Waves

NYT Critic’s Pick R Drama, Romance, Sport Directed by Trey Edward Shults
The writer-director Trey Edward Shults tells the story of a family held together by love and nearly undone by tragedy.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Atlantics

NYT Critic’s Pick Drama Directed by Mati Diop
Mati Diop’s Cannes prize winner is a potent mix of genres and moods.
By A.O. SCOTT

Ford v Ferrari

NYT Critic’s Pick PG-13 Action, Biography, Drama, Sport Directed by James Mangold
Matt Damon and Christian Bale star in James Mangold’s look back at the golden age of auto racing.
By A.O. SCOTT

The Hottest August

NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary Directed by Brett Story
The director draws on texts from Zadie Smith, Annie Dillard and Karl Marx for narration, but ospreys and a solar eclipse take more of a center stage.
By GLENN KENNY

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project

NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary Directed by Matt Wolf
Matt Wolf’s documentary shows how one woman captured history by recording television news. The results are compelling.
By GLENN KENNY

— Of Possible Interest —

‘I Lost My Body’ Review: The Quest of a Severed Hand

There is no shortage of imagination in this animated feature. In fact, there may be more than you can stomach.
By Teo Bugbee

‘Klaus’ Review: A Santa Origin Story

A postman dashes through the snow with a certain toymaker in this animated holiday film.
By Glenn Kenny

‘Mickey and the Bear’ Review: Trapped in a Small Town, With Dad

Set in Anaconda, Montana, Annabelle Attanasio’s film follows a young woman burdened with caring for a parent with PTSD.
By Glenn Kenny

Redoubt
NYT Critic’s Pick Directed by Matthew Barney
Breathtakingly beautiful and with little spoken dialogue, Matthew Barney’s film is a western that reaches for the cosmic.
By GLENN KENNY

American Dharma
NYT Critic’s Pick R Documentary, Biography Directed by Errol Morris
Errol Morris fails to crack his subject in this documentary — but maybe that’s the point.
By BEN KENIGSBERG

— Of Possible Interest —

Terminator: Dark Fate
R Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Directed by Tim Miller
Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger return for another chapter in everyone’s favorite time-traveling killer-android franchise.
By A.O. SCOTT

Gay Chorus Deep South
Documentary, Music Directed by David Charles Rodrigues
On a tour of states that have enacted laws restricting the rights of LGBTQ people, music makes a difference on a personal level.
By GLENN KENNY

Motherless Brooklyn
R Crime, Drama Directed by Edward Norton
The actor directs and stars (along with Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Alec Baldwin) in a big, ambitious adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s prizewinning novel.
By A.O. SCOTT

Chez jolie coiffure
NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary Directed by Rosine Mfetgo Mbakam
‘The Two Faces of a Bamileke Woman’ and ‘Chez Jolie Coiffure’ offer Cameroonian women the chance to speak for themselves.
By TEO BUGBEE

The Two Faces of a Bamiléké Woman
NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary Directed by Rosine Mfetgo Mbakam
‘The Two Faces of a Bamileke Woman’ and ‘Chez Jolie Coiffure’ offer Cameroonian women the chance to speak for themselves.
By TEO BUGBEE

The Elephant Queen
NYT Critic’s Pick PG Documentary, Family Directed by Mark Deeble, Victoria Stone
In footage shot over several years, this documentary follows a herd of elephants across the Kenyan savanna.
By KEN JAWOROWSKI

By the Grace of God
NYT Critic’s Pick Crime, Drama Directed by François Ozon
The often irreverent French director François Ozon gets serious with a fact-based story about a group of men who were childhood victims of a pedophile priest.
By GLENN KENNY

The Cave
NYT Critic’s Pick PG-13 Documentary Directed by Feras Fayyad
Feras Fayyad’s new documentary takes viewers into a subterranean Syrian hospital, as warplanes rumble overhead and bombings rattle the walls.
By BEN KENIGSBERG

