In ‘Swan Song,’ a Ballet Company Confronts a Painful Legacy
Culture, Yesterday
The film follows a National Ballet of Canada production of “Swan Lake” as dancers and others deal with long-simmering issues of racism and sexism.
‘Only the River Flows’ Review: A Spiraling Murder Investigation
Weekend, July 25
In this Chinese police procedural, directed by Wei Shujun, solutions are murkier than they first appear.
‘Rhinegold’ Review: Rapping With a Rap Sheet
Weekend, July 25
Based on the life of an Iranian German drug dealer and rapper, Fatih Akin’s interminable drama feels uncomfortably partial to its violent subject.
‘The Fabulous Four’ Review: Beaches (and Lots of Mojitos)
Weekend, July 25
This raunchy comedy features Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Megan Mullally on a bachelorette weekend.
‘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.
‘Didi’ Review: 13 Going on Nerdy
Weekend, July 25
A vibrant coming-of-age story about an awkward teenager in California in 2008 is also a love letter to the director’s mother.
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Review: Nothing Ever Ends
Weekend, July 23
The wisecracking semi-hero is back, but now he’s part of a bigger universe.
The Stomach-Dropping, Heart-Tugging Appeal of Climbing Documentaries
Culture, July 19
“Skywalkers” and “Mountain Queen” are strong entries in a genre with great appeal to viewers who themselves might prefer to be sitting.
‘Find Me Falling’ Review: A Romance With an Edge
Weekend, July 19
Harry Connick Jr. stars as a cranky rocker who returns to Cyprus, the home of the love who inspired a signature hit.
‘Crumb Catcher’ Review: The Smother of Invention
Weekend, July 18
An obnoxious inventor wreaks havoc on an upstate honeymoon in Chris Skotchdopole’s tepid psychological thriller.
‘Widow Clicquot’ Review: Champagne Mami
Weekend, July 18
This muddled film, based on a true story, chronicles the origins of the French champagne house Veuve Clicquot.
‘Join or Die’ Review: Come Together
Weekend, July 18
This documentary about the work of Robert Putnam, who wrote “Bowling Alone,” argues that Americans can save democracy by becoming joiners.
‘Oddity’ Review: Twisted Sister
Weekend, July 18
A haunted house, a blind psychic and a suspicious death fuel this flawed yet fun supernatural thriller.
‘Hollywoodgate’ Review: Inside the Taliban
Weekend, July 18
In a frustrating documentary, the journalist Ibrahim Nash’at shows the Taliban after American troops left Afghanistan.
‘Crossing’ Review: Stories to Tell
Weekend, July 18
In Levan Akin’s fascinating drama, two strangers connect in Istanbul.
‘Twisters’ Review: When the Monster Is Real
Weekend, July 18
Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones lead a stand-alone sequel to the 1996 hit — and times sure have changed.
‘Great Absence’ Review: A Mystery of Disappearance
Weekend, July 18
A skillfully directed Japanese mystery dips into the strangeness of dementia for those who stand by and watch.
‘My Spy the Eternal City’ Review: An Explosive Roman Holiday
Weekend, July 17
The sequel stars a teenage Sophie (Chloe Coleman), who goes on a school trip to Italy with J.J. (Dave Bautista) as her burly chaperone.
From Scorsese With Love: A Tribute to Powell-Pressburger Movies
Culture, July 12
“Made in England” is an essay film about the artists whose passion and cinematography deeply influenced the American director.
‘Twice Colonized’ Review: Untangling the Personal and Political
Weekend, July 11
This documentary follows a renowned Inuit activist over seven years, making sense of the ways in which racism and impoverishment can abrade one’s sense of self.
‘Touch’ Review: An Old-School Tear-Jerker, With a Twist
Weekend, July 11
An Icelandic widower revisits London, the site of his first romance, in this film from Baltasar Kormakur.
‘Sorry/Not Sorry’ Review: Does Louis C.K. Get the Last Laugh?
Weekend, July 11
Cara Mones and Caroline Suh’s earnest and frustrating documentary, produced by The New York Times, has a bitter punchline.
‘Fly Me to the Moon’ Review: This NASA Rom-Com Stays Earthbound
Weekend, July 11
Greg Berlanti’s movie, starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum as only mildly mismatched lovers, is set against the backdrop of the Apollo 11 landing.
‘Dandelion’ Review: The Notes in Between
Weekend, July 11
KiKi Layne stars as a struggling musician who meets a rakish Scottish singer (Thomas Doherty) while on the road.
