City Hall
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Frederick Wiseman
In his latest movie, the celebrated documentarian explores the ideas and ideals, the faces and spaces of Boston’s City Hall.

Boston’s mayor, Martin J. Walsh, at a food bank in a scene from Frederick Wiseman’s “ City Hall.” Credit…Film Forum
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Raining in the Mountain
NYT Critic’s Pick | Action, Drama | Directed by King Hu
This recently restored film by King Hu is a spectacular, exhilarating entertainment.

A scene from “Raining in the Mountain.” Credit…Film Movement
By GLENN KENNY

What the Constitution Means to Me
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Marielle Heller
The timing could not be better for Heidi Schreck’s affecting play about the Constitution’s impact on our daily lives, now streaming on Amazon.

ByHeidi Schreck in “What the Constitution Means to Me.” Credit…Joan Marcus/Amazon ELISABETH VINCENTELLI

Synchronic
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi | Directed by Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead
The filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead bend reality in this drug-fueled sci-fi horror.

Jamie Dornan, left, and Anthony Mackie in “Synchronic.” Credit…Well Go Usa
By GLENN KENNY

Ham on Rye
NYT Critic’s Pick | Comedy, Drama | Directed by Tyler Taormina
Tyler Taormina’s debut film starts in the vein of classic high-school comedies until it turns toward a dark surrealism.

From left, Haley Bodell, Gabriella Herrera and Audrey Boos in “Ham on Rye.” Credit…Carson Lund/Factory 25
By GLENN KENNY

— Of Possible Interest —

The Witches
PG | Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery | Directed by Robert Zemeckis
In this new take on the Roald Dahl book, Robert Zemeckis sets loose his cameras, and Octavia Spencer side-eyes Anne Hathaway.

Jahzir Bruno in “Roald Dahl’s The Witches,” | Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Credit…HBO MAX
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Friendsgiving
R | Comedy, Drama | Directed by Nicol Paone
Nicol Paone’s film takes a surprisingly charming and hilarious approach to a traditional holiday.

Malin Akerman, left, and Kat Dennings in “Friendsgiving.” Credit…Elko Weaver/Lionsgate
By LOVIA GYARKYE

Over the Moon
PG | Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical, Sci-Fi | Directed by Glen Keane, John Kahrs
This animated Netflix adventure falters once its tween heroine touches down on a gaudy moonscape.

Fei Fei, voiced by Cathy Ang, with Gobi, voiced by Ken Jeong, in “Over the Moon.” Credit…Netflix
By NATALIA WINKELMAN

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
R | Comedy | Directed by Jason Woliner
It’s an amusingly harebrained scheme, but there’s nothing in this moviefilm that matches the elegant social experiment of the first.
By DEVIKA GIRISH

Belly of the Beast
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Erika Cohn
Erika Cohn’s new documentary focuses on the sterilization of women in California prisons, and the battle for a law against the practice.

When Kelli Dillon was 24 years old, a doctor at the California facility where she was incarcerated sterilized her without consent. That experience, and the way it galvanized Dillon to bring attention to this human rights violation, anchors Erika Cohn’s timely and bracing new documentary “Belly of the Beast.”

Kelli Dillon, testifying about her experience, in “Belly of the Beast,” a documentary | Directed by Erika Cohn. Credit…Idle Wild Films/PBS Independent Lens
By LOVIA GYARKYE

White Riot
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Music | Directed by Rubika Shah
Rubika Shah’s documentary about the British organization Rock Against Racism is a compelling depiction of political organizing in the 1970s.

Since rock is no longer the dominant form of popular music, it’s hard to say how much good reviving the story of the British-born organization Rock Against Racism could do. But one of the many things that “White Riot,” a documentary about RAR directed by Rubika Shah, brings home is that the world could still use more somethings against racism.

Music with a message: From left, Mick Jones, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon of the Clash, as seen in “White Riot.” Credit…Film Movement
By GLENN KENNY

Martin Eden
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama, Romance | Directed by Pietro Marcello
In this bold adaptation of the Jack London novel, a young writer suffers, fights and pays as he stands alone against the world.

The entirety of the 20th century — its promises, illusions and traumas — sweeps through the audacious and thrilling “Martin Eden.” An ingenious adaptation of the Jack London novel, the film follows its title character, a humble young man as he embarks on a program of self-improvement. Like a hero out of Horatio Alger, Martin strives to change and to advance. A voracious autodidact, he succeeds. But his rags-to-rich path with its hard work, perseverance and bourgeois education, proves far more complicated and finally more shattering than most upward-mobility fairy tales.

Something like desire: Luca Marinelli and Jessica Cressy in “Martin Eden.” Credit…Francesca Errichiello/Kino Lorber
By MANOHLA DARGIS

— Of Possible Interest —

David Byrne’s American Utopia
Documentary, Music, Musical | Directed by Spike Lee
Spike Lee joins forces with David Byrne for a joyous concert movie that rocks and delights, sending you high and then higher.

