NEW THIS WEEK
Opening dates are subject to change.
(A) DREAM SCENARIO Nicolas Cage goes delightfully, derangedly meta in this surreal comedy about a family man who has his life upended when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. It’s a smart, dizzyingly entertaining horror-comedy that morphs into scathing social satire. R (for language, violence and some sexual content). 101 mins. In wide release.
(B) LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke and Mahershala Ali star in this dystopian thriller about two families forced to live together in the middle of nowhere amid dread that civilization is collapsing around them. The slow-moving film is more interested in how the human characters cope with the situation, and one another, than it is in the particulars of whatever emergency is unfolding. But it boasts fine performances and a satisfying ending. R (for language, some sexual content, drug use and brief bloody images). 140 mins. At the iPic Fairview.
(B) NAPOLEON Joaquin Phoenix stars in director Ridley Scott’s rivetingly off-kilter epic about the rise and fall of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. It’s a sweeping historical tapestry with a damning, almost satirical portrait of its subject, who is portrayed as a boyishly impulsive, thin-skinned brute. Also starring Vanessa Kirby, Rupert Everett and Ludivine Sagnier. R (for strong violence, some grisly images, sexual content and brief language). 158 mins. In wide release.
RUN NIXON With her child in need of a heart operation, a desperate woman decides to rob a strip club to pay for the surgery. Starring Wavyy Jonez, Lil’ Fizz, Jordan Lee Brown and Brianna Robinson. Not rated. 113 mins. At the AMC Mesquite.
(B-) SALTBURN A student (Barry Keoghan) at Oxford University is invited to spend the summer at a classmate’s sprawling estate in this fun but derivative take on class envy. Director Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) lifts liberally from The Talented Mr. Ripley in this revenge thriller that’s all surface cleverness, with nothing terribly insightful to say. Still, it’s often wickedly funny and wildly enjoyable. Also starring Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant. R (for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout, some disturbing violent content and drug use). 127 mins. In wide release.
(C) WISH In this animated musical comedy, a teen girl (voiced by Ariana DeBose) challenges an authoritarian wizard (voiced by Chris Pine) who has been hoarding his constituent’s wishes in his castle tower. Disney’s self-mythologizing film represents an awkward marriage between old and new ways: Him, a symbol of authority and empire; her, a sense of revolution and community. The film is weighed down by its attempts to revel in Disney nostalgia while soaring into the future. PG (for thematic elements and mild action). 92 mins. In wide release.
COMING NEXT WEEK
FALLEN LEAVES After two lonely souls meet in a Helsinki karaoke bar, their budding romance is beset by numerous obstacles. In Finnish and Arabic, with subtitles.
GODZILLA MINUS ONE With Japan already reeling in the aftermath of World War II, a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster. In Japanese with subtitles.
HOLIDAY TWIST After a Grinch-like corporate CEO (Kelly Stables) sees her world come crashing down because of unforeseen circumstances, a Salvation Army Santa (Blake Leeper) helps her find some holiday magic and healing. Also starring Neal McDonough and Sean Astin.
MAESTRO Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan star in this biographical drama that chronicles the lifelong relationship between conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein and actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.
RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ This concert film captures the experience of singer Beyoncé’s 2023 world tour.
THE SHIFT After an encounter with a mysterious stranger (Neal McDonough) disrupts his reality, a man (Kristoffer Polaha) embarks on a journey through a dystopian world to reunite with his wife (Elizabeth Tabish).
SILENT NIGHT This revenge tale from director John Woo centers on a tormented father (Joel Kinnaman) who witnesses his young son die in a gang’s crossfire on Christmas Eve.
TEDDY’S CHRISTMAS A girl discovers that a teddy bear at a Christmas market is alive in this family tale from Norway.
CURRENT RELEASES
(A-) ANATOMY OF A FALL In this thriller set in a remote town in the French Alps, a woman (Sandra Hüller) is suspected of murder when her husband (Samuel Theis) is found dead in the snow below their chalet. The investigation and ensuing courtroom battle lay bare the couple’s own plummet into disharmony and revisit past events that involve their son Daniel, who is blind, and even the family dog. An emotional puzzle that will keep you guessing, the movie from director Justine Triet won the top prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. R (for some language, sexual references and violent images). 150 mins.
