The Big Picture · Discussion · Interview

Sex, Hell, and 10 Movies We Missed This Summer. Plus: Gregg Araki!

July 28, 2026/ 144 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins

Sean and Amanda catch up on two months of releases they missed, score their summer box-office prediction game, and Gregg Araki stops by for his first feature in 12 years.

24 films across 4 segments.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

Comic-Con and the NewsGosling, a new Black Panther, and Nolan's Odyssey

The Odyssey 2026

$640M in eight and a half days, a 29% second-weekend drop, headed for maybe 1.3-1.5B. Emily Wilson's takedown ran in the London Review of Books.

Summer Movie Preview Game: The Check-Inthe box-office scorecard, two months later

Backrooms 2026

One of the worst guesses: both lowballed it, film made $197M.

Obsession 2026

Sean guessed $42M; it landed near $400M.

Disclosure Day 2026

Sean guessed $121M, sitting at $116M and still in theaters.

Supergirl 2026

One of the lowest-grossing DC movies ever at $71M; the world did not care.

10 Movies We Missed This Summerseen late, reviewed here

Moana 2026

Live-action remake, dir. Thomas Kail. Sean: DOA, CGI hell, no case for being 30-45 minutes longer than the 91-minute original.

Minions and Monsters 2026

Seventh Minions feature, 1920s Hollywood, dir. Pierre Coffin. Amanda charmed (Babylon with minions); Sean bored. Underperformed at $149M.

The Dink 2026

Apple pickleball comedy, dir. Josh Greenbaum, Jake Johnson. Uneven, but the Mary Steenburgen dynamic and Andy Roddick cameo land.

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass poster

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass 2026

David Wain, Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm. A Wizard of Oz road movie about a sex pass; funnier in theory than in the seats.

Evil Dead Burn 2026

Sixth Evil Dead, dir. Sebastien Vanicek (Infested). Meaner and grimmer than the series needs. Not recommend.

I Want Your Sex 2026

Araki's return. Olivia Wilde as a domineering gallerist, Cooper Hoffman as her sub. Wilde is the reason to go.

Her Private Hell 2026

Refn's first feature in a decade. Beautifully designed, turgidly paced; Amanda forgot she'd even seen it at Cannes.

Young Washington 2026

Angel Studios, French and Indian War, William Franklin-Miller as young George. Dad-history vibe, boring; already a hit.

Motor City 2026

Nearly dialogue-free Detroit revenge picture, dir. Potsy Ponciroli, Alan Richson. Formally bold, doesn't fully cohere; Fleetwood Mac needle drop.

Voicemails for Isabel 2026

Netflix rom-com, Zoey Deutch, Nick Robinson. Grief-then-wrong-number premise you see coming; dessert-nacho food truck and all. Not bad.

The Samurai and the Prisoner 2026

Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 16th-century Japan: Columbo in a besieged castle, with a hard third-act turn. Worth the time.

Sheep in the Box 2026

Grief-and-AI-android drama, Neon. Sean: pretty much a fiasco.

Late Fame 2026

Kent Jones, from a Schnitzler novella adapted by Sammy Burch. Willem Dafoe as a post-office worker rediscovered as a poet; Jake Lacey's agent scene is great.

In conversation

Gregg Araki on