‘Ghost in the Shell’, ‘All this Panic’, ‘David Lynch: The Art Life’
Our Film Daily team rounds up our picks of outside-the-box cinema out this weekend. Enjoy.
David Lynch art remains a through-line in the conversation even when the titles on the docket range from cyberpunk remakes to intimate documentaries.
Ghost in the Shell (2017)
For years, animé fans waited patiently for Ghost in the Shell to be made into a live-action movie. The stunning manga comic series and 1995 animé film had everything going for it: a man-vs-machine plot, mystery, sociopolitical commentary. When it was finally announced that a live-action version was in the works, a lot of folks were shocked to learn that a white actor was chosen to play the lead role of Major.
But that’s not the only issue with this flashy remake. Somewhere along the way, some bright studio exec chose to rewrite the most pivotal parts of the plot and Frankenstein later stories in the series into the film. These decisions detract from, not to say collapse, the bold brilliance of the original work and all but silence the concepts of free will and autonomy that were such an important driver for the plot of the original. This film looks beautiful, and the CGI is impressive, but it entirely misses the point of the original – a badly missed opportunity. Later analyses describe it as visually striking yet thematically generic and a missed opportunity.
Watch the trailer here.
All this Panic
Shot over three years in NYC, this documentary is a light-footed, free-flowing look at the lives of a group of Brooklyn teenage girls. This is Jenny Cage’s and husband Tom Betterton’s first feature, and it’s very easy to see their fashion photography background in the dreamy, intimate cinematography. The film gives a voice to their subjects, and under Cage’s nurturing direction, we are enveloped in the process of becoming a woman in today’s world.
Watch the trailer here.
Carrie Pilby
An adaptation of the well-liked book by Karen Lissner, the story’s protagonist is a female teenage genius who just sucks at life. The first-time directorial effort from talented producer Susan Johnson is carried by the effervescent Bel Powley.
While it works well at describing the various entanglements that young and inexperienced people find themselves in, Carrie Pilby could have used a defter editing hand. If you want to get a true feel for girls becoming women, go see All this Panic instead. It earned a 65 percent approval on Rotten Tomatoes with praise centered on Bel Powley’s performance.
Watch the trailer here.
David Lynch: The Art Life
This accomplished documentary is entirely narrated by the artist, directed by Jon Nguyen, who previously directed Lynch in 2007, which tracked the director while working on Inland Empire. The film’s nonlinear form will delight Lynch fans and might just confuse everyone else in its intimate study of the artist, rather than the films he creates.
By chronicling the auteur’s formative years, it offers insight into Lynch’s psyche and motivation. At the end of the day, this work is a thoughtful study which focuses on why the artist makes the works he does. A must for Lynch fans and lovers of art. David Lynch passed away in 2025, and the documentary has seen renewed streaming releases.
Watch the trailer here.
David Lynch's Passing and Renewed Interest in The Art Life
David Lynch died in 2025, and the documentary became available in full on platforms including YouTube in 2026. That timing has brought fresh eyes to a film that always preferred atmosphere over chronology.
Viewers who missed the original run now discover the same quiet footage of Lynch at his easel or lighting a cigarette in his studio. The extra availability turns an already personal portrait into a portable archive of the director’s early impulses.
Reception and Legacy of Ghost in the Shell (2017)
Critics and viewers note strong CGI and production design but criticize dilution of philosophical themes. The film is often called a missed opportunity for the franchise, confirming the early sense that visual polish could not rescue narrative shortcuts.
Even so, the production still surfaces in conversations about how Hollywood adapts Japanese source material. Its legacy sits in the gap between what the imagery promised and what the script delivered.
Post-Release Recognition for God Knows Where I Am
Aired on PBS in October 2018 and won an Emmy for Outstanding Lighting Direction and Scenic Design in 2019. Those honors extended the reach of a film that already treated mental-health records with unusual care.
The broadcast window introduced the story to audiences who rarely seek out theatrical documentaries, while the technical Emmy underlined the quiet craft that kept the diary entries visually coherent.
Enduring Relevance of Surveillance Themes in Karl Marx City
The film explores Stasi operations and personal family history in former East Germany. That focus keeps the documentary legible even as the technology of monitoring has changed.
Viewers continue to map the same questions about consent and record-keeping onto current platforms, which is why the film’s measured tone still registers as contemporary rather than archival.
David Lynch art lingers as a reminder that personal process can be as compelling as finished work, and the same principle applies across the rest of the slate. Whether the subject is a Brooklyn teenager, a Silicon Valley engineer, or a cult classic restored in 4K, these titles reward attention to detail over spectacle. The weekend slate offers a useful cross-section of how independent voices still carve space inside larger distribution systems. Each entry keeps its own scale, yet together they sketch a map of what thoughtful cinema can still accomplish when the calendar turns another page.
