It relies on a singularly brilliant performance by Colin Firth to make it one of the year's more satisfying films.

A Romanian political allegory — in Romanian — might sound like tough sledding, but thanks to a searing performance by Luminita Gheorghiu, Child's Pose is anything but.

It's sometimes compelling, sometimes frustrating, and usually chaotic.

The characteristics that make Evolution an intriguing piece of cinema also make it a not entirely successful one.

It’s exciting filmmaking, and Cooper rarely lets up.

When you can sell a movie in which you spend a large chunk of time talking to a rock and still manage to be magnetic, you're doing something right. And in "Project Hail Mary," Gosling definitely is.

James makes some confident decisions in the film’s last act, showing a welcome trust in the audience, particularly for a debut feature. She also gets fascinating performances out of her actors — each does a lot with a little. The performances aren’t as muted as they are quietly, intensely focused.

It is intense and uneven, moving and maddening, all in just about equal measure. But an angry Lee is an interesting Lee, and he’s really angry here.

It’s a heartfelt film, and Squib, finally leading a film at 94, makes it that much better.

The whole thing runs through Stewart, and she’s great — just one of those movie stars you can’t take your eyes off.

If the purpose of Girls State is to give high-school students a taste of how government works in real life, “Girls State” makes a case that it does its job only too well.

The movie belongs to Gleeson, commanding in every scene, even when he's sitting silently, listening to another sinner go on about what's wrong with everyone else.

It's a gentle and unassuming film, lingering over sometimes poignantly awkward conversations as Terry encourages his protege to persevere in his search for an original voice to go along with his skilled hands.

Thomas Vinterberg’s film puts us just on the edge of screaming frustration; Mads Mikkelsen’s terrific performance (for which he won the best actor award at Cannes in 2012) only makes the film more powerful.

The Beguiled is an atmospheric remake that Sofia Coppola never quite manages to take from languid to lurid.

The title implies a sort of old-world glamour, but the proverbial gilded cage is looking a bit dilapidated in The Heiresses, a subtle but intense character study from Paraguayan director Marcelo Martinessi.

What seems primed to play out like a by-the-numbers social message movie with a classic redemption arc becomes something much more sophisticated, and much more challenging for the viewer. Schoenaerts' performance deserves much of the praise.

Philomena could have been a sappy movie, but it’s not. Instead, with such assured performances, it’s proof that sometimes a laugh makes swallowing a big dose of outrage a little easier.

First Love might not ultimately mean much, but its wily mix of colorful elements – romance, organized crime, slapstick and ultra-violence – makes for a bracingly weird cinematic experience.

Like its stars, the film's not particularly flashy, it's just good, and it's hard to find fault in that.

The Immigrant is not exactly the feel-good hit of the summer, but it is a compelling tale of what, in the end, can only be called survival.

Detroit, as a movie, is all over the place, yet oddly that messiness is one of its strengths. It is also appropriate. Necessary, even. It fits.

The film is not a classic of the genre, but it definitely falls into the upper echelon of the “worthy entry” category, and Steinfeld and Harrelson worthier still.

Logan is a serious take on the comic-book genre, the Marvel Cinematic Universe in particular, and it’s a good one. Not a great one, though, which it might've been if it hadn’t gotten in its own way, overdoing it with its R-rated freedoms.

It’s a horror-movie coming-of-age story, absolutely bonkers and gory and at its heart an art film about finding your own way in a world that has never made any sense since you’ve been in it, which is probably what the world feels like to any kid growing up, only most kids don’t have to protect themselves from zombies who want to devour them.

A compelling film, and an excruciatingly entertaining one.

The look of the film is amazing. The animation, particularly when the dragons take flight, is seamless.

The stunning character work is accented with moments of pure cinematic poetry. Audiard uses the camera like a paintbrush, composing lyrical interludes and disorienting transitions with the power to leave you breathless. It’s all so quietly brilliant — until it isn’t.