The Wild (and wildly uneven) West.
‘Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1’
The first film in Kevin Costner’s projected four-film cycle collects various depictions of the Old West starting in the Civil War.
From our review:
“Horizon” is wildly uneven, at times exasperating and filled with distracting details that eat away at its period realism. Among other things, no one seems to know how to spit tobacco, and to judge from the women’s perfect updos and tidy eyebrows, everyone on this frontier has a stylist in tow. It’s easy to smirk at these and other miscues; Costner also has a weakness for speeches, like many filmmakers. But he has a feel for the western and the landscapes of the West.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Starring Lupita Nyong’o but also a VIP cat.
‘A Quiet Place: Day One’
In Michael Sarnoski’s prequel to the “A Quiet Place” franchise, Samira (Lupita Nyong’o) fights to survive an alien invasion in New York City alongside her cat, Frodo.
From our review:
Indeed, the action set pieces are fine but also perfunctory, as if they were a nonnegotiable item Sarnoski had to cross off a checklist. “Day One” is on much surer ground when dealing with the quiet that bookends the storms. And it is at its very best whenever Nyong’o’s face fills the screen, like the postapocalyptic heroine of a silent movie. What she can do with relatively little is simply astonishing, and you absolutely believe in both Samira’s despair and her determination.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Great performances, meh drama.
‘Daddio’
This drama captures the conversations between a cabdriver, Clark (Sean Penn), and the passenger he calls Girlie (Dakota Johnson).
From our review:
Handicapped by more than a terrible title, Christy Hall’s “Daddio,” set almost entirely inside a New York City taxicab, tries too hard and lasts too long. A synthetic encounter between a gabby cabby and his self-possessed female passenger, the movie is a claustrophobic two-hander oxygenated in part by Phedon Papamichael’s sleekly gorgeous cinematography. The star power of its leads, Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson, doesn’t hurt either.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Two’s company, three’s a crowded rom-com.
‘A Family Affair’
Joey King stars as Zara, a personal assistant who tries to sabotage a new relationship blooming between her boss (Zac Efron) and her mom (Nicole Kidman).
From our review:
King’s character has three modes: peeved, indignant and grossed out. You could almost call the movie “The Longest Eye Roll.” … But every now and then you wonder whether “A Family Affair,” directed by Richard LaGravenese in a mode that vaguely recalls the work of Nancy Meyers, might have been more compelling as, instead of a rom-com, a drama about an entitled, manipulative daughter who almost ruins the lives of those around her.
Watch on Netflix. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
A slow-moving car crash (in a good way).
‘Last Summer’
After her husband goes away on a business trip, Anne (Léa Drucker) begins an affair with her stepson, Théo (Samuel Kircher), in this sticky drama by Catherine Breillat.
From our review:
“Last Summer” is complex, tricky, at times very uncomfortable and thoroughly engrossing. Part of what makes the movie enthralling, at least in its first squirmy half, is the spectacle of watching a character rush into a morally abject, altogether questionable and seemingly obvious disaster; it’s like watching a slow-moving car crash.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Gothic vampires never get old.
‘The Vourdalak’
In this throwback vampire flick directed by Adrien Beau, a French nobleman is stranded in the Eastern European countryside with a strange family and its even stranger leader, Gorcha.
From our review:
Washed in a mood of misery and unease, this bizarre debut feature gains heft from David Chizallet’s often lovely photography and a sound design that prioritizes slurping and chomping. The actors are above reproach; but the movie’s star is inarguably the cadaverous marionette, voiced by Beau, that plays Gorcha. Its creepily insinuating presence — and hilarious involvement in a cringe-inducing sex scene — cements “The Vourdalak” as an endearing oddity. Surrender to its vintage vibe, and its emotional kick may surprise you.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Oedipus without the complex.
‘Music’
Directed by Angela Schanele, this experimental drama is a loose retelling of the Oedipus myth with a young man named Jon (Aliocha Schneider) in the role of the Sophocles hero.
From our review:
“Music” follows “I Was at Home, but …” (2020), Schanelec’s similarly mysterious riff on “Hamlet,” but there’s a crucial difference separating this new film from not just the previous one, but possibly all of Schanelec’s earlier work. We eventually discover who Jon’s parents are, but the film’s most significant revision of the original story takes mercy on Jon. He is never told the truth, and this blissful, productive ignorance pervades the second, radiant half of the film, which is set in Berlin, where Jon’s musical gifts are foregrounded.
In theaters. Read the full review.
The execution of a Nazi.
‘June Zero’
This historical drama weaves together three stories leading up to and following the execution of the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who had been smuggled by Israeli agents from Buenos Aires to Jerusalem.
From our review:
Jake Paltrow’s film, which premiered at festivals in 2022, might sound like an exercise in hagiography: Drawing on actual accounts, it’s framed by the tale of David, a plucky Israeli teenager who finds himself involved in Eichmann’s fate. But the shifting story, written by Paltrow and Tom Shoval, complicates the act of commemoration and dwells on the moral quandaries and uncomfortable resonances that result from the events.
In theaters. Read the full review.
The miracle is fake; the movie’s magic is real.
‘Chronicles of a Wandering Saint’
In rural Argentina, this film follows Rita (Mónica Villa), a pious Catholic woman, as she attempts to stage a miracle.
From our review:
Directed by Tomás Gómez Bustillo, “Chronicles of a Wandering Saint” begins as a slow-moving scammer comedy. Halfway through, the film receives a jolt, and Rita’s drab surroundings take on an enchanted quality that places the film within the robust tradition of Latin American magical realism. … That miracles happen under the most banal circumstances is a bit of a cliché, but the film tackles this conceit with the kind of originality and intelligence that makes you forget there’s a blueprint in the first place.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Underlined by true tragedies.
‘Fancy Dance’
After Tawi goes missing from a reservation, her sister, Jax (Lily Gladstone), and her daughter Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson), search for her and grapple with her absence in this debut feature from Erica Tremblay.
From our review:
The ghost of Tawi, in other words, is a fixture from the start and hovers over the film. The empty space of her — we glimpse her only in photos and fliers — is intentional: This story about the search for a missing woman on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation of Oklahoma is not a mystery thriller, and the film is not meant to milk dramatic tension from her disappearance. Rather, Tawi’s case is all too common. … Tremblay’s film is not always graceful — the dialogue and acting can be stilted, and one hopes for a little more formal rigor — but it’s a strong debut.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Compiled by Kellina Moore.