While the drama gets the wind knocked out of its sails after introducing other characters, Encounter gets in plenty of emotional, nuanced scenes between Malik and his sons that become the beating heart of this often unsettling, uneven, yet strangely mesmerizing film.

Prieto also does manage to craft some beautiful images in the flashback sequences. While he doesn't harness his cinematography experience often enough to push the story forward visually, it is impossible to deny the power of certain images.

The Broken Hearts Gallery is overflowing with charm and personality, making it exactly the kind of fun, feel-good romantic comedy needed right now.

Army of the Dead is by no means a must-watch zombie or heist movie, and folks uninterested in this film would be fine to skip it.

The movie's superhero-laden backbone is meant to support a deeper message. Adam Egypt Mortimer's Archenemy is a painful reminder of how society fails people, and bleeds colorful nuance and thematic messaging in every frame.

Arcadian may falter in its story details, building some character tension that is never fully fleshed out, but it succeeds in creating a gripping, tense experience that is elevated by its disturbing creatures.

Just when it feels like it's going to hit the gas, The Wizard of the Kremlin holds back, all the way up to its confounding, out-of-left-field ending that is both abrupt and fittingly bleak.

Extraction 2 is weighed down by Rake’s hang-ups over his choices, but the drama of the familial unit Rake is out to rescue is enough. Hargrave's vision is clear.

It's thanks to this cast that Shirley remains a rousing and emotional tribute to an important figure in American history.

The chamber drama of a rich family in collapse is only successful as much as the context within which it exists, and, because that context is as slippery as it is, Anniversary just feels toothless.

Thor: Love and Thunder is a return to form for the MCU: delivering a great solo story that is emotional, exciting, and downright funny as hell.

Larry Fessenden's Blackout is a frustrating bouillabaisse of two completely different movies that happen to be playing at the same time.

The film refuses to linger in these quieter, well-acted Ritchson scenes, often in favor of a scene with Sharon. Swank is not necessarily bad in the role, but the film works too hard, and to minimal avail, to manipulate us into sympathy for her overbearing personality.

The film does a serviceable job of creating a revenge story, but leaves some meat on the bone in terms of narrative and visuals. Scenes come to a standstill and make a very short movie drag in places it shouldn’t. That being said, the final showdown makes it all worth it.

Perfectly balancing tense drama with charming humor, Finch highlights the best and worst of humanity, and a robot-dog friendship worth remembering.

How It Ends is a quirky and grounded indie feature about facing one's issues head-on when the world is about to be destroyed by an asteroid.

The performance factor alone is fantastic and engaging. Boylan’s own performance is convincing and occasionally even emotional, but her acting talents unfortunately can’t overcome the issues that stem from the writing.

Though The Perfect Find struggles with the romance aspects, its commentary on finding love late in life is a pure delight.

Somebody I Used to Know is a refreshing take on routine rom-com tropes that, while suffering from a slow start, makes for a rewarding journey.

The Quiet Ones isn't action-packed enough to be pure fun or interrogative enough to be thought-provoking.

Though the actors have little to work with, they're a game ensemble, potentially making them the only redeeming quality of Hell of a Summer​​​​​​.

Though its characters and story could've benefited from a deeper, more original development, Roache-Turner ultimately knows what audiences are coming to see and delivers that in droves, offering horrific deaths, a tense atmosphere and stylish direction to entertaining effect.

The film balances multiple storylines with intense action sequences and, despite pacing issues, packs a major punch that will keep audiences riveted.

It's a lighthearted, empathetic film that multiple generations of family can see together and all find something worth taking with them.

With nothing of substance to chew on, the only thing a (committed) viewer can do is strap in for the 90-minute runtime and wait to hear a tune they like - and hope that, once it's over, they emerge earworm-free.

The central conceit is both interesting and clever, it's often touchingly performed, and it has some ideas that are, when dwelt on, quite profound. But the story is wrapped in a self-consciously "artistic" style that is only rarely additive. More often, it just gets in the way.

While it's a shame the movie around the cast doesn't quite match their efforts, it at least gives them just enough to keep Havoc from being a complete waste.

While there are explorations of difficult topics in Remarkably Bright Creatures, the movie is ultimately about the good in people, and how human connection can lead to a fulfilling life. As such, it wouldn't be surprising for the film to wring a few (or a lot of) tears from its viewers, with its themes of resilience and recovering from devastating grief. But Newman and Whittington's script balances the darker moments of the movie's story with plenty of levity, helped along by Remarkably Bright Creatures' idiosyncratic octopus narrator.