentaries of the festival, Odyssey takes exclusive footage from the Apollo missions, particularly Apollo 13, and frames a story of America’s perspective on the space race, not through Neil Armstrong’s eyes, but through those of the man who had traveled to space more than any other: Jim Lovell. Odyssey is simple in design, favoring news reports and archival clips to tell its story rather than full interviews, but it does a great job blending never-before-seen imagery with a storyline that is easy to follow and effortlessly tantalizing. There are certainly some faults here, for me, the fabricated animated space imagery felt unnecessary, and a more streamlined approach to telling the story would have been more impactful overall. This held the doc back from being the best of the fest, but nonetheless the intrigue, quality, and unique angle taken shoot it near the top of this list as our second favorite documentary of the festival. Odyssey certainly deserves distribution to a wider audience, as it does a great job of educating and building stakes around the Apollo 13 mission, earning it a 78/100 from TwilightRoom.
4. Iconoclast
70.1/100 - Gabriel Basso - Wide Release: N/A
Iconoclast was one of the quieter discoveries of the Tribeca Film Festival, but also one of the most psychologically unsettling, with Gabriel Basso delivering an impressive directorial debut that uses modern internet culture, loneliness, and parasocial obsession to create a haunting slow-burn character study. The film follows Connor, an isolated young man whose unhealthy fixation on streamer Nika slowly pushes him further from reality, creating an atmosphere filled with paranoia, silence, and emotional suffocation rather than traditional horror. Basso smartly frames the story less as a romance and more as a terrifying look at emotional dependency in the digital age, with hallucinations and imagined conversations becoming increasingly manipulative and destructive as Connor spirals further into instability — a modern Taxi Driver, if you will. Courtney Eaton and Rain Spencer both provide strong supporting performances, particularly Spencer as Morgan, whose grounded humanity contrasts Connor’s obsession with fantasy intimacy and online validation. The film’s quiet filmmaking style, minimal score usage, and uncomfortable pacing create several genuinely haunting sequences, even if certain visual and narrative elements never fully elevate the material into something truly great. Still, as a modern psychological commentary on loneliness, masculinity, and internet obsession, Iconoclast remains one of the more memorable indie discoveries of the festival, earning a strong 70/100 from TwilightRoom.
5. Next Life
69.8/100 - Drake Doremus - Wide Release: N/A
Next Life is an Emilia Clarke-starring semi-sci-fi story of separate paths, two different men, two different careers, that does a great job commenting on the choices we make in life, not just for ourselves, but for who we love, when we love them, and whether we allow ourselves to truly live in the process. It is quite a daunting concept, but it is acted quite well here, which is why it sits higher on this list as one of the more under-the-radar releases from Tribeca. Much of the film’s effective beats come from the quiet reflection and perspective the parallel storylines provide, as the two begin to blend together in a surprising yet simple and clear way, using Emilia Clarke’s character’s passion for music to drive the tone and mood of this jazzy romance. The flaws lie in the script’s intrigue, as the concept and its commentary work very well, but the screenplay and dialogue don’t deliver the level of engagement that pulls the audience into the full potential of a film like this. It is simple, sad at times, always peaceful, and does a great job discussing what life choices truly mean when surrounded by romance — but it lingers in simple terms and dialogue instead of diving in headfirst, earning it a 69/100 from TwilightRoom.
6. In the Hand of Dante
66.5/100 - Julian Schnabel - Wide Release: June 12
Very mixed and low reviews have greeted our most anticipated film of the Tribeca Festival, the Oscar Isaac-starring, Divine Comedy-inspired crime story set to release on Netflix at the end of June, and TwilightRoom cannot wholeheartedly say it was great, but the film is far from deserving the more critical press it has been receiving. The film is a longer, two-and-a-half-hour slow-moving crime story that plays with time in a backwards black-and-white-to-color progression rather than the usual approach, and is clearly inspired by noir as well as the classic works of Dante’s Inferno and The Divine Comedy. We see Oscar Isaac’s character Nick attempting to validate that he and a group of dangerous men have found the original copy of The Divine Comedy, while learning to question the morality of those around him, and himself, as greed seeps into every crack of the film. It is a crime plot that bounces back to Dante’s process of writing the piece thousands of years earlier, also played by Isaac, bringing a star-studded cast to a film that genuinely struggles to hold your attention. The film is overly philosophical and perhaps a bit too pretentious, but far from bad, providing some gorgeous cinematography and occasionally sharp dialogue that pulls you back in after stretches of nap-inducing writing. It is a mixed bag, to say the least, and one that will certainly not land for a wide audience, which is why it sits lower on this list than anticipated, but it is far from a disaster and delivers a couple of strong performances, led by Isaac himself, earning it a 66.5/100 from TwilightRoom.
7. Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
64.9/100 - David Wain - Wide Release: July 10
Gail Daughtry & The Celebrity Sex Pass was easily one of the funniest and most chaotic films we saw at the Tribeca Film Festival this year, delivering an intentionally ridiculous celebrity satire that fully commits to awkward humor, absurd Hollywood parody, and complete comedic insanity from start to finish. Starring Zoey Deutch in one of the most committed comedic performances of the year, the film follows Gail after a bizarre celebrity “sex pass” conversation involving Jennifer Aniston completely derails her relationship and sends her on a revenge-fueled trip to Los Angeles in pursuit of fantasy celebrity romance and self-discovery. Structured almost like a satirical Wizard of Oz parody, the film transforms LA into a surreal dreamscape filled with random celebrity cameos, exaggerated Hollywood stereotypes, bizarre misunderstandings, and intentionally dumb comedy that somehow becomes increasingly funnier the more committed it gets to its own absurdity. While the filmmaking and pacing can occasionally feel messy and uneven, the film succeeds because it never pretends to be anything other than a chaotic independent comedy built around celebrity obsession, fantasy escapism, and ridiculous satire. The final act especially becomes laugh-out-loud funny once the parody elements fully click together and the nonstop celebrity chaos abandons realism altogether. It may not be the most polished comedy of the year, but few films at the festival were more consistently entertaining or genuinely fun whenever the jokes landed, earning Gail Daughtry & The Celebrity Sex Pass a solid 64/100 from TwilightRoom.
8. Mother Future Self
64.8/100 - Tori Lancaster - Wide Release: N/A
Mother Future Self was one of the quieter releases in the U.S. narrative competition, but provided an intimate, up-close film that relied on its dialogue and central relationship to thrive, showing real promise in storytelling from director Tori Lancaster. Sofi and Jordan, after years apart following a falling out, find each other again at a dance camp in Maine, where the tree-lined setting provides the space to dive into their old relationship and how they have each arrived at this point in their lives. The film is simple for much of its runtime and heavily focused on conversation, but uses the experimental dance camp setting to create an almost eerie tone that navigates the gray area of relationships remarkably well. There is certainly more to tackle here, both around the central friendship and the camp community as a whole, particularly through Sofi’s character, who is fascinating and well acted, but the film is missing the final act depth needed to make this feel like a fully cohesive project. Mother Future Self is a promising directorial debut that shows clear vision and understanding of its subject, a film that delivers on its friendship commentary but needs a little more to truly be a great product, earning it a 64/100 from TwilightRoom.
9. Act One
64.0/100 - Sophia Takal - Wide Release: N/A
Act One is perhaps the most harrowing and difficult film of the fest — one that is genuinely hard to watch, presenting the story of a girl who finds solace in an adult acting class while navigating high school, only to be taken advantage of, manipulated, and brainwashed by her unhinged teacher and a predatory male student. The film uses red tones and fades to highlight the severity of its intense plot, and at times is extremely effective in its can’t-look-away-but-don’t-want-to-watch depiction of verbal and physical abuse. It is perhaps too severe at times, leaning heavily on its darker elements to drive the plot forward around this desire for acting success, pulling the film away from a Whiplash or Black Swan comparison and into far more serious subject matter territory. There is a lot to admire here, but it becomes too much by the end, exhausting the audience with its dark subject matter a bit too frequently. The use of red is brilliant at first but tends to drift toward the surface level and overdramatic, pulling the film down a few spots on our list. What the film does well is deliver a well-thought-out, well-acted, and well-edited final product that keeps eyes locked the entire time, making Act One likely to work for audiences drawn to darker, drama-driven independent horror. It is not the cleanest work of the festival, but certainly one of the most unique and memorable, earning it a 64/100 from TwilightRoom.
10. Turn It Up!
63.4/100 - Sam Scott - Wide Release: N/A
Turn It Up! presents as an experimental independent entry at the Tribeca Film Festival, depicting a low-budget creative story following a band that discovers a mysterious form of matter activated by their music. It delivers on a couple of creative fronts but feels like a skeleton of the film it could be. The film’s creativity in building its psychedelic atmosphere is the clear standout, making smart use of color and camera work rather than visual effects or fabrication, a strong foundation that, paired with its premise, establishes a genuine baseline interest. Where the film stumbles is in the writing and dialogue, as it attempts to incorporate comedy, horror, and drama into the same plot in a way that feels jumbled and makes it difficult to pin down the film’s tone — which is likely where the disconnect with audiences lies. It is a film with a clear foundation of intrigue and a level of talent that turned heads, and it provides exactly the type of experimental independent filmmaking that Tribeca platforms well. TwilightRoom is higher on it than most, but it certainly needs work in production value and writing to become the cohesive genre-bending product it has the potential to be, earning it a 63.4/100 from TwilightRoom.
