While Devotion may not look to reinvent the genre, it does carve out its own space in this year’s impressive slate of war films. It’s a solid, straight-laced story, that doesn’t shy away from the realities of war or the 1950s. Once it finds its wings in the final act, it soars to a place of real power.

The Inspection proves to be a rich work of personal introspection crossed with a wiser slice of life portrait of an era that can only come when looking back.

As the name suggests, when you watch The People We Hate at the Wedding, you're going to be watching messy characters doing things that would make someone hate them. The film successfully toes the line of making that kind of cringe comedy without completely sacrificing these characters, despite their many flaws, you do still root for these people, and you want them to resolve their issues and live happily ever after.

Disenchanted posits that happily ever after isn’t always the ending of the story, but Disenchanted also proves that sometimes, maybe it should be.

There is a cacophony of sound and color which provides some spark to it all. It just is burdened by unshakably tiresome plotting that is made all the more meaningless when it decides to walk back much of what already felt far too small in its creative and emotional scope.

She Said doesn't rewrite the playbook of films about journalism, but it didn't need to. Maria Schrader's direction and Rebecca Lenkiewicz's writing hit every important beat just right, leaving us with an impactful film that's genuine and never fake.

Poker Face constantly tries to raise the bet and bring new elements to the table, but you quickly realize it’s all a bluff. It doesn’t know how to build tension and anticipation and does no effort to work on its characters. It also doesn’t know how to convey a thrilling poker game, and after stumbling through completely disposable plot points, it tries to wrap its story up with life lessons that are as generic as the movie itself.

Blue’s Big City Adventure is a movie aimed at preschoolers that’s also enjoyable for adults, with exciting musical numbers that help break the simple story and explore the street art history of New York City. Add to that nods to the franchise’s past and the return of the original hosts, and you get a movie you won’t mind your children watching over and over again.

My Father’s Dragon abandons a truly heartfelt storyline with complex layers in favor of a generic adventure with vague threats, vague solutions, and predictable outcomes.

While the Hollywood legends don’t disappoint, it’s their children who steal the spotlight. Being able to hold your own in—let alone carry—a movie alongside those heavyweights is no easy feat, but it’s especially impressive considering Schuyler and Jake are not household names.

Where Slumberland truly shines is with its cast. While Slumberland is one of Barkley’s first feature credits, along with Spirited, the young actress already shows she can deal with a huge range of emotions. And while Slumberland’s story can feel bloated, Barkley’s Nemo is the emotional anchor that holds everything together. The biggest surprise of Slumberland, though, is Momoa, who embraces a dad energy we didn’t know he had.

Every actor probably knows that this script is pretty useless, but that doesn't stop any of them from putting their best foot forward. Including Lohan, they all look like they’re having a blast and that really comes through to the audience.

The key to what makes this newest retelling work is the combination of Ferrell and Reynolds, both of whom are able to play to their comedic strengths, while also having the opportunity to do some solid dramatic work as well. This duo is delightful, and as they work together on Christmas Eve, it’s wonderful to watch how this relationship shifts.

Wakanda Forever isn’t perfect, but its ability to handle this tightrope walk between exploration of loss and a larger superhero film makes this one of the most moving MCU entries so far, and one of the best films to come out of Marvel’s Phase Four.

The out-of-this-world premise about a woman befriending the alien clone of her dead best friend is a Trojan horse for a deeper meditation on loss that’ll remind you to hug your friends a little tighter.

Benson and Moorhead have always been able to make the most of small budgets and confined spaces. Nevertheless, Something in the Dirt is the most minimalist project they ever created. Yet Something in the Dirt might be their most ambitious movie, as they dedicate two hours to an intimate study of meaning as the main motor of human life.

Dear Zoe has its heart in the right place, but its reliance on creating one too many schmaltzy moments for the characters, and trying to be too many things at once, hold it back from being anything noteworthy.

In a filmography that is full of impressive journeys through space, history, and staggering emotions, Armageddon Time feels like one of Gray’s most ambitious tales so far, even if it isn’t quite as effective in presenting its ideas as it should be.

Though it doesn’t have the audacity to close when it should with its characters at their very lowest, The Estate is still proper fun in seeing a deeply improper family tear each other apart.

752 Is Not A Number is not only a depiction of one man's grief and search for answers where justice is impossible, but is also one of many prologues in a much longer story about the fight for lasting change.

With Phyllis Nagy at the helm, Call Jane had all the potential in the world to be something revolutionary, but it ultimately chose to take the path of least resistance. It leans into a very glossy feel-good “girl power” energy, ensuring that its audience never once feels true discomfort when discussing uncomfortable truths.

Enola Holmes 2 is tightly paced, leaving just enough breathing room for the characters to thrive and do what they do best. It is a film with a lot of moving parts, but not so many that the audience will lose track, and in that way, is a film deserving of a rewatch — or several.

While it takes a while to get there after dancing around its premise, when Run Sweetheart Run hits its stride it is more than worth running along with it.

More often than not, we can ignore the message if we’d like and just enjoy a scary movie. Prey for the Devil, however, seems to have been developed as deliberate propaganda.

The Good Nurse is a shocking drama that seeps under your skin with its ferocity and terror. Yet Lindholm makes this story about a disturbing individual into a film about how important kindness and consideration for others can mean in the larger scheme of things.

An immensely enjoyable treat, The Pez Outlaw is cleverly filmed with the highlight being Glew playing himself and seemingly having the time of his life. With references to Citizen Kane and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the whimsy is part of the effortless charm of the doc, and Steve and Kathy bring the heart.

What makes The Stranger work is how this all creates an experience that feels as though the two men have become almost doomed to a life where they will aimlessly wander in what feels like an Australian purgatory. Whether they ever manage to escape and uncover some sort of closure is irrelevant to the growing rot that threatens to consume their souls no matter what they do.

Even if you’re not a fan of the music of Tucker or Carlile, The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile will have you hoping for the best for both of these incredible musicians.