Looking for what to see in theaters? Our feature, updated weekly, highlights our top recommendations for films currently in theaters, from new releases to restorations receiving a proper theatrical run.
While we already provide extensive monthly new-release recommendations and weekly streaming recommendations, as distributors’ roll-outs can vary, this is a one-stop list to share the essential films that may be on a screen near you.
The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire (Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich)
The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, the feature debut from artist and filmmaker Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, aims to foreground its primary literary material and historical context, but instead directs more attention to its oneiric touches and environmental phenomena––the “wind in the trees,” so to speak. The title figure, together with her more widely known husband Aimé Césaire, were both at the forefront of the négritude movement, which sought to put Francophone literature by colonized peoples in greater dialogue with their African ancestry, and to depict this with a supple, surrealistic view of the world. Assembled from deep research, assistance from academic specialists, and consultations with the Césaire offspring, Hunt-Ehrlich’s bold formal schema still prevents us from fully absorbing these efforts: “feeling” does outpace our full understanding. The vibrant Caribbean music and torch songs on the soundtrack make plain it’s a ballad, not a pedagogic Lecture of Suzanne Césaire. – David K. (full review)
Bring Her Back (Danny and Michael Philippou)
Horror movies explicitly tackling grief are hardly a recent development, but it’s difficult to argue against the fact that we’ve seen this theme exploited at an increased output to less-satisfying results in the previous decade, adding unnecessary weight to even the sleaziest of slashers. I highly suspect twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou––the YouTubers-turned-cinematic sensations behind 2023’s excellent supernatural shocker Talk to Me––share those exact same reservations about the lazy utilizations of a universally relatable theme that have made their way into multiplexes on a near-weekly basis. Initially appearing to operate in the same realm of dark mysticism as their debut, the wildly ambitious sophomore effort Bring Her Back gradually reveals itself to be a direct statement on the cheap exploitation of grief, channeling the existential nihilism of French New Extremity works like Martyrs to explore just how unhealthy it is to process death at such a surface level. That it’s also one of the most distressing, anxiety-inducing horror films of recent memory when taken at face value is just a bonus. – Alistair R. (full review)
Caught by the Tides (Jia Zhangke)
His first narrative feature in six years, featuring footage collected over some two decades, Jia Zhangke’s Caught by the Tides is one of the filmmaker’s greatest achievements. A summative piece in a career-spanning project of capturing China’s transformation, the Cannes, TIFF, and NYFF selection is now in theaters. Rory O’Connor said in his review, “Jia Zhangke’s is often a cinema of déjà vu: ‘We’re again in the northern Chinese city of Datong,’ Giovanni Marchini Camia wrote for Sight and Sound back in 2019, ‘it’s again the start of the new millennium, Qiao is again dating a mobster, yet no one else makes a reappearance and there are enough differences to signal that this isn’t a sequel or remake.’ Camia was writing about Ash Is Purest White yet much of the same could be said for Caught by the Tides, the director’s latest experiment in plundering his archive––indeed his memories––and spinning what he finds into something new. The protagonist of Tides is again named Qiao and is again played by Zhao Tao, appearing here in more than 20 years of the director’s footage and allowing the viewer to watch that singular creative partnership evolve in real time––one of the great treasures of contemporary cinema.”
Dangerous Animals (Sean Byrne)
With Jaws celebrating a 50th anniversary, it wouldn’t be the summer movie season without a shark picture. With his first feature in ten years, The Loved One‘s Sean Byrne delivers the best of its kind since at least Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Shallows, all while mixing in a serial-killer movie to boot. Dangerous Animals thrives on the intensely villainous performance from a never-better Jai Courtney, who finds novel ways to offer up his victims to the treacherous waters. If it doesn’t add up to much more than a 90-minute thrill ride, the direction is sharp enough to feel like you are in the hands of an accomplished entertainer, pulling the strings to deliver pure summer fun. – Jordan R.
