Introduction
August delivered a slower theatrical stretch after one of the busiest movie months in recent memory, but what it lacked in scale it made up for with real quality at the top and a genuinely wide range across the rest of the slate. Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma took our top spot as one of the best films of the year, treating the slasher genre with more intelligence than it usually receives, while Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars arrived with almost no promotion and quietly turned out to be one of his more solid entries in years. Elsewhere, Matt Johnson’s Tony proved a non-generic biopic can still work once it finds its footing, Batman: Knightfall Part 1 adapted one of the greatest comic stories ever written into something faithful if uneven, and Don’t Say Good Luck emerged as a genuine surprise from Netflix’s straight-to-streaming pipeline.
The back half of the month is where things got rough, with Jason Statham’s Mutiny running through the same motions for the hundredth time, Insidious: Out of the Further collapsing under too many competing ideas, and Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man landing as quite possibly the worst film we’ve ever covered. Between the genuine standouts, the misfires, and everything in between, August gave us plenty to talk about heading into fall. Here is TwilightRoom’s full ranking of every film we checked out and reviewed this month.
17. Ice Cream Man
28.9/100 - Eli Roth - Theaters
Our last place film of the week comes from a director that feels tough to even talk about after the controversy surrounding this film, as Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man does not just come merely as another poor entry into modern filmmaking, but it comes as quite possibly the worst film ever made. From its use of generative AI, distasteful writing for child actors, an extremely poor ending, all the way to Roth delivering a horrific performance, not in the good way, in his own film, the film delivers staggeringly bad aspects at every turn, so bad it is not even laughable. But, we at the TwilightRoom like to talk about bigger and better things so we will leave our review of Ice Cream Man at that, earning a 28/100.
16. Insidious: Out of the Further
46.4/100 - Jacob Chase - Theaters
Coming in at number sixteen is another horror swing and a miss from this month, and that is the newest entry in the Insidious franchise, Insidious: Out of the Further, a return to the universe but not the main characters, except for Elise of course, that feels more like fan service of the famous Further ghouls than it does a coherent horror plotline. Jump scares are a mile a minute here, coming at the audience as ferociously as the character designs, that are quite spooky, are hitting occasionally and achieving a very generic franchise horror scare that feels much less original and more forced than many of the other entries. Patrick Wilson directing the fifth installment was a jump scare in itself, so the franchise took a turn hoping for better with Jacob Chase now directing, clearly still forcing the old ghouls as the main storyline, but allowing a new cast of characters to enter the Further, creating a chaotic clash between needing to establish why we should care about these new characters, while also requiring us to remember all the old ghosts from the past, while again simultaneously introducing a new cult-like villain, which really is the film’s downfall as far too many conflicts here that distract from the true horror appeal, earning a 46/100 from TwilightRoom.
15. The Wrong Girls
54.0/100 - Dylan Meyer - Theaters
The directorial debut for Dylen Meyer, The Wrong Girls, comes in at number 15 this month, as the stoner thriller comedy starring Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat from Neon takes a big swing as a genre blender and for the most part doesn’t really work for us. With some interesting dialogue and visuals, plus some fun comedic moments, the premise here and first glances had us quite excited for this film especially after Neon’s recent track record, and the two leads do place a good amount of fun effort into the project, but overall the chaos and wacky energy just didn’t mesh well and deliver on the thrilling or comedic front, coming off more confused than it did nuanced or complex. In today’s climate with a resurgence of stoner comedies, either a joke a minute with a significant amount landing, or a concept that is going to make your film memorable is necessary and we really get neither here from The Wrong Girls, making Meyer’s debut interesting but certainly lacking, earning a rating of a 54/100 from TwilightRoom.
