OPENING
Absolution (R) Liam Neeson stars in this thriller as a gangster trying to reconcile with his estranged children. Also with Ron Perlman, Frankie Shaw, Daniel Diemer, and Javier Molina. (Opens Friday)
Amaran (NR) This Tamil-language war film stars Sivakarthikeyan as a real-life army major who takes part in an operation in the Kashmir in 2014. Also with Sai Pallavi, Bhuvan Arora, Rahul Bose, Lallu, Shreekumar, and Shyam Mohan. (Opens Friday)
Aftermath (NR) This thriller stars Dylan Sprouse as a PTSD-suffering war veteran who is caught up in a terrorist plot in Boston. Also with Mason Gooding, Dichen Lachman, Megan Stott, and Kevin Chapman. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Bagheera (NR) Sri Murali stars in this Indian action film. Also with Rukmini Vasanth, Prakash Raj, Rangayana Raghu, Garuda Ram, and Achyuth Kumar. (Opens Friday)
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (NR) The latest in the horror-comedy series stars Kartik Aaryan, Vidya Balan, Madhuri Dixit, Triptii Dimri, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, Ashwini Kalsekar, Rajesh Sharma, and Vijay Raaz. (Opens Friday)
Bloody Beggar (NR) Kavin stars in this Indian action-comedy as a homeless man whose life takes an unexpected turn. Also with Sunil Sukhada, Anarkali Nazar, Redin Kingsley, Merin Philip, and Tanuja Madhurapantula. (Opens Friday)
Brother (NR) Tied to the Diwali holiday, this dramedy stars Jayam Ravi, Priyanka Moha, Bhumika Chawla, Saranya Ponvannan, Seetha, Achyuth Kumar, Rao Ramesh, and Yogi Babu. (Opens Friday)
The Carpenter (NR) This Christian film is about an orphan (Kameron Krebs) who becomes an apprentice carpenter to Jesus Christ (Jeff Dickamore). Also with Kaulin Krebs, Daz Crawford, Andre Jacobs, Aurora Florence, and Blanca Simone Mannie. (Opens Friday)
Cellar Door (R) This horror film stars Scott Speedman and Jordana Brewster as a married couple who are given a house for free on condition that they never open the cellar door. Also with Katie O’Grady, Chris Conner, Randy Sean Schulman, and Laurence Fishburne. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Chasing Chasing Amy (NR) Sav Rodgers’ documentary examines the problematic legacy of Kevin Smith’s 1997 comedy. Starring Kevin Smith, Guinevere Turner, and Joey Lauren Adams. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
Director’s Cut (R) This horror movie is about a punk rock band shooting their first music video in a secluded forest, unaware that their director (Louis Lombardi) is a serial killer. Also with Lucy Hart, Danielle Kotch, Tyler Ivey, Haley Cassidy, and Darrin Hickok. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Emilia Pérez (R) Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical stars Zoe Saldaña as a lawyer who must help a drug cartel boss (Karla Sofía Gascón) disappear and undergo gender transition. Also with Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Mark Ivanir, and Edgar Ramírez. (Opens Friday)
The Eye of the Salamander (NR) Nick Karner stars in this science fiction-comedy as an archeology professor who digs up the wrong Aztec artifact. Also with Seth Honzik. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Godless (R) This drama is about a Catholic governor (Ana Ortiz) who is excommunicated by her church for her liberal politics. Also with Harry Lennix, Patrick Breen, Dan Grimaldi, Thomas G. Waites, Clifton Dunn, and Sarah Wharton. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
The Gutter (NR) Shameik Moore stars in this comedy as a bowling-alley employee who shows unexpected talent as a bowler. Also with Paul Reiser, Jay Ellis, D’Arcy Carden, Nelson Franklin, Kim Fields, and Susan Sarandon. (Opens Friday at Alamo Drafthouse Denton)
Here (PG-13) Robert Zemeckis’ drama stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright as a couple who live in the same house over decades of life. Also with Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, Gwilym Lee, Ophelia Lovibond, Jemima Rooper, Lauren McQueen, and Michelle Dockery. (Opens Friday)
Hitpig (PG) Based on Berkeley Breathed’s children’s book, this animated movie is about a bounty hunter (voiced by Jason Sudeikis) who travels the world trying to hunt down an escaped elephant (voiced by Lilly Singh). Additional voices by Rainn Wilson, RuPaul, Hannah Gadsby, Charlie Adler, Anitta, Flavor Flav, and Andy Serkis. (Opens Friday)
Juror #2 (PG-13) Clint Eastwood’s latest thriller stars Nicholas Hoult as a man who serves on the jury of a high-profile murder trial. Also with Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Zoey Deutch, Chris Messina, Leslie Bibb, Francesca Eastwood, Gabriel Basso, Amy Aquino, and Kiefer Sutherland. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
KA (NR) Kiran Abbavaram stars in this Telugu-language action thriller as a man who wakes up in police custody with no memory of his previous life. Also with Redin Kingsley, Nayan Sarika, Achyuth Kumar, and Tanvi Raam. (Opens Friday)
