Next Week in Tickets: Films playing Boston 15 May 2026 - 21 May 2026

Not a whole lot between Prada and Grogu, huh? May's not an actual summer movie month.

• The biggest release may be BUFF centerpiece Obsession, in which a guy makes a wish for a girl to be in love with them, only to find that it being that powerful freaks both of them out, with apparently only death as an escape. It's at the Somerville, the Coolidge, CinemaSalem, Boston Common (including Dolby Cinema), Causeway Street, Kendall Square, the Seaport (Dolby Atmos), South Bay (including Dolby Cinema), Assembly Row (including Dolby Cinema), and Arsenal Yards.
  
  What is Is God Is? Is God Is is a blaxploitation-inspired revenge story with Kara Young and Mallori Johnson as sisters directed by their dying mother (Vivica A. Fox) to kill the father who almost murdered the entire family (Sterling K. Brown), with a killer supporting cast including Janelle Monae, Erika Alexander, and Mykelti Williamson. It's at Fresh Pond, Boston Common, Causeway Street, the Seaport, South Bay, and Assembly Row.
  
  Guy Ritchie pumps a new action movie out every year, it seems, which is a pretty impressive clip this day and age, and the latest entry is In the Grey, with Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill as wiseass mercenaries infiltrating a private island, with Eiza Gonzales as their handler. It's at Fresh Pond, Boston Common, South Bay, and Assembly Row.
  
  Boston Common and the Lexington Venue open Olivier Assayas's The Wizard of the Kremlin, with Jude Law as Vladimir Putin in the early days of his reign and Paul Dano as his unlikely advisor. LifeHack, a "ScreenLife" movie that finds a way to get some folks away from their laptops for a heist, opens at Boston Common; I found it surprisingly strong at Fantasia last year.
  
  Fresh Pond opens locally-produced indie Watching Mr. Pearson; they're only listing shows through Sunday, with both their website and the ticketing sites showing them mostly closed next week.
  
  AAPI Heritage Month screenings this week feature Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at Boston Common, Causeway Street, and South Bay (mostly 4pm), although it's not exactly Asian-American, is it? Space Jam plays the Dolby Cinema screens at Boston Common, South Bay, and Assembly Row on Wednesday. Anniversary screenings of Top Gun & Top Gun Maverick continue through Wednesday at Fresh Pond, Jordan's Furniture (Maverick Friday/Sunday & original Saturday), Boston Common (including Imax Laser & Dolby Cinema), Causeway Street, the Seaport, South Bay (including Imax Xenon & Dolby Cinema), and Assembly Row (including Imax Laser & Dolby CInema). Shrek has a 25th anniversary run at Boston Common, the Seaport, and Arsenal Yards.
  
  IFFBoston centerpiece selection Tuner has Dolby Cinema previews at Boston Common, South Bay, Assembly Row Sunday afternoon, while IFFBoston opener I Love Boosters has an early access show at Boston Common (XL) and the Seaport (livestreamed Q&A) on Wednesday.
• Apple Fresh Pond turns their Indian movies over, although it is only showing times through Sunday at the moment. They open Hindi-language drama Aakhri Sawal, Hindi-language romantic comedy Pati Patni Aur Woh Do (also at Boston Common all week), Tamil-language action/fantasy Karuppu, Malayalam-language comedy Athiradi. Telugu crime classic (?) Oosaravelli plays Boston Common Tuesday & Wednesday; Malayalam-language drama Drishyam 3 opens at Fresh Pond on Wednesday.
  
  The middle portion of a spinoff trilogy from a long-running anime series, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circle, opens at Boston Common and Causeway Street. Attack on Titan: The Last Attack plays Boston Common and Assembly Row Monday & Tuesday and just Monday at the Seaport; a new 4K transfer of Ghibli's The Secret World of Arrietty plays in Imax at Boston Common, South Bay, and Assembly Row on Tuesday/Wednesday. The restored Kiki's Delivery Service continues at the Coolidge; and another anime, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea, continues at Boston Common.
  
  Cold War 1999 continues at Boston Common, still at mostly-annoying times aside from one Sunday-evening show.
• The Brattle Theatre kicks the weekend off with a 35mm print of The Terminator for the Friday Film Matinee, then has Four by Kiyoshi Kurosawa for the weekend, with his new short "Chime" paired with a 4K restoration of Serpent's Path Friday to Sunday, breakthrough film Cure on Friday & Saturday, and the restored Spider's Eyes Saturday & Sunday.
  