(C) FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S Video game creator Scott Cawthon’s Chuck E. Cheese-inspired phenomenon takes place at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where threatening animatronic creatures run the place at night. Players take the role of night security guard Mike, trying to stay alive. This movie version of the game, starring Josh Hutcherson, is indecisive about its intentions. To earn a PG-13 rating, the filmmakers leaned away from carnage and toward new material devoted to Mike’s horrific childhood and his attempts to retain custody of his younger sister (Piper Rubio). The film attempts to be a cuddly version of Saw, with faces getting sliced open but the camera cutting away just before impact. The premise would’ve made more sense as an R-rated splatterfest. PG-13 (for strong violent content, bloody images and language). 110 mins.
(A) THE HOLDOVERS Alexander Payne’s misfit holiday movie, set in 1970, centers on a trio of stragglers who form an unlikely bond over Christmas break at a Massachusetts boarding school. Teacher Mr. Hunham (Paul Giamatti), troublesome student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and cafeteria manager Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) embark on a surprising emotional journey, but this isn’t just a story of found family that stays together — it’s a snapshot of a moment in time. The Holdovers is an instant addition to the holiday movie canon. R (for language, some drug use and brief sexual material). 133 mins.
(C-) THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES In this dour prequel set six decades before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as a Hunger Games tribute, Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) mentors a young tribute (a feisty and appealing Rachel Zegler) from the impoverished District 12. It’s hard to build much intrigue into whether a love-struck teen with a seemingly firm moral compass will betray those who trust him and cross over to the dark side when his name is Coriolanus Snow and we know from four previous films that he will grow up to be an evil overlord. Also starring Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis, Hunter Schafer and Jason Schwartzman. PG-13 (for strong violent content and disturbing material). 157 mins.
JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM This live-action musical adventure weaves classic Christmas melodies with humor, faith and new pop songs in a retelling of the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus. PG (for thematic elements). 98 mins.
(A) KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Martin Scorsese’s latest is an adaptation of the popular 2017 nonfiction book by David Grann, which details a series of murders of Osage people in 1920s Oklahoma over oil rights. It’s a massively important film from the auteur, in which he uses the tropes and iconography of the Western — a genre that trafficked heavily in harmful Native American stereotypes — to tell the story of the heinous crimes known as the Reign of Terror, a bloodbath that helped to establish the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The epic tale centers on the deeply intimate violence that rocks one town, one tribe and one family. Deeply moving, at once sobering and enraging, it is a true masterpiece. Starring Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Dallas-born Jesse Plemons and Barry Corbin of Fort Worth. R (for violence, some grisly images, and language). 206 mins.
(C) THE MARVELS The stakes feel immensely low in The Marvels, and it’s possible that somewhere along the way, Marvel movies just stopped feeling like events. This galactic trifle from director Nia DaCosta does not seem to be the one to make them feel must-see again. Iman Vellani (as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan) gets her big moment and nails it, as does Teyonah Parris (Monica Rambeau). The female-led cast also includes new villain Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) and returning hero Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers (Brie Larson). DaCosta, working with Marvel for the first time, keeps the energy up and the story moving at a quick clip, but the movie teases danger while never feeling like anyone is in peril. Vellani is the real standout, a refreshingly human presence. PG-13 (for action/violence and brief language). 105 mins.
(C-) NEXT GOAL WINS A down-on-his-luck coach (Michael Fassbender) aims to turn around the infamously awful American Samoa soccer team (best known for a 31-0 loss to Australia in 2001) in this comedy from director Taika Waititi. The film takes pleasure in mocking sports drama tropes even though it relies on them for emotional payoffs, an odd approach that results in a film that doesn’t really earn any of its grand conclusions. PG-13 (for some strong language and crude material). 103 mins.
(B-) OPPENHEIMER Cillian Murphy leads a stacked cast — including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Casey Affleck, Gary Oldman and Kenneth Branagh — in this study of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist behind the atomic bomb. Director Christopher Nolan dominates viewers with a visual and sonic riptide, bringing a jagged, dissonant sensibility to a film that focuses less on facts and more on feeling as it thrusts the audience into the advent and fallout of the nuclear arms race. R (for some sexuality, nudity and language). 180 mins.
