Mae Abdulbaki

With a powerful central performance and an occasionally chaotic but nonetheless captivating and moving narrative — helped along by fantastic editing and cinematography — The Outrun is a detailed film strengthened by its connection to nature’s beauty and belonging to it.

Its focus may have needed some more fine-tuning, but Steve proves meaningful regardless.

While there is plenty of fun to be had with the monsters and the buildup towards the final showdown, The New Empire’s story feels forced.

It’s a tender drama and one that focuses on its characters in interesting, thoughtful ways.

It’s not particularly memorable, but it also has its moments, elevated by the chemistry between Madelyn Cline and Riverdale’s KJ Apa.

Adult Best Friends certainly has its heart in the right place and it can even be quite funny and lovely as it navigates the characters’ friendship and its evolution, but it’s also overstuffed with unnecessary characters and subplots that don’t add anything to the core relationship beyond distracting it from being deeper.

The Deliverance is bolstered by the cast’s commitment to the story and their characters. Without them, the film's ending wouldn't have been remotely believable.

While the film could have spent more time exploring its central characters, their emotions, actions, and how time has shaped them in the intervening years, My Policeman remains a tender, heartbreaking film that has one of the most devastating and emotional final scenes in recent memory.

While the film is determined to live in the pain felt and lobbed at its main character, there are moments of gentle vulnerability and contemplation in its exploration of guilt, redemption, grief, and trauma.

The Old Guard 2 is a film that feels longer than it should be and not long enough. It strikes an odd balance, but there’s luckily more here that works than doesn’t, even if the plot is thin.

The Book Club sequel will make you feel as though you’re reuniting with old friends for some wine and life lessons, and that’s enough.

Elfman’s directorial feature debut has enough to hold it together, including a tremendous cast and character dynamics that are thoughtful, interesting, and complicated.

Is it a well-made film? Absolutely, and Morosini has a strong vision for how to shape a story and characters right out of the gate. Unfortunately, that doesn’t turn I Love My Dad into a must-watch.

While Needle in a Timestack aims to be profound, it loses itself within the sci-fi premise rather than exploring the central romance in any detail.

Despite a fantastic cast, Wildflower doesn’t live up to its potential, and uses its disabled characters as vehicles to drive the main character’s story, which will leave a bitter taste in your mouth after all is said and done.

Renfield is goofy, with fantastic action sequences and a few comedic beats that land, but it could have also been so much more.

A Million Miles Away is genuine in the way it presents its story, and the struggle Hernández endures, but it’s also so laser-focused on his space goals that it forgets to explore his inner life.

Despite everything, it has its fair of shining moments. There's a clear direction Snyder's Justice League has that the 2017 version of the film does not, and for that alone viewers can appreciate this film a whole lot more because of it.

The film’s disparate elements and overarching themes don’t entirely come together by the end, leaving the story’s emotional throughline weakened as a result.

India Sweets and Spices has a lot of overall great ideas and themes, even if it doesn’t always rise up to the potential of its setup and story.

Resort to Love doesn’t do anything unexpected or exciting and, despite its overly saccharine silliness, it is entertaining enough to watch in passing.

While Small Engine Repair’s message is clear, it doesn’t completely take off and is fragmented in its pacing, with a twisted turn that doesn't land.

Notturno is sometimes beautiful and Rosi makes good use of private spaces. But, the film comes off as an exploitation of the region and its people’s pain.

Without Cena and Elba’s committed and charming performances, as well as great supporting turns from Considine and Carla Gugino as Vice President Elizabeth Kirk, Heads of State wouldn’t be worth discussing

The Ultimate Playlist of Noise has some lovely and heartwarming moments, but it lacks a strong central relationship and is often too formulaic.

Ambitious, occasionally thrilling, and visually striking, Dune is mostly set up, building out a heartless world that never truly feels complete.

What the film does have is a sense of style and an ability to keep us engaged through a riotous cast that is clearly having a lot of fun.

With such a slow and empty buildup, After Yang often feels as disconnected as most everyone is in the film.