14. Buddy
56.2/100 - Casper Kelly - Theaters
Buddy has picked up significant traction since its SXSW premiere and has been drawing real praise since its recent theatrical release, which makes our comparatively cooler reception worth explaining as it sits at fourteenth on this list. The film enters the childhood-character horror trend that’s been flooding the lower end of the genre for years now, and while it lands as a genuine improvement on most of its peers, it still runs into familiar problems. Buddy himself is the clear highlight, with the gimmick of him holding power inside his own show and losing it in the real world producing the film’s most creative and genuinely funny material, and Cristin Milioti does solid work throughout. The issue is that the concept becomes stale and repetitive well before the runtime is up, and the film’s decision-making around who lives and who dies frequently feels driven by shock value rather than story logic, killing off characters with far more development than the ones it chooses to spare. There’s a real audience for this, and plenty of people are connecting with it, so we’d genuinely recommend checking it out for yourself. For us, though, Buddy was a fun watch that still needed a lot more story development to land the way it clearly has for others, earning a 56/100 from TwilightRoom.
13. Mutiny
58.0/100 - Jean Francois Richet - Theaters
At number 13 we have the return of the Jason Statham action multiverse in Mutiny, this time stuck on a ship with thirty foes running a child trafficking ring he must kill to get revenge, sound familiar? Well that’s because Statham has done so many of these at this point not only do the plots feel like clockwork, you can even guess what the next line is in the film before it comes if you have been keeping up. That is not to say these action flicks don’t come without any value as the action is always at least a bit entertaining and Mutiny delivers that at least at some points with a ridiculously fun final fight between the main antagonist and the man himself, however there really is not plot around it, not too many fun action sequences, and little to no character development to allow the medium warm action to vault this film any higher on this list, landing Mutiny on the back end of our rankings with a score of 58/100 from TwilightRoom.
12. The Last House
59.9/100 - Louis Leterrier - Netflix
The Last House was a a film met with mixed expectations from the start as a straight to streaming Netflix horror which has a mediocre representation at best over the past few years, but this one stars two of the greatest current working actors, Greta Lee and Wagner Moura, who still couldn’t save this film from being any higher than number 12. While the final monster design is cool and interesting and the film flows at points, its pacing really struggles at others, and the constant attitude switches of the characters as they are stuck in their home by a mysterious rain really just never fully feels like a cohesive story much at all. The Last House has some fun aspects and definitely had my eyes glued to the screen for most of the film which it is why it is above others on this list, but that final act and the issues already brought really dragged this one back from truly excelling higher in this month’s rankings earning a 59/100 from TwilightRoom.
11. One Night Only
62.8/100 - Will Gluck - Theaters
Landing at number eleven this month is One Night Only, the new big rom-com from a film that knows exactly what kind of movie it wants to be, leaning hard into its oddly thought-provoking sex purge premise and its comedic instincts even when the story around them can’t quite keep pace. The film’s humor is genuinely sharp in stretches and smart enough to elevate a structurally familiar New York rom-com setup, mostly thanks to Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro, whose chemistry as Ally and Owen carries the entire film almost single-handedly. The Glen Powell bit around Owen getting dumped stands as the film’s comedic high point, specific enough to feel genuinely fresh rather than generic filler, and the ridiculous mission to track down the last condom in New York works far better than it has any right to purely because of how well the two leads play off each other. The clearest weakness is structural, as the movie repeatedly splits Ally and Owen apart and reunites them rather than escalating in any new direction, a crutch that grows overused by the second or third repetition and exposes how little the screenplay trusts its own premise to sustain a throughline. The ending is the film’s best moment, not for any clever final-act swing but simply because the two finding each other feels heartwarming and right, landing as a sweet capper to a film that spent most of its runtime keeping them apart. One Night Only never fully escapes its rom-com trappings and never answers the questions its premise raises, but it’s a cheesy, fun watch that’s smartest in its two leads rather than its concept, earning a 62.8/100 from TwilightRoom.
