The real star is the camerawork.
‘The Fishing Place’
This World War II drama directed by Rob Tregenza follows Anna (Ellen Dorrit Petersen), who is charged by a Nazi officer to spy on a priest.
From our review:
The most intriguing figure in “The Fishing Place” is, in a manner of speaking, Tregenza, who throughout the film continuously draws attention to his camerawork, as he plays with the palette and different registers of realism, mixing in naturalistic scenes with more stylized ones that border on the hieroglyphic. His touch is evident right from the beginning with an eerie image of what looks like a ghost fishing boat adrift on the water amid tendrils of sea fog.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A drama that plays like folk horror.
‘Armand’
After her 6-year-old son does a disturbing thing to a classmate, Elisabeth (Renate Reinsve) must navigate a series of tense meetings at his school in this claustrophobic drama written and directed by Halfdan Ullmann Tondel.
From our review:
“Armand” feels mostly like an interesting formal exercise: an attempt to meld realism and surrealism in the most nondescript of places, but in a way that evokes an ancient terror. It’s just a little too easy to see the way the story’s pieces slot together to create that narrative, too tedious to hear people say things we expect them to say. And there’s too little insight to make it all worthwhile.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Beauty is the beast.
‘Parthenope’
This dreamy drama directed by Paolo Sorrentino follows Parthenope (Celeste Dalla Porta), a young woman who is both helped and hindered by her beauty.
From our review:
This is Sorrentino’s first movie in which the main character is a woman, and because he’s more interested in deifying Parthenope than he is in humanizing her, the portrait is inherently limited — and frequently dull. The opulence on display, coupled with the film’s languid visual style, can feel anesthetizing.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A pregnancy comedy that doesn’t deliver.
‘Kinda Pregnant’
In a fit of jealousy spurred by her best friend’s pregnancy announcement, Lainy (Amy Schumer) fakes her own pregnancy — and meets her dream guy in the middle of the ruse — in this comedy directed by Tyler Spindel.
From our review:
Most egregiously, the world of “Kinda Pregnant” is filled with dopey men and despairing women whose torments, parental or otherwise, make for a land mine of comedy duds. Will Forte, playing a deus ex man-child, does manage to pull off a few funny lines and some real chemistry with Schumer. But this is a movie less interested in relationships than in the sundry items, from a balloon to a rotisserie chicken, that Lainy can stuff under her shirt to fake a baby bump.
Watch on Netflix. Read the full review.
Sheep herders lock horns.
‘Bring Them Down’
Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan star in this grim drama written and directed by Christopher Andrews about two sheep herding families whose rivalry turns bloody.
From our review:
This portrait of already wounded people who can’t stop inflicting pain on themselves and each other has a great deal of integrity. But if you’re seeking ennobling sentiment, you’ll do well to look elsewhere.
In theaters. Read the full review.
It’s a bad date.
‘Heart Eyes’
On Valentine’s Day, a masked killer hunts down happy couples in this genre mash-up directed by Josh Ruben and starring Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding.
From our review:
It’s hard to discern who the film is for when it feels as if it’s been passed around genre writing classes in search of an identity. It’s Valentine’s Day-themed, but the rom-com crowd probably won’t last long with a monster who gruesomely plunges machetes into bodies. Horror fans have seen the film’s many slasher conventions employed before with far more novelty and purpose. The comedy is Nebraska: broad and flat.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Worse than a bad heartbreak.
‘Love Hurts’
A former hit man (Ke Huy Quan) gets pulled back into a world of violence on Valentine’s Day when he reunites with his old partner-in-crime (Ariana DeBose).
From our review:
“Love Hurts” is the feature directorial debut of Jonathan Eusebio, who has amassed an eye-popping list of stunt- and fight-coordinating credits (“John Wick,” “The Matrix Resurrections”). In effect, he plays that role here as well, because there is little else worth directing: The plot is a barely-there thread of random incidents designed to string together action scenes in which Quan, banishing any thoughts of his own past playing Data from “The Goonies,” demonstrates an impressive facility for martial arts.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Compiled by Kellina Moore.
