Blue Heron Is the Best Film of 2026 So Far
Sophy Romvari‘s debut feature Blue Heron opened in select US theaters on April 17, 2026, via Janus Films. The Hollywood Reporter described it as “the most acclaimed film of 2026 so far.” That’s not hyperbole. It’s just accurate.
The film currently holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 52 critic reviews, and a score of 94 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating universal acclaim. For a quiet, 90-minute Canadian drama about memory and grief, that’s not nothing.
Blue Heron
On its surface, Blue Heron could be mistaken for a modest autobiographical indie about growing up in a challenging household. It is not that. Not entirely.
The film is built from Romvari’s memories of growing up in an immigrant household on Vancouver Island in the late 1990s. Young Sasha (Eylul Guven) watches her family quietly fall apart around her half-brother Jeremy (Edik Beddoes), whose behavioral issues grow harder to manage and harder to name. The film blurs fictionalized storytelling and documentary technique, collapsing past and present, as grief tangles with lingering frustration over a mental illness that was never satisfactorily diagnosed or treated.
Then, roughly halfway through, everything shifts. Romvari adds an experimental layer — an adult Sasha (Amy Zimmer) in the present day, making films to reach a greater understanding of her brother and the rocky dynamic they had. It should feel like a gimmick. It does not feel like a gimmick.
The most striking moment comes when adult Sasha speaks with a group of real social workers — not actors — curated by Romvari and her producers. Sasha reads aloud one of her brother’s assessment questionnaires. His answers are juvenile, tender, sad, a little out-of-touch. He wishes for things like becoming rich and famous, and a machine that allows him to travel through time. It is, quietly, devastating.
There is a wordless moment near the end — two characters look at each other for the only time and exchange a whisper. We don’t hear it. That kind of restraint is what elevates Blue Heron from good storytelling to something closer to poetry.
Edik Beddoes as Jeremy is a revelation. In a remarkably contained performance built on darting eyes and twitching features, Beddoes seems to internally recede the closer the camera gets to him. He’s the kind of screen presence you clock immediately and can’t look away from.
Blue Heron sits comfortably alongside Aftersun in a recent wave of thirtysomething filmmakers drawn to analog textures and pre-millennial memory as a vehicle for processing grief. The comparison is fair. Romvari earns it.
For UK audiences, Blue Heron screened at the BFI London Film Festival on October 14–15, 2025, where it was acquired by Conic for UK distribution. A wide UK release date has not been confirmed, but given the film’s reception — and the fact that it has now gone wide in the US — that announcement should not be far off.
Blue Heron won the Swatch First Feature Award at the 78th Locarno Film Festival, took the Grand Prix at the Festival du nouveau cinéma, and earned a Special Mention from the jury at San Sebastián. It also landed on TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten list for 2025. Romvari has been collecting hardware all year. It is very much deserved.
We’ll keep you posted on updates about Blue Heron as a UK release date develops.
Chloe Jones is a film and television critic dedicated to providing expert analysis of movies, web series, and the latest in prestige TV. Known for her insightful perspective and deep industry knowledge, Chloe helps audiences navigate the crowded streaming landscape with honesty and expertise. Folow me on letterboxd
