The Super 8 Years
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Biography, Drama | Directed by Annie Ernaux, David Ernaux-Briot
In this wistful movie, the French writer and Nobel laureate revisits her life with help from her son, who’s also the director.

he writer Annie Ernaux, left, as seen in the documentary she made with her son, “The Super 8 Years.”
By MANOHLA DARGIS

The Quiet Girl
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Colm Bairéad
This luminous drama, Ireland’s entry for best international feature, may not be holiday fare, but it does express the season’s benevolent ethos.

Catherine Clinch plays Cáit in “The Quiet Girl,” | Directed by Colm Bairéad.
By LISA KENNEDY

— Of Possible Interest —

Avatar: The Way of Water
PG-13 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi | Directed by James Cameron
James Cameron returns to Pandora, and to the ecological themes and visual bedazzlements of his 2009 blockbuster.
By A.O. SCOTT