The first thing you should do when you’re ready to watch “David Byrne’s American Utopia” — and you should watch this exuberant concert movie from Spike Lee — is clear some room in front of your TV. Move any chairs, rugs, tables and cats out of the way. Check your sound, crank the volume, press play. It may take a few songs for every part of you to get moving. But by the time Byrne and company perform “This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody),” you may find yourself levitating.

Remaining in light: David Byrne and company in “American Utopia,” Spike Lee’s film version of Byrne’s stage show. Credit…David Lee/HBO
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Love and Monsters
PG-13 Adventure, Comedy | Directed by Michael Matthews
The new sci-fi adventure from Michael Matthews lacks the self-seriousness of typical dystopian flicks but doesn’t completely lack depth.

In “Love and Monsters,” an imaginative post-apocalyptic coming-of-age film from the South African director Michael Matthews (“Five Fingers for Marseilles”), an asteroid doesn’t destroy civilization, but humanity’s attempt to stop it does.

Dylan O’Brien in “Love and Monsters.” Credit…Paramount Pictures
By LOVIA GYARKYE

The Forty-Year-Old Version
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Comedy, Drama | Directed by Radha Blank
Radha Blank’s film is an intimate, epic reckoning with age, ambition and everything else.

Radha Blank in her autobiographical feature, “The Forty-Year-Old Version.”
By A.O. SCOTT

Time
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG-13 | Documentary | Directed by Garrett Bradley
In Garrett Bradley’s moving documentary, a woman fights for her family and justice as a husband and father’s absence reverberates.

Fox Rich in a scene from “Time,” | Directed by Garrett Bradley.
By LISA KENNEDY

Black Box
NYT Critic’s Pick | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller | Directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour
An amnesiac begins to see strange visions in this engrossing thriller streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Phylicia Rashad and Mamoudou Athie in “Black Box.”
By GLENN KENNY

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG | Documentary, Biography | Directed by Alastair Fothergill, Jonathan Hughes, Keith Scholey
In this moving documentary, the famed naturalist maps how steeply the planet’s biodiversity has diminished over his lifetime.

The naturalist David Attenborough in the documentary “A Life on Our Planet.”
By NATALIA WINKELMAN

— For Bad Movie Aficionados — You Know Who You Are —

Faith Ba$ed
Comedy | Directed by Vincent Masciale
Two friends who know nothing about filmmaking try to make a Christian-themed movie set in outer space. That’s where just about all of the jokes in this comedy land.

From left, Lance Reddick, Luke Barnett and Tanner Thomason in “Faith Ba$ed.”
By BEN KENIGSBERG

Books of Blood
Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi | Directed by Brannon Braga
A Clive Barker short-story anthology is the source of inspiration for this lackluster trilogy of horror tales.

Britt Robertson in “Books of Blood.”Credit…
By AMY NICHOLSON

American Murder: The Family Next Door
NYT Critic’s Pick | TV-MA | Documentary, Crime | Directed by Jenny Popplewell
The Watts murders are revisited in this devastating Netflix documentary about marriage, social media and violence against women.

Christopher Watts in the documentary “American Murder: The Family Next Door.”
By BILAL QURESHI

On the Rocks
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Adventure, Comedy, Drama | Directed by Sofia Coppola
In Sofia Coppola’s latest, Rashida Jones plays a woman worried about her marriage. Who’s she gonna call? Bill Murray, a.k.a. Dad.

“You’re mine until you get married — then you’re still mine.” Rashida Jones and Bill Murray play a daughter and father in Sofia Coppola’s “On the Rocks.”Credit…
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Possessor Uncut
NYT Critic’s Pick | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller | Directed by Brandon Cronenberg
The assassin in this film by Brandon Cronenberg weaponizes the human mind and body of an unsuspecting stranger who has access to her target.

Andrea Riseborough in “Possessor,” by Brandon Cronenberg.
By GLENN KENNY

Dick Johnson Is Dead
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG-13 | Documentary, Drama | Directed by Kirsten Johnson
With the help of her father, the documentary filmmaker Kirsten Johnson made a surprising, endearing movie about his death.

Dick Johnson in his daughter Kirsten Johnson’s film “Dick Johnson Is Dead.”Credit…
By MANOHLA DARGIS

— Of Possible Interest —

The Boys in the Band
R | Drama | Directed by Joe Mantello
This provocative work is again revived, now for Netflix with an all-star cast including Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer and Andrew Rannells.

Jim Parsons, left, and Matt Bomer in “The Boys in the Band.”
By GLENN KENNY

Save Yourselves!
R | Comedy, Sci-Fi | Directed by Alex Huston Fischer, Eleanor Wilson
The writer-directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson lovingly poke fun at the doomed generation in this apocalyptic comedy.

“Save Yourselves!” stars Sunita Mani, above, and John Reynolds.Credit…
By KRISTEN YOONSOO KIM

Oliver Sacks: His Own Life
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Ric Burns
A new documentary explores the fascinating and sometimes troubled life of the famed neurologist.

