Florence Pugh’s antiheroine saves the day.
‘Thunderbolts*’
A band of miscreants led by Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) embarks on a mission to save the world in this antihero action flick directed by Jake Schreier.
From our review:
For “Thunderbolts*,” Marvel has thrown so much stuff into its new branding event — an enigmatic asterisk, a guinea pig, a comic villain, a depressed superhero, nepo babies, veterans of David Simon’s “The Wire” — that some of it was bound to stick. The results are fitfully amusing, sometimes touching and resolutely formulaic.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A passable film in the shadow of tragedy.
‘Rust’
This period western directed by Joel Souza reaches theaters four years after the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, was killed when the gun that Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with discharged a real bullet.
From our review:
The images are nicely composed and dramatically lighted, with bright, sometimes moody big-sky exteriors that suggest freedom and many interior scenes pushed to claustrophobic darkness. … Because “Rust” looks as good as it does, every time riders on horseback appear against a florid sky, it isn’t the characters you think about — it’s Halyna Hutchins.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Another simple pleasure.
‘Another Simple Favor’
Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick reprise their roles as stylish frenemies in this sequel directed by Paul Feig.
From our review:
Neither of the “Simple Favor” films are really about the plot. … They’re about craving a bone-dry martini in the Italian sunshine while wearing a rhinestone-studded bikini, about embracing the maximal amount of frivolity by proxy that you can muster in a world where it’s easy to resent how serious, and frustrating, and impossible everything feels.
Watch on Prime Video. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
A gorgeous glance at girlhood.
‘Bonjour Tristesse’
Directed by Durga Chew-Bose, this coming-of-age drama follows Cécile (Lily McInerny) as she spends the summer in the French Riviera with her father, his summer fling and a family friend.
From our review:
Chew-Bose directs her camera to elegantly glance off bodies, fabrics and seawater. She individualizes her characters through habits and gestures, like the different ways each woman eats her morning apple. A work of image and mood, “Bonjour Tristesse” captures the mythopoetic wonder of an adolescent summer, and the effect is trancelike.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
Two losers in a winning film.
‘Vulcanizadora’
Joel Potrykus directs and stars in this idiosyncratic story of two middle-aged slackers on a hiking trip.
From our review:
Spasmodically funny, though hardly a comedy, “Vulcanizadora” is raw, moving and, briefly, horrifying. In the press notes, Potrykus admits to having worried that becoming a father would cause him to soften and “start telling stories of hope and inspiration.” That may be the funniest joke of all.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Endless bummer.
‘The Surfer’
Nicolas Cage stars as a surfer who gets more than he bargained for when he visits a beach for locals only.
From our review:
The surfer is increasingly addled by visions that come to him in harrowing split-second blackouts. The director Lorcan Finnegan drops other intimations of a time loop, reminiscent of Chris Marker’s “La Jetée.” But if this movie leaves Cage adrift, he doesn’t seem at all uncomfortable about it.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A visual feast starved for substance.
‘Electra’
Two couples flirt and fuss at an Italian country house in this drama directed by Hala Matar.
From our review:
“Electra” declares its affinity for visual (and sonic) swagger. (Matar makes music videos, as well as films for fashion houses.) The flair is palpable. What’s not convincingly nailed by the film’s moody bravado is the grief propelling its flirtatious and fraught quartet toward presumptive tragedy.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Revised history, in need of edits.
‘Lavender Men’
In this ahistoric romp directed by Lovell Holder, Taffeta (Roger Q. Mason), a theater stage manager, imagines Abraham Lincoln as a queer icon.
From our review:
Tonal whiplash — farcical comedy, heavy drama, even a musical number — undermines the film’s emotional stakes. You want a better story for Taffeta, and for Lincoln. … “Lavender Men” rewrites the past, but it could use edits in the present.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Neo-noir with colorful characters.
‘A Desert’
On a road trip through California, Alex (Kai Lennox), a washed-up photographer, meets the erratic Renny (Zachary Ray Sherman) in this thriller directed by Joshua Erkman.
From our review:
It’s a strange film, but it works, and feels grounded, because of its ensemble cast. Both Lennox and Sarah Lind, as Alex’s wife, Sam, are serious and convincing, and the musician David Yow, as an oddball private detective following in Alex’s wake, gives the movie some idiosyncratic flair. But the highlight is Sherman, whose menacing Renny is truly creepy and, when he really goes berserk, electrifying.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Average biopic, extraordinary subject.
‘Words of War’
This biopic directed by James Strong dramatizes the career of Anna Politkovskaya (Maxine Peake), a Russian journalist known for her undaunted criticism of Vladimir V. Putin.
From our review:
Some deviations are inevitable, but the expository dialogue — and the convention of having Russian characters speak English, with British accents — are distractions. Even so, Politkovskaya’s bravery, and Peake’s commitment to honoring it, is enough.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Compiled by Kellina Moore.