Lost on a Mountain in Maine (PG) This survival yarn follows all the most predictable story beats of movies like it before. Based on the real-life story of a 12-year-old boy who lived for nine days on Mount Katahdin during a freak storm in the summer of 1939, this stars Luke David Blumm as the boy who keeps himself alive by eating lichens and mushrooms while search parties scour the mountain face. Paul Sparks nicely soft-pedals the role of the boy’s father, who pushes his sons to be tough men and inadvertently puts one of them in this position. Unfortunately, every move this film makes is painfully obvious, and the intercut footage of the real-life people interviewed decades afterwards really doesn’t help. Also with Caitlin FitzGerald, Ethan Slater, Griffin Wallace Henkel, and Bates Wilder. (Opens Friday)
Lucky Baskhar (NR) This Indian crime thriller set in the 1980s stars Dulquer Salmaan as a banker who must save himself from a criminal plot. Also with Meenakshi Chaudhary, Ramki, Hyper Aadi, Surya Sreenivas, and Sachin Khedekar. (Opens Friday)
72 Hours (NR) Cam Gigandet and Sam Trammell star as estranged brothers who must work together to save their family from a criminal gang. Also with Nicky Whelan, Laneya Grace, Pierson Fode, Jessica Serfaty, and Jana Kramer. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Singham Again (NR) The sequel to Singham Returns stars Ajay Devgn as a cop whose wife (Kareena Kapoor Khan) is kidnapped by a terrorist (Arjun Kapoor). Also with Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff, Jackie Shroff, Dayanand Shetty, and Salman Khan. (Opens Friday)
NOW PLAYING
All Will Be Revealed (NR) This German comedy stars Harald Schrott as a man who returns to his hometown looking for his long-lost love. Also with Hanns Zischler, Daniela Golpashin, Erika Marozsán, and Jeremy Miliker.
The Apprentice (R) Neither the movie that Trump-lovers or Trump-haters will want, this isn’t much of anything at all. Sebastian Stan portrays young Donald Trump in the 1970s through the 1980s as he’s mentored in the way of public relations by cobra-like lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). The central relationship isn’t colored in well enough to shed much light on Trump and his continuing hold on one major political party and millions of voters. Maria Bakalova is inspired casting as Ivana Trump, but she flits in and out of the proceedings with so little logic that it makes little impact when Donald rapes her. Director Ali Abbasi (Border) captures the decadent atmosphere of 1980s New York well enough, but the movie struggles so much to be evenhanded that it winds up with no point of view, only concepts of a plan. Also with Martin Donovan, Catherine McNally, Charlie Carrick, and Mark Rendall.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (PG-13) Oddly comforting. Among many reprising their roles from Tim Burton’s 1988 film, Winona Ryder plays the grown-up Lydia Deetz who’s back in Connecticut to go through her deceased father’s things when her teenage daughter (Jenna Ortega) gets dragged into the afterlife, and Lydia has to enlist Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) to get her back. There are even more subplots that cause this movie to run all over the place, although tight plotting was never what we went to Burton’s movies for. None of the actors in this heavyweight cast seem to quite bring their best, either, but the macabre comedy bits hit at an agreeable pace, especially with the waiting room for dead people and a flashback that parodies Mario Bava’s 1960s horror movies. It’s enough to make this return trip to Burton’s old stomping grounds worth taking. Also with Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, Santiago Cabrera, Amy Nuttall, Danny DeVito, and Willem Dafoe.
Behuli From Meghauli (NR) This Nepalese comedy stars Bijay Baral as a father looking for a husband for his daughter. Also with Nischal Basnet, Basundhara Bhusal, Siru Bista, Amir Gautam, and Abhishek Khadka.
Conclave (PG) They really should make more movies about electing a pope. Ralph Fiennes portrays a Catholic cardinal who’s tasked with running the election for a new pontiff after the previous one passes away. Director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) revels in the little details about this infrequent occasion, and the script pretty faithfully follows Robert Harris’ novel with its artfully placed bombshells. The supporting characters are nicely acted by the supporting cast, and Fiennes is in excellent form as a man full of private religious doubts while performing this administrative duty. The setting is so faithfully re-created that you’ll swear the filmmakers snuck the actors and cameras into the Vatican itself. This is the year’s best Christian film, and its best political thriller. Also with Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati, Sergio Castellitto, Brían F. O’Byrne, Jacek Koman, Carlos Diehz, Merab Ninidze, and Isabella Rossellini.
