The Last Picture Shows

The Last Picture Shows
Film poster
Directed byRustin Thompson
Written byRustin Thompson
Produced byRustin Thompson
CinematographyRustin Thompson
Edited byRustin Thompson
Production
company
Foghorn Features
Distributed byFoghorn Features
Release date
  • February 9, 2026 (2026-02-09) (SBIFF)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$300,000
Box office$56,793

The Last Picture Shows is a 2026 American documentary film about movie theaters in small west American towns, including abandoned theaters, ones that are struggling to survive, and ones that are doing well. Clips from Peter Bogdanovich's film The Last Picture Show (1971) are interspersed in the documentary. It is edited, shot, produced, written, and directed by Rustin Thompson. It premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on February 9, 2026.

Production

The film was shot during two lengthy road trips Thompson took in the summers of 2023 and 2024. He said, "In some cases, I reached out to the owners before I got to the towns, but a lot of times it was hard to get in touch, so I would just show up. I would walk in, and usually the owner was there serving concessions, and I just started talking to them and said, 'Hey, do you want to be in this film I'm making?' And right on the spot, they would say yes, and I'd do an interview, no hassles with corporations or PR people."

Additional cinematography was provided by Thompson's son, Nick Thompson, the director of the film Skagit.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 22 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.6/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100, based on four critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Donald Liebenson of RogerEbert.com gave the film three and a half out of four stars and wrote that it's "a cautionary tale and a love letter to an era before it becomes bygone." In a positive review, Glenn Kenny of The New York Times wrote, "[T]he movie's lyrical and elegiac tone makes it truly resonant." Leonard Maltin also gave it a positive review, writing, "The Last Picture Shows is a moving and poetic slice of Americana."

References

  1. 1 2 "Welcome to the Movies". Santa Barbara Independent. February 3, 2026. Retrieved August 7, 2026.
  2. ↑ "The Last Picture Shows (2026)". The Numbers. Retrieved November 9, 2026.
  3. ↑ "The Last Picture Shows". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 9, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Exclusive Trailer for The Last Picture Shows Takes a Road Trip Through American Movie Houses". The Film Stage. June 25, 2026. Retrieved August 7, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Seattle filmmaker's documentary finds hope in small-town movie theaters". The Seattle Times. July 6, 2026. Retrieved August 7, 2026.
  6. ↑ Hutchinson, Chase (2022-09-15). "Sex, Slugs, and the Supernatural". The Stranger. Retrieved 2026-08-27.
  7. ↑ Davidson, Douglas (2026-02-09). "Documentarian Rustin Thompson's "The Last Picture Shows" explores what's lost when local picturehouses disappear from communities. [SBIFF]". Elements of Madness. Retrieved 2026-08-27.
  8. ↑ "The Last Picture Shows". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  9. ↑ "The Last Picture Shows". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 17, 2026.
  10. ↑ "The Last Picture Shows". RogerEbert.com. August 7, 2026. Retrieved August 7, 2026.
  11. ↑ "'The Last Picture Shows' Review: Celebrating Old-School Movie Houses". The New York Times. August 6, 2026. Retrieved August 7, 2026.
  12. ↑ "The Last Picture Shows". Leonard Maltin. August 21, 2026. Retrieved August 23, 2026.