— Of Possible Interest —

Zombieland: Double Tap
R Action, Comedy, Horror Directed by Ruben Fleischer
After 10 years, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin are still murdering the pop-culture clichés.
By A.O. SCOTT

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
PG Adventure, Family, Fantasy Directed by Joachim Rønning
Angelina Jolie returns as the powerful, dangerous fairy in this tame, disappointing follow-up to the 2014 revisionist hit.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Jojo Rabbit
PG-13 Comedy, Drama, War Directed by Taika Waititi
Taika Waititi’s new film mixes farce, fantasy and drama in a Nazi-era coming-of-age story.
By A.O. SCOTT

Parasite
NYT Critic’s Pick R Comedy, Drama, Thriller Directed by Joon-ho Bong
In Bong Joon Ho’s new film, a destitute family occupies a wealthy household in an elaborate scheme that goes comically — then horribly — wrong.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

In My Room
NYT Critic’s Pick Drama, Sci-Fi Directed by Ulrich Köhler
A mass extinction forces a miserable man to dramatically reshape his life in Ulrich Köhler’s uncommonly subtle character study.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Pain and Glory
NYT Critic’s Pick R Drama Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Antonio Banderas plays a filmmaker in crisis in Pedro Almodóvar’s movie about loss, love, imagination and memory.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Celebration
NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary Directed by Olivier Meyrou
There’s little joy in this documentary, despite its title. But the movie is both revealing and beguiling.
By GLENN KENNY

The Irishman
NYT Critic’s Pick R Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller Directed by Martin Scorsese
Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci star in Martin Scorsese’s monumental, elegiac tale of violence, betrayal, memory and loss. It’s the opening-night movie at the New York Film Festival.
By A.O. SCOTT

— Of Possible Interest —

Joker
R Crime, Drama, Thriller Directed by Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips’s supervillain origin story starring Joaquin Phoenix is stirring up a fierce debate, but it’s not interesting enough to argue about.
By A.O. SCOTT

Lucy in the Sky
R Drama, Sci-Fi Directed by Noah Hawley
A story that captured the public imagination (it’s the one with the diapers) makes for a messy movie.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

First Love
NYT Critic’s PickComedy, Crime, RomanceDirected by Takashi Miike
The prolific director Takashi Miike delivers an unusually satisfying Japanese genre romp.
By GLENN KENNY

— Of Possible Interest —

‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ Review: A Twisty Romp Through Time and Genre
Jim Mickle’s unconventional serial-killer movie for Netflix is clever, if bloody messy.
By Chris Vognar

‘Sink or Swim’ Review: Pool Boys
In over their heads, these unlikely underwater artistes find their happy place.
By Jeannette Catsoulis

‘The Death of Dick Long’ Review: About Last Night …
Three young Alabama men have a less-than-enchanted evening in this dark comedy.
By Glenn Kenny

Long Shot
NYT Critic’s Pick R Comedy, Romance Directed by Jonathan Levine
The improbably yet perfectly paired stars play old friends who unexpectedly find love in this charming (and a bit vulgar) romantic comedy.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Meeting Gorbachev
NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary Directed by Werner Herzog, Andre Singer
Werner Herzog’s latest documentary is centered on Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who helped bring the Cold War to an end.
By BEN KENIGSBERG

Hesburgh
NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary Directed by Patrick Creadon
A man of the cloth, a man against racism: “Hesburgh” tells the story of a tireless civil rights champion.
By GLENN KENNY

Shadow
NYT Critic’s Pick Action, Drama, War Directed by Yimou Zhang
Zhang Yimou’s film, set during the “Three Kingdoms” era in Chinese history, features head-spinning palace intrigue and spectacularly inventive violence.
By GLENN KENNY

— Of Possible Interest —

Ask Dr. Ruth
Documentary Directed by Ryan White
Ryan White’s rose-tinted portrait of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the irrepressible sex therapist and Holocaust survivor, leaves no room for naysayers.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

UglyDolls
PG Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical Directed by Kelly Asbury
Voiced by the likes of Kelly Clarkson and Janelle Monáe, singing plush toys populate this a neon-colored fable of self-love.
By GLENN KENNY

Peter Mayhew, the Actor Behind Chewbacca’s Mask in ‘Star Wars,’ Dies at 74
Mr. Mayhew, who played the Wookiee Chewbacca in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, died at home in Texas after having a heart attack.

