Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Movie Reviews 2026 – your scarily good guide to film.
We’re into the final week of May and this means we have reached the end of the first month of summer blockbuster season. And what a month it has been!
The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Sheep Detectives, Hokum, Mortal Kombat II, Obsession, The Mandalorian and Grogu, and Finding Emily have all hit cinema screens in quick succession. Big movies on the big screen.
But don’t worry, there’s plenty of big movies still to come. In fact, this week there’s supernatural shenanigans in horror movie, Passenger, and Tom and Jerry return in animated movie, Forbidden Compass.
Plus, this week we head to Italy for the romantic comedy, You, Me & Tuscany. Oh, and Sacha Baron Cohen, Rosamund Pike, and Richard E. Grant star in Netflix’s Ladies First.
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In cinemas…
You, Me & Tuscany (2026)
First up this week is the romantic comedy, You, Me & Tuscany. Directed by Kat Coiro, and starring Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page, the movie follows the story of a young American woman who finds herself caught up in a troubling untruth.
In the movie, broke aspiring chef Anna Montgomery meets handsome Italian realtor Matteo Costa at a bar. The two hit it off, talk a little about each others’ lives (including Matteo’s home in Tuscany), and Anna opens up about her aspirations.
The next day, Anna takes Matteo’s advice to pursue her dreams and heads off on an impulsive trip to Tuscany. But with limited money in the bank, and nowhere to stay, Anna breaks into Matteo’s villa to spend the night.
The next morning, Matteo’s mother and grandmother arrive at the villa, disturbing Anna in the process. As they begin to question who Anna is, she starts to lie, which quickly leads them to believe she is Matteo’s fiancée.
Welcomed with open arms by Matteo’s family, Anna struggles to get out of the lie she has just told, digging herself a deep hole. Things are then complicated even further when she meets Matteo’s cousin Michael, and romantic sparks begin to fly between the pair.
OK, so there are a couple of things to note about You, Me & Tuscany. First and foremost, while this film is now available to rent or buy on digital, it did receive a theatrical release back in early April.
This may seem quite surprising to anyone who watches the movie, as You, Me & Tuscany has direct-to-streaming written all over it. In fact, this is the sort of thing that usually does the rounds on Netflix.
The second thing to note is how the story shares a few similarities to the fabulous 1995 Sandra Bullock rom-com, While You Were Sleeping. The welcoming family, the lie about being a fiancée, the developing romance with another relative, etc, all featured in the Bullock movie, and in all honesty were handled much better.
So, if you want to watch a great movie which tells this kind of story, then While You Were Sleeping should be the default option. You, Me & Tuscany pales in comparison.
Now, all that said, You, Me & Tuscany is pleasant enough and isn’t without some merit. The film is light and frothy; the Tuscan backdrop is gorgeous to look at; and the film is an easy, summery watch, which fits in nicely at this time of year.
So, if you approach this film in the mindset that a.) it’s not particularly dynamic or original, and b.) it’s mostly a lightweight thing, you’ll find it fine enough. You, Me & Tuscany is never going to become anyone’s favourite film, nor does it boast award-winning acting, but it does provide a pleasant distraction.
Put simply: If you’re after a dash of summer evening entertainment, which goes down well with a chilled glass of wine and a cheeseboard, You, Me & Tuscany is possibly the film for you. You’ll only watch it once, but if you take it for what it is you’ll be happy enough.
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In cinemas…
Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass (2025)
Over to the big screen now for a new Tom and Jerry movie. The duo last graced cinema screens in 2021’s live-action/animated hybrid comedy, Tom & Jerry, but for this latest offering it’s back to full animation, via a US/Chinese co-production titled Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass.
Directed by Zhang Gang, and featuring the voice talents of Eric Bauza and Ben Diskin, the film sees the titular cat and mouse caught up in a mystical adventure after they activate a magical compass in a museum. This leads the pair to cross paths with a variety of weird and… erm… well, just weird characters, including an evil rat with a mechanical tail, a high-kicking cat, and a chicken that was previously a phoenix.
