Ross has found an overwhelmingly perfect way to bring Whitehead’s story to the screen, one that feels like a step forward for how cinematic stories can be told. It’s beautiful, heart-wrenching, and refreshing in equal measure. Now, Nickel Boys is a masterpiece in two different formats.

Perry’s work in Pavements is one of the wildest and unhinged approaches to a music documentary ever made, but the fact that he pulls it all together into something that isn’t a mess is a testament to Perry’s craft.

Moana 2 explores the possibilities of this universe, and builds on the bond between Moana and Maui, but stays a bit too close to the original's formula.

Flow takes a fascinating and effective approach to animated stories and shows that the barrier between the two types should be broken down more often.

In a land where truth is habitually stripped away in favor of political and religious control, Bread & Roses serves as a reminder of the bravery of those who sacrificed all for the love of their country and community.

With a well-composed original soundtrack and stunning visuals, Spellbound is one of the best animations of the year.

Despite some issues with pacing and its exploration of the two main storylines, this buddy comedy is entertaining and powered by a delightful trio.

It features a predictable love story with two charming leads, spicy but comical all-male performances, and a fast-paced plot that will pass you by. Beware, this isn't a groundbreaking watch by any means. It is just another cozy title to keep you in high spirits while you sip hot chocolate and control the urge to unwrap presents before Christmas Day.

Wicked defies gravity for a soaring, beautifully sung return to Oz with wonderful vibrancy and a true sense of scale.

Wild Diamond operates in both the very new wave of movies incorporating the ubiquitous presence of TikTok and the decades-old subgenre of class commentary.

A solid performance from Jason Patric does give the film a little bit of extra mileage, but weak action and an utter waste of Sylvester Stallone's talents as both an actor and action star bog the film down in too many issues to count.

It’s constantly trying to build its own strange mythology to set up sequels that might never come, cracking jokes that rarely hit, and struggling to decide whether it wants to take itself seriously or be more self-aware about its general absurdity.

An Almost Christmas Story is a clear homage to the bygone era of holiday storytelling. Its attempt to emulate that era does admittedly lead to some familiar beats, but An Almost Christmas Story has enough charm and personality to make up for that.

This incredible cast, especially Washington, Nielsen, and the overlooked Pascal, and this expansion of the compelling political machinations make Gladiator II a worthwhile sequel, even if it can't match its predecessor. Gladiator II will leave you entertained, but leave you with an unfortunate feeling of déjà vu.

Elevation is a thin story with every trope and stereotype you've seen from better monster movies

Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point manages to bring to life a realistic portrayal of the holidays, in both its ups and downs, that few holiday films ever even try to accomplish.

It’s an electric, atmospheric, and deeply soulful look at what it means to be human, what it means to have empathy, and how faith should never come before people.

Pedro Páramo uses its supernatural language to inform the audience of the consequences of a collective wrongdoing. It is also remarkably efficient at communicating different storylines to the audience without making viewers get lost in the process.

While the film does make an admirable effort to focus on Neeson's action hero as a true character rather than a mere blunt instrument for fight scenes, but thanks to an overly cliché screenplay, the movie will likely be another forgettable action film in Neeson's filmography.

In an era where film discourse on the internet is consistently restrained to binary concepts like "it's just good" or "it's just bad," Chasing Chasing Amy is an impressive reminder that discussions on the art of filmmaking can be much more nuanced.

It’s an experiment that only works here and there, yet when it works, there’s beauty in those rare moments.

The Gutter demands that you’re on its wavelength, but once you’re there, it’s like continual machine gun fire the way jokes and sight gags fly off the screen.

All in all, the movie is a series of missed opportunities to create compelling storylines, and it's a shame that it doesn't use anything it presents on the screen to its advantage.

It's considerably elevated by strong performances and some excellent directorial and cinematographic choices, but it ultimately is undone by details and narrative pivots that don't work.

If you are hoping to double down on the gore this Halloween season, this delightful, yet cheesy title will fit the bill.

While Ma’s script can feel broader than one might like when it comes to the core dynamic between Sara and Sumi, it thrives as a love story and character study and offers enough heartwarming moments of humor to make it well worth your while.