‘The Convert’ Review: The British Are Coming
Weekend, July 11
Guy Pearce plays a minister who arrives in New Zealand and finds his allegiances change in this antipodean western set in the 19th century.
‘Sing Sing’ Review: Divine Interventions
Weekend, July 11
A deep-tissue turn by Colman Domingo and a breakout performance by Clarence Maclin lift this moving drama about a prison theater program.
‘Longlegs’ Review: Daddy Danger
Weekend, July 11
Nicolas Cage plays the cheery evil entity behind multiple murders in this weakly plotted, strongly styled chiller.
‘Eno’ Review: Creativity, 52 Billion Billion Ways
Weekend, July 11
A new documentary about the groundbreaking artist Brian Eno breaks its own ground, too.
The Best Documentaries of 2024, So Far
Culture, July 5
“Spermworld,” “Onlookers” and “32 Sounds” are worth watching for the different ways they allow us to see the world.
‘Mother, Couch’ Review: The Family That Stays Together
Weekend, July 4
A stubborn matriarch played by Ellen Burstyn lodges in a furniture store and wages emotional warfare with her adult children.
‘The Imaginary’ Review: Off to Another World
Weekend, July 4
This poignant animated film casts the world of imaginary friends as an arena to reckon with emotional turmoil and loss of innocence.
‘Kill’ Review: The Title Says It All. Over and Over Again.
Weekend, July 4
What begins as a romantic rescue becomes a blood bath when bandits on a train attack and rob passengers and our Romeo cracks multiple heads in return.
‘MaXXXine’ Review: Fame Monster
Weekend, July 4
Mia Goth returns to Ti West’s horrorverse as an actress fleeing a mysterious stalker and a traumatic past.
‘Despicable Me 4’ Review: This Time They’re Superheroes
Weekend, July 3
The crew is back, but this time around they need to lie low. Sort of.
‘Space Cadet’ Review: Emma Roberts Shoots for the Stars
Weekend, July 3
In a lightweight comedy, the actress plays a bartender who dreams of becoming an astronaut. One problem: She has no qualifications for the job.
‘This Closeness’ Review: So Near, So Far Away
Weekend, July 3
An indie comedy set in an Airbnb leans into the ways we distance ourselves from one another.
‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ Review: It’s Busted
Weekend, July 2
Eddie Murphy struggles to revive the moribund action-comedy franchise.
‘A Family Affair’ Review: A Rom-Com With a Third Wheel
Weekend, June 27
When Zara (Joey King) realizes that her mom (Nicole Kidman) is dating her boss (Zac Efron), she tries to split them up.
‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ Review: Silent Beginnings
Culture, June 27
The chills are more effective than the thrills in this prequel to the “A Quiet Place” franchise.
‘Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1’ Review: The Beauty, and the Bloodshed
Weekend, June 27
In the first of a projected four-film cycle, Kevin Costner revisits the western genre and U.S. history in a big, busy drama.
‘Last Summer’ Review: A Shocking Affair to Remember
Weekend, June 27
Few directors get as deeply under the skin as Catherine Breillat, a longtime provocateur who tests the limits of what the world thinks women should do and say and be.
‘Confessions of a Good Samaritan’ Review: An Altruistic Story
Weekend, June 27
In Penny Lane’s newest film, she turns the camera on herself to document her experience donating a kidney to a stranger.
‘The Vourdalak’ Review: Blood Relations
Weekend, June 27
An endangered French aristocrat is stranded with a benighted rural family in this tragicomic fairy tale.
‘Music’ Review: Oedipus Rocks
Weekend, June 27
An ethereal, experimental new drama retells the story of the mythical Greek hero.
In ‘June Zero,’ There Are Many Ways to See the Past
Weekend, June 27
Jake Paltrow’s film braids three fictional stories around the 1962 execution of Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi official and war criminal.
‘Fancy Dance’ Review: The Search for a Sister
Weekend, June 27
This debut feature about a missing woman on an Oklahoma reservation is an imperfect but palpably emotional portrait of desperation and hard-won hope.
‘Daddio’ Review: Two for the Road
Weekend, June 27
Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson outclass a humdrum script as two people who talk — and talk — in a New York City taxicab.
‘Chronicles of a Wandering Saint’ Review: Are the Meek Blessed?
Weekend, June 27
It’s clear that Rita’s life in rural Argentina could use a bit of magic. But her willingness to bend the truth to achieve it heralds disaster.
‘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.