Rose of Nevada (July 10 — Theatres)

Ever wanted to experience an avant-garde, feature-length episode of The Twilight Zone brimming with star power? Look no further than Mark Jenkin’s ethereal and uncanny Rose of Nevada. Shot on 16mm with all sound constructed in post- production, Jenkin’s film unsettles and unmoors its audience from the jump, before it’s time-shifting plot fully gets underway. Set in in a remote Cornish fishing village, Callum Turner and George MacKay star as desperate men, who join the crew of the mysterious, titular fishing vessel that vanished 30 years prior.

Yet, when they return, they find they’ve slipped back three decades in time, now inhabiting the identities of the ship’s original crewmen. As the two struggle against—or gradually accept—their new realities, Rose of Nevada entrances audiences with difficult questions and even harder answers, as it submerses us in a haunting, dissonant meditation on grief, guilt, and the cyclical nature of trauma. If there’s one film worth taking the bait for this July, make it Jenkins’ cryptic, time-travel treasure.

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass (July 10 — Theatres)

Mirroring and parodying The Wizard of OZ, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, directed by David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer), aims to be the knee-slapper of the summer. Zoey Deutch stars as the eponymous Gail Daughtry (an obvious anagram for Dorothy Gale), whose life is turned upside-down when her fiancé hooks up with a Hollywood A-lister after their seemingly innocent conversation about celebrity sex passes.

Reeling from the shock, Gail joins her friend Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) on a trip to Los Angeles, where a psychic (a modern analogue to Glinda the Good Witch) convinces her to pursue her own celebrity sex pass, who just happens to be John Hamm. From there, Gail commences an epic journey through Hollywood, picking up an assortment of travellers, including John Slattery (Hamm’s co-star in Mad Men), all in search of the elusive star. Teeming with ccameos and overflowing with Wizard of Oz references, Wain’s film seems primed to be the over-the-top comedy this summer movie season needs.

The Odyssey (July 14—Theatres)

Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated follow-up to his Oscar-winning and box-office-breaking Oppenheimer has dominated film discourse ever since its first round of tickets went on sale almost a year ago. With a staggering $250 million budget and a cast that features Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, and Zendaya, to name a few, it’s easy to see why this adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey has ensnared our collective attention and imagination.

The first film to be entirely shot on Imax 70mm, The Odyssey follows Odysseus (Damon), the Greek king of Ithaca, and his long, perilous, and mythical journey home after the Trojan War, while his wife Penelope (Hathaway) fights to keep his kingdom together against a growing number of usurpers. Regardless of how one feels about Nolan’s almost cult-like status and fandom, the film’s sheer scope, scale, and spectacle all but demand to be experienced on the biggest screen possible—just as irresistibly as the Sirens beckon Odysseus.

I Want Your Sex (July 31 — Theatres)

New Queer Cinema icon Greg Araki returns with his first film in over ten years with the salacious and sultry I Want Your Sex. Cooper Hoffman stars as Elliot, a strapping young fellow who lands an assistant position with Erika Tracy, a renowned, if notoriously racy, contemporary artist. To Elliot’s surprise, Erika quickly recruits him as her sexual muse, plunging him deep into a kinky, leather-laden sub/dom relationship. But In true Araki fashion, Elliot’s growing obsession quickly gives way to a murky labyrinth of shifting power dynamics, betrayal, and, even murder.

It’s exactly the type of provocative, button-pushing fare we’ve come to expect from the mind behind cult classics like the Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy (Totally F***ed Up, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere) and Mysterious Skin. Whether it joins the ranks of Araki’s lauded canon remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: it’s poised to inject a dose of steamy, hedonistic pleasure into a packed summer movie season.

Classic Pick of the Month: Amores Perros (July 10 – Mubi)

Set against the backdrop of seedy, depraved Mexico City, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s fatalistic Triptych, Amores Perros, remains a stylistically bold and visceral announcement of its director’s talents more than 25 years after its premiere. Alternatively titled “Love’s a Bitch,” the film unfurls through three interconnected tales painfully brought together by a tragic car accident. From a love triangle involving brothers, A man who sacrifices everything for a gorgeous model, to a hitman who confronts and ultimately reveals his violent past, Amores Perros quickly gets under its audience’s skin, not only immersing us in cruel dilemmas but an unflinching reflection on love, loss, and the fragility of life. With its new 4k restoration, there’s no better time to soak in the majesty and tragedy of Iñárritu’s influential debut.