Screening Report 4/1/2026
No April Fool's here, just a quick ride before the Film Fest.
Hello, and welcome to this week’s screening report! Next week is the Wisconsin Film Festival! While my write-ups might be on the brief end with a major decrease in rep programming until the festival’s conclusion, I’ll be tracking what’s happening in our commercial theaters. (Though, hey, maybe also go see The Killer while it’s in theaters!)
This week’s major two releases are Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama and Illumination’s Nintendo sequel The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. While Borgli is making headlines for writing an essay justifying a sexual relationship with a high school girl in his 20s, the black comedy of marriage between Zendaya and Robert Pattinson is getting some positive reviews, although the most negative indicate audiences may want to review trigger warnings before attending. Among the rest, I can really only recommend the WUD Film sneak of Boots Riley’s upcoming crime comedy I Love Boosters, Art + Lit Lab hosting the Midwest Video Fest, and the Mills Folly Microcinema program of experimental shorts by animator Sabine Gruffat.
The weekend of the festival itself, a shocking nine premieres are programmed to arrive at AMC - the majority of them are from unknown filmmakers and do not yet have reviews. Three are exceptions - Riz Ahmed’s Hamlet, premiering at last year’s Telluride Film Festival, sets the play in modern London and boasts quite positive reception for its strong performances. ChaO, the new animated film from Tekkonkinkreet and All You Need is Kill, has gotten some early reviews high on its animation and art direction but cooler on its familiar story. And Exit 8, which premiered last year at Cannes’s Midnight Screenings, tells a subterranean horror loop based on the Japanese video game, and has generally received positive reviews as well. Looking ahead to the weekend of the 17th, we’ll see the release of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy and Wisconsin Film Festival selection The Christophers.
PLUG ZONE
-Sara Batkie’s update of The Pink Stuff includes a recommendation of the great Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay!, highlighting Nair’s social realist optimism.
-Rob Thomas reviews Richard Burton biopic Mr. Burton, studying his young transition from teaching to acting.
-James Kreul previews Sabine Gruffat’s short film program in this week’s Moving Image Madison.
-Looking for the Ocean: A Pixar Journey reaches its episode on Luca with Sender director Russell Goldman.
-Tone Madison has Lance Li on Lea Jacobs’ John Ford at Work, the new book inspiring the UW Cinematheque John Ford series, and Grant Phipps previewing Limerent Pittsburgh as a highlight of the Midwest Video Fest.
Want to see your film writing or short film here in The Horizon Line? Send a link to your work to horizonlinemadison@gmail.com.
THIS WEEK (4/2/26-4/8/26)
New Releases
-The Drama - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-The Super Mario Galaxy Movie - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-A Great Awakening - AMC, Marcus Point
-Drishyam 3 - AMC
-Fantasy Life - AMC
-The King’s Warden - AMC
-Premarital - AMC
-Rakasa - AMC
-The Secret Between Us - AMC
-2026 Midwest Video Fest - 4/4 at Art + Lit Lab
-The Yeti - 9p 4/4, 8p 4/8 at AMC
-I Love Boosters (Early Access Screening) - 7p 4/7 at The Marquee Union South
-Beyond Resolution: Short Films by Sabine Gruffat - 7p 4/8 at Art+Lit Lab
-The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace
-Hoppers - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-Project Hail Mary - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-Ready or Not 2: Here I Come - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-Reminders of Him - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-They Will Kill You - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-Dhurandhar: The Revenge - AMC
-Goat - AMC, Marcus Palace
-Forbidden Fruits - 10:30p 4/3, 10:15p 4/4 at AMC
-Scream 7 - 10:20p 4/3-4/4 at AMC
Repertory
-Pandas 3D - 11:45a 4/4 at AMC
-Il Postino - 7p 4/7 at La Cineteca Italiana
-Stardust - 7p 4/7 at Flix Brewhouse
-The Killer - AMC, Marcus Point
NEXT WEEK (4/9/26-4/15/26)
THE WISCONSIN FILM FESTIVAL!!!
New Releases
-Beast - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace
-Faces of Death - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace
-Hunting Matthew Nichols - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace
-You, Me & Tuscany - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-ChaO - AMC, Marcus Point
-Dacoit: A Love Story - AMC
-Exit 8 - AMC
-Hamlet - AMC, Marcus Point
-Newborn - AMC
-The Super Mario Galaxy Movie - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
Repertory
-The Dark Crystal - 6:45p 4/11 at Flix Brewhouse
-Space Station 3D - 11a 4/11 at AMC
-Ask Me If I'm Happy - 7p 4/14 at La Cineteca Italiana
-Conan the Barbarian - 6p 4/14 at Flix Brewhouse
-Jerry Maguire - AMC, Marcus Point
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