Despite being well shot and slickly constructed, “Faces of Death” doesn’t successfully bring the decidedly not-good but undeniably captivating spirit of the original film into the 21st century.

With a film called Fantasy Life, one might expect it to contain a romanticized version of reality, where the characters’ conflicts are magically solved, and their journeys are wrapped in a neat bow. Endearingly, Shear’s version is messier and far more grounded. While the characters live extremely privileged lifestyles and aren’t quite operating in the real world, the film simultaneously touches on the compelling subject matter of personal disillusionment and its impact on mental health struggles.

With a movie like The Serpent’s Skin, the accomplishments of the whole outweigh the nitpicks of its parts. The vibe is so, so right. Anyone looking for an empowering, forward-thinking, and trippy watch will feel right at home slipping into this movie’s, well, skin. It’s quite literally spellbinding.

Although the story only gets more and more unsatisfyingly perplexing as it goes on, the filmmaking tools used to tell it are exceptional.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is inarguably fun, built for fans of the long-running franchise. For lifelong fans of this universe and young kids experiencing it for the first or second time, this is a Mario fan’s dream. There’s enough here to leave a mass audience satisfied, even if anticipation grows for the next film to level up. For now, good enough is simply enough.

Can we, as a society, radically accept someone for who they are today, despite who they were? This is a fascinating question, a ripe one to ask in a narrative, and, for the most part, Borgli succeeds in addressing the multiple sides of the query that will entice many heated post-movie conversations.

Anya Taylor-Joy brings a dynamic playfulness and personality to her character. While Miles Teller doesn’t quite match Taylor-Joy’s level of screen presence, the two manage to create fun chemistry and make the most out of an unfocused concept.

Picture This may not be the most unique story, nor does it reach the pinnacle of the rom-com genre. But the film finds enough moments of freshness and earnestness in the protagonist’s journey to stand out in a sea of generic rom-coms. Ashley’s incredibly charming performance is the most compelling highlight of the film.

While director Stephen Chbosky and writer Liz Maccie have the heart in the right place with Nonnas, honoring generations of family tradition, a formulaic approach limits how far this inspiring story can go creatively.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life feels destined to become a quintessential Austen-adjacent classic. The film lives up to its playful title with a thoughtful blend of the author’s sense and sensibility.

Campanella’s suspenseful direction makes for an emotionally resonant (and at times very upsetting) watch about enduring love, pain, and the evasiveness of true justice.

In a heightened depiction of the hyper-privileged, “Succession” drew parallels to the real world. The balance between absurdity and glimmers of sympathy in such morally corrupt characters made the show an irresistible watch. A feature-length doom scroll from the perspective of out-of-touch, not-so-sympathetic billionaires is a little harder to digest.

KPop Demon Hunters slays as a mystical, action-packed musical full of surprises, and it deserves to be played in theaters.

While the structure can be a little too unfocused, Coixet’s subtle depiction of love and loss goes a long way, building to a memorable conclusion.

At times, the roundabout structure of “Couture” can make for a plodding watch, and leaves some character development to be desired. But there’s a spellbinding quality to Winocour’s direction; she glides from one woman’s perspective to the next somewhat obliquely. In doing so, she unearths gems of inner conflict in characters who are withholding so much about their personal lives just to do their jobs and get through the day.

You don’t watch a movie like this for character or dialogue, you watch it to see fierce, strong young women twirl, kick, and stab their way through a pack of mobsters to the sound of Tchaikovsky. On that front, Pretty Lethal delivers. Brava, ladies!

Given how well “Brian” works, it’s tempting to call it a miracle of a movie, simply because this humor shouldn’t play this well. But that’s not a miracle, that’s just everyone working on a film being perfectly aligned on how to tell the story they’re telling.

While the film’s messaging isn’t always perfectly nailed down, it remains a powerful exploration of the terrifying fact that we are the architects of our own reality. It is a strong debut that proves Jessica Rothe should be in more things, anchoring a film that is gripping and unsettling.

It’s nowhere near the reflective dissection of the complications of modern love it wants to be. However, it’s still a solid entry into a consistent filmography from a filmmaker like Swanberg.

For the most part, Family Movie glides along on the geniality of its cast and Kevin Bacon’s light touch as a director. There’s not a whole lot of style to speak of, but the film looks good, and it moves along at a solid pace.

While it may be indebted to more modern storytelling methods than his previous features, Hokum still possesses enough of McCarthy’s dark magic that it will hold you in a vice grip all the way through. Considering how played-out many horror films feel nowadays, McCarthy’s mastery at scaring the audience is cause for celebration.

Carney does dig into something interesting about inspiration: how, in music, it’s an amalgam of origins that’s harder to define than in other art forms. Still, the rest of the film settles for being a feel-good dramedy, with any depth merely trailing behind the tear-inducing monologues these characters deliver.

Instead of the sharp satire of modern-day relationships it starts out as, “Over Your Dead Body” becomes a gross-out comedy in its second half. While it’s very good in both of those modes, it can’t help but feel a bit disappointing that it takes such a sharp turn from something that’s both fun and perceptive to something that’s just fun.

The whole film has a surfeit of personality, thanks in large part to the multi-hyphenate Russo’s distinct voice permeating every aspect. In addition to writing and directing, Russo also edited and scored the film. That level of control may seem like a lot, especially for a first-time filmmaker, but when you have a vision as specific as Russo does here, it makes sense.

At least Sokolov gives Beetz a moment to shine and become the action hero she deserves, but the film’s more inventive set pieces, such as the air-duct crawl, don’t outweigh how underwhelming “They Will Kill You” is at the end of the day.

Grabinski’s joke-a-minute approach is instantly injected with the melding of genres that Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice embraces throughout its gut-busting runtime, reminding audiences why comedies of this vein are becoming a dying breed and that Vince Vaughn, when he wants to be, remains one of the more reliable comedic presences working today.

Sure, at its core, it’s essentially the same film all over again. Yet Radio Silence’s direction is more elaborate, taking their years of work to come up with far more inventive set pieces, using way more gallons of blood, and, overall, a sequel that is everything we could’ve wanted and possibly a little bit more.

The film is well written enough to capture the pain of everyone involved and to understand their perspectives. The film also features great camerawork, with close-ups that make the entire experience feel claustrophobic, especially when people make Jimmy doubt himself.