Screening Report 7/22/2026
Smaller films for those who have already embarked on The Odyssey
Hello, and welcome to this week’s screening report! Genuine apologies for the paid post snafu last week. The screening reports and all schedule previews will remain free for all readers. If I do explore paid written content, it’ll be an expansion past what we’ve been doing previously.
There’s a dense list of lower profile new releases this coming week, many of which have yet to premiere for reviews. As of the time of this writing, I’d highlight Hadestown: The Musical, Her Private Hell, and Our Hero, Balthazar. Hadestown is a proshot of the beloved stage musical based on the Anais Mitchell concept album’s telling of the story of Greek myth (Orpheus & Eurydice and Hades & Persephone take center stage.) It’s a musical worth recommending to those who are sick of the “Broadway sound” post-Schwartz and Ashman.
Her Private Hell is the divisive new film from Nicolas Winding Refn, who directed Pusher, Drive, and The Neon Demon - those familiar with the director know very well that almost all of his films are divisive and that has hardly stopped him from having fans. Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton star in this sci-fi take on giallo. And Our Hero, Balthazar is the directorial debut of Safdie producer Oscar Boyson, a similarly teeth-hurting dramedy about trying to impress the world with ever-increasing stakes.
In rep, we’re still mostly reliant on WUD Film and our commercial theaters with crowdpleasers Pirates of the Caribbean, Back to the Future, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Fifth Element, and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. One odd family pick is Sesame Street’s Follow That Bird, from recurring Wisconsin Film Festival guest Ken Kwapis. But MMOCA is kicking off its rooftop series (as summarized by James Kreul in Moving Image Madison!) with Girl Internet Show: A Kati Kelli Mixtape, a collection of the now-deceased YouTuber’s work edited by her widower Jordan Wippel and I Saw the TV Glow director Jane Schoenbrun.
By the way, their film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is set to release August 7, but no dates in Madison yet. The weekend of 8/7, we instead have showtimes for the premieres of comedy sequel Super Troopers 3, Girl Scout documentary Cookie Queens, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s divisive sci-fi film Sheep in the Box, and Eli Roth horror film Ice Cream Man.
PLUG ZONE
-James Kreul shares a little on tonight’s Project Projection in Moving Image Madison!
-The team behind the upcoming detective comedy The Mysterious Affair are holding an open casting call!
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 (7/23/2026-7/29/2026)
New Releases
-Hadestown: The Musical - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace
-Chennai Love Story - AMC, Marcus Point
-Her Private Hell - AMC, Marcus Point, Flix Brewhouse
-Jana Nayagan - AMC, Marcus Point
-Motor City - AMC, Marcus Point
-Pinocchio Unstrung - AMC, Marcus Point
-Reading Lolita in Tehran - AMC
-Ueck - Marcus Point, Marcus Palace
-Bad Counselors - Marcus Palace
-Our Hero, Balthazar - 7:45p, 10:30p 7/23 at Flix Brewhouse
-Summer Tour - 7p 7/23 at AMC
-WHAM! 10 Days In China - 7p 7/28 at Marcus Point
-Project Projection Summer 2026 - 7p 7/29 at Art + Lit Lab
-Backrooms (Everything Must Go Edition) - AMC, Marcus Point
-Disclosure Day - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace
-Evil Dead Burn - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-The Invite - AMC, Flix Brewhouse
-Minions & Monsters -AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-Moana - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-Obsession - AMC, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-The Odyssey - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-The Pout-Pout Fish - Marcus Palace
-Toy Story 5 - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-Young Washington - AMC
-The Bad Guys 2 - AMC
Repertory
-The End of Evangelion - 10:30p 7/23 at AMC
-Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - 9p 7/27 at Memorial Union Terrace
-Sonic the Hedgehog - 11a, 2p 7/28 at Flix Brewhouse
-Journey to the South Pacific - 10a 7/29 at AMC
-Curious George - Marcus Point, Marcus Palace
-The Goonies - Flix Brewhouse
-Raiders of the Lost Ark - Flix Brewhouse
-The Fifth Element - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
NEXT WEEK (7/30/2026-8/5/2026)
New Releases
-I Want Your Sex - AMC
-Spider-Man: Brand New Day - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace, Flix Brewhouse
-The Odyssey - AMC
-The Spongebob Movie: Search for Squarepants - AMC
Repertory
-Curious George - 12p 7/30 at Marcus Point, 11a 7/30 at Marcus Palace
-Girl Internet Show: A Kati Kelli Mixtape - 9p 7/30 at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
-Back to the Future - 9p 8/3 at Memorial Union Terrace
-Trolls World Tour - 12p, 2:45p 8/4 at Flix Brewhouse
-Pandas 3D - 10a 8/5 at AMC
-Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird! - Marcus Point, Marcus Palace
-Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory - AMC, Marcus Point, Marcus Palace Flix Brewhouse
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