Fast Color
NYT Critic’s Pick PG-13 Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller Directed by Julia Hart
Julia Hart’s wonderfully strange dystopian drama pits three gifted black women against a dried-up world and a hostile government.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Grass
NYT Critic’s Pick Drama Directed by Sang-soo Hong
A sense of dislocation hangs over the South Korean director’s latest feature as a young woman writer observes mostly melancholy people, old and young.
By GLENN KENNY

Hail Satan?
NYT Critic’s Pick R Documentary Directed by Penny Lane
Members of the Satanic Temple are not your average devil worshipers.
By BEN KENIGSBERG

Breakthrough
NYT Critic’s Pick PG Biography, Drama Directed by Roxann Dawson
After a 14-year-old boy falls into freezing water and his pulse stops, prayers and medical workers both seem to play a role in his recovery.
By BILGE EBIRI

— Of Possible Interest —

Penguins
G Documentary Directed by Alastair Fothergill, Jeff Wilson
Ed Helms provides the internal monologue for a 5-year-old Adélie penguin referred to as Steve, who is about to embark on his first mating season.
By TEO BUGBEE

Rafiki
Drama, Romance Directed by Wanuri Kahiu
The story of a romance between two Kenyan women was shown at Cannes after being banned in Kenya.
By BEN KENIGSBERG

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Not Rated Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy Directed by Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam’s long-deferred tribute to Cervantes’s knight errant finally arrives, starring Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver.
By A.O. SCOTT

Red Joan
R Biography, Drama, Romance Directed by Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn’s listless period drama about an English physicist who leaks atom-bomb secrets, drags when it should zing.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Guava Island
Comedy, Thriller Directed by Hiro Murai
The star, along with Rihanna and his “Atlanta” collaborators, crafts a freewheeling paean to the pleasures of taking it easy.
By JASON BAILEY

<a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/movies/capernaum-review.html?rref=collection%2Fcollection%2Fmovie-guide” target=”_blank”>Capernaum</a>
NYT Critic’s Pick R Drama Directed by Nadine Labaki
Like a Charles Dickens hero, Zain makes his way through a city where cruelty and injustice threaten to overwhelm kindness and decency.
By A.O. SCOTT

<a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/movies/ghostbox-cowboy-review.html?rref=collection%2Fcollection%2Fmovie-guide” target=”_blank”>Ghostbox Cowboy</a>
NYT Critic’s Pick Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller Directed by John Maringouin
John Maringouin directs a dryly funny dissection of entrepreneurial absurdism bleeding into existential and metaphysical despair.
By GLENN KENNY

<a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/movies/lots-of-kids-a-monkey-and-a-castle-review.html?rref=collection%2Fcollection%2Fmovie-guide” target=”_blank”>Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle</a>
NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary Directed by Gustavo Salmerón
The Spanish actor Gustavo Salmerón stitches together an affectionate, frank portrait of his indomitable mother in this family documentary.
By GLENN KENNY

<a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/movies/dead-souls-review.html?rref=collection%2Fcollection%2Fmovie-guide” target=”_blank”>Dead Souls</a>
NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary Directed by Bing Wang
More than eight hours long and harrowing to watch, Wang Bing’s “Dead Souls” is a necessary look at China’s brutal re-education camps for “rightists.”
By BILGE EBIRI

<a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/movies/if-beale-street-could-talk-review.html?rref=collection%2Fcollection%2Fmovie-guide” target=”_blank”>If Beale Street Could Talk</a>
NYT Critic’s Pick R Crime, Drama, Romance Directed by Barry Jenkins
The couple in this adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel are loving while black, an existential truth that is turned into a nightmare.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