Deadpool & Wolverine (R) The partnership of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman has been teased for so long, it would have been easy for the thing to disappoint. Fortunately, Jackman’s eternally grumpy Wolverine and Reynolds’ Deadpool with his psychological need to make a joke out of everything is comedy gold. Deadpool has to save his world from annihilation, so he teams up with the worst version of Wolverine and goes to The Void, a funny dystopia where superheroes past are banished because their storylines never got resolved. It may not add up to great art, but it is very funny. Also with Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Karan Soni, Matthew Macfadyen, Leslie Uggams, Brianna Hildebrand, Dafne Keen, Tyler Mane, Ray Park, Aaron Stanford, Henry Cavill, Jon Favreau, Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes, Channing Tatum, and Chris Evans. Voices by Stefan Kapicic, Nathan Fillion, Blake Lively, and Matthew McConaughey.
Exhibiting Forgiveness (R) André Holland delivers one of the performances of the year as a successful Black artist who has to reconcile with his abusive father (John Earl Jelks) after the old man resurfaces in his life having stopped using crack and found Jesus Christ. First-time filmmaker Titus Kaphar displays an unfussy but terrific sense of composition to create some memorable visuals, and he also painted the startlingly lifelike canvases of Black urban life that the main character creates. The issues here aren’t the most original ones, but the acting by Holland and Jelks fleshes out the complications and unhealed scars in this relationship. This really isn’t more than a Tyler Perry movie, but the filmmaker is actually good at his job, and that makes all the difference. Also with Andra Day, Ian Foreman, Daniel Michael Barriere, Matthew Elam, Jamie Ray Newman, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
For the One (NR) Noah Taher’s concert documentary captures a performance by Christian musicians Brandon Lake and Phil Wickham.
My Hero Academia: You’re Next (PG-13) This one’s only for the fans of the anime series, I’m afraid. After All Might (voiced by Kenta Miyake in the Japanese version and Christopher Sabat in the English version) gives away his power, a fascist demagogue calling himself Dark Might (also voiced by Miyake and Sabat) rises up to take his place. He’s the front for a European crime family, so the heroes have to band together to stop him. Newcomers to the series will be lost, and the flashbacks that give backstory to the characters aren’t engaging enough to make the movie stand on its own. Also with Mamoru Miyano, Mauricio Ortiz-Segura, Meru Nukumi, Kaylii Mills, Yȗki Kaji, and Daiki Yamashita.
Piece by Piece (PG) One of the year’s best documentaries chronicles the life and career of Pharrell Williams (who voices himself). Instead of talking heads footage, the movie is rendered in animation that turns Pharrell and all the music stars he has worked with into Lego figures. This not only gives the film a different look, but also lends itself to bits of non-realistic fantasy, such as when Pharrell’s beats are represented by stacks of glowing 1×1 blocks that move along with the rhythm. Director Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom) brings an element of whimsy to this documentary that makes it moving when Pharrell looks back at all the lessons he has learned from his years in music. Additional voices by Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Timbaland, N.O.R.E., Pusha T, Daft Punk, and Jay-Z.
Reagan (PG-13) Weird, very weird. This biography of the movie star-turned-40th president of the United States applies a ton of CGI de-aging to Dennis Quaid and to Penelope Ann Miller as Nancy Reagan. That’s not nearly as bizarre as the framing story of a retired KGB agent (Jon Voight) in the present day telling the story of Reagan’s ascent to power. In addition to whitewashing the president’s record on civil rights, AIDS, and propping up dictatorships abroad, the movie also casts hideous studio boss Jack Warner (Kevin Dillon) as a hero of anti-communism. Other than about a thousand dead spots, this movie’s cavalier approach to history is a ton of fun. Also with Mena Suvari, C. Thomas Howell, Justin Chatwin, Amanda Righetti, Xander Berkeley, Lesley-Anne Down, Jennifer O’Neill, Robert Davi, Mark Moses, Nick Searcy, Scott Stapp, and Kevin Sorbo.
