Dogs Reign (2026)
Directed & Written by Axel Zeltser
Starring Chiara Corbetta, Julien Crampon, Julien Le Lons, Enora Hope, Natte You, Pierre Lange, & Adrien Bruno.
Fantasy / Horror
★★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
In Axel Zeltser’s Dogs Reign, a deaf woman called Léa (Chiara Corbetta) gets approached by a couple dudes who seem a bit iffy but whose invitation for a night out drinking she actually accepts. At first everything is normal. The longer the night wears on, the more trouble seems on the horizon. Although what the two men initially imagine they’re going to do with Léa that night is very, very far from the horrifying reality.
“A little smile won’t hurt you.”
Panty sniffers. Catcallers on the street. Pigs who cannot control their terrible desires, nor their general behaviour. In only a short time, Dogs Reign easily and explicitly portrays the animal that is the average man. What Zeltser does so well with this film is turn the tables of predator v. prey, subverting the audience’s expectations, which are actually our societal expectations, that the woman is automatically the vulnerable one in a situation like our protagonist finds herself. A truly tasty horror treat, especially as I write this after the Russell Brand verdict/sentencing. Dogs may reign, but women will kick your ass, bro.
Confession (2025)
Directed & Written by Mai Nakanishi
Starring Misa Wada & Shingo Mizusawa
Thriller
★★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Mai Nakanishi’s Confession involves a woman (Misa Wada) confessing to a priest (Shingo Mizusawa) about her issues from the time she was a girl. As a little girl, she killed caterpillars and frogs because she was emotionally troubled. Life at home was rough. She wanted to die, but a cat saved her life. Now she’s a grown woman with a baby whose father stole her money and left her after she got pregnant. And she does seem to squeeze her baby’s hand… a little too hard, maybe.
Confession is deliciously sinister. The chorus-like “All life is precious” goes from a moral/spiritual refrain to a devilish taunt by the end. Nakanishi’s film is all about tension, as the mother’s tight grip on her baby’s hand becomes mirrored in the priest’s tight grip on his own hand due to anxious fear. Confession is an excellent example of ‘less is more’ when it comes to filmmaking and likewise the psychology of terror. Nakanishi is able to unsettle an audience more in 15 minutes than some filmmakers are able to in 90+ minutes.
