‘Civil War’
Alex Garland’s “Civil War” is set in a near-future when the United States is at war with itself and something called the Western Forces, made up of Texas and California, is fighting the federal government.
From our review:
It’s mourning again in America, and it’s mesmerizingly, horribly gripping. Filled with bullets, consuming fires and terrific actors like Kirsten Dunst running for cover, the movie is a what-if nightmare stoked by memories of Jan. 6. As in what if the visions of some rioters had been realized, what if the nation was again broken by Civil War, what if the democratic experiment called America had come undone? If that sounds harrowing, you’re right.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
The rare reboot that gets it right.
‘Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead’
After the babysitter hired to watch them for the summer keels over, a 17-year-old slacker named Tanya (Simone Joy Jones) is forced to support her even lazier younger siblings.
From our review:
Don’t tell helicopter parents, but the gleefully transgressive flicks that entertained a generation of latchkey wildlings are coming back in style. Wade Allain-Marcus’s rollicking update of the 1991 cult favorite keeps the plot … and amps up the immoral humor. It’s a snappy, gutsy comedy about how kids are spoiled and ignorant, and yet the adult workplace is only passingly more mature.
In theaters. Read the full review.
‘In Flames’
In Pakistan, 20-something Mariam, her widowed mother, Fariha, and her younger brother are struggling when Uncle Nasir suddenly becomes very interested in the relatives he had been neglecting.
From our review:
As the women scramble to save their home, the walls close in on them, and that’s the point: “In Flames,” a confident feature debut written and directed by Zarrar Kahn, is one of several recent films from around the world that frame patriarchy as a nightmare. … When the film finally gives way to full horror, the pace picks up, and we see what the movie’s been doing all along.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Time travel courtesy of a few bops.
‘The Greatest Hits’
Since her boyfriend died in a tragic accident, any song Harriet (Lucy Boynton) hears attached to memories of him catapults her, quite literally, back to the moment in their relationship when that song was playing.
From our review:
“The Greatest Hits” proceeds slowly and repetitively, which doesn’t have to be a problem: The gentleness of the pace and storytelling gives the cast space to breathe and react to each other, to build relationships that feel reasonably authentic. Similarly, the music choices (which are all over the map both in genre and era) are fun and fresh, lacking the on-the-nose quality that a film with more bang-on choices might have provoked. But as it goes on, the movie begins to feel mired in its own high-concept conceit without space to develop it further.
Watch on Hulu. Read the full review.
A movie about sasquatches. Either you’re in or you’re not.
‘Sasquatch Sunset’
This tale of sasquatches follows a pack of four of the creatures through a wordless year of mating, childbirth, death and discovery.
From our review:
A sincere gift to Bigfoot believers or a surreal cinematic prank, “Sasquatch Sunset” mimes the familiar beats of the nature documentary. This may be a one-joke movie, but it’s an oddly endearing jest, the beasts’ resemblance to primates tweaking our empathy.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Like ‘A Quiet Place,’ only not as good.
‘Arcadian’
On a remote farm, Paul (Nicolas Cage) and his teenage sons scavenge during the day; at night they’re besieged by feral beasts, who may be the mutated victims of an epidemic.
From the review:
The director [Benjamin Brewer] builds tension in brief pockets of silence, and when we do see the monsters, they look quite good — sticky and spindly in a tactile way, like the aliens in John Carpenter’s “The Thing.” But a competent director can do only so much with a poor script, and “Arcadian” is littered with shortcuts and screenwriting clichés.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Tutu-wearing street kids meet the ghosts of old wounds.
‘Omen’
This trippy ensemble drama set in Kinshasa explores Congolese society through magical realism and four loosely connected stories.
From our review:
To say “Omen” is ambitious feels like an understatement. The film begins with a mystical interlude in which a woman pours her breast milk into a river, and sustains this vivid symbolism throughout, making details with natural explanations (a birthmark, a seizure) take on an otherworldly heft. In its best moments, a quiet element of absurdity grounds the spectacle.
In theaters. Read the full review.