10. The Whisper Man
68.1/100 - James Ashcroft - Netflix
The Whisper Man is yet another horror film sent straight to streaming on Netflix and oddly enough this one has a very similar sentiment to The Last House, a stacked cast with intrigue riddled throughout, that in the end is not fully able to save a plot that has some rough writing and a final act that does not feel like the satisfying pay off most audiences expected. That being said the vibe of this film from the start is eerie in the best ways and that is primarily due to the performances of Keaton, De Niro, and Scott, a feel like the film Prisoners before tapping into the paranormal a bit more than expected and likely was needed. Whisper Man is the perfect film to sit in the middle of our list of a very polarizing month, as it did not really succeed or fail with any audiences, simply just delivering a middle of the pack, horror thriller that will top the charts for a week before it fades into novel adaptation obscurity due to its lack of originality. A film solid enough to catch your attention for most of the film but not quite intriguing enough to feel like a fully successful release, earning a rating of 68/100 from TwilightRoom.
9. Colony
69.9/100 - Yeon Sang-Ho - Theaters
Landing at ninth this month is Colony, the latest from Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho, which we caught early at Fantasia Film Festival before its theatrical release. The film opens strong as a young professor unveils a new medical advancement at a biotech conference, only for a disgruntled scientist to appear demanding a “new humanity” and inject a colleague with a serum that turns him into a crazed zombie, kicking off an outbreak that spreads across the facility at terrifying speed. The best idea here is that the infected adopt a colony-type hive mind, gaining higher intelligence through each other in a way that pushes them well past standard genre convention, and Yeon’s gift for fast, adaptive, genuinely frightening infected remains fully intact. The problem is that the film moves into zombie action so quickly that it never lets the audience settle in with its characters, which costs it real emotional stakes across the entire runtime, and the escape plan that follows keeps complicating itself without ever making us care who survives. A late twist revealing the man responsible is actually the colony’s leader rather than the first infected injects some fun new ideas that help drive the action-horror toward its conclusion, but the finale of zombies pouring into the streets lacks the impact the setup had been building toward. Colony is a grotesque, thrilling concept that plays far better on a big screen than at home, and it’s probably the best zombie option available until October, earning a 69.9/100 from TwilightRoom.
8. The End of Oak Street
69.9/100 - David Robert Mitchell - Theaters
Sitting at number eight this month is The End of Oak Street, a film we were not nearly as high on as many others seem to be, and for a couple of specific reasons. Ewan McGregor is extremely lackluster here for us, the tint placed over the film feels more forced than genuinely cool, and the overall plot just lands dull aside from the occasional awesome action chase sequence. We were also going to ding the film for being unintentionally funny, but the more certain bits landed the more we realized how much of it was actually intentional and laugh-out-loud hilarious, which reframed a decent chunk of the experience. Negativity aside, this was extremely fun and fits the sentiment the world is giving it as the first good dinosaur movie in a long time, which counts for something in a genre that’s been struggling for years. The two main female roles carry the film, with Anne Hathaway being the absolute legend she is and delivering exactly what you’d expect, while Maisy Stella is a genuine highlight and, coming off this and My Old Ass, has us really intrigued to see where she goes next. The End of Oak Street doesn’t fully work for us, but it’s a fun watch with two strong performances at its center, earning a 69/100 from TwilightRoom.
7. Batman: Knightfall - Part 1
74.9/100 - Jeff Wamester - Digital
Coming in at seventh this month is Batman: Knightfall Part 1, Warner Bros. Animation’s R-rated adaptation of one of the greatest Batman stories ever written, a film whose source material is so strong that its shortcomings become that much more frustrating. The film opens with Batman fighting Azrael but failing to see the crime syndicate, Kobra Cult, he’s killing, a sequence that sets up the eventual Batman replacement without really serving much of a purpose beyond that, and the animation throughout is pretty middle-tier without ever being outright awful. We then get Bane’s backstory from his childhood, another very simply written sequence that doesn’t really add anything but at least establishes his aesthetic background before fast-forwarding to a grown and giant Bane escaping Arkham and breaking out every villain inside, forcing Batman to spend endless nights recapturing them one by one to the point of pure exhaustion and delusion. The Batman design and voice cast never fully won us over, though the villain designs are genuinely cool, and Bane lurking in the shadows terrorizing the five families while waiting to strike gives the film a real sense of menace building underneath. Capturing Robin to lure an exhausted Batman in, all driven by his vendetta with Bruce Wayne rather than the cape, sets up the confrontation between Bane and Bruce that stands as the obvious highlight of the entire film and gives us exactly what we came for. One of the best Batman stories ever told is adapted faithfully enough here that the legendary sequences land, but the writing and animation hold it back from ranking any higher than this, earning a 74.9/100 from TwilightRoom.
