T/movie-reviews

‘In the Grey’ Review: Cavill and Gyllenhaal Bring the Ruckus
Movies, May 15

Guy Ritchie’s latest is a sleek, sun-drenched actioner in which morality is fuzzy but the fashion is sharp.

On Tangier Island, Documenting Rising Seas and a Devout Community
Movies, May 15

“Been Here Stay Here” examines the complicated Chesapeake Bay dynamic when many residents don’t believe in man-made climate change.

‘Is God Is’ Review: The Fires This Time
Movies, May 14

Kara Young and Mallori Johnson play twins bent on revenge in the playwright Aleshea Harris’s powerhouse film debut.

‘Obsession’ Review: I Love You to Death
Movies, May 14

Passion becomes possession in Curry Barker’s supernatural, be-careful-what-you-wish-for horror movie.

‘Magic Hour’ Review: Grief Encounters
Movies, May 14

Katie Aselton’s melodrama follows a woman in the California desert who is reeling after a mysterious marriage conflict.

‘Life Hack’ Review: A Heist That Never Leaves the Screen
Movies, May 14

A group of teenagers seem to be targeting a cryptocurrency billionaire out of boredom, but they have a more sympathetic motive in this hacker film.

‘Decorado’ Review: Cute Mice Meet Cold Orwellian Despair
Movies, May 14

This surreal satire blends anthropomorphic charm with existential dread to critique capitalism, though its meta-commentary leaves some haunting questions frustratingly unanswered.

‘Agatha’s Almanac’ Review: Living Off the Land
Movies, May 14

Over six years, a filmmaker captured her aunt’s largely self-sufficient lifestyle and eccentricities on a 54-acre farm in Canada.

‘The Wizard of the Kremlin’ Review: The New Rasputin
Movies, May 14

Paul Dano and Jude Law star in a movie about the rise of Vladimir Putin and a fictional version of his right-hand man.

‘The A List’ Review: The Diaspora, Described
Movies, May 13

This documentary spotlights the individual histories and struggles of 15 figures from all walks of life, connected by their inclusion in the Asian and Pacific diasporas.

In ‘The Python Hunt,’ a Real Competition as Riveting as Fiction
Movies, May 8

The Florida Python Challenge brings out a fascinating cast of characters, all captured by the director Xander Robin’s camera.

‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ Review: Their Octopus Teacher
Movies, May 7

Sally Field and Lewis Pullman get help from an eight-tentacled friend in this bland adaptation of a hit novel.

‘Blue Film’ Review: The Sex Is Expensive. The Talk Is Priceless.
Movies, May 7

An older man pays a camboy $50,000 for a night that goes to difficult, existential places in this breakout feature from Elliot Tuttle.

‘Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft’ Review: 3-D Is What She Was Made For
Movies, May 7

The pop superstar teamed up with James Cameron to create a concert movie that, playing with shiny camera technology, reinvigorates the concert experience.

‘Silent Friend’ Review: What a Ginkgo Can Teach Us
Movies, May 7

Starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Léa Seydoux, this cerebral drama explores the mysteries of plant and human connection.

‘Mortal Kombat II’ Review: Eye-Popping Pyrotechnics
Movies, May 7

The movie, directed by Simon McQuoid and based on the cult video game, unleashes another gruesome fighter tournament to determine the fate of the universe.

‘The Sheep Detectives’ Review: A Murder Most Fleecy
Movies, May 7

A flock of sheep and Hugh Jackman star in a delightful Agatha Christie-style mystery set in an English village.

In ‘Our Land,’ an Eminent Filmmaker Turns Her Camera on a Killing
Movies, May 1

Technology, history and human lives intersect in Lucrecia Martel’s examination of the death of an Indigenous leader in Argentina.

‘Swapped’ Review: It’s Freaky Friday in the Animal Kingdom
Movies, May 1

Michael B. Jordan voices a woodland creature who swaps species with a bird in this middling animated movie on Netflix.

‘One Spoon of Chocolate’ Review: Taking a Hammer to White Supremacy
Movies, April 30

In RZA’s new movie, Unique (Shameik Moore) realizes Black residents in town are being hunted by white men. Despite the premise, the film lacks intensity.