<a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/movies/spider-man-into-the-spider-verse-review.html?rref=collection%2Fcollection%2Fmovie-guide” target=”_blank”>Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse</a>
NYT Critic’s Pick PG Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
This lively, diverse comic-book movie brings some fun to a genre that often takes itself too seriously.
By A.O. SCOTT

— Of Possible Interest —

<a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/movies/mortal-engines-review.html?rref=collection%2Fcollection%2Fmovie-guide” target=”_blank”>Mortal Engines</a>
PG-13 Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller Directed by Christian Rivers
To the extent that “Mortal Engines” resembles anything, it’s other movies, which it plunders with a landfill-diving zeal that suits the surviving populace.
By BEN KENIGSBERG

<a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/movies/never-ending-man-hayao-miyazaki-review.html?rref=collection%2Fcollection%2Fmovie-guide” target=”_blank”>Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki</a>
Documentary, Biography Directed by Kaku Arakawa
The director of animated classics like “Spirited Away” reflects on his career in this documentary.
By GLENN KENNY

<a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/movies/martyr-review.html?rref=collection%2Fcollection%2Fmovie-guide” target=”_blank”>Martyr</a>
Drama, Family, Fantasy Directed by Mazen Khaled
Set in a poor section of the city, Mazen Khaled’s film captures the numbness, grief and rage that come out of strife.
By WESLEY MORRIS

<a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/movies/the-house-that-jack-built-review.html?rref=collection%2Fcollection%2Fmovie-guide” target=”_blank”>The House That Jack Built</a>
R Comedy, Drama, Horror, Thriller Directed by Lars von Trier
Matt Dillon may play a serial killer in Lars von Trier’s latest movie, but its real subject seems to be its director.
By WESLEY MORRIS

Shoplifters
NYT Critic’s Pick R Crime, Drama Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda
In this beautifully felt drama, the Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda dives into the mess of life with a story about a family on the ragged edge.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Becoming Astrid
NYT Critic’s Pick Biography, Drama Directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen
This biopic of the Swedish writer of the “Pippi Longstocking” series hits familiar beats, but its performances are pitch perfect.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Inquiring Nuns
NYT Critic’s Pick Not Rated Documentary Directed by Gordon Quinn
In this newly restored 1968 documentary, two nuns ask a variety of passers-by in Chicago: “Are you happy?”
By GLENN KENNY

Invisible Hands
NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary Directed by Shraysi Tandon
Shraysi Tandon’s dense investigative documentary jumps into the murky and shameful world of child trafficking and forced labor.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

The Favourite
NYT Critic’s Pick R Biography, Drama Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Yorgos Lanthimos’s new film, starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, turns 18th-century royal intrigue into sublime and ridiculous comedy.
By A.O. SCOTT

Roma
NYT Critic’s Pick R Drama Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Cuarón uses both intimacy and monumentality to express the depths of ordinary life in this autobiographical movie set in Mexico City in the 1970s.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Creed II
NYT Critic’s Pick PG-13 Drama, Sport Directed by Steven Caple Jr.
Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson and Sylvester Stallone reunite in a terrific follow-up to “Creed.”
By A.O. SCOTT

The World Before Your Feet
NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary Directed by Jeremy Workman
Not everyone can spend several years walking every block of New York. But spending 90 minutes doing that in this documentary is swell.
By BEN KENIGSBERG

Ralph Breaks the Internet
NYT Critic’s Pick PG Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy Directed by Phil Johnston, Rich Moore
John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman return to voice the characters in this social satire sequel that is downright scary.
By BILGE EBIRI

— Of Possible Interest —

Family in Transition
Documentary Directed by Ofir Trainin
The documentary tells the story of Amit Tsuk, who comes out as transgender, and the effect it has on the family.
By KEN JAWOROWSKI

Robin Hood
PG-13 Action, Adventure, Thriller Directed by Otto Bathurst
This is not your father’s, or grandfather’s, “Robin Hood,” and it’s not very good, either.
By GLENN KENNY