6. Don’t Say Good Luck
79.1/100 - Julia Hart - Netflix
Coming in at sixth this month is Don’t Say Good Luck, and we were genuinely not ready to cry this much when checking this one out, and it was for all the right reasons. Netflix’s straight-to-streaming pipeline finally did something right here after a slew of middling releases this month, and it comes at the hands of Julia Hart alongside a surprisingly good coming-of-age performance from Sunny Sandler, in a film that talks about pending loss and losing yourself in art far better than we ever could have expected going in. The film is overly emotional and there isn’t much here that’s especially unique in its structure or its beats, hitting a lot of the notes you’d anticipate from a teen musical drama built around a parent’s terminal illness. But when a film gets you this hard and reminds you to cherish everyone you love in your life, that’s a win and a success in our book regardless of how familiar the framework is. Melanie Lynskey and Steve Buscemi round out a stacked adult cast that gives the heavier material real weight, and Hart threads the needle between teen musical charm and genuine grief far more gracefully than the premise suggested she could. Don’t Say Good Luck is one of the better straight-to-streaming releases of the year and a genuine surprise as one of the month’s best films, earning a 79/100 from TwilightRoom.
5. It Ends
80/1/100 - Alexander Ullom - Theaters
It Ends is a film that has been circulating on the Letterboxd Video Store and the festival circuit for over a year now, and finally gets a full theatrical release through Neon, landing at fifth on our rankings as yet another solid independent horror debut in a year of 2026 that has been riddled with them. The film was met with great reception by more film-obsessed audiences, but has gained a more tedious reputation after its appearance as the Scream Unseen a week ago, and we could not disagree more as this tightly-packed 90-minute psychological horror kept our attention the entire time with an existential ending that delivers exactly how it needed to. Not only that but for a directorial debut, we get fantastic acting performances, some beautiful cinematography and some of the coolest and most unique editing sequences we have gotten not just from a horror film but from any film all year, truly a 90-minute marvel for the month of August. It Ends is yet another example of the new nuanced independent horror taking the genre by storm, as this time we drive for what seems like forever in a purgatory-like time continuum that never ceases to keep the audience thinking, earning an 80/100 from TwilightRoom.
4. Coyote vs Acme
83.7/100 - Dave Green - Theaters
Number four on our list was not only a pleasant surprise through this quick-witted and well-written comedy but also for its release entirely, as Coyote vs. Acme is not only a must-see because of the circumstances but also because it is one of the best comedies of the year that packs a punch of emotion when you least expect it. The film blends cartoons and adults quite possibly the best a film ever has since Roger Rabbit, establishing our main human actor and Wile E. Coyote’s relationship, as one that grows through the film, as the two stumble through the secrets behind the company they accidentally sued in a long-winded mission for Coyote to finally catch the Road Runner. This film is fantastic and the most recent release on the list, fresh in our minds, doing one thing better than any comedy has in the past few years, and that is pacing the dialogue with enough speed to make up for a bit of cheesy writing, but not speeding it up with jokes too much as to pollute the film. The balance is its best aspect by far. Sure, there is a ton going on and a few moments could have been contained to the main cast instead of tossing in a meaningless cameo, but that’s all part of the fun, as Coyote vs. Acme is one of the best films of the month, earning an 83/100 from TwilightRoom.
