The sun may be shining, the sky beaming, and the heat radiating, but we’re spending the second month of the summer movie season cooling off in the harrowed halls of our local cinema. While box office juggernauts like Supergirl and Toy Story 5 are sure to draw in crowds, we at RANGE are, instead, obsessing over more lyrical, challenging fare, whether they be enticing sci-fi mysteries or daring genre exercises. From Spielberg’s return to grisly queer horror to a reimagining of a classic legend, here are our picks of the month.

Disclosure Day (June 12 — Theatres)

After his extremely personal awards darling, The Fabelmans (2022), the practically mythic Steven Spielberg returns to paint yet another riveting sci-fi vision. Taking a page from much-beloved efforts like Minority Report (2002) and, more closely, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Disclosure Day follows the unravelling of a massive government conspiracy, as a whistleblower, played by Josh O’Connor, races against time and assailants to disclose the existence of alien lifeforms and, ultimately, alter the fabric of recorded history. Boasting a purposely obscure marketing campaign and a cast of heavyweights that includes Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, and Colman Domingo, to name a few, Spielberg looks set to prove, yet again, why he’s the highest-grossing director of all time.

The Death of Robin Hood (June 19 — Theatres)

As the poster boldly declares, “He was no hero,” Michael Sarnoski’s The Death of Robin Hood appears to be pulling a few punches in its skewering of the classic legend. In place of the green-clad hero who steals from the rich and gives to the poor, Hugh Jackman stars as an aged, murderous outlaw grappling with a life of crime, who, in the care of a mysterious woman, is offered a chance at redemption. Co-starring Jodie Comer and Bill Skarsgård, Sarnoski reimagines the famous folklore as a meditative, psychological interrogation of a man, myth, and legend whose very calling is violence. Expect it to be the year’s sleeper hit.

Leviticus (June 19 — Theatres)

Horror has long been a genre defined by personal and social interrogation. Adrian Chiarella’s Leviticus arrives to continue that tradition with a graceful and gory exploration of homophobia and sexual repression. Its eerie, unnerving plot follows two closeted Australian boys who become cursed after being forced into conversion therapy. As the two struggle to survive their religious repression, they find themselves stalked by a killer supernatural spirit that takes the form of the person they desire the most, which just happens to be each other. In an experience where everything definitely isn’t what it seems, Chiarella looks to deliver breathtaking scares while reminding us that for some, every day is just another horror movie.

Girls Like Girls (June 19 — Theatres)

Singer-songwriter Hayley Kiyoko looks to enter the coming-of-age canon with Girls Like Girls, a long-gestating adaptation of her 2023 novel and 2015 single of the same name. Filmed in Kelowna, British Columbia, Kiyoko’s film centres on seventeen-year-old Coley (Maya da Costa), who struggles to navigate intimacy and connection after her mother’s passing. When she meets Sonya (Myra Molley), her boyfriend, and the rest of her friends, Coley dives headfirst into a gauntlet of mixed feelings and self-doubt. As she works to overcome her unfamiliarity with dating girls, Colley comes to embrace their budding connection. Come for the killer soundtrack, courtesy of Kiyoko herself, and stay for what could be a new sapphic classic.

Classic Pick of the Month: Gregory’s Girl (June 12 – Mubi)

Just in time for the World Cup, there’s no better moment to experience Bill Forsyth’s tender classic. Following a teenager who falls hard for the female footballer who replaces him on the team, Forsyth’s film is deeply observant and perceptive about the ways boys fundamentally misunderstand girls, without ever resorting to cheap, mean-spirited gags. Teeming with warmth and a naturalistic air, Forsyth’s classic unfolds as one of the sweetest, funniest, and most honest coming-of-age films of the ‘80s—one that feels like it understands modern gender dynamics better than films lighting up the silver screen today.