Barthes’ thought-provoking script is backed by phenomenal performances from Clark and Ejiofor. And despite its longer-than-needed runtime, the feature is sure to keep audiences entertained from start to finish.

The overall momentum stalls and prevents A Lot of Nothing from sticking its landing, but it's a promising debut from McRae, who has a strong grasp with regards to maintaining much of the film's tension through dialogue alone.

With an excellent ensemble cast and intense character dynamics, Knock at the Cabin is a high-stakes horror that delights in the doubt and confusion that arises.

Allen-Miller’s inventive feature debut suspends everything one may know about moving on too soon and getting over heartbreak. The creative world she conjures is vibrant and entertaining, leading to an experience that is humorous and immersive.

It’s a fascinating story to balance, and though it doesn’t always work, Finley really runs with the concept and its various themes. It’s safe to say there’s never a dull moment in the film, and it isn’t predictable in terms of what comes next.

The strength of the story rests firmly in Derbez's sensitive portrayal and his touching moments with each student, proving that Sergio does know how to spark a genuine excitement for education by tapping into a child's personal interests.

Emotionally effective and often quite tender, the film boasts understated, powerful performances from Emilia Jones and Scoot McNairy.

As hypnotic as Eileen is, the film ultimately falls short. Its final moments suggest that it could have become a completely different film than what was initially presented. Had there been enough time to flesh out the story and build up the tension, the final Rebecca twist would have worked a lot better.

There are some good moments in Shotgun Wedding. Lopez, Coolidge, and Lenny Kravitz are game and there is a Herculean effort from the trio to do something worthwhile with the script they are given.

It’s meant to shock and disgust — and it does — but while Infinity Pool starts off interestingly enough, its take on power, corruption, and privilege only goes so far.

Cat Person is not as compelling as it perhaps aims to be and, though there are great — and even uncomfortable — moments in the film, it doesn’t justify its tonal shifts or its feature length.

Flora and Son is energetic, easygoing, and charming. With a great cast, lovely musical numbers, and a stupendous lead performance by Hewson, Carney doesn’t disappoint.

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt’s non-linear approach requires patience and its character development is a bit thin, but the film is stunning, thought-provoking, and poignant, with each frame lovingly executed.

Bolstered by a fantastic lead performance by Priya Kansara, the film is an entertaining ride, one that is filled with love of sisterhood and energetic chaos.

It’s soulful, tender — an understated triumph. Song’s directing and writing is confident, bringing so much heart and nuance to a simple story that is inspiring, delicate, and evocative.

There is too much history — both in terms of the characters and the mythology — for newcomers to truly appreciate the events of the film. But it's unlikely to fully satisfy even the diehard fans either, even if there's some wicked enjoyment to be had seeing the Teen Wolf characters finally get to swear.

Domont’s feature is occasionally uncomfortable to watch because of how things unravel, but it’s unnerving and utterly heart-pounding in all the best ways. An exceptionally strong feature debut from Domont.

Anchored by strong performances from Daisy Ridley and Dave Merheje, the film has pacing issues, but it's emotionally resonant, humorous, and relatable.

Even in the most discomforting moments, director Parmet finds a way to delicately balance morally complex issues. The Starling Girl, even with its unsettling themes about abuse, is a triumphant effort about finding love within.

Alice, Darling is a respectful and piercing character study that also serves as an excellent showcase for Kendrick's talents.

When You Finish Saving the World is filled with interesting ideas and scenes, yet is hindered by character development that feels incomplete.

Viewers willing to give it the same, almost spellbound focus the protagonist gives this case will find it a compelling meditation on things as wide-ranging as racial otherness, fraught mother-daughter relationships, and the real-world slipperiness of concepts like truth and justice.

The Seven Faces Of Jane is an experiment that just does not deliver the right results.

If there is any justice, Door Mouse will garner the attention it deserves for being a well-defined narrative brought to life effectively and efficiently by a talented director whose imagination and creative drive become more evident with each scene.

Though it runs out of steam during its second act, Butler and company do everything they can to keep the energy going, closing out the film with a well-earned bang.