‘Two Pianos’ Review: Striking an Odd Chord
Movies, April 30

The filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin directed this off-kilter drama about a French pianist and the life he left behind.

‘That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie’ Review: Apocalyptic Vacation
Movies, April 30

Based on a popular anime series, the film, subtitled “Tears of the Azure Sea,” is a satisfactory stand-alone fantasy adventure set on an island resort.

‘Hokum’ Review: You Can Check In, but You Might Not Check Out
Movies, April 30

Adam Scott is perfection as a damaged writer battling an ancient witch and his own demons in this hugely enjoyable chiller.

‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Review: A Rhapsody in Cerulean
Movies, April 30

In this sequel, Andy (Anne Hathaway) and Miranda (Meryl Streep) encounter a series of crises that set the stage for a larger, existential catastrophe.

‘Deep Water’ Review: Prepare for an Emergency Landing, With Fins
Movies, April 30

The action director Renny Harlin combines two different kinds of disaster movies, with lots of gory shark scenes.

‘Animal Farm’ Review: George Orwell, Lost in the Mud
Movies, April 30

A confusing adaptation of Orwell’s political novel seems blissfully detached from its source’s clarity.

‘Departures’ Review: Finding Levity Amid the Pain
Movies, April 29

This tragicomedy from Lloyd Eyre-Morgan and Neil Ely balances a mordantly funny deconstruction of romance with the harsher realities of gay life.

Zeroing In on the Joy Leonard Bernstein Found in Music
Movies, April 24

“Bernstein’s Wall,” directed by Douglas Tirola, focuses on the composer and conductor’s belief that art can be an uplifting and uniting force.

‘Apex’ Review: Predator and Prey
Movies, April 23

Taron Egerton descends into full-tilt madness as a killer hunting Charlize Theron in this Netflix thriller set in southeastern Australia.

‘Two Women’ Review: An Erotic Protest Against Monogamy
Movies, April 23

A pair of neighbors start sleeping with local handymen in this featherweight sex comedy, set in Montreal.

‘Two Seasons, Two Strangers’ Review: Possibilities of a Blank Page
Movies, April 23

In this film of structural surprises, based on two works by the late manga artist Yoshiharu Tsuge, lives converge on the beach and in a wintry village.

‘Over Your Dead Body’ Review: Unholy Matrimony
Movies, April 23

Jason Segel and Samara Weaving star in this gory home-invasion comedy directed by one of the members of the Lonely Island, Jorma Taccone.

‘I Swear’ Review: Surviving and Thriving Against the Odds
Movies, April 23

The British actor Robert Aramayo rises above the clichés in a biographical drama about a man living with Tourette’s syndrome.

‘Omaha’ Review: Right Road, Wrong Destination
Movies, April 23

Great performances can’t quite save a delicate family road drama with a baffling ending.

‘Desert Warrior’ Review: An Extra-Lavish Epic From Saudi Arabia
Movies, April 23

An action-adventure film set in seventh-century Arabia features many fighting men, but the warrior of the title turns out to be the British-Saudi actress Aiysha Hart.

‘Fuze’ Review: Dishonor Among Thieves
Movies, April 23

A high-wattage cast led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Sam Worthington helps smooth this amiably absurd heist thriller.

‘Michael’ Review: A Jackson Biopic Leaves Too Much Unsaid
Movies, April 21

A biographical film produced by the estate of Michael Jackson flattens its subject to scrub his reputation.

‘Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net’ Review: How the Magic Happens
Weekend, July 25

This documentary chronicles the reboot and reopening in Las Vegas of the acrobatic show “O,” which shutdown during the pandemic.

‘Fire Through Dry Grass’ Review: Unsafe Space
Weekend, September 28

This enlightening, troubling documentary chronicles life (and death) among residents in a long-term care facility during the heights of the pandemic.

‘Broadway Rising’ Review: Surviving the Pandemic
Weekend, December 27

Stakeholders including Patti LuPone and Lynn Nottage share their real-time reactions to New York theater’s shutdown and reopening in Amy Rice’s documentary.

‘Bad Axe’ Review: A Pandemic Family Portrait
Weekend, November 17

The filmmaker David Siev chronicles his family’s struggle to keep their Michigan restaurant afloat through the pandemic in this hermetic documentary.