Io Capitano
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Matteo Garrone
The Italian director of the film “Gomorrah” focuses his tender yet unsparing lens on two teenage boys journeying from their home in Senegal to Europe.

Seydou Sarr, left, and Moustapha Fall in “Io Capitano,” directed by Matteo Garrone.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

About Dry Grasses
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
The latest intimate epic from the master filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan asks whether the world can change, and we can change with it.

Deniz Celiloglu and Musab Ekici in “About Dry Grasses.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Stopmotion
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Animation, Horror | Directed by Robert Morgan
A fraying animator becomes the victim of her own creations in this visually sophisticated horror movie.

Aisling Franciosi in “Stopmotion.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

The Invisible Fight
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Action, Comedy | Directed by Rainer Sarnet
This action comedy set in the 1970s satisfyingly blends kung fu, heavy metal and Orthodox Christianity.

Ursel Tilk, top center, in “The Invisible Fight.”
By AMY NICHOLSON

The Arc of Oblivion
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Documentary | Directed by Ian Cheney
A documentary about building an ark turns into a funny, thoughtful rumination on the nature of human preservation.

A scene from Ian Cheney’s documentary “The Arc of Oblivion.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

— Of Possible Interest —

2024 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action
Not Rated
Many of this year’s films take a darker turn, but there is some levity among the bunch.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS AND MAYA PHILLIPS AND BEN KENIGSBERG

Here
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Bas Devos
In Bas Devos’s muted and luminous Belgian drama, two lonely souls repeatedly encounter each other.

Liyo Gong, left, and Stefan Gota in “Here.”
By LISA KENNEDY

Out of Darkness
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Horror, Thriller | Directed by Andrew Cumming
A Stone Age tribe is hunted by an unseen entity in this wondrously atmospheric survival thriller, which unfolds in a fictional language.

Safia Oakley-Green in “Out of Darkness.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Molli and Max in the Future
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi | Directed by Michael Lukk Litwak
This rom-com brings futuristic absurdity and nimble timing to a comfort-food story line of friends turned soul mates.

Aristotle Athari and Zosia Mamet in “Molli and Max in the Future.”
By NICOLAS RAPOLD

Ennio
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Documentary, Biography, History, Music | Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
A lively, absorbing documentary about the Italian composer whose music is featured in hundreds of movies, from “A Fistful of Dollars” to “Kill Bill.”

Ennio Morricone, who died at age 91 in 2020, bridged musical worlds and blurred the lines between the serious and the pop.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

The Taste of Things
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG-13 | Drama, History, Romance | Directed by Anh Hung Tran
Juliette Binoche stars in an instant culinary classic that exquisitely captures the kitchen’s bittersweet blessing.

Juliette Binoche in “The Taste of Things.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Perfect Days
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG | Drama | Directed by Wim Wenders
Directed by Wim Wenders, this Oscar-nominated Japanese drama gently excavates the life of a toilet cleaner, and the shadows that lurk inside.

Koji Yakusho in “Perfect Days.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Skin Deep
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama, Fantasy, Romance | Directed by Alex Schaad
A sensitive relationship drama in sci-fi trappings explores big questions about bodies, souls and intimacy.

Mala Emde and Jonas Dassler in “Skin Deep.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Bushman
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by David Schickele
A 1971 indie whose making was disrupted by its star’s deportation finally receives a release in New York.

Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam in “Bushman.”
By BEN KENIGSBERG

Disco Boy
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Giacomo Abbruzzese
This feature debut from the Italian director Giacomo Abbruzzese takes on ordinary people trying to free themselves from the bonds of their homelands.

Franz Rogowski, who leaves Belarus to join the French Foreign Legion in the hope of starting a new life.
By BRANDON YU

— Of Possible Interest —

She Is Conann
Not Rated | Action, Fantasy | Directed by Bertrand Mandico
This feminist riff on “Conan the Barbarian” is a sci-fi horror movie sprinkled with a bit of glam-rock fairy dust.
By BEATRICE LOAYZA

Argylle
PG-13 | Action, Thriller | Directed by Matthew Vaughn
A simulacrum of a spy movie offers few pleasures and plenty of headaches.
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Totem
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Lila Avilés
In Lila Avilés’s second feature, a 7-year-old girl begins to grasp the severity of her father’s illness while birthday preparations are underway at home.

“Totem,” Naíma Sentíes stars as Sol, who peeps into rooms and listens in on adult conversations, a child explorer in a strange land.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Pictures of Ghosts
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Documentary | Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho
The Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho draws on fact and fiction in this image-rich documentary that moves fast and far, but always returns home.

“Pictures of Ghosts” bounces from topic to topic. Among them are cinema and its history, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s own amateur films and images of his moviegoing recollections.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Mambar Pierrette
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Rosine Mfetgo Mbakam
A gifted seamstress, played by the filmmaker Rosine Mbakam’s cousin, has to put out a string of fires in this rich portrait of Cameroonian womanhood.