(B-) PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE In this children’s tale, a magical meteor gives the PAW Patrol pups superpowers, which they’ll need to contend with a pair of newly superpowered baddies. The animated adventure is gently charming, inoffensive and just silly enough to make for a pleasant viewing experience. PG (for mild action/peril). 92 mins.
(B) PRISCILLA Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, starring Cailee Spaeny, captures the teenage dreaminess, absurdity and nightmare of falling in love with Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi). Coppola, writer-director of Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette, has always been innately attuned to the forming identities of young women. In the story of Priscilla Presley, who met Elvis when she was just 14, Coppola has found a tale tailor-made for her delicately perceptive style of filmmaking. After a somewhat traditional courtship, their life together is sweet if a bit deranged. But then things turn increasingly dark for Priscilla, and Graceland turns out to be a prison. There aren’t many false notes in Coppola’s richly layered film, but the movie fades when Elvis’ downturn accelerates in Las Vegas. When Priscilla awakens, it feels underdeveloped. A constant throughout, though, is Spaeny, in a breakthrough performance. R (for drug use and some language). 113 mins.
(B-) RADICAL Inspired by a 2013 Wired magazine article, this classroom drama finds a glimmer of optimism by looking to our children. Written and directed by Christopher Zalla, the film is set in Matamoros, Mexico, where gangs have left a trail of blood around every corner. In this volatile environment, Sergio (Eugenio Derbez) is hired to teach at a primary school, where he does something unorthodox: He lets students tell him what they want to learn. His methods take a bit to work, but when they click, a whole new future appears possible. In Spanish with subtitles. PG-13 (for some strong violent content, thematic material and strong language). 125 mins.
SAW X Set between the events of Saw and Saw II, the latest installment of the horror franchise has John Kramer (Tobin Bell), aka Jigsaw, traveling to Mexico for an experimental medical procedure in hopes of curing his cancer. When he learns that the whole operation is a scam, he turns the tables on the con artists with a series of terrifying traps. R (for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, language and some drug use). 118 mins.
(B) TAYLOR SWIFT: THE ERAS TOUR Expect fans to be out in force for the movie version of Taylor Swift’s hugely popular Eras Tour. To fully appreciate the film, an intimate yet spectacular documentary of Swift’s record-breaking, career-spanning victory lap of the past year, it’s best simply to surrender to the whole thing: the sparkly cowboy hats, the boots, the friendship bracelets and the screaming (there will be a lot of screaming). Filmed during Swift’s engagement at SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles, the movie opens with a brief drone shot of the arena then zooms down to the stage, where dancers appear waving giant wings — a dazzling segue into Swift’s arrival in a crystal-encrusted body suit and matching boots. With its elaborate sets, special effects and props, the concert unfolds in chapters as Swift builds the show to a gratifying, even cathartic, climax, backloading it with her most triumphant albums, including Red, 1989, Folklore and the recent Midnights. Not rated. 168 mins.
(C) THANKSGIVING A killer terrorizes Plymouth, Mass., in this gory slasher romp from director Eli Roth. The script is underbaked, the movement from scene to scene hardly makes sense, and the story feels dated (the idea for the film began as a joke trailer for the 2007 Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature Grindhouse). Starring Nell Verlaque, Addison Rae, Rick Hoffman, Gina Gershon and Patrick Dempsey. R (for strong bloody horror violence and gore, pervasive language and some sexual material). 107 mins.
TIGER 3 After being framed, Indian super spy Tiger (Salman Khan) fights to clear his name. In Hindi with subtitles. Not rated. 150 mins.
(B) TROLLS BAND TOGETHER In this fun and trippy animated sequel, Poppy (Anna Kendrick) discovers that Branch (Justin Timberlake) has a secret past: He was once in a boy band with his brothers. When one of the brothers is kidnapped, they go into hero mode. Filled with one-liners and aphorisms, the movie embraces its own silliness. Also featuring the voices of Camila Cabello, Eric André, Amy Schumer and Andrew Rannells. PG (for some mild rude and suggestive humor). 92 mins.
Compiled from staff and wire reports