Saturday Night (R) Jason Reitman too often forgets the punchline in this backstage drama about the chaos leading up to the first episode of Saturday Night Live. Gabriel LaBelle portrays Lorne Michaels as he tries to wrangle an unruly cast and crew while convincing TV executives that his idea about a live comedy show is going to work. Unfortunately, Reitman and Gil Kenan’s script cuts off after the first sketch of the first episode, so we don’t get the glorious moments that made the program into such a hit. Instead, the movie darts from one subplot to another without giving us anything to hold on to. Some of the young cast do worthy impressions of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players, but this movie is considerably less illuminating than the myriad oral and written histories about the comedy institution. Also with Rachel Sennott, Willem Dafoe, Cooper Hoffman, Cory Michael Smith, Matt Wood, Dylan O’Brien, Ella Hunt, Lamorne Morris, Emily Fairn, Kim Matula, Jon Batiste, Paul Rust, Nicolas Braun, Andrew Barth Feldman, Nicholas Podany, Tommy Dewey, Matthew Rhys, Tracy Letts, Finn Wolfhard, Kaia Gerber, and J.K. Simmons.
Smile 2 (R) Setting this in the world of pop music does all sorts of good things for the sequel to the 2022 horror hit. Naomi Scott portrays a Grammy-winning music star who witnesses her drug dealer (Lukas Gage) fall victim to the smile curse and then starts experiencing terrifying hallucinations herself. Scott is credible as a pop star, and the setup allows writer-director Parker Finn to film some dance numbers and make a heroine who’s more isolated because of her fame than the one in the original film. For all that, the movie falls apart in the last 20 minutes or so, as basic storytelling logic goes out the window and Finn seems uninterested in the issues that he raises with his setup. This is better than the original movie, but it could have been a great horror film. Also with Rosemarie DeWitt, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson, Peter Jacobson, Iván Carlo, Raúl Castillo, Kyle Gallner, and Drew Barrymore.
Speak No Evil (R) Fine, as long as you’re not expecting it to stick to the 2022 Danish film that it’s based on. This remake is about an American expat family in London who visit a British family in the countryside only to realize that they’re very wrong. James McAvoy is pretty well the right shade of uncomfortable as the British father who bullies both his guests and his 10-year-old mute son (Dan Hough) — his performance generates the queasy feeling that you get when you see a Karen berating a service employee, when you don’t know if intervening might make the situation worse. Still, more interesting stuff in this remake comes with the treatment of the ineffectual American father (Scoot McNairy), who blows two good chances of killing people threatening his family and is full of repressed anger over his family situation. It all makes for a flawed but effective piece of entertainment. Also with Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Motaz Malhees, and Kris Hitchen.
The Substance (R) The culmination of Demi Moore’s career. She stars as an aging Hollywood star who receives word of a black-market beauty product and uses it to transform into a younger, hotter self (Margaret Qualley). French writer-director Coralie Fargeat (Revenge) keeps both actresses naked for much of the time as a way of illustrating that while our protagonist has a physique that many 60-year-olds would envy, she can’t resist wanting to stay in the younger body. Qualley, who usually plays self-possessed types, comes memorably unhinged as she takes out her rage on her older alter ego, and Moore also seems to be tapping into a deep well of anger as she turns into a reclusive monster full of anger at herself and the culture that leaves her behind. It all plays like David Cronenberg meets The Picture of Dorian Gray from a female perspective, and that’s something we haven’t seen. Also with Dennis Quaid, Oscar Lesage, Hugo Diego Garcia, and Joseph Balderrama.
Terrifier 3 (NR) Not near as good as the last movie, I’m afraid. Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) returns for this Christmas-themed installment to wreak havoc once again on the traumatized heroine (Lauren LaVera). Unlike other horror movie series, this one works better the more the killer is onscreen. Unfortunately, this film spends too much time with the heroine who’s hallucinating about her murdered friends and randomly lashing out at the people around her. Art does kill a department store Santa Claus (Daniel Roebuck), but this movie sorely needed the wit of Terrifier 2. Also with Jason Patric, Elliott Fullam, Antonella Rose, Samantha Scaffidi, Jon Abrahams, and Chris Jericho.
Transformers One (PG) The irreverent tone of this animated origin story is just about right for little kids. Too bad the writing isn’t sharp enough for the grown-ups. The story goes back to when Optimus Prime and Megatron (voiced by Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry) are menial labor robots on Cybertron who acquire the power to transform into vehicles just as they discover that their leader (voiced by Jon Hamm) is a fraud who’s actually working for their sworn enemies. Director Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) makes sure that the thing doesn’t drag and the whole story bears an uncanny resemblance to Lucifer’s rebellion against God, but the thing just isn’t funny or distinctive enough to stick in the mind. Additional voices by Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, James Remar, Jon Bailey, Steve Buscemi, and Laurence Fishburne.
