Category Archives: Movies

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

The Territory
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG | Documentary | Directed by Alex Pritz
This documentary is a thrilling look at an Indigenous group’s fight to keep illegal settlers from destroying their land in the Amazon rainforest.


Bitaté, the young leader of the Uru Eu Wau Wau, in “The Territory.”
By CLAIRE SHAFFER

Three Minutes: A Lengthening
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG | Documentary | Directed by Bianca Stigter
Using footage from a three-minute amateur movie shot in 1938, this rousing documentary about a Jewish town in Poland is a haunting meditation on the memory of the Holocaust.


Footage from the three-minute home movie that serves as the basis for the documentary “Three Minutes: A Lengthening.”
By BEATRICE LOAYZA

— Of Possible Interest —

El tiempo perdido
Documentary, Biography, History | Directed by María Alvarez
This cozy documentary sits in with a group of older readers in Buenos Aires who gather at a cafe to savor Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time.”
By NICOLAS RAPOLD

The Legend of Molly Johnson
Drama, History, Thriller, Western | Directed by Leah Purcell
A stoic frontier woman harbors an Aboriginal fugitive in this earnest and didactic western.
By TEO BUGBEE

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Sport | Directed by Nicola Marsh, Giovanni Reda
In this documentary, a professional skateboarder turns down the Olympics for the chance to live openly.


The documentary “Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story,” directed by Nicola Marsh and Giovanni Reda, uses a combination of archival, observational and interview footage.
By TEO BUGBEE

The Princess
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Biography | Directed by Ed Perkins
The director Ed Perkins uses only found footage to create a harrowing account of Diana’s life and death.


Diana, Princess of Wales, in the documentary “The Princess.”
By GLENN KENNY

Girl Picture
NYT Critic’s Pick | Romance | Directed by Alli Haapasalo
This Finnish comedy about three high school girls grants them a judgment-free sanctuary.


From left, Eleonoora Kauhanen, Aamu Milonoff and Linnea Leino in “Girl Picture.”
By AMY NICHOLSON

Emily the Criminal
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Crime, Drama, Thriller | Directed by John Patton Ford
Aubrey Plaza’s wonderfully nuanced performance anchors this absorbing story of a young woman’s descent into lawlessness.


Aubrey Plaza in “Emily the Criminal.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

— Of Possible Interest —

Day Shift
R | Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller | Directed by J.J. Perry
Jamie Foxx is a blue-collar vampire hunter and a steadying hand on the tiller of this frenzied action comedy.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

NYT Critic’s Pic Movie(s)

Faith
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Documentary | Directed by Valentina Pedicini
Valentina Pedicini’s final documentary tracks the “Warriors of Light” — their leader, and their monks and mothers, in Italy.


A scene from “Faith,” a documentary by Valentina Pedicini.
By GLENN KENNY

Mija
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Music | Directed by Isabel Castro
In this documentary, a new generation of Mexican American musicians reflect the nuances of their realities on both sides of the border.


Jacks Haupt in the documentary “Mija.”
By BEANDREA JULY

— Of Possible Interest —

They/Them
Horror, Thriller | Directed by John Logan
A masked ax-murderer runs amok at a gay conversion camp in this flimsy, Kevin Bacon-starring slasher flick.
By CALUM MARSH

Bliss
Drama, Romance | Directed by Henrika Kull
Two sex workers fall in love in this low-key L.G.B.T.Q. drama from Germany.
By BEATRICE LOAYZA

Prey
R | Action, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller | Directed by Dan Trachtenberg
The “Predator” franchise gets a prequel and the Comanche Nation gets a space invader in this unremarkable adventure.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

A Love Song
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG | Romance | Directed by Max Walker-Silverman
Two former childhood friends rekindle their connection in this sweetly hopeful story of romantic longing.


Wes Studi, left, with Dale Dickey in “A Love Song.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Resurrection
NYT Critic’s Pick | Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller | Directed by Andrew Semans
A successful single mother encounters a terrifying man from her past in this crazily enjoyable horror movie.


Rebecca Hall in “Resurrection.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

We Met in Virtual Reality
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Joe Hunting
This innovative documentary tags along with people who are finding happiness in a graphical online world.


A still from “We Met in Virtual Reality.”
By NICOLAS RAPOLD

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Nope
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller | Directed by Jordan Peele
Jordan Peele’s genre-melting third feature stars Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as brother-and-sister horse wranglers defending the family ranch from an extraterrestrial threat.


From left, Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer and Brandon Perea in “Nope,” the latest feature from the director Jordan Peele.
By A.O. SCOTT

A Dark, Dark Man
NYT Critic’s Pick | Crime, Drama | Directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov
This exceptionally grim police procedural recalls films like Bong Joon Ho’s “Memories of Murder” and Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.”


Dinara Baktybayeva plays a reporter in “A Dark, Dark Man.”
By BEN KENIGSBERG

Aftershock
NYT Critic’s Pick | TV-MA | Documentary | Directed by Paula Eiselt, Tonya Lewis Lee
Black mothers are dying from childbirth at alarming rates. A new documentary explains why.


Shawnee Benton Gibson and Bruce McIntyre, at right, are central figures in the documentary “Aftershock,” from the directors Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee.
By BEANDREA JULY

— Of Possible Interest —

The Day the Music Died/American Pie
Documentary | Directed by Mark Moormann
Don McLean tries to clear up some misapprehensions about the eight-an-a-half-minute song that took on a life of its own, in this documentary.
By GLENN KENNY

Anything’s Possible
PG-13 | Romance | Directed by Billy Porter
Self-preservation and allyship are also wrapped up in this sweet young adult romantic comedy, which is Billy Porter’s feature film directorial debut.
By KYLE TURNER

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Marx Can Wait
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Marco Bellocchio
In a moving new documentary, the Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio gathers his fascinating, aging family members to make sense of their brother’s suicide.


Three of the Bellocchio brothers, from left: Marco, the filmmaker; Alberto; and Camillo, who killed himself at 29. In “Marx Can Wait,” the family’s surviving members delve into Camillo’s death.
By A.O. SCOTT

Don’t Make Me Go
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Drama | Directed by Hannah Marks
John Cho and Mia Isaac play a father and daughter on a road trip in this twisty drama, which explores the gulf between familiarity and intimacy.


John Cho and Mia Isaac in “Don’t Make Me Go.”
By AMY NICHOLSON

She Will
NYT Critic’s Pick | Thriller | Directed by Charlotte Colbert
A traumatized star is supernaturally primed for vengeance in this gorgeously ghostly thriller.

Alice Krige in “She Will.”
Alice Krige in “She Will.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULI

— Of Possible Interest —

The Deer King
R | Animation, Action, Adventure | Directed by Masashi Ando, Masayuki Miyaji
A series of Japanese fantasy novels is the basis for this tenderly wrought and brilliantly animated adventure movie.
By CONCEPCIÓN DE LEÓN

Persuasion
PG | Drama, Romance | Directed by Carrie Cracknell
Dakota Johnson smirks her way through a Netflix adaptation of the rekindled romance in Jane Austen’s last novel, our critic writes.
By TEO BUGBEE

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Moon, 66 Questions
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama|Directed by Jacqueline Lentzou
This elliptical drama by the Greek writer-director Jacqueline Lentzou rousingly summons the inner turmoil of a young woman who returns home to care for her ailing father.


Sofia Kokkali in “Moon, 66 Questions,” directed by Jacqueline Lentzou.
By BEATRICE LOAYZA

This Much I Know to Be True
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Music | Directed by Andrew Dominik
A new music documentary by Andrew Dominik explores the collaboration of Cave and Warren Ellis.


Nick Cave, left, and Warren Ellis in “This Much I Know to Be True,” a documentary by Andrew Dominik.
By GLENN KENNY

Fire of Love
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG | Documentary|Directed by Sara Dosa
Sara Dosa’s new documentary chronicles the lives and deaths of the French scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft.


Maurice and Katia Krafft, scientists who were devoted to each other and to volcanoes.
By A.O. SCOTT

— Of Possible Interest —

Thor: Love and Thunder
PG-13 | Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Music, Romance, Sci-Fi | Directed by Taika Waititi
The director Taika Waititi injects antic silliness, once again, into this Marvel franchise starring Chris Hemsworth, who swings a mighty hammer and flexes mightier muscles.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

The Sea Beast
PG | Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy | Directed by Chris Williams
In this new animated film from Netflix, a monster hunter and an orphan become unlikely allies at sea.
By LENA WILSON

Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between
Comedy, Drama, Romance | Directed by Michael Lewen
In this adaptation of Jennifer E. Smith’s young adult novel, two high school seniors agree to split up in a year. Will they honor their pact?
By LISA KENNEDY

The Princess
R | Action, Drama, Fantasy, Thriller | Directed by Le-Van Kiet
Joey King is credible and compelling as a vengeful would-be princess bride in this over-the-top action fantasy tale.
By AMY NICHOLSON

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Down with the King
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Drama | Directed by Diego Ongaro
In Diego Ongaro’s patient and subtle new film, Freddie Gibbs plays a hip-hop artist struggling with a career malaise.


The real-life rapper Freddie Gibbs stars as the hip-hop artist Money Merc in “Down With the King,” | Directed by Diego Ongaro.
By A.O. SCOTT

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG-13 | Documentary, Biography, Music | Directed by Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine
A new documentary tells the entwined stories of a songwriter and his best-known composition.


The documentary “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song” is likely to be a source of illumination for both die-hard and casual fans, our critic writes.
By A.O. SCOTT

— Of Possible Interest —

Rubikon
Sci-Fi | Directed by Magdalena Lauritsch
In this somber morality tale, the bare-bones crew of a space station is faced with an impossible choice.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Rise
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG | Biography, Drama, Sport | Directed by Akin Omotoso
The story of the real-life N.B.A. superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is told with heartfelt charm in this endearing Disney+ biopic.


Ral Agada, left, and Uche Agada in “Rise.”
By CALUM MARSH

Beba
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Documentary | Directed by Rebeca Huntt
An Afro-Latina filmmaker explores her identity and generational trauma growing up in New York City and attending a predominantly white college.


Rebeca Huntt in “Beba,” her documentary about growing up Afro-Latina in New York.
By CONCEPCIÓN DE LEÓN

We
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Alice Diop
Alice Diop’s observational documentary is a beautiful, loose-limned portrait of Paris’s suburbs.


Young residents of Paris’s suburbs in the documentary ‘We.’
By DEVIKA GIRISH

Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe
NYT Critic’s Pick | Animation, Comedy | Directed by Mike Judge
Even though you can guess what these two characters will say as they’re sucked into a black hole, their cosmic adventure still delivers new laughs.


The title characters are dropped into 2022 in “Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe.”
By GLENN KENNY

Flux Gourmet
NYT Critic’s Pick | Comedy, Drama, Horror | Directed by Peter Strickland
Peter Strickland’s latest film is a speculative comedy about art, desire and gastrointestinal discomfort.


Asa Butterfield, Fatma Mohamed and Ariane Labed in “Flux Gourmet.”
By A.O. SCOTT

— Of Possible Interest —

Wildhood
Drama | Directed by Bretten Hannam
Three young men explore their Indigenous heritage and questions about their gender and sexual identity in this film.
By NATALIA WINKELMAN

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Lost Illusions
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama, History, Romance | Directed by Xavier Giannoli
Xavier Giannoli’s headlong adaptation of a Balzac novel paints a timely picture of literary ambition and media corruption in 19th-century France.


A writer and his editor: Benjamin Voisin, left, and Vincent Lacoste in “Lost Illusions.”
By A.O. SCOTT

Tahara
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Olivia Peace
Rachel Sennott and Madeline Grey DeFreece star in a canny portrait of teenage insensitivity and sexuality amid a tragedy.


Madeline Grey DeFreece, left, and Rachel Sennott in “Tahara.”
By TEO BUGBEE

A Sexplanation
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Comedy, News | Directed by Alex Liu
The director Alex Liu explores the politics and culture of sex ed in the United States while confronting his own shame around sexuality.


Alex Liu in “A Sexplanation.”
By CLAIRE SHAFFER

Of Local Interest:

Being BeBe
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Emily Branham
Observing its subject with a clear eye, this profile of Marshall Ngwa, who performs as BeBe Zahara Benet, is a breath of fresh air.



BeBe Zahara Benet in the documentary “Being BeBe.”
By NATALIA WINKELMAN

— Of Possible Interest —

Jurassic World Dominion
PG-13 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller | Directed by Colin Trevorrow
Things get very hectic in the last episode of this trilogy, which brings back familiar faces (Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Sam Neill) along with the usual dinosaurs.
By A.O. SCOTT