  They also host RPM Festival for "America", a group of 7 short films by Brian L. Frye, who will be there in person on Sunday. After that, they have a series of films featuring doppelgangers with Persona & Mulholland Drive (second on 35mm) Monday (note that since the latter sold out, there are no more double-feature tickets), Desperately Seeking Susan on Tuesday, Tarkovsky's Solaris & Annihilation (directed by Alex Garland) on Wednesday, and separate features of The Double Life of Veronique and Black Swan on Thursday.
• The Somerville Theatre has the second of two screenings of documentary Make Me Famous with director Brian Vincent and producer Heather Spore on-hand for Q&As on Friday. They welcome Teseracte Players for a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show late on Saturday (Full Body, as always, at Boston Common). They also start a series of Jodie Foster/Kurt Russell double features with a matinee of Disney films Freaky Friday & The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes on Sunday with Taxi Driver & Escape from New York on Monday night. A 35mm print of Trees Lounge is the week's "Thirsty Thursday" selection.
  
  The Capitol Theatre picks up Blue Heron.
• The Coolidge Corner Theatre has A Simple Plan (35mm Friday) and The Gift for Sam Raimi midnights this weekend. Also at midnight are a pair of wrestling films, with documentary Slowburn Shoot on Friday, featuring filmmakers and local wrestlers on-hand, and Santo vs. Doctor Death on Saturday. Sunday's Take Two double feature is Ed Wood & Plan 9 from Outer Space, with The Blair Witch Project as part of the class on Wednesday and Cecil B. Demented doing double duty as the week's Cult Classic at 9:30pm Thursday. There's a Science on Screen presentation of Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein on 35mm Monday, with transplant surgeon Dr. Stefan G. Tullius there to introduce it. They have a "Rewind!" show of The Princess Diaries at 7pm on Thursday. They appear to be closed on Tuesday.
• The Seaport Alamo has The Bridges of Madison County on Saturday, Sorry to Bother You on Sunday, By Design for Weird Wednesday, with Blood Incantation: All Gates Open in Search of Absolute Elsewhere with livestreamed Q&A later that night.
• The Boston Asian American Film Festival has two events this weekend, with documentary Beam Me Up, Sulu at the Museum of Science on Friday night and a collection of four short films - "Home Plate", "Love, Chinatown", "Building a Community", and "Hong Far Low" at ArtsEmerson's Paramount Theater Saturday afternoon, with post-film Q&A at both.
• The Museum of Fine Arts continues their Japanese film series with the new master of The Taste of Tea Saturday afternoon.
• In addition to Beam Me Up, The Museum of Science has a free (sold-out) screening of Shang-Chi on Saturday, with The Mandalorian & Grogu opening there next weekend.
• Landmark Kendall Square has District 9 on Tuesday for "Aliens Among Us"; John Carney's Begin Again on Wednesday - apparently they're not doing weekend shows for these any more.
• The Regent Theatre hosts the A-town Teen Film Festival on Tuesday and has Midweek Music Movie Big Mama Thornton with filmmaker Robert Clem on-hand for Q&A on Thursday.
• Joe's Free Films shows a Somerville CineClub presentation at the Somerville Library on Wednesday, with shorts "Don't Be Foolish" and "The Pilgrim" at 6:30pm.
• The Lexington Venue is open all week but Monday with The Devil Wears Prada 2 and The Wizard of the Kremlin. There's one last show of Palestine '36 on Saturday, presentations of WBCN and the American Revolution on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, a free screening of The League of Gentlemen Sunday morning, and an "Exhibition on Screen" of Frida Kahlo on Tuesday & Thursday (the one I saw in Houston a couple months ago, which was very nice).
  
  The Embassy Cinema has Michael every day but Monday.
  
  The West Newton Cinema opens Croation documentary FIUME O MORTE!, also continuing Blue Heron, The Sheep Detectives, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Michael, The Christophers, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (one last show Friday afternoon), and Project Hail Mary. The Belmont World Film (mostly) wraps the annual film series on Monday with Porte Bagage, about a family traveling from the Netherlands to Morocco so the father can spend his last days in the ancestral home. Brandeis fellow Ian VanderMeulen will speak beforehand, and there's also a dinner at nearby Blue Salt Restaurant beforehand, with reservations for the latter due at noon Friday. That said, the 11 May screening of Six Days in Spring was postponed, and there are two make-up dates: One on Thursday the 21st with BU PhD candidate Haleigh Burgon, and one Tuesday the 26th with Dr. Tiffany Bailey.
  
  The Dedham Community Theatre opens Irish dark comedy Horseshoe alongside Blue Heron.
  
  Cinema Salem plays Obsession, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Mortal Kombat II, and The Sheep Detectives from Friday to Monday. There's a Spooky Picture Show presentation of Critters on Saturday, a Murder, She Wrote Whodunit Watch Party on Sunday, and Footlight Parade for the Wednesday Classic with Weirdo Wednesday down the hall.
  
  Spanish animated film Decoarado, from Unicorn Wars writer/director Alberto Vázquez, opens at the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers.

Looking forward to the Kurosawas, In the Grey, Is God Is, Obsession, and Wizard of the Kremiln, and we'll see how the Brattle/Somerville rep fits around them on my Letterboxd page.