The timeless style, the gorgeous animation, and the impeccable music make Wallace & Gromit's second feature film a gleeful experience from start to finish. It doesn't reinvent the wheel or do something particularly bold and unique like The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, but it also isn't really trying to. This is a straightforward family-friendly adventure that is simply effective and effectively simple.

It's a beautiful tribute to a legend, packed with footage and interviews that highlight his accomplishments and unique talents, though at times a greater focus on John Williams the man, or a follow-up on certain thought-provoking threads, would be welcome.

When we get to the end of its hefty runtime, we get the sensation that La Cocina tried to be several things — an investigative thriller, a fish-out-of-water drama, a delirious trip of a man who’s starting to get burnt out — and didn’t manage to take any of them all the way.

Your Monster is an engaging showcase of Barrera's considerable talents, as well as proof that Dewey can nail a charismatic rom-com lead role under any circumstances.

Don’t Move is a tense but ultimately forgettable experience that will likely leave you — much like its protagonist — staring tiredly, and blankly ahead.

Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band is a straightforward yet enjoyable trip with one of the best live bands ever to exist. Yet considering the story that this tour has told so far, it's a bit of a shame that Zimny's documentary doesn't explore the entirety of what this road diary had to offer.

Is Venom: The Last Dance the best film in the trilogy? I would say so, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have quite a bit of fun while watching it.

Elliot’s stop-motion work feels authentic and unglamorized in ways that we don’t often see in many mainstream animated movies.

Thanks to Itō’s tenacity and focus, Black Box Diaries boldly tells her provocative and haunting story, resulting in a richly drawn portrait of one woman’s fight for justice that’s sure to inspire change in Japan and beyond.

Dahomey may not be for everyone. Unless you’re a history nut or anthropologist, there will be lulls when you find your concentration lagging. However, at a runtime of just over an hour, Diop makes every shot count and packs centuries of history, injustice, and triumph into a dense but vivid documentary.

Brothers is a largely enjoyable comedy, predominantly thanks to its talented central duo and smart direction by Barbakow, though it admittedly suffers from a host of issues baked into the script itself.

This isn't the scariest zombie movie you'll ever see, and the second act begins to drag as it readies itself for the finale, but if you want a highly original one that makes you feel, Die Alone is flesh worth sinking your teeth into.

In the moment it works, and despite its flaws, Goodrich is just more proof of how good we've got it that we get to witness an actor like Michael Keaton.

It plays like a late-night serial killer special on a true crime channel. It's organic, unnerving, and proficiently grounded as a modern criminal nightmare.

Michael Jai White's million-dollar presence and fancy fighting techniques aren't powerful enough to overcome dull scripting and odd performance choices.

The entity's visage is shocking, its effects personal and malevolent, and the film had some terrifying set pieces, creating a mysterious new supernatural creature to lose sleep over.

None of it would be as effective if we didn’t care about these characters, and thanks to the strong ensemble and precise direction, the film slowly reveals itself to be a film worthy of consideration.

It’s the movie’s efforts to make this as digestible as possible for the audience through its light-hearted tone and simplistic dialogue that render it a movie you watch on Netflix with your parents and probably never think about again.

The Balconettes is the announcement of a formidable comedic voice.

The destination is worth the journey, and it offers a viewing experience that feels earned in the end

The chemistry between all of the Paira family members forms the beating heart of the film, devastating the audience by reminding them how happy they used to be, but promising them that nothing can shatter their sense of spirit, because they are together.

Stranger Eyes is a cold, disjointed, and stale mystery thriller with a thin plot and no atmosphere.

Mr. Crocket is a bloody good time that takes all your favorite childhood television shows and gives them a hellish makeover.

Puzzle Box is a middle-of-the-road found footage film; not great, and not horrible, but it's the characters that make it memorable.

As a story that’s more about finding oneself than finding love, Lonely Planet is a thoughtful and heartfelt meditation on how identity and love are intertwined, and how the most unlikely connection with others can serve as a mirror to the best parts of ourselves we’ve been avoiding.

