The 2026 Berlin Film Festival is underway in the German capital with Afghan director Sharbanoo Sadat’s No Good Men serving as the opening-night pic.
This year’s lineup features major world premieres including At the Sea, starring Amy Adams; the Sandra Hüller-led Rose; Queen at Sea, starring Juliette Binoche, Tom Courtenay and Florence Hunt; Rosebush Pruning, with Callum Turner and Riley Keough; and others.
Read all of Deadline’s takes below throughout the festival, which runs February 12-22. Click on the title to read the full review and keep checking back as we update the list.
‘No Good Men’
Section: World Dramatic Competition
Director-screenwriter: Shahrbanoo Sadat
Cast: Shahrbanoo Sadat, Anwar Hashimi, Yasin Negah, Masihullah Tajzai, Torkan Omari, Fatima Hassani
Deadline’s takeaway: While the filmmaker is fooling you into thinking that this is just a simple case of will-they-or-won’t-they, the violent seeds of unrest shown at the beginning of the film are about to return, big-time. What started with fun poked at ineptitude of the Taliban and Afghan government takes a really dark turn. This modest but super-smart production punches way above its weight.
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