The Worst Person in the World is a concentrated emotional dose of living through the last half-decade of uncertainty.

Only Kaya Scodelario rises above the mess, working hard to try and craft an earnest and accomplished heroine that is by far too interesting for the rest of the boring dolts in the story.

Belle is a gorgeously animated, futuristic interpretation of Beauty and the Beast that combines dazzling song and eye-popping visuals for a well-meaning yet meandering modern fairy tale. Unfortunately, its heartfelt message is muddled by perplexing plot holes, occasionally grating characters, and a bloated runtime.

The latest addition to the Scream franchise expertly blends reverence for the source material while creating something that feels almost completely new. All of the performances are pitch-perfect as the new generation of Woodsboro teens step into their futures, the kills are gnarly, and no version of toxic fandom is left unmocked.

Parallel Mothers is a really engaging watch with plenty of unforeseen story turns that seem incredibly random at first, but ultimately come together in a very intentional way. Penélope Cruz gives a powerful and beautifully relatable performance as a woman navigating some very messy life choices with wisdom and empathy.

Mother/Android tries to bring an emotional heart to the robot uprising genre, but it’s so laden with tropes and short on personality that it’s hard to care about the characters. What little novelty exists comes far too late in the long, slow movie.

Swan Song is a beautifully acted near-future exploration of self, technology, and the soul.

As a musical, only a few songs really stand out, which is always problematic. There’s also a staginess to the whole endeavor that feels awkward and ham-handed when transposed onto the big screen. But director Joe Wright does get excellent performances from his whole cast, and creates a lush and beautiful period piece playground for the characters to exist within.

The Tender Bar is a coming-of-age dramedy that sails on the backs of the exceptional ensemble cast.

The Lost Daughter is a stunning and unflinching portrait of a woman swimming against the tides of social expectation.

Sing 2 is more of the same, which is dandy.

The Matrix Resurrections is a bunch of really good ideas stacked together to make a bad — and sometimes ugly — film.

The King’s Man’s triumphant action and epic performances are dragged down by a confused story and overlong runtime.

Spider-Man: No Way Home bounces from hilarious to hurt with ease as both the darkest and funniest MCU Spider-Man entry to date.

A film about so many different things that it ends up about none of them, Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos is visually inert, and features an emotionally stifled performance from Nicole Kidman as the lively Lucille Ball. Javier Bardem brings energy to Desi Arnaz, but it isn’t enough to pick the disjointed pieces up off the floor.

Encounter is a tense, and stylish thriller with some excellent performances, but it’s dragged down by a lack of focus and pointless tangents.

Despite a bit of an imbalance between its first and third acts, Nightmare Alley delivers a delightfully meaty neo-noir packed with solid performances from its impressive ensemble.

Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is a dazzling complementary piece to the original.

The Humans is a thoughtful and brilliantly acted meditation on family and humanity.

The Summit of the Gods is a standout tale in both story and animation technique.

What Anderson doesn’t give us is the inner lives of anyone in the film.

Bruised is a good outing for Halle Berry as a director, though a better reminder of her as a star. Aside from that, however, the story progression is light on impact.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City sticks admirably closely to its source material, but an overly stuffed story and rushed third act hold it back.

House of Gucci starts with such promise as Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, and Al Pacino give performances that bring out the emotional complexity of the historically dysfunctional Gucci family. But then Ridley Scott becomes infatuated with tracking the fall of the corporation and its familial machinations instead of zeroing in on the more compelling personal implosion of Patrizia and Maurizio. Too much of the narrative is given over to side characters and scenes that are overindulgent, which lessens the potency of the tragic story and our investment in where they all end up.

Lin-Manuel Miranda tries to turn Jonathan Larson’s one-man show into a traditional musical, but ends up getting stuck halfway in between. However, Andrew Garfield delivers a tremendous, running-on-fumes performance as the real-life Broadway mainstay, whose impending 30th birthday pushes him to his creative and emotional brink.

Zeros and Ones uses the spy genre as a thin mask for a fever dream that evokes nightmarish uncertainty.

Black Friday proves to be a winning combination of gloppy scares, well-crafted characters, and wise commentary.

Encanto is a vibrant, visual delight that’s just as magical as the family at its center.