Chain Reactions finds the beauty in the despair, and how fine cinematic storytelling isn’t confined to tales of good winning over evil. It’s a love letter to horror, art, influence, and how Tobe Hooper and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre changed cinema forever, whether you can stomach it or not.

While it may not be essential viewing for fans of the anime series, there's still more than enough in My Hero Academia: You're Next to keep both longtime fans and eager newcomers intrigued.

It's trying to be a slasher movie so we ultimately have to judge it by those standards. And as a slasher, with its thin plot and flat killer, Haunt Season doesn't cut it.

It’s a crowdpleaser that will plaster a smile on your face from beginning to end with a high chance of some tears. Just when it teeters on overly saccharine territory, its hilarious script and earnest performances dial it back.

Heavier Trip is another gift to metalheads that has me hungry for a third, hopefully with a return to the more renegade nature of their original kitchen-sink odyssey.

As audience members, we experience the highs and lows of the Pelletier’s journey together, never divorced by what drove the desire to experience the world, and reminded throughout how in our own lives we must, whenever possible, make the same choices to seize the moment and make good memories as best as we can.

It would have benefitted from a greater inclusion of Pep's good times, allowing a more well-rounded exploration and understanding of the storied athlete, but thanks to a well-scripted narrative and excellent performances, it remains an excellent biographical look into the decline and fall of a featherweight empire.

Through sensitive portrayals by Glaser and Schwerdt, and a moving sequence featuring Anderson, the new Palacio adaptation once again proves that kindness is the remedy to evil, and it is never too late to choose the high road.

The lure of some solid '90s nostalgia should be good enough bait for a compelling story, but unfortunately, the only thing that Monster Summer reels in is a story that we've all heard a hundred times before.

It's a film with several strong elements, though some issues in the scripting and execution limit its ultimate impact.

Krazy House is "krazy" for all the wrong reasons.

If you're a hardcore Hellboy fan, The Crooked Man has enough to keep you engaged. If you're looking for something a little bit more in your dose of Big Red, you might be better off waiting for the next inevitable reboot.

What ultimately weighs it down is the lack of a core narrative to ground the chaos and madness around it. Still, come for the views, the insanity, and Cage giving away a priceless watch for a flat white.

The budget might have ballooned to ten times what Terrifier had, and the kills have gotten far more gruesome, yet Terrifier 3 is still the same mixed bag that this franchise has always been.

It's a suspenseful family drama that drowns in the location's surroundings, unable to capitalize on its Shyamalanian influences.

With immersive action set pieces, heartfelt snippets of character-driven stories, and fantastic performances all around, Steve McQueen shows again his adept ability at bringing such enormous scope to deeply personal human stories.

There are gaps filled with nothing but silence; still, for a no-budget indie, it’s still constructed rather competently.

V/H/S/Beyond falls in the middle of the pack for the franchise. It's not as terrifying as the first film, and nowhere near as bad as V/H/S/Viral. Instead, it's more on par with recent entries.

The film feels like it's making use of storytelling devices and clichés that have been used over and over again in other stories. The end product is something that is serviceable and easy to digest, but also far too familiar, lacking any major innovations.

Stream meanders, spending too much time saying so little. Quirks aren’t explained, we’re plopped into a scheme without much catchup, and the entire experience is bloated beyond reason. There’s a tighter edit of Stream somewhere, but it ain’t this version, much to my disappointment.

In the beginning, it feels like this will be a fresh and fun take on all of those masked villains, but sadly, it quickly becomes little more than a paint-by-numbers slasher that forgot what it was trying to be in the opening scene.

As a whole, Devara: Part 1 is a bold and engaging tale marked with a pair of excellent performances by starN.T. Rama Rao, Jr., alongside a bold antagonist outing from Saif Ali Khan.

A fun and frantic vampire film with darkly comic performances amidst its clever life lessons.

Between picture-in-picture viewers, pop-up ads, reality posing as unreality, and a seconds-long attention span, Baby Invasion is a Reddit thread vision board with little to offer.