This isn’t a film that relies on gimmicks and shock value. Instead, first-time feature directors Johnson and Merrick masterfully craft a story that relies on social media and technology to the benefit of the script. And thanks to a well-framed story and clever structure, everything comes together by the film’s end, revealing the answers from clues that just may have been there the entire time.

Watching Tár is akin to listening to a symphony orchestra — it's moving, passionate, and will leave one wanting more long after the lights come up.

The film's events feel natural, so the audience doesn’t have to dig deep to understand and relate to the characters. Combined with a hilarious cast who are all on the same page, The Drop delivers an entertaining enough viewing experience.

Part revisionist history, part unconventional character study, Corsage is carried by Vicky Krieps' brilliant performance and its willingness to buck genre conventions in favor of a dark and dreamy fairy tale.

Thanks to the intriguing nature of the titular character’s existence, audiences everywhere can expect a thrilling horror feature that capitalizes on the charm and acting of its leads, campy sequences, and fun uses of music. This is the type of film enjoyed best with a crowd.

Ultimately, The Pale Blue Eye feels like more of a missed opportunity than a story worth enjoying on its own. As far as historical fiction goes, the film fails to capitalize on its central historical figure, especially with Melling’s performance a beacon of light.

A Man Called Otto aims to be a crowd-pleasing, heartwarming film, and, despite its many flaws and speed bumps, is a success on that front.

Donowho’s western tale follows a typical formula, but there are plenty of laughs and smiles to be had throughout this familiar story.

The cast is not the problem, but the script certainly is. The actors are given too much to do and no time to do it. Golden has the right idea, but the execution fails the film's aspirations.

Something from Tiffany’s lacks a good enough script and the chemistry it needs to make anyone want to sit through another holiday rom-com.

The incomparable Daniel Giménez Cacho stars as Silverio Gama, giving an unforgettable performance that captures the intensity of the film’s concepts. While everything doesn’t always work in Bardo, Iñárritu takes his time painting a visually scrumptious tale even though it’s overly saturated with style over substance.

The adaptation isn't perfect (what stage-to-screen adaptation is?), but Matilda the Musical comes with a game cast, expertly staged musical numbers, and just a touch of magic that all the best musicals have.

The gorgeous cinematography and costumes can’t make up for its emptiness — both in what it’s trying to say and in the way it’s trying to say it.

None of the film's themes blend together appropriately, even when one may suspect a great film will break through.

I Wanna Dance with Somebody celebrates the star that captured the hearts of many fans around the world. And through a great performance by Ackie, this film has the ability to do the same, even if it sticks to genre rules.

The Way of Water is overlong and stretched thin on story, but the Avatar sequel is beautiful, with lush world-building and characters that add depth.

While Emancipation contains beautiful cinematography amidst brutalities of oppression, it conveys very little about the man who should easily inspire the world.

Christmas with the Campbells tries to take some big swings toward shaking up the conventional holiday movie mold, but it ultimately ends up being more of the same, just with some sticky moments. The earnestness of its cast, especially Snow, makes up for some of the other elements that are lacking.

With a stellar leading pair who make the most of the screenplay, Darby and the Dead has enough to keep audiences moved and laughing on occasion, though it is unclear whether it can bring viewers back for a rewatch. The only certainty is that Downs and Cravalho are great together and should have the privilege of leading more projects.

The film exceeds expectations with respect to being a Netflix Christmas production, but it is thoughtful and sincere all the same.

To say Leonor Will Never Die is making bold choices would be an understatement. One never sees the comedy coming, the film is gorgeous, and the script is easily one of the year's best.

This breathtaking, funny, and heartwarming tale is creativity and sincere storytelling at its finest.

There is a modest feeling to There There, and the emotional impact of its actual content might display the limits of this extreme methodology, but its (smartly brisk) runtime is hardly too steep a price to see a small movie explore such big questions with such clarity.

Its absurdity is enough to appeal to the right group of adventurous friends, perhaps, but even those with the stomach for its grossest impulses might find themselves wondering what it was all for.

There may be few miracles in The Wonder, but it's clear that Pugh is one unto herself.

It doesn’t break any genre barriers, nor does the film offer anything new to say about these respective topics. However, Tagliavini nicely crafts a Christmas rom-com that is funny and sincere — a feat with which many other holiday romantic comedies have struggled.