11. The Keeper of the Camphor Tree
63.0/100 - Tomohiko Ito - Wide Release: January 30 (Japan)
Keeper of the Camphor Tree is the only full-length anime of the fest and delivers a welcome change of pace in style, but one that feels very traditional within the drama anime space — coherent and well made, yet struggling to capture the emotional intention needed to rank higher on this list. Reito, after getting fired, takes a new job and finds his fate leading him to watch over a sacred tree. The film really finds its stride in the final 20 minutes, when the perspective of his journey takes the foreground and its key concepts shine through, but struggles to get there — hampered by stiff dialogue, slow setup, and animation that lacks the fluidity to match its ambitions. Reito as a character is well crafted but feels one-dimensional at times, and the story doesn’t spend enough time with its side characters to produce a well-orchestrated philosophical anime drama, a genre in which world-building and thematic depth are as important as the protagonist himself. Nevertheless, the film engages with compelling ideas surrounding fate and delivers a thoughtful, peaceful final act that rounds out the film well, earning it a 63/100 from TwilightRoom.
12. IX XI
62.9/100 - Sean Wilsey - Wide Release: N/A
IX XI takes a fairly traditional documentary approach to telling the story of both the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the September 11th attacks through family interviews, archival footage, and original news clips from the era. The gritty early-2000s camerawork and interviews conducted in front of the memorial’s reverberating water features give the film an authentic and emotional atmosphere, while the historical footage remains by far its greatest strength. Unfortunately, the documentary’s structure and presentation never feel particularly inventive or compelling, often relying on standard talking-head techniques and familiar storytelling methods. While the subject matter itself remains incredibly powerful and the original footage is often fascinating, IX XI struggles to elevate itself beyond a fairly conventional documentary experience, earning a 62/100 from TwilightRoom.
13. Finnegan's Foursome
60.1/100 - Edward Burns - Wide Release: June 19
Finnegan’s Foursome was another project TwilightRoom was fortunate enough to receive an early screener ahead of its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, presenting itself as a laid-back golf-centered family dramedy built around grief, rivalry, and generational bonding. Following four members of the Finnegan family as they travel across multiple golf courses to spread their late father and grandfather’s ashes, the film leans heavily into easygoing sports competition, family conversations, and emotional reflection rather than larger dramatic swings. While the comedy and dialogue can occasionally feel overly safe or unnatural, the film slowly finds charm through the evolving family dynamic and the increasingly emotional rivalry between the two fathers as the trip continues. The golf structure itself remains simple throughout, but the relaxed atmosphere and softer emotional themes give the film a comforting and watchable quality that works best whenever it focuses less on forced comedy and more on grief, fatherhood, and connection. The final stretch especially becomes its strongest section once the family dynamic begins feeling more emotionally genuine and the competition tightens naturally. While Finnegan’s Foursome never fully elevates itself into a particularly memorable sports drama, it still succeeds as a light and heartfelt family watch that will likely resonate most with golf fans and audiences looking for a quieter emotional story, earning it a 60/100 from TwilightRoom.
14. That Friend
55.7/100 - Will Sterling & Alex Wall - Wide Release: N/A
That Friend is the one film at Tribeca that didn’t work for me overall, a comedy centered around a batch of laced cigarettes that unravels one relationship and pulls a revolving door of random people into a chaotic young-30s adventure. There are certainly things to love about the film, and there are moments where it is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny, but many others where the jokes were clearly intended to land and simply didn’t, coming across as more awkward than amusing. Additionally, the central relationship never quite works, there is no resolution, just toxic communication and an ending that is not only unsatisfying but offers no emotional closure either. It is simply a new independent comedy with familiar faces and fresh voices that takes a big swing and, for me, just doesn’t connect. That said, the best part about this type of film is that it will certainly land with the right audience, and the cast and director clearly poured a great deal of love into the promotion and delivery of the film at the festival, a promising sign for its future distribution, earning it a 55/100 from TwilightRoom.
My Tribeca 2026 Experience
In Conclusion
Tribeca 2026 was ultimately defined by variety. This was a festival that celebrated blockbuster television premieres, emotional independent dramas, experimental filmmaking, documentaries, anniversary screenings, and live events all under one banner. Not every film worked and not every creative swing landed, but almost every screening provided something memorable, whether it was an incredible crowd reaction, a fascinating conversation afterward, or simply discovering a project that otherwise may have gone unnoticed.
More than anything, this festival represented an important milestone for TwilightRoom. From early screeners and world premieres to Q&As and our first major red carpet opportunities, Tribeca expanded not only our appreciation for film and television but also our understanding of what entertainment journalism can become. At its best, Tribeca reminded us that festivals are not simply about finding the perfect film. They are about discovery, community, and experiencing stories collectively with audiences and creators who are equally passionate about the medium. It was an unforgettable week of cinema, television, and storytelling, and one that further reinforced why covering festivals remains one of the most rewarding experiences in this industry.
Thank you, Tribeca Festival 2026 team, and all the new friendships and partnerships made.
We are looking forward to next time.