Get Away is a deceptive blast that properly exploits vacationer stereotypes to conceal vastly more wicked intentions.

Through its exploration of Navajo culture and life on the reservation, as well as the troubles and beauty of that community, Rez Ball smartly explores dark topics in a way that doesn’t suffocate the underdog story within.

Empire Waist features a moving tribute to friendship dressed up in a bright, colorful package.

Better Man is in a category of successful biopic dramatizations all unto itself.

Dauberman's film is competent enough that I think it will manage to find an audience who's into an overly traditional take on vampire lore, as well as win over King fans who have been onboard with this tale, in all its incarnations, since day one.

If the filmmakers behind The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee can’t even bother to properly honor that legacy by putting in the kind of effort he did, then you’re better off just picking up one of his many Hammer films instead.

It’s artistic, ravenous, and boundless in a way that honors the spirits of the New French Extremity movement. MadS is the kind of horror experience that feels like you’re new to the genre again — and oh what a glorious feeling that is.

The Bibi Files may not be the poison pill that knocks the Netanyahus from power the way that those on screen may be calling for, but it’s still a powerful presentation of the facts without ever devolving into being a mere polemic.

All Shall Be Well is a simple story overflowing with carefully crafted details that raises interesting and little-explored questions about gay rights, how we honor the dead, and how easily selfishness can seep in and poison us out of doing what we know is right.

Elton John: Never Too Late feels like the definitive authorized film biography, and plugs a very important hole in telling his story in honest yet compelling ways.

Malcolm Washington shows himself to be a capable director, expanding this story in the ways he can while staying true to the source material. This cast also knows how to elevate Wilson's words beautifully, whether it's sticking close to a more stagelike performance or bringing new life to this story, as Deadwyler does.

Young Werther isn't a terrible movie by any stretch, but it also feels like it relies far too heavily on your typical romantic-comedy clichés for it to stick out. It's a shame, as Booth and Pill are insanely sweet together, but the execution ultimately feels too unremarkable to be memorable.

Samuel Van Grinsven’s ambient and meandering ghost story is undoubtedly a haunting concept with committed performances and effective elements, but the film just can’t help but overstay its welcome.

For Andrews, Bring Them Down is a capable, intriguing debut, but it needs more depth than this revenge tale has to offer.

Meet the Barbarians provides a light yet engaging look into how communities are built and maintained, and how differing aspects of their identities can form something better when people of disparate backgrounds are brought together.

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight is a fascinating indie flick with enough pull to find its audience. Davidtz does well enough with her first feature, and the story, along with Venter’s incredible performance, is more than enough to pique the audience’s interest enough to perhaps pick up the memoir.

Ty Roberts’ inspirational sports drama You Gotta Believe relies on age-old playbooks to a fault. It’s a true story and a surefire tear-jerker, but Lane Garrison’s screenplay is reductively hokey at the worst times.

The film does so little work to make me care about the girl that came before Rosemary that I simply found myself wondering how she was going to die to properly set up the events of the original.

As a film that thrives on its leads’ undeniable chemistry, Wolfs draws most of its strength from Clooney and Pitt’s effortless interplay, despite its narrative shortcomings. But for fans of light-hearted action comedies, Wolfs is a howling good time — even if it doesn’t quite sink its teeth in for a lasting bite.

Boong is a rich coming-of-age tale that touches on important issues without ever losing its playful tone or big heart.

In the end, Chapman’s film serves as a portrait of a family rendered in three dimensions, capturing both the strength and human frailties of these individuals in a detailed fashion.

The finale could use a little honing (greater context, a little more clarity, some tighter thematic context and background information), but it's still full of enough twists, tension, and surprises to have a solid time at the theater that audiences will be thinking about afterward.

This is the story of one who stood up, with all his faults and flaws, one whose ideology you may not agree with, but whose capacity to show justifiable rage speaks for those too cowardly to act. It’s here that Pink’s film derives its most impressive impact, and while few may mourn for The Last Republican as both the nation and the world race toward a chaotic, uncertain future, the end result is easily one of the best docs of the year.