Those looking for a heartfelt tale of family and love might find this one misses the mark, but other viewers willing to go along for the ride could find themselves grinning by the credits. The People We Hate at the Wedding will likely be somewhat divisive, and that makes it a rather intriguing movie in the end.

Taurus plays like a personal project, but that doesn’t make it good. However, Baker should take pride in knowing he has a future in acting; he just needs to pick better projects.

This is a sequel that doesn’t quite surpass its original, but is still a worthy follow-up all on its own. Anyone who enjoyed the original Enchanted should find plenty to love here.

In hindsight, MVP is the kind of film that could definitely work for audiences. What it lacks in technical achievement, it undoubtedly makes up with heart. Though Boyer doesn’t necessarily hit the ball out of the park with his debut due to some odd choices that negatively impact the story structure, it’s easy to see why he chose this as his first project

No part of Utama feels fabricated. The costumes are a part of the environment; the camera work is as simple as it could be, but what is in front of the camera is elevated by a lovely stillness. Alvarez turns Bolivia into a series of portraits and Grisi is the perfect conduit to tell such a specific tale of love and life.

At the heart of this plausible political thriller is a need for more insightful and incisive writing. The Independent often shows audiences what they already know about American politics, but it doesn’t tell one more.

The underlying story is about dealing with grief, but I’m Totally Fine is neither nuanced nor funny enough to comment on that topic meaningfully.

Something in The Dirt is a wild ride that will take one to the limits of reality and test one's patience.

This is a terribly unfunny venture, which fails at the film’s only job.

Beautiful, moving, and sporting a compelling metaphor for parenthood, Twomey's film is heartfelt in the way that Pixar and Ghibli films are, making it a worthy pick for a family movie night.

The film tends to bite off more than it can chew, and the end result is a colossal disappointment.

Director Chuck Russell’s projects always bring a sense of vivacity and killer action sequences in ways his peers often struggle with. But this time around, the magic is missing from Paradise City. Sure, his film contains reliable and entertaining components like most action features do — including an underlying vengeance plot, an expert conman, and even a budding romance — but these elements tend to quickly run their courses thanks to a predictable script, wonky dialogue, and pacing issues.

Falling For Christmas was the best comeback film for Lohan; it could have been better quality, but it is better than nothing. She's in her element, and her natural charisma is illuminated, partially by how uninteresting her costar is. The script and overall production leave much to be desired, but with how low expectations usually are, this one is okay.

Though messy at times, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is an impactful examination of grief aided by excellent character work and exhilarating action.

One Piece Film: Red is the best movie in the franchise and an entertaining experience for its audience, who should be ready to shed some tears, too.

It's gut-wrenching, emotional, and worth seeing, driven by a fantastic performance from Deadwyler that is sure to bring many to tears.

Freedom’s Path has some hurdles that it just can’t overcome from a narrative standpoint. There’s quite a bit of rose-colored storytelling that goes on throughout this feature. There are also significant pacing issues that make it difficult to lean into the storytelling. With that being said, there’s no denying the underlying heartfelt attempt at sharing profound messages.

Saunders’ feature-length directorial debut is a confident one. With humor and heart, he writes and directs relevant themes and experiences that the world has come to understand well at this point in society. Dotty & Soul is genuine without being preachy, and humorous without leaning into offensive territory.

Unfortunately, the film lacks any style, substance, or suspense despite a killer performance from Tom Pelphrey.

Director Gren Wells crafts a tender, yet narratively unbalanced film that accentuates the gift that is Sadie Sink’s talent.

Armageddon Time excels at capturing naiveté but under-commits to sharing the truths of racial disparity when it comes to the American dream.

Equal parts creepy, funny, and impressive, Wendell & Wild (despite being inexplicably rated PG-13) is an ideal watch for the whole family this Halloween.

Though it tends to overstay its welcome, She Said takes its time sharing the experiences of women in a way that leaves enough impact to make one want to stand up to the systematic mistreatment of women in their own workplace.

All Quiet On The Western Front does not live and die by each round of ammunition, it thrives through personal connections and incredible shots of stunned faces covered in soot.

