‘Sirat’
Desperate to find his missing daughter, a man and his son follow a group of ravers through the Moroccan Sahara even as the country enters a state of emergency in this thriller directed by Oliver Laxe.
From our review:
Yet while the film can be tough going, Laxe’s focus on existential dangers never seems like an intellectual assault or a nihilistic bleat but rather an assertion of life in its raw totality. He’s very adept at seducing and charming you, but it’s his insistence on asking so much of you as a viewer, including your indulgence for other people’s frailties — for their humanity — that makes this beguiling, flawed, at times bonkers movie so deeply moving.
In theaters. Read the full review.
‘Pillion’
Harry Melling stars as a bashful young man who falls for a handsome, dominating biker (Alexander Skarsgard) in this B.D.S.M. romance directed by Harry Lighton.
From our review:
Walking a line as delicate as shattered silk, “Pillion” deftly navigates between salacious and sweet, raunchy and romantic. Yet there’s an ache at the heart of this movie that dampens its humor and softens its explicitness, and Melling is marvelous at conveying the growing poignancy of subjection without affection.
In theaters. Read the full review.
‘The President’s Cake’
Set in 1990s Iraq, this drama directed by Hasan Hadi centers on a young girl scrambling to get the ingredients to make the cake for her school’s celebration of Saddam Hussein’s birthday.
From our review:
The director is not one to over-explicate details (while the opening titles imply the film is set in 1990, the curtain rises a bit later), and is keener on texture and setting than on story. At Cannes, the film won the Camera d’Or, the prize for best first feature. It’s a striking, mature debut.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A slasher trilogy drained of life.
‘The Strangers: Chapter 3’
The final entry in this reboot trilogy directed by Renny Harlin sees Maya (Madelaine Petsch) once again face off against masked killers.
From our review:
As in his other “Strangers” films, Harlin leans heavily into loud jump scares and other obvious slasher stuff, choices that might thrill “Strangers” stans but will numb anyone who wants horror to offer solicitude and fresh ideas. Flashbacks meant to explore the killers’ motivations have no bite.
In theaters. Read the full review.
‘Calle Málaga’
The life of a content widow (Carmen Maura) is turned upside-down when her daughter makes her sell her home and move to a senior living community in a neighboring town.
From our review:
The viewer might think, Ah, it’s going to be one of those films where the hero’s resistance softens as she meets a quirky collection of fellow residents. It is not. The Moroccan director Maryam Touzani and her husband, Nabil Ayouch (“The Blue Caftan”), who wrote the script with her, have something more delicate in mind.
In theaters. Read the full review.
This silly, scent-based saga starts to stink.
‘Dracula’
In this reimagining of the classic tale, the titular vampire (Caleb Landry Jones) uses a homemade fragrance to lure his victims.
From our review:
The latest take on “Dracula” proves one thing: All icons eventually get their own perfume. In the writer-director Luc Besson’s extravagantly silly — but not silly enough — twist on the timeless monster, Dracula (Caleb Landry Jones) is deliciously operatic: less villain, more virtuoso in love.
In theaters. Read the full review.
‘Jimpa’
In search of queer education and community, a nonbinary 16-year-old (Aud Mason-Hyde) pays a visit to their gay grandfather (John Lithgow) in this dramedy directed by Sophie Hyde.
From our review:
Cutesy details overflow in “Jimpa,” a diffuse drama that, like a caramel stroopwafel, slips from sweet into cloying. … If only the film didn’t ask the audience to invest in so very many subplots; the clutter ends up sucking the air out of all of them.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A drama across historical stages.
‘Kokuho’
This sprawling historical drama directed by Sang-il Lee follows Kikuo (Ryo Yoshizawa), the son of a Yakuza boss, who is taken in by a Kabuki actor.
From our review:
Instead of a mob saga, this is practically the complete opposite, a sweeping melodrama about a pair of Kabuki actors (Yoshizawa and Ryusei Yokohama) that, as it sprawls across decades, means to mimic the kind of parables that its thespians stage each night. … That conceit shines in a first half that is immersive, handsomely staged and buoyed by a beautiful score. But as the film stretches out, it loses some steam and overindulges into soapier territory and tone.
In theaters. Read the full review.
This spaghetti romance doesn’t stick.
‘Solo Mio’
After his fiancée leaves him at the altar, Matt Taylor (Kevin James) embarks on their honeymoon in Rome alone.
From our review:
“Solo Mio,” an earnest dramedy co-written and starring Kevin James (“The King of Queens”), has the distinct feel of a passion project from a comedian eager to prove himself as a serious actor.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Compiled by Kellina Moore.
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