Oliver Sacks knew he was dying when he spoke about his life and work in “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life.”
By GLENN KENNY

Bird Island
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Sergio Da Costa, Maya Kosa
This compact, whimsical film about a bird rehabilitation center in Switzerland is perched wryly between fiction and documentary.

A scene from “Bird Island,” Directed by Sergio Da Costa and Maya Kosa.
By DEVIKA GIRISH

Kajillionaire
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Crime, Drama | Directed by Miranda July
Miranda July’s third feature follows a family of small-scale swindlers in a deceptively sunny Los Angeles.

Evan Rachel Wood in “Kajillionaire.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

— Of Possible Interest —

Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles
Documentary | Directed by Laura Gabbert
This documentary follows the star chef Yotam Ottolenghi as he assembles a crack team to make sweets for an event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Yotam Ottolenghi as seen in “Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles.”Credit…Ifc Films
By GLENN KENNY

The Trial of the Chicago 7
R | Drama, History, Thriller | Directed by Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Sorkin and an all-star cast re-enact a real-life ’60s courtroom drama with present-day implications.

Jeremy Strong as the Yippie Jerry Rubin in the docudrama from Aaron Sorkin
By A.O. SCOTT

God of the Piano
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Itay Tal

A family drama and psychological horror story, this directorial debut examines a parent’s projection of her own failed dreams onto a talented child.
By GLENN KENNY

Residue
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Merawi Gerima

In Merawi Gerima’s first feature film, a failed screenwriter returns to Washington, D.C., and finds gentrification has overrun his home.
By GLENN KENNY

Gather
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Sanjay Rawal

This documentary wonderfully weaves personal stories with archival footage that contextualizes the continued violence against Native Americans.
By LOVIA GYARKYE

Buoyancy
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Crime, Drama | Directed by Rodd Rathjen

In this sobering, moving drama, a Cambodian teenager runs away from home and is sold into slavery on a Thai fishing boat.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

I’m Thinking of Ending Things
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Drama, Horror, Thriller | Directed by Charlie Kaufman
Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons play a couple on a trip to some very odd places in Charlie Kaufman’s latest film.

Family togetherness (or is it?) in Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” with, from left, Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette and David Thewlis.
By A.O. SCOTT

Isadora’s Children
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Damien Manivel
The work of a 20th-century dance innovator inspires four women of the present day in this film, composed like a piece of music by Damien Manivel.

Marika Rizzi, left, and Manon Carpentier, in “Isadora’s Children.”
By GLENN KENNY

Feels Good Man
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Comedy | Directed by Arthur Jones
A new documentary looks at how the cartoonist Matt Furie’s creation Pepe the Frog became a symbol of hate.

His frog was stolen: The artist Matt Furie in the documentary “Feels Good Man.”
By BEN KENIGSBERG

— Of Possible Interest —

Mulan
PG-13 | Action, Adventure, Drama, Family | Directed by Niki Caro
In Niki Caro and Disney’s live-action version of the ancient story, a young woman rides off to war and discovers herself.

Going to war for China and Disney: Yifei Liu as the title character in the live-action remake of “Mulan.”
By MANOHLA DARGIS

The New Mutants
PG-13 | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi | Directed by Josh Boone

From left, Maisie Williams, Henry Zaga, Blu Hunt, Charlie Heaton and Anya Taylor-Joy from “The New Mutants.”
This much-delayed “X-Men”-related film from Josh Boone features five teens with not-so-great powers.
By AMY NICHOLSON

Children of the Sea
Animation, Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Mystery | Directed by Ayumu Watanabe
Exploration is at the heart of the mostly stunning and totally mystifying Japanese anime feature.

In “Children of the Sea,” Ruka, a shy teenage girl, feels a curious connection to water.
By MAYA PHILLIPS

Chuck Berry
Documentary, Biography, Music | Directed by Jon Brewer
Jon Brewer’s documentary about the musical legend is far more traditional than its subject.

The title subject of the documentary “Chuck Berry.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

The Personal History of David Copperfield
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG | Comedy, Drama | Directed by Armando Iannucci

Armando Iannucci’s souped-up, trimmed-down adaptation of the Dickens novel is an exuberant, heartfelt delight.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Ghost Tropic
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Bas Devos

Bas Devos captures the sleeping outer portions of Brussels in this drama about a hard-working woman who finds herself stranded.
By GLENN KENNY

Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Biography | Directed by Werner Herzog

Herzog honors the writer and explorer Bruce Chatwin in this stimulating and visually overwhelming documentary.
By GLENN KENNY

— Of Possible Interest —

Bill & Ted Face the Music
PG-13 | Adventure, Comedy, Music, Sci-Fi | Directed by Dean Parisot

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter travel through time to save reality and redeem the honor of Generation X.
‘That’s too strong a word [genius] to apply to “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” which like its predecessors is winningly modest and harmlessly silly. I don’t know if it made me feel young or old, but it was all in all a most non-bogus experience.’
By A.O. SCOTT