‘Warfare’
Written and directed by Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza, this atypical war movie follows a platoon of Navy SEALs during a calamitous mission in Iraq.
From our review:
The performances in “Warfare” are uniformly persuasive and restrained, except when wounded men scream in pain, which they do: At least one dies, and others are hideously wounded. But there is no admirably staged bloodshed in “Warfare,” no award-worthy soliloquies. Instead, there is fighting and more fighting, explosions, smoke and chaos, and a deep, underlying seriousness that can feel rare in contemporary American movies.
In theaters. Read the full review.
More of a shrug than a gut punch.
‘The Amateur’
Rami Malek stars as Charlie, a C.I.A. cryptographer out for revenge after his wife is killed in this spy thriller directed by James Hawes.
From our review:
I get that “The Amateur” isn’t interested in Bond-style comedy, opting instead for dramatic beats befitting a bereaved husband and the limits of revenge, I think. But this screenplay (written by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli) promises a lot from the start, and then delivers little to back it up. After a while, the narrow escapes and Charlie’s occasional tech-aided gotchas become repetitive.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A retelling we didn’t need.
‘The King of Kings’
This animated film directed by Jang Seong-ho tells the story of Jesus (Oscar Isaac) as narrated by Charles Dickens (Kenneth Branagh).
From our review:
My frustration stems from my feeling, merited or otherwise, that this movie is a grab for potential patrons’ pockets. It feels calibrated purely to capitalize on an audience who senses a moral obligation to purchase tickets for every single retelling of Jesus’s life. This impression was not dissuaded by the film’s post-resurrection exhortation, featuring a reel of cute little children saying how much they liked the movie and asking you to take out your phone and scan the QR code to buy a ticket for someone else to see the film.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Presidential firepower.
‘G20’
At the Group of 20 economic summit, U.S. President Danielle Sutton (Viola Davis) must fight off terrorists in this action flick directed by Patricia Riggen.
From our review:
The action spectacle “G20” offers up an absurd fantasy: What if the president of the United States were a gunslinging, martial-arts hero? “Air Force One” (1997) may be the ur-text of this shamelessly jingoistic subgenre, but Viola Davis’s President Danielle Sutton raises the bar on sheer brawniness.
Watch on Prime Video. Read the full review.
What if a killer used Airdrop?
‘Drop’
While on a first date at a fancy restaurant, Violet (Meghann Fahy) receives threatening messages on her phone in this thriller directed by Christopher Landon.
From our review:
Like a Jenga tower with half the pieces removed, Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach’s wobbly script grows more preposterous by the minute. … Which doesn’t mean that “Drop” isn’t fun: Park your left brain at the door and enjoy Ben Baudhuin’s snappy editing, Marc Spicer’s glowing, gliding images and the easy chemistry between the two leads.
In theaters. Read the full review.
On the open road, an intimate comedy.
‘Sacramento’
In this indie comedy directed by Michael Angarano, Rickey (Angarano) embarks on a road trip across California to scatter his dad’s ashes, tapping his sort-of-friend Glenn (Michael Cera) to accompany him.
From our review:
Angarano’s work stands capably in its own right; the central love-hate buddy dynamic is familiar, but it’s also imbued with a sweet and playful touch. Angarano is an anchor here, as charming as he is feckless. But it’s also a worthy showcase for Cera.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A teacher becomes a student of circumstance.
‘The Teacher’
This drama directed by Farah Nabulsi centers on Basem (Saleh Bakri), a Palestinian who teaches English at a school in the West Bank.
From our review:
In some ways, the movie suffers from an understandable impulse to streamline. Nabulsi uses Basem as a single fulcrum that she can pivot around as she highlights elements of an intractably complex geopolitical conflict. But a teacher-student bonding narrative, a legal procedural, a family tragedy, a romance and a kidnapping thriller are a lot to hang on one character.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A comedy of manners and manors.
‘The Uninvited’
A confused older woman accidentally crashes a glamorous dinner party, believing the house is her own.
From our review:
The showbiz strivers of “The Uninvited,” written and directed by Nadia Conners, seem to have been created for the express purpose of being mocked. This is one of those self-hating Hollywood pictures. What’s new is its title hook.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Compiled by Kellina Moore.
