The dog days of motherhood.
‘Nightbitch’
Amy Adams stars as a stay-at-home mother who turns into a feral dog in this adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s novel directed by Marielle Heller.
From our review:
The movie doesn’t need to convince its target audience that there’s something gravely wrong with contemporary American motherhood. … Every thinking woman who watches “Nightbitch,” and a fair share of men, too, already know that score. Given this, it’s frustrating how eager to please the movie is.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
Going out with a bang (and a song).
‘The End’
This musical directed by Joshua Oppenheimer follows a well-off family (led by Michael Shannon and Tilda Swinton) in their lavish underground bunker as the world literally burns above them.
From our review:
“The End” is about one version of the end of the world, and about how the people who could have prevented it might feel when they get there. But to watch it is to think about yourself, at least if you have a conscience, and to ponder the sort of cognitive dissonance you live with every day.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
Two sisters in a singular drama.
‘Hard Truths’
The latest from the writer-director Mike Leigh centers on two sisters, Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) and Chantelle (Michele Austin), who have vastly different dispositions and outlooks on life.
From our review:
Leigh doesn’t put his characters on the couch or disgorge the traumas that are etched in every word and gesture. He doesn’t smooth any edges, express his views on race and class, nature and nurture, or float theories as to why Pansy seems so damaged while Chantelle shoulders life with grace. Instead, with deep feeling and lacerating and gentle words, Leigh creates a world that, like the vast, mysterious one hovering outside its frame, can seem agonizingly empty if you can’t see the people in it.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
Richard Gere and Jacob Elordi in confessional mode.
‘Oh, Canada’
Leonard Fife (played at various ages by Richard Gere and Jacob Elordi), a terminally ill filmmaker, gives one last interview in this film by Paul Schrader, who adapted it from a Russell Banks novel.
From our review:
You can’t watch “Oh, Canada” without thinking of old men and confession and mortality and regret. Schrader had a rather public health scare several years ago, and Banks died in 2023. The filmmakers of Schrader’s generation — Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese in particular — keep making films that feel like manifestoes and mea culpas all rolled into one. That Fife himself is a filmmaker feels just right: he has built a life and career on seeing the world’s ugliness, while pushing away what feels ugly inside.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A taut thriller stretched too thin.
‘The Order’
Dramatizing the real-life murder of the Denver talk radio host Alan Berg, this thriller directed by Justin Kurzel follows the white supremacist and leader (Nicholas Hoult) of an extremist group called the Order.
From our review:
The director knows how to stage a propulsive armored car robbery and a chase from a motel, and the sequence depicting the murder of Berg (Marc Maron) doesn’t shy from its sheer, bloody brutality. But the movie is more effective as a grim, involving cop thriller than it is as an ostensible statement on the Order’s reverberations in the present.
In theaters. Read the full review.
The real drama is off the mat.
‘Unstoppable’
This biopic directed by William Goldenberg tells the story of Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome), a wrestler who was born with one leg.
From our review:
A film about Anthony Robles runs the danger of courting clichés of uplift that weigh down some films featuring disability. “Unstoppable” does spotlight “Rocky” references, and a speech by Anthony’s mother employs the oft-criticized trope of serving as an example that “anything is possible.” But mostly the drama, while routine, follows the lead of son and mother, putting in the work and leaving doubters behind.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
Punching up an old trope.
‘Day of the Fight’
A washed-up boxer (Michael C. Pitt) trains to make a comeback after 10 years out of the ring in this directorial debut from Jack Huston.
From our review:
“Day of the Fight” is an unabashed genre picture that manages to be both the kind of movie they supposedly don’t make like they used to, and also something bracingly fresh. It’s anchored by the lead actor, Michael C. Pitt, here ferocious and heart-stabbingly vulnerable in equal proportion.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A Gothic fairy tale haunted by real monsters.
‘The Girl With the Needle’
This dark, stylish film directed by Magnus von Horn follows Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne), as she contends with a series of troubles and a local woman who helps women get rid of their unwanted children (based on the Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye).
From our review:
Once the story veers into a local woman’s black-market adoption scheme, Karoline’s personal troubles are eclipsed by a greater evil — the details of which inspired the screenplay. These events scandalize, yet “The Girl With the Needle” is most intriguing when it lingers in its disturbing fictions, which come to life with exceptional style.
In theaters. Read the full review.
An imperfect crime (and film).
‘Lake George’
A hit man, Don (Shea Whigham), and his would-be target, Phyllis (Carrie Coon), team up for a heist in this crime dramedy directed by Jeffrey Reiner.
From our review:
The film often can’t quite decide what, tonally, it wants to be — either a serious crime noir or a sarcastic one. But, then again, a good film can still manage to balance both, even imperfectly, and across Don and Phyllis’s string of botched jobs, “Lake George” is more than enough fun in its attempt.
In theaters. Read the full review.
What if the Virgin Mary were a superhero?
‘Mary’
The director D.J. Caruso reimagines the biblical story of Mary (played by Noa Cohen) as a genre epic.
From our review:
The filmmakers have Mary address the viewers: “You may think you know my story. Trust me, you don’t.” It’s a bold and humanizing move. But their portrait doesn’t live up to the bravado or promise of Mary’s declaration.
Watch on Netflix. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
A classic story, performed to perfection.
‘The Return’
Uberto Pasolini’s subdued retelling of the final section of “The Odyssey” stars Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus and Juliette Binoche as Penelope.
From our review:
Less an epic poem than a showcase for two of cinema’s finest actors, “The Return” is visually bleak and emotionally gripping. Many scenes play out in candlelight and leaping shadows, with Marius Panduru’s camera crawling close to seamed faces and veined forearms. And while Marwan Kenzari deserves special mention for his quietly powerful turn as the most genuine of Penelope’s hopefuls, Fiennes leaves them all in the dust.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Plug in. Freak out.
‘Y2K’
On New Year’s Eve 1999, a group of teenage slackers face off against electronics that turn evil at the stroke of midnight in this zany horror-comedy directed by Kyle Mooney.
From our review:
Mooney’s ordinarily eccentric, heavily ironic sense of humor, honed over many years on his cult-favorite YouTube channel and later on “Saturday Night Live,” seemed to have been replaced by something more cloying and conventional, where simply reminiscing about 1999 was a substitute for actually writing jokes about it. … But then the movie takes a sudden, jarring pivot, and Mooney’s unique sensibility aggressively (and thankfully) reasserts itself.
In theaters. Read the full review.
The post 12 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week appeared first on New York Times.