3. Tony
84.0/100 - Matt Johnson - Theaters
Tony comes in at number three on our list, held back mostly by its quite dull first twenty minutes, as our young subject Anthony Bourdain fails to land his dream fellowship and acts as spoiled as can be, traveling to chase a girl who ends up with another man before landing drunk on the street with nothing but an awful attitude, a balance Matt Johnson struggles with across the entire first act. It’s genuinely odd to see Johnson struggle to find intrigue across an opening stretch, with the film coming off dull in both look and story, and if those first twenty minutes were just slightly more compelling, this would be an outstanding film and even higher on this list. Leo Woodall shows up once Tony reaches rock bottom and immediately transforms the film into something far more intriguing, lighting up every scene he’s in as a character representing both the good and bad parts of Tony’s development going forward. Once Tony learns who he needs to be and who he needs to avoid becoming, and starts working independently under the head chef, the film truly hits its stride, with genuinely thoughtful philosophy and wonder threading through the entire back half. Johnson finds his comedy in that same push-and-pull between innocence and corruption that defines Tony’s summer on the Cape, delivering a non-generic biopic that won us over endlessly by the end, right through to the devastating moment Tony accidentally burns down the restaurant. The film is an A24 release based on Kitchen Confidential, focusing entirely on the summer of 1975 the nineteen-year-old spent working a Provincetown kitchen, with Johnson moving there for two months while writing and shooting the kitchen scenes in real misery, killing the air conditioning every time cameras rolled while the stoves ran hot through the summer heat. Tony struggled at the beginning but really found its footing, delivering yet another great Johnson biopic anchored by a fun Dominic Sessa performance, earning an 84/100 from TwilightRoom and number three on this list.
2. The Dog Stars
84.1/100 -Ridley Scott - Theaters
At number two we have The Dog Stars, a film that arrived under a shadow of uncertainty with a stacked cast and a proven director in Ridley Scott, undercut by almost no promotion and a virus-apocalypse premise that seemed set up to flatten any real commentary. That silence was reason enough for concern, but the film genuinely surprised us as one of the more solid additions to Scott’s filmography in years. Jacob Elordi’s Hig and his dog Jasper navigate a post-apocalyptic Colorado alongside Josh Brolin’s Bangley until another loss sends Hig off toward Grand Junction chasing meaning inside a depression that has clearly been swallowing him for years. That Hig and Jasper bond is the film’s strongest asset by far, a connection so well realized it creates genuine emotional strength, something Scott has struggled with recently, while Brolin and Guy Pearce bring real intensity to characters who could have been one-note survivalists. The film often feels like a puzzle that doesn’t fully fit together and never quite commits to its own timely premise, but none of that undermines the emotional core, which carries the whole thing through. The Dog Stars deserved far better than the total lack of press it received, and its visuals and emotional strength make it well worth your time, earning an 84/100 from TwilightRoom.
1. Teenage Sex and Death At Camp Miasma
87.7/100 - Jane Schoenbrun - Theaters
Taking our top spot is Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, the newest from one of our favorite working directors in Jane Schoenbrun, a beautiful and complex piece of work that won us over completely through its willingness to treat the slasher as a vessel for something far more thoughtful. The film delivers a strikingly similar atmosphere to I Saw the TV Glow, our favorite horror film of the decade, just with the medium swapped for film, speaking about cinema itself as a site of desire rather than something simply observed. Hannah Einbinder’s Kris is hired to reboot the dying Camp Miasma franchise and travels to the original set to visit Gillian Anderson’s estranged final girl, and from there the boundaries between movie, memory, and desire dissolve entirely, until Kris allows the slasher Little Death to create the film with her as the final girl instead. The colors and backdrops are gorgeous throughout, with fake sets against real settings blurring artifice beautifully, and the underwater arcade sequence stands as the film’s most striking moment. The parallel structure does make the final act feel repetitive, the one real misstep here, but Einbinder’s staggering lead performance holds everything together regardless. Camp Miasma is a nostalgic circle that never once mistakes nostalgia for substance, earning an 87/100 from TwilightRoom as the best film of the month of August.
