If you are looking for a good slasher film, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a fun family-friendly film with a few good monsters, then try Spirit Halloween: The Movie.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism has something for everyone: strong female characters, spooky atmosphere, humor, heart, a bitchin’ 1980s setting. There is a lot to like here, and plenty to enjoy all year round.

It summons the magic of nostalgia with laughs, heart, and music, and perfectly satisfies the heart of audiences trying to rekindle the past.

A familiar underdog story made engaging by the flashes of patience with which it approaches its material, Sanaa Lathan’s On the Come Up doesn’t reinvent the wheel as much as it tries to roll along with it.

At its core, Vesper feels like a dark fairytale, like something born from the haunted tales of Grimms' Fairy Tales.

Even though Sidney takes a fairly elementary look at Poitier’s career, it’s still extraordinary to see the contributions this man had on the world lined up in this way. Poitier left an indelible change on entertainment, the culture, and society at large, and Sidney makes us aware that this world wouldn’t be the same without Poitier.

It is a work of patient yet painful observation that exposes how a community of struggling people can easily turn hateful.

García’s latest film is a predictable, completely fine, but uneventful dramedy that never quite finds a way to dig itself out of mediocrity.

The way the visuals all dance across the screen in flashes of brilliance that strip away the barriers between form and feeling until they become one is nothing short of spectacular.

Smile holds no surprises. No big twists. You know what you are getting going into this movie. It is predictable from the first minute. But it is an enjoyable, scary ride that is well-plotted and acted. You will know how it ends within the first five minutes of the film. But the ride getting there is well worth it.

Ultimately, The Munsters is not a good movie. But it is great fodder to put on in the background of a Halloween party. It is best when used as a visual asset; something you may only want to catch a couple of minutes of dialogue from, but otherwise, it’s best left as background imagery.

The beauty of Decision to Leave is how Chan-wook can set his table with so many ideas, diversions, and elements, all making for an overly exquisite experience. Not only does Chan-wook blend detective mystery and romance, but Decision to Leave is weirdly funny, full of dark humor that fits in perfectly with everything else.

Susie Searches has its heart in the right place, and this could’ve been the beginning of an interesting mystery series of sorts, full of intriguing characters, twists and turns that are hard to see coming—even for Susie. But the mishandling of tone and unusual shifts in logic and character motivations makes this film more of a mystery in itself.

The Swearing Jar is a decent idea, but the screenplay and editing draws attention to itself in a way that takes away from the film’s biggest moments—a shame considering these moments could’ve been extremely effective if handled in a slightly different way.

Return to Seoul is a powerful and quietly staggering work, and one of the most engrossing films of the year.

In a career full of great performances, Swinton continues to do some of her finest work with Hogg, and Hogg once more proves that she’s one of the most remarkable personal storytellers in cinema today.

If you don’t stress over the logistics of time travel and are willing to appreciate the “deeper meanings” that are on full display, then check out this beautifully shot love letter to the messiness of New York City and life itself.

Schrader is able to prune back some of his more established impulses to service this particular story.

Even with its many narrative flaws, The Silent Twins gives us an insight into not just the lives of the two sisters but the way they made sense of it through stories of their own.

If you’re looking for a typical teen movie riddled with clichés and stereotypes, keep scrolling through your Netflix queue. This daring dark comedy both pays homage to and deconstructs the ‘90s high school set films you know and love, and does so with deliciously satisfying results.

It is by no means a perfectly constructed work, but there is something more immense in its thematic aspiration that provides plenty for Pugh to play around with. All that makes it unwieldy also makes The Wonder mesmerizing so that, even when the spell is broken, you can’t shake it from your mind.

It’s exploitative and empathetic. That’s why it feels like it spits you out in an alley to pick yourself back up. Blonde is an alienating movie. To me, that makes it a disarming and effective experience.

It is still a well-made film, with fantastic acting and a beautiful, modern house set out in the middle of nowhere, but it is not the shocker that it was when it was new. Knowing the twist, and the minor changes that were made for an American audience really soften the movie. If you enjoyed the original, the American remake would be perfect fodder for your parents.

Empire of Light ultimately becomes a confusing mixture of ideas that never congeal into one solid narrative. Yet Mendes’ film does have the tiniest slivers of magic poking through the seams, proving his thesis about the beauty of film, even when he’s too distracted to focus on that idea himself.

Like the relationship between Lynsey and James, Causeway is a film that slowly grows on you, a film that puts on a tough front—with its devastated characters and desire for escape—yet at its center is a tremendous about of heart, love, with its found families and shared pain.

When it all comes together it proves to be yet another poetic and patient cinematic reflection on the families we build for ourselves from one of the best observers of humanity to ever do it.

When it all comes together, Wendell & Wild ends up feeling liberating, both artistically and thematically, with top work from all involved.

With its strong character work that gets interwoven with a striking story of sabotage, How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a riveting tapestry of the plight facing the modern climate justice movement.