Run Sweetheart Run has a fierceness to its story that has to be admired, and paired with Balinska’s committed performance, the horror film is a must-watch.

Those who enjoyed Cavill's Sherlock in Enola Holmes will be especially happy to see him more involved in the story of the sequel, but this remains Brown's franchise. She's become a powerhouse and continues to capitalize on her skill and charm to keep this film series engaging, and viewers will be won over by the better constructed mystery and delightful dynamic between the two Holmes siblings.

Though suffering from repetitive plot beats and thin characters, Black Adam is powered by Johnson's performance and its promise of an exciting future.

Anchored by two great lead performances, Raymond & Ray is at its best when exploring the odd relationships between its complicated characters.

Spirit Halloween: The Movie is a missed opportunity at best and totally unnecessary at worst.

Those who prefer their period pieces to be more traditional will find this blasphemous, but those willing to imagine a 16th century Verona with updated characters will get a kick out of Rosaline's antics.

Hiding within Stars at Noon is a lean erotic thriller, one where the lack of chemistry between Alwyn and Qualley can be overlooked both because of Denis' directing and the standalone performances of its cast. Unfortunately, the film gets bogged down by pacing issues, hoping to coast on the chemistry of Qualley and Alwyn, but runs out of gas long before danger starts to creep in just past the hour mark.

The Curse of Bridge Hollow hopes to hide a clunky, unfunny script behind the veneer of a solid filmmaking apparatus, but it manages to test one's patience even at a merciful 89 minutes of runtime.

Halloween Ends is a satisfying enough conclusion to the H40 trilogy and, overall, the three films provide the strongest Halloween sequel continuity of the franchise's twelve post-Halloween 1978 follow-ups. For that reason, even if Green rolled the dice (and lost) on an underwhelming central premise for Ends, a satisfying conclusion to Laurie's story from Halloween 1978 to 2022 was worth any missteps that plague Kills and Ends. Still, in spite of this, it's hard to ignore that Halloween 2018 set a high bar for Green's revival trilogy - a bar that was undermined by the following chapter and is barely improved in Halloween Ends.

Sissy sacrifices its themes for violence and surface-level explorations of psychological realism, making it as frustrating as it is compulsively fun.

While the drama can be a tense watch, there is something missing in its execution to make it a riveting, suspenseful watch.

While the film tends to get repetitive and its comedy doesn’t delve any deeper than it has to, Some Like It Rare is entertaining and darkly funny.

As much as it tries to be a mash-up of several genres, it would've been much better had it picked one lane and leaned into it.

The film's tone and performances are in lockstep, creating a familiar but effective vibe, making MK Ultra a no-frills thriller reminiscent of classic 70s paranoia.

There’s an enormous effort to entertain, but Bromates runs out of ideas faster than it can provide organic laughs.

Though it risks a slip into fully formulaic territory at times, the new movie is building to a far more interesting endgame than it appears to be, in which all the fleshing out of Cenobite lore and mechanics actually amounts to something quite profound.

Piggy (Cerdita in Spanish) has a slow-burn intensity that culminates in a superb ending and, though the film could have had tighter writing and better pacing in places, it’s still a satisfying watch.

At times fun and well-made, Amsterdam's meandering plot and thinly-drawn characters bog down what could've been a zippy story of crime and friendship.

The film is messy and gets tangled up in its protagonist’s folly, but in the process, Zac Efron delivers a heartfelt and killer performance.

For all its more serious moments, The Good House actually feels a lot like comfort food. It could be due to the vivid community the filmmakers have built, or because of Weaver's multifaceted performance. It also could be because, at its core, The Good House is about inner growth and the value in appreciating loved ones.

An unnerving rural gothic tale with two quietly fierce performances that make the film's slow burn to its climax worth the wait.

Mona Lisa and The Blood Moon is a tightrope of horror, revenge, and feminism set to awesome music.

The story is simply a rehash of the first film, and even the jokes begin to fall flat well before the halfway point. Hocus Pocus 2 is enjoyable, but it doesn't quite live up to the lightning-in-a-bottle moment that was the 1993 film.