The Best Films To Catch at MIFF’s Armani Beauty Cinema Club

Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has always been a magnet for prestige partnerships, but this year brings a returning name to the marquee: Armani Beauty.

No stranger to the world of film – having dressed everyone from American Gigolo’s Richard Gere to generations of Cannes red carpets – Armani is presenting a strand of films chosen for their flair, glamour and sheer cinematic allure. Think of it as a festival within the festival, a hit list for anyone who wants their popcorn served with a side of style. Here are the top titles to catch.

Wishful Thinking

Opening the Armani Beauty films on Thursday August 13 is Wishful Thinking, Graham Parkes’s SXSW Grand Jury Award-winning supernatural rom-com. Lewis Pullman and Maya Hawke play a couple whose love is matched only by their incompatibility, and the deeper the film explores that premise, the stranger and more comic it becomes.

Rose of Nevada

Shot on tactile 16-millimetre, Rose of Nevada is a phantasmagorical story from Cornish auteur Mark Jenkin, starring George MacKay and Callum Turner. It’s a mood piece for anyone who likes their cinema atmospheric and a little eerie. Jenkin’s handmade, textural approach to celluloid – also celebrated in this year’s dedicated MIFF retrospective of his work – has made him one of British cinema’s most distinctive stylists, and this looks set to be no exception.

Kim Novak’s Vertigo

Film buffs shouldn’t miss Kim Novak’s Vertigo, in which documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe sits down with the now-93-year-old star for an intimate reckoning with her career, her reputation and the Hitchcock classic that made her famous – and, some would argue, overshadowed her.

Nino

Already decorated with a César before its release, Nino – Pauline Loquès’s first feature – offers a gentle reworking of Agnes Varda’s Cléo from 5 to 7, trailing a young man through Paris across a hazy, unmoored weekend that begins with a cancer diagnosis. Théodore Pellerin anchors the film with a restrained and exposed performance that won him the Louis Roederer Rising Star Award at Cannes Critics Week.

MIFF 2026 runs August 6–23 at cinemas across Melbourne and regional Victoria. MIFF members get first access to tickets from 8pm on July 9; general sale is now open. Head to miff.com.au to book. If you're unable to make it to the festival, you can stream a selection of titles online.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Armani Beauty.