Venom: The Last Dance (PG-13) As implied by the subtitle, this looks to be the last installment of the series with Tom Hardy, though a couple of spinoff possibilities present themselves. Now a fugitive from justice, his Eddie Brock tries out a typically half-baked plan to fly across the country to clear his name, only to get sidetracked. As long as he and Venom are on the screen, the film is reasonably entertaining, with Eddie running into an itinerant hippie family and pining for the life they lead, and also stopping in Las Vegas to mess with tourists and play the slots. The rest of the plot is a mess, unfortunately. First-time director Kelly Marcel loses the whole thread of the story in the climax at Area 51, and wastes a rather stacked supporting cast. It really is time for Hardy to get out of this series while he’s ahead. Also with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Alanna Ubach, Cristo Fernández, Hala Finley, Dash McCloud, Peggy Lu, Stephen Graham, and Andy Serkis.
We Live in Time (R) The acting is phenomenal in this overly complicated British weeper. Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh portray a couple over 10 years of their relationship as they meet, date, get married, have a kid, see her become a Michelin-starred chef, and die of ovarian cancer. The movie intentionally tells its story out of order for reasons that are unclear. It didn’t need to; the best parts of this movie are stand-alone set pieces, like a funny and harrowing scene where she gives birth in a gas-station bathroom, and when she represents Britain in the Bocuse d’Or competition. Still, you should see this film for the acting, as Garfield is excellent and Pugh delivers yet another great performance as someone who jeopardizes her health so her daughter can see her do something tremendous. The leads lift this above the dross of melodramas at the multiplex. Also with Lee Braithwaite, Grace Delaney, Aoife Hinds, Adam James, Niamh Cusack, and Douglas Hodge.
White Bird (PG-13) In this low-energy, Holocaust-themed spinoff of Wonder, the original film’s school bully (Bryce Gheisar) tries to hack it in a new school when his French Jewish grandmother (Helen Mirren) tells him the story of how her younger self (Ariella Glaser) was saved from the Nazis by a polio-crippled boy (Orlando Schwerdt) and his parents on a farm. Despite the talent on display here, the drama is about as washed-out as the movie’s color palette. The filmmakers’ mandate for making this story kid-friendly winds up defanging the genocide. This Holocaust drama doesn’t have the guts to offend, and so it’s indistinguishable from all the others. Also with Gillian Anderson, Olivia Ross, Ishai Golan, and Priya Ghotane.
The Wild Robot (PG) Not as good as the hype, but still good. Chris Sanders’ animated film is about a helper robot (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) that activates on an island devoid of humans and learns to communicate with the animals. The film is adapted from Peter Brown’s illustrated novel, and the animators do well to translate Brown’s simple drawings into a world of riotous colors and a robot that can change shape depending on the situation. The plot here has the robot having to take care of a baby gosling (voiced by Kit Connor), and on a story level, it doesn’t compare with either WALL-E or Big Hero 6 as a movie about a robot becoming more human by interacting with our world. Additional voices by Pedro Pascal, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Stephanie Hsu, and Bill Nighy.
Your Monster (R) Melissa Barrera is magnificent in this shambles of a movie as a Broadway actress/singer whose songwriter boyfriend (Edmund Donovan) breaks up with her while she’s undergoing cancer treatment. She moves back into her childhood home, where the monster who haunted her (Tommy Dewey) reappears and counsels her to stand up for herself, try out for the boyfriend’s show, and possibly murder him. First-time filmmaker Caroline Lindy doesn’t have the material to handle the implications of this story, but Barrera gives it everything no matter how silly the lines get. She also sings “A Song for You” and some original songs by The Lazours, who do a good job with their first time writing Broadway-style numbers. The movie needed to be either a lot darker or a lot lighter. Also with Meghann Fahy, Lana Young, Brandon Victor Dixon, Megan Masako Haley, Kasey Bella Suarez, and Kayla Foster.
NOW PLAYING IN DALLAS
Leap of Faith (PG) Nicholas Ma’s documentary interviews Christian leaders during a spiritual retreat in Grand Rapids.
Magpie (R) Daisy RIdley stars in this thriller as a mother whose marriage starts to disintegrate after her young daughter (Matilda Lutz) is cast in a movie alongside a beautiful star (Pippa Bennett-Warner). Also with Shazad Latif, Alistair Petrie, and Emmet Kirwan.
1 Million Followers (NR) This thriller stars Shelley Q. as a social media influencer whose invitation to a house party in Thailand takes a sinister turn. Also with Henry Ian Cusick, Evan Williams, Ryan Jamaal Swain, Jade Ma, Skye Ladell, Dylan Poyser, Bjorn Karlqvist, and Constanza Palavecino.