Pierrette Aboheu Njeuthat as the title character in “Mambar Pierrette.”
By BEATRICE LOAYZA

The Kitchen
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller | Directed by Daniel Kaluuya, Kibwe Tavares
Directing their first feature, Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya spin a warmly humane story of cross-generational connection.

Kane Robinson, left, with Jedaiah Bannerman in “The Kitchen.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Thien An Pham
An uncommonly strong debut from the Vietnamese director Pham Thien An asks existential questions without answers.

Vu Ngoc Manh, left, with Le Phong Vu in “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

The Settlers
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Crime, Drama, History, Western | Directed by Felipe Gálvez Haberle
This harrowing drama takes place in Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago in the southernmost part of South America, in 1901.

Mishell Guaña in “The Settlers,” a film directed by Felipe Gálvez.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Inshallah a Boy
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Amjad Al Rasheed
In this film by Amjad Al Rasheed, a young widow in Jordan strains against the tradition, underpinned by law, that without a man she is nothing.

Mouna Hawa in “Inshallah a Boy,” directed by Amjad Al Rasheed.
By LISA KENNEDY

Apolonia, Apolonia
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Documentary, Biography | Directed by Lea Glob
The painter Apolonia Sokol is the ostensible subject of a wide-ranging documentary about life itself.

The artist Apolonia Sokol in the documentary “Apolonia, Apolonia.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Documentary, Biography, Music | Directed by Brigitte Berman
Brigitte Berman’s dazzling 1985 look at the self-taught virtuoso clarinetist and bandleader is showing after a restoration.

Artie Shaw as seen in “Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got.”
By GLENN KENNY

Good Grief
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Comedy, Drama, Romance | Directed by Dan Levy
In his feature directorial debut, Daniel Levy applies a light but wise hand to a man navigating life after loss.

Daniel Levy, left, with Arnaud Valois in “Good Grief.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

— Of Possible Interest —

Who the Academy Should Nominate in 2024 According to Times Movie Critics Manohla Dargis and Alissa Wilkinson

Barbenheimer, big stars and high stakes: it’s Golden Globes time again
Benjamin Lee

Rose
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Comedy, Drama | Directed by Niels Arden Oplev
Niels Arden Oplev’s drama about two sisters, one of whom is a woman with schizophrenia, on a bus tour of France brims with genuine feeling.

Sofie Grabol in “Rose.”
By NATALIA WINKELMAN

Ferrari
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Biography, Drama, History | Directed by Michael Mann
The director’s portrait of the Italian racecar impresario roars to life on the road, but home is a torment. Adam Driver stars with Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley.

Adam Driver as the auto maker Enzo Ferrari. All the world wants something from Ferrari, who in turn only seems to care about his racecars.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Occupied City
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG-13 | Documentary, History, War | Directed by Steve McQueen
In his four-and-half-hour documentary, the British director Steve McQueen charts the fate of Amsterdam’s Jewish population during the Nazi occupation.

“Occupied City” doesn’t use archival imagery to recreate a sense of Nazi-era Amsterdam; instead the documentary surveys a staggering 130 addresses as they exist today in the city.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

The Crime Is Mine
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Comedy, Crime | Directed by François Ozon
In this showbiz screwball, an aspiring actress and her lawyer best friend spin a murder accusation into a shot at fame.

Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Rebecca Marder in “The Crime Is Mine.”
By BEATRICE LOAYZA

The Teachers’ Lounge
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG-13 | Drama | Directed by Ilker Çatak
An idealistic teacher in a German school meets reality, and it’s messier than she could have imagined.

Leonie Benesch as Carla Nowak in “The Teachers’ Lounge.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

All of Us Strangers
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Drama, Fantasy, Romance | Directed by Andrew Haigh
Playing a man alienated from himself and looking for answers, Andrew Scott makes this film sing.
By ALISSA WILKINSON

— Of Possible Interest —

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire
PG-13 | Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi | Directed by Zack Snyder
Zack Snyder creates a space opera that’s bloated but rarely buoyant.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
PG-13 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi | Directed by James Wan
The Atlantean hero-king returns as a new father, a bit worse for wear. But this sequel feels like a film for grown-ups who like fun.
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Godard Cinema
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Documentary | Directed by Cyril Leuthy
This documentary looks at the work of Jean-Luc Godard, who sought with each new work to confound assumptions about how movies could look and sound.

Jean-Luc Godard, the filmmaker and subject of the documentary “Godard Cinema.”
By BEN KENIGSBERG

American Fiction
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Comedy, Drama | Directed by Cord Jefferson
The first film from the director Cord Jefferson stars Jeffrey Wright as an author who becomes a pseudonymous success writing a potboiler he loathes.

Erika Alexander and Jeffrey Wright in “American Fiction.”
By AMY NICHOLSON

— Of Possible Interest —

Wonka
PG | Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical | Directed by Paul King
Timothée Chalamet stars as the chocolatier in this musical origin story, playing a wide-eyed innocent instead of an eccentric mad-hatter.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
PG | Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family | Directed by Sam Fell
This sequel is in many respects a cover song, a repeat of the beats and characters of “Chicken Run.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON