Downton Abbey: A New Era
From award-winning creator Julian Fellowes comes the motion picture event Downton Abbey: A New Era. The much-anticipated cinematic return of the global phenomenon reunites the beloved cast as they go on a grand journey to the South of France to uncover the mystery of the Dowager Countess’ newly inherited villa.
RATED PG FOR SOME SUGGESTIVE REFERENCES, LANGUAGE, AND THEMATIC ELEMENTS.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“This is a movie for the fans—almost a gift, really. The last two-plus years have been a lot for everyone, and to escape to late 1920s England and France in all its splendor is a delight.” – Amy Amatangelo, Paste
“It’s not a guilty pleasure; it’s actual pleasure. If there was ever a time to run into Downton Abbey’s welcoming embrace it’s now.” – Emily Zemler, Observer
“Elegant, occasionally adorable and at times quite emotional, series creator Julian Fellowes still knows how to pluck the right strings – upstairs and downstairs – to play a symphony with his sprawling cast.” – Brian Lowry, CNN
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a flustered immigrant mother, is contacted from a parallel universe and told that only she can save the world. The unlikely hero must learn to channel her newfound powers and fight through the splintering timelines of the multiverse to save her home, her family, and herself.
RATED R FOR SOME VIOLENCE, SEXUAL MATERIAL, AND LANGUAGE.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Almost from its first minute this movie is the best kind of bonkers. With a pitch-perfect blend of absurdist and often crude humor, thrillingly choreographed fight sequences, and a deep vein of genuine pathos it makes its complicated plot engaging and easy to follow… This is an early front runner for the best movie of the year, and one that will be very hard to beat.” – Sean Farrell, AFPL Journal
“Without question, Everything Everywhere All at Once is a remarkable piece of work, one of the most original and creative films of the past couple of years.” – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
“The film works magic by embracing excess, finding a kind of harmony and possibility within it, and reminding us of the beauty and lunacy of the human experience along the way.” – Derek Smith, Slant
“A pure firework display of technical bravado, wild invention, emotional storytelling, comedic genius, action mastery and outstanding performances, Everything Everywhere All At Once is everything cinema was invented for.” – Ben Travis, Empire
Memory
An assassin-for-hire finds that he’s become a target after he refuses to complete a job for a dangerous criminal organization. A remake of the 2003 Belgian film The Memory of a Killer.
RATED R FOR VIOLENCE, SOME BLOODY IMAGES, AND LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Neeson never phones in his performances, but he’s particularly invested this time around, playing a guy who can be a pure killing machine one moment, and as lost as a child the next. Pearce and Bellucci headline the terrific supporting cast, and the 78-year-old Campbell proves he can still direct the hell out of a slick and engrossing thriller.” – Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times
“In the end, Memory’s greatest asset might be that it knows exactly what it is — a fun combination of sleazoid action and surprising emotion. It’s the best kind of B-movie.” – Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
“Memory is by no means a deep film. But there’s something here that lends the familiar proceedings a bittersweet aftertaste that lingers in the mind.” – Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post
Okja
For 10 idyllic years, young Mija (An Seo Hyun) has been caretaker and constant companion to Okja — a massive animal and an even bigger friend — at her home in the mountains of South Korea. But that changes when the family-owned multinational conglomerate Mirando Corporation takes Okja for themselves and transports her to New York, where image obsessed and self-promoting CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) has big plans for Mija’s dearest friend. With no particular plan but single-minded in intent, Mija sets out on a rescue mission, but her already daunting journey quickly becomes more complicated when she crosses paths with disparate groups of capitalists, demonstrators and consumers, each battling to control the fate of Okja… while all Mija wants to do is bring her friend home.
RATED TV-MA. CONTAINS VIOLENCE, BLOODY IMAGES, THEMATIC CONTENT, AND LANGUAGE.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The picture, which never stops moving, is dense with information and feeling. Barbs of satire pop up and are washed away on streams of strong emotion. It’s all marvelously preposterous and yet, at the same time, something important is at stake.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times
“With his latest work, Bong has created a heroine for our times, an indelible movie creature, a story that balances heart and head and a movie that engages with the boundaries of technology both on-screen and off.” – Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
“Not only is Mija’s mission genuinely involving, but Bong and his co-writer, the author Jon Ronson, also get great comic mileage out of satirizing the Mirando corporation, rendering it a hilarious amalgamation of all of capitalism’s evils, as well as the A.L.F. and their oxymoronic credo of non-violent terrorism.” – Giovanni Marchini Camia, The Film Stage
Monstrous
A terrifying new horror awaits Laura (Christina Ricci) and her seven-year-old son Cody when they flee her abusive ex-husband and try to settle into a new life in an idyllic and remote lakeside farmhouse. Still traumatized, their physical and mental well-being are pushed to the limit as their fragile existence is threatened.
RATED PG-13 FOR TERROR, THEMATIC ELEMENTS, AND BRIEF VIOLENCE.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Monstrous offers a strong premise and some fresh twists, particularly in a genre where gimmicky filmmaking has prevailed.” – Ronda Racha Penrice, The Wrap
“Ricci’s assured and robust lead performance helps build upon some exciting ideas in the script and is ultimately the reason to watch. She is thoroughly captivating and, while the film never reaches her level of excellence, it is still a relatively fun, wonky ride.” – Ferdosa Abdi, Screen Rant
“For the most part this is a captivating mood piece, held together by Ricci’s take on a woman who is chasing an impossible idyll while being trailed by something dark and murky.” – Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times
The Beatles: Get Back
Peter Jackson’s three-part Beatles documentary features hours of edited and restored film from 1969 by Michael Lindsay-Hogg as the Fab Four created the songs that would appear on Abbey Road and Let It Be.
RATED PG-13 FOR BRIEF STRONG LANGUAGE AND SMOKING.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Glorious… The Beatles: Get Back is an astonishingly up-close and engrossing view of Paul, John, George, and Ringo and their creative process.” – Mark Feeney, Boston Globe
“The Beatles: Get Back is as much archaeology as it is cinema, a docuseries committed not just to showing us new moments of the band that we’ve never seen before, but to crafting a broader picture of their oft-controversial dynamic.” – Clint Worthington, Consequence
“The result is bliss for Beatles fans. Take all the films and interviews with the Beatles and put them off to the side. This is the most informative and illuminating record of what these men were like and of the nature of their interaction.” – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
The Twin
In The Twin, following the aftermath of a tragic accident that claimed
the life of one of their twins, Rachel (Teresa Palmer) and husband Anthony (Steven Cree) relocate to the other side of the world with their surviving son in the hopes of building a new life. What begins as a time of healing in the quiet Scandinavian countryside soon takes an ominous turn when Rachel begins to unravel the torturous truth about her son and confronts the malicious forces attempting to take a hold of him.
NOT RATED.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“You might think you’ve seen it all before, but The Twin thrives in upending expectations to deliver an atmospheric folk horror that’s as emotional as it is terrifying.” – Scott Campbell, We Got This Covered
“Despite some predictable tropes, The Twin is an effective horror. The atmosphere is gripping as it sets the stage for Palmer’s stellar performance.” – Ferdosa Abdi, Screen Rant
“With The Twin, elements of the creepy kid subgenre we all know and love collide with some tenets of folklore to explore questions about faith, mental health, and sacrifice.” – Drew Tinnin, Dread Central
Montana Story
Two estranged siblings (Haley Lu Richardson, Owen Teague) return home to the sprawling ranch they once knew and loved, confronting a deep and bitter family legacy against a mythic American backdrop.
RATED R FOR LANGUAGE.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Thanks to the specificity of Richardson’s performance in particular and Giles Nuttgen’s gorgeous cinematography (the movie is shot on 35 mm), Montana Story evokes a grandiose style of American frontier filmmaking, somewhere between John Ford and Kelly Reichardt. See it on the largest screen you can find.” – Chandler Levack, The Globe and Mail
“McGehee and Siegel are at the top of their game, building to an emotional and memorable climax. Nothing is too shocking, but nothing happens exactly as expected either. One could look at the premise of this film and convince themselves they’ve seen it before. They’d be wrong. ” – Dan Mecca, The Film Stage
“Haley Lu Richardson and Owen Teague are both excellent at conveying everything that remains unsaid between these estranged siblings, eschewing melodramatic flourishes for stoic insights.” – Tim Grierson, Screen Daily
Killing Eve: Season 4
The fourth and final season of the drama series find Eve, Villanelle and Carolyn with very different goals.
RATED TV-14. CONTAINS STRONG VIOLENCE, LANGUAGE, THEMATIC MATERIAL, AND SEXUAL CONTENT.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“[Season 4] has a firmer grasp on its storyline from the get-go.” – Lillian Brown, The Playlist
“…there’s genuinely nothing more compelling than when Oh and Comer are on-screen together — with tension palpable enough to slice a knife through.” – Carly Lane, Collider
“Liberated from the political labyrinth of the mole-infested MI6 and the people working there, Eve tracks down leads on the Twelve through Villanelle’s signature methods of violence, deceit, and stylish disguises… Comer’s performance has emphasized the childlike aspects of Villanelle since her façade of confidence began to crumble last season, and her journey this season presents a darkly humorous take on what faith and forgiveness mean for someone whose brain is hardwired to not feel remorse.” – Anzhe Zhang, Slant
Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 2
Ensign Beckett Mariner (voiced by Tawny Newsome), Ensign Brad Boimler (voiced by Jack Quaid), Ensign Tendi (voiced by Noël Wells) and Ensign Rutherford (voiced by Eugene Cordero) face more adventures while on the lower decks of the U.S.S. Cerritos in the second season of the animated comedy from Mike McMahan.
RATED TV-14. CONTAINS VIOLENCE, SEXUAL MATERIAL, AND LANGUAGE.
Description provided by Metacritic.
“There is no doubt – Season 2 is, overall, a stronger year of Lower Decks than Season 1.” – Tony Black, Cultural Conversation
“There are still the occasional clunkers, and the trick of having characters occasionally shout out overly-excited dialogue bursts is never quite as funny as the writers and performers seem to think, but overall, the show has found its strengths by leaning into character humor when it isn’t poking around the edges of Federation prestige.” – Zack Handlen, AV Club
“For as much as the general love for Trek permeates this show, Lower Decks really has begun to come into its own with its own characters and its own unique spin on what makes a story work in this particular vision for the 24th century.” – Liz Shannon Miller, Collider
Drive My Car
Two years after his wife’s unexpected death, Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a renowned stage actor and director, receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There, he meets Misaki Watari (Toko Miura), a taciturn young woman assigned by the festival to chauffeur him in his beloved red Saab 900. As the production’s premiere approaches, tensions mount amongst the cast and crew, not least between Yusuke and Koji Takatsuki, a handsome TV star who shares an unwelcome connection to Yusuke’s late wife. Forced to confront painful truths raised from his past, Yusuke begins – with the help of his driver – to face the haunting mysteries his wife left behind. Adapted from Haruki Murakami’s short story.
NOT RATED. CONTAINS SEXUAL CONTENT, BRIEF NUDITY, AND THEMATIC MATERIAL.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Grief, rage, love, habit, and the act of creating art are all adeptly touched on here, but for me the main subject is need: what we need from our lives, other people, and ourselves and what we are willing to do and/or tolerate to get it. That idea is portrayed beautifully here, with many deeply resonant moments that linger in the mind long after the film is over.” – Sean Farrell, AFPL Journal
“What it is can be summed up in a word that’s often used loosely but fits the case here—a masterpiece, a mysteriously enthralling creation that keeps you guessing about where it’s going, then reveals its essence with astonishing clarity.” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
“Hamaguchi has made a profoundly beautiful film about making peace with the role in front of you, and playing it with all your might.” – Robbie Collin, The Telegraph
Minamata
Celebrated war photographer W. Eugene Smith (Johnny Depp) goes against a powerful corporation responsible for poisoning the people of Minamata, Japan in 1971. With the glory days of World War II far behind him, Smith has become a recluse. Between an impassioned Japanese translator called Aileen (Minami) urging him to go and a much needed commission from Life Magazine editor Ralph Graves (Bill Nighy), Smith is finally convinced to journey back to Japan to expose the devastating annihilation of a coastal community, victims of corporate greed and complicit local police and government. Armed with only his trusted Nikon camera, Smith must find the images that will bring this story to the World.
RATED R FOR LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Like Smith’s pictures, this movie is direct, compelling and hard to dismiss.” – Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times
“Levitas’ unusually even-handed approach works to balance the film’s inspirational true story with its tragic real-world context, by refusing to overstate Smith’s personal heroics, while sensitively outlining the everyday heroism of the ordinary men and women most grievously affected.” – Jessica Kiang, The Playlist
“Depp plays it surly throughout, dominating those around him, but Minami has a strong screen presence as well (despite struggling somewhat with the dialogue in her first English-language role). As Aileen, she needs only to look at Gene, and he will yield to her demands. The two characters read as equals here, despite their polar-opposite personalities, and that unusual chemistry fuels the dangerous reporting ahead of them.” – Peter Debruge, Variety
Yellowjackets: Season 1
Equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story, and coming-of-age drama, Yellowjackets is the saga of a team of wildly-talented high-school-girl soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over…
RATED TV-MA. CONTAINS GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, BLOODY IMAGES, SEXUAL MATERIAL, NUDITY, THEMATIC MATERIAL, DRUG USE, TEEN DRINKING, AND STRONG LANGUAGE.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Casting here alone should win awards for capturing the essence of a decade when raw, untamed and dangerous young women surged to the forefront of music and film. Ricci (The Ice Storm), Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures) and Lewis (Natural Born Killers) kill in Yellowjackets, figuratively and literally… If it holds up (I’ve seen the first six episodes available for review), Yellowjackets may turn out to be my favorite show of 2021, even though it stretches into 2022.” – Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times
“The metronome on this show ticks between character development on one side and plot twists/revelations on the other with such a fantastic rhythm that it becomes mesmerizing. Even at its most extreme (and it gets pretty extreme), it holds together.” – Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
“Don’t be fooled by its teen show trappings: Yellowjackets is a pitch black parable of human desperation that will creep its way under your skin given the chance.” – Caroline Framke, Variety
Dual
Upon receiving a terminal diagnosis, Sarah (Karen Gillan) opts for a cloning procedure to ease her loss on her friends and family. When she makes a sudden and miraculous recovery, her attempts to have her clone decommissioned fail and lead to a court-mandated duel to the death. Now she has one year to train her body and mind for the fight of her life.
RATED R FOR VIOLENT CONTENT, SOME SEXUAL CONTENT, LANGUAGE, AND GRAPHIC NUDITY.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Dual adds a fresh sprinkle of doom to the already savage deadpan of Stearns’ previous work, and bitterly crystallizes the existential anxieties that have crushed down on so many of us with new weight since the pandemic started. That it also allows Karen Gillan to give two hilarious performances, both colder than death but at distinctly different temperatures, is just icing on the cake.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire
“This searing social satire on identity in contemporary culture features a career-best turn from Karen Gillian on powerhouse form.” – Martin Carr, We Got This Covered
“Dual is in fact a fairly astute comedy. The laughs come not from jokes so much as sharp jabs of truth — wince-inducing insights into the subjects most movies won’t touch, like our fear of death, intimacy and being forgotten.” – Peter Debruge, Variety
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
In Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.
RATED PG-13 FOR INTENSE SEQUENCES OF VIOLENCE AND ACTION, FRIGHTENING IMAGES, AND SOME LANGUAGE.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Some people will dismiss the film as nonsense, and they could have a point. But Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a huge amount of fun.” – Nicholas Barber, BBC
“In the hands of director Sam Raimi, Multiverse of Madness is a marvellously assured balancing act of bizarre weirdness and affecting human drama.” – Richard Trenholm, CNET
“What Raimi has done with his contribution, however, is construct not another roller coaster but one hell of a haunted house, one fueled by an abundance of eccentric creativity, imagination, and finely honed chops. The methods he employs to his Madness are what makes this movie stick out, in this or any other universe.” – David Fear, Rolling Stone
The Lost City
Brilliant, but reclusive author Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has spent her career writing about exotic places in her popular romance-adventure novels featuring handsome cover model Alan (Channing Tatum), who has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, “Dash.” While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient lost city’s treasure from her latest story. Wanting to prove that he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her. Thrust into an epic jungle adventure, the unlikely pair will need to work together to survive the elements and find the ancient treasure before it’s lost forever.
RATED PG-13 FOR VIOLENCE AND SOME BLOODY IMAGES, SUGGESTIVE MATERIAL, PARTIAL NUDITY, AND LANGUAGE.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“[We] get enough surprises, genuine laughs and, most importantly, moments that plausibly advance our leads’ relationship with each other, [making] The Lost City… an all-around fun time.” – Sean Farrell, AFPL Journal
“Directors Adam Nee and Aaron Nee manage to find just the right balance between action, comedy, and romance to make all three work harmoniously together, while playing with a team of all-stars who make the material sing.” – Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
“The Lost City is what could be described as knowingly dated: it’s a film designed to make you regret they don’t make ’em like this any more, even when ‘this’ means escapist Hollywood fluff.” – Robbie Collin, The Telegraph
The Gilded Age: Season 1
Set in 1882, Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) moves from Pennsylvania to live in New York City with her aunts Agnes van Rhijn (Chrstine Baranski) and Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon) after the death of her father in this Julian Fellowes drama.
RATED TV-MA. CONTAINS VIOLENCE, BRIEF NUDITY, THEMATIC MATERIAL, AND MILD LANGUAGE.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The Gilded Age is easily the best new series of 2022 and sets a high bar for shows that will follow.” – Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“Fellowes has attempted to recapture the magic of Downton Abbey in other projects, like Doctor Thorne and Belgravia. Here, though, he actually pulls it off. Each new episode left me more ravenous for more… It has all the escapist charm of the historic costume drama blended with the savage energy of most evening soaps. It is the show Downton Abbey fans have been waiting for.” – Meghan O’Keefe, Decider
“A triumph of dazzling production and costume design, The Gilded Age astonishes with its opulence and entertains with its colorful depiction of class warfare in corsets.” – Matt Roush, TV Guide
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