Sounds strange? Well, it is. It’s also utter bobbins.
Released to coincide with the school holidays, Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass is presumably hoping to attract the attention of young audiences who are too young to get swept up in The Mandalorian and Grogu hype. However, if you are a parent and you opt to take the rugrats to see this film instead, you are essentially setting them up for disappointment.
Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass is a hyperactive nightmare of a movie, which makes very little sense and is tedious to watch. Running over 90 minutes in length, the movie has barely any story and it sure does go on, and on, and on.
Worst of all, it fails to utilise Tom and Jerry in a meaningful or appealing way. For the most part it feels as if the characters have simply been dropped into some bonkers tale, which has been made up on the fly with very little regard for how they fit.
I appreciate we live in different times, but when it comes to these guys can we please just go back to the days when T & J simply smashed dinner plates over each others’ head? The original animated shorts remain some of the best cartoons of all time, whereas this new movie is complete dross and demonstrates how current creatives have no idea what to do with them.
Unless a cat or a mouse has smashed a dinner plate over your head, thus leaving you in a confused and vulnerable state, don’t give in to Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass. It’s utter rubbish, which not only side-lines Tom and Jerry in favour of various irritating mystical characters, it completely fails to understand what makes the duo popular icons in the first place.
If the young film fans in your house are looking for entertainment, this ain’t it. Seek out some of the classic cartoons instead and show the nippers the real deal.
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Now streaming…
Ladies First (2026)
Over to Netflix now for the comedy, Ladies First. Directed by Thea Sharrock, and inspired by the 2018 French comedy, Je ne suis pas un homme facile (I Am Not An Easy Man), the film stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Rosamund Pike, Fiona Shaw, Richard E. Grant and Charles Dance, and focuses on a sexist businessman who ends up in an alternate reality.
In the movie, Damien Sachs is a big deal at advertising agency, Atlas. Problem is, Damien is also a complete asshole who treats women as second class citizens and sex objects.
So, when Damien’s job is suddenly on the line, because the company needs at least one female in a senior position, he promotes the first woman he can, simply throwing anyone into the position to tick a box. The unlucky candidate is Alex Fox – an extremely talented employee who deserves much better.
But Damien’s life suddenly takes a sharp turn when he bangs his head and wakes up in an alternate reality. In this world, the female / male dynamic is completely flipped upside down and Alex now holds power over Damien.
*Sigh*
Despite the talent involved in this picture, Ladies First is a bit of a slog. The central premise about women leading the world runs out of steam almost as soon as it’s introduced, and the gags fall flat.
The first 10-15 minutes of the film, when Damien is acting like a total jerk to women, is arguably the most interesting part of the film. It’s clear he needs to receive some kind of comeuppance, and Sacha Baron Cohen plays it marvellously, so this offers up an intriguing avenue.
Likewise, there’s a brief window into Alex’s home life, and it’s an interesting tease into a potential story about how she has to navigate her way through a male dominated world, where people like Damien are in charge. This in itself could have also been a fab story thread.
But sadly, what follows is never quite as interesting. As soon as Damien bangs his head and male/female roles are switched, the movie becomes less imaginative.
On paper, it might seem as if Ladies First could sustain a narrative built around gender reversal, but in practice it’s a whole different affair once things get going. Once the joke about women treating men as sex objects hits, the film doesn’t really know where to go, resulting in a 90-minute movie which feels like it’s floundering around the same topic again and again, until it reaches its conclusion.
Is anything learnt along the way? Erm, not really, no.
Is fun had? Also no, as the humour largely falls flat.
The cast carry Ladies First and are the biggest selling point. They do the best they can with what they are given, but they can only do so much.
The longer it goes on, the more the interest level drops off. What could have been something fun, becomes something quite stale, quite quickly.
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In cinemas…
Passenger (2026)
And finally, back to the cinema for the supernatural horror movie, Passenger. Directed by André Øvredal, and starring Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell, and Joseph Lopez, the movie follows the story of a young couple who encounter a demonic entity while on a road trip.
In the film, Tyler and Maddie are travelling in their van-turned-mobile home when they witness a terrible accident on a secluded stretch of road. After witnessing the horror of the crash, they leave the scene, but they don’t leave alone – a demonic entity follows them.
From here, all kinds of spooky hijinks follow. What started off as a simple journey together soon descends into a nightmare trip on the highway to Hell.
Horror movies are hot right now, which is why so many are popping up in quick succession – especially during the summer season (Hokum, Obsession etc). Passenger is the latest entry in the genre and while it doesn’t quite hit the same heights of some of the recent offerings, it is a fairly decent little movie.
The premise is simple, with Tyler and Maddie encountering evil on their road trip, then from here it’s a case of watching a movie about haunted mobile home. A demon lurks, Maddie becomes the key focus, and various jump scares are chucked at the screen to keep the audience on its toes.
Where Passenger is most effective is in the visuals, the atmosphere, and its swift runtime. This isn’t a horror which reinvents the steering wheel, but it is one which knows the type of movie it’s aiming to be, leans in accordingly, and doesn’t outstay its welcome.
Where the movie is less effective is largely in André Øvredal’s decision to show the demonic passenger too soon, thus robbing the picture of some of its impact. The demon is shown within the opening few minutes of the story (it also appears in the preview trailers for Passenger) and this seems like a mistake.
Had Øvredal kept the entity off screen for the majority of the movie’s runtime, some of the scares would be more impactful. As it stands, there are creepy moments, but the horror never quite lands as hard as it could or should.
Overall, Passenger is decent stuff as a road horror-cum-folk tale. At times it does feel a bit like an early ‘00s scary movie, the likes of which would be followed by a series of direct-to-DVD sequels that would line the shelves of Blockbuster for years, but it’s not bad.
Should you wish to take a look, Passenger is now playing in UK and US cinemas.
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Recent Releases
Not quite done yet? Want more movies? The above suggestions aren’t enough?! Well, here’s what’s also doing the rounds:
The Christophers (2026)
“(Steven) Soderbergh’s direction is great, as is the script by Ed Solomon, but the chemistry between the two leads is simply superb. (Michaela) Cole plays Lori with a cool, calm demeanour, (Ian) McKellen is at his absolute barbed best as Julian, and the two manage to stand toe-to-toe with equal footing.”
Finding Emily (2026)
“With a sweet narrative, fab performances, and one or two important emotional beats, Finding Emily is thoroughly good stuff. The film details the often bumpy road to love, and does so with a great deal of charm.”
The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026)
“Your interest level will pique or wane depending on how much you a.) love the show or b.) want to go out and watch something you usually view on Disney+ as part of your subscription fee.”
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Movie of the Week
Onto Movie of the Week, which this week goes to Passenger. Horror continues to be a popular choice right now and is set to continue as the year rolls on.
And if you like Passenger, you might also like:
- The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) – Passenger’s André Øvredal directs this supernatural horror about two coroners who experience something unsettling as they examine the body of an unidentified woman.
- Dead End (2003) – Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa direct this horror about a family stuck on a seemingly never-ending road trip.
- Jeepers Creepers (2001) – In Jeepers Creepers, two siblings returning home on spring break encounter a sinister truck driver along the highway.
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Forthcoming attractions
That’s all for this week, but coming soon Scary Movie, Supergirl, Toy Story 5, and Disclosure Day. Plus, Hugh Jackman stars in The Death of Robin Hood; Johnny Knoxville and Co. return for Jackass: Best and Last; and Millie Bobby Brown is back for Enola Holmes 3.
But of course, next week He-Man and Skeletor trade blows in the eagerly awaited fantasy-adventure, Masters of the Universe? Could this be the big hit of the summer? Let’s wait and see.
Alex
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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this edition of Movie Reviews 2026. For more posts be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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