Final Destination: Bloodlines (Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein)
Another reason I’ll describe Final Destination: Bloodlines as a disaster movie pastiche instead of an outright horror comedy is because of its biggest weakness: no matter the brilliance of the comic timing, the splatter is undercut by a relance on CGI gore over anything practical. In an age when even the worst studio slop is beginning to pivot back to the art of prosthetics, the computer-generated carnage here would feel underwhelming if it weren’t for the nailing of comedic beats. The prior movies didn’t exactly utilize good, old-fashioned buckets of blood either, and there are scenes here which could only have been created with the aid of VFX artists, but when even some simpler deaths have largely been cobbled together in post, it does make it harder to recommend for horror fans in particular. I assume the filmmakers are hedging their bets on you being too busy laughing to care; at least for me, their gamble paid off in the moment. – Alistair R. (full review)
Friendship (Andrew DeYoung)
At long last, Tim Robinson is now a leading man. World-premiering at TIFF this past fall to much acclaim, Andrew DeYoung’s hilarious (and hilariously dark) Friendship follows the I Think You Should Leave star as a dad who becomes obsessed with becoming friends with his neighbor (Paul Rudd). Christopher Schobert said in his review, “The level of enjoyment audience members will have with Andrew DeYoung’s Friendship is tied directly to their tolerance for the humor of Tim Robinson. The star of the meme-inspiring Netflix series I Think You Should Leave has cultivated a devoted following by creating situations of embarrassment and characters who veer wildly from absurdist rage to complete self-delusion. (See the infamous “we’re all trying to find the guy who did this” meme.) In my mind, I Think You Should Leave is the funniest series of the last decade or so. While Robinson’s full-length feature as star does not reach his show’s highs, it’s still a hysterically funny, pitch-black comedy.”
Love (Dag Johan Haugerud)
It takes confidence to name your film––simply and so very unspecifically––Love. Michael Haneke could get away with it for giving us the classic that is Amour. Gaspar Noé, on the other hand, came across poorly in his take on the L-word. Does Norwegian filmmaker Dag Johan Haugerud have something vital to say on the subject? In a breezy tone that soothes rather than shocks, yes. His film contemplates the many forms and possibilities of love while luxuriating in the Nordic vistas of Oslo. Not the most groundbreaking filmmaking, perhaps, but it’s pure cinematic balm that celebrates the basic, beautiful human need to connect. Fans of Joachim Trier’s work and Linklater’s Before trilogy, take note. – Zhuo-Ning Su (full review)
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Christopher McQuarrie)
The Final Reckoning‘s sum is not necessarily equal to its parts, but where the film stumbles technically, it soars viscerally, bolstered by the simple comfort that it’s just nice to hang with our friends in the IMF (even if they are stressed beyond measure). Finding it hard to say goodbye, there’s a precious nature to each of The Final Reckoning’s 169 minutes. Mission: Impossible, if nothing else, is a film education wrapped in big entertainment. It set itself apart from contemporaries by evolving, taking risks, and fostering a respect for the medium and its history. How many other franchises would prompt a curious viewer to seek out Topkapi, Hard Boiled, Safety Last! and What’s Up, Doc? – Conor O. (full review)
Pavements (Alex Ross Perry)
If the Hollywood superhero-industrial complex is perishing, the Rolling Stone and Spin magazine extended universe is hastily being built. What better defines “pre-awareness” for the studios like the data logged by Spotify’s algorithm, where billions of track plays confirm what past popular music has stood the test of time, and also how––in the streaming era––you can gouge ancillary money from it? But unlike the still-brilliant Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, which stood to excoriate the nostalgia sought by such films, recently reinvigorated by the success of Bohemian Rhapsody, Alex Ross Perry’s Pavements, on the eponymous ’90s slacker idols, justifies that every great band deserves a film portrait helping us to wistfully remember them, and also chuckle as pretty young actors attempt to nail the mannerisms of weathered, road-bitten musicians. So good luck, Timothée. – David K. (full review)
Sinners (Ryan Coogler)
Yet Sinners mainly feels so refreshing when this richness of text can easily be overlooked for enjoyment of an unholy hybrid of period drama and horror freakout, Coogler showing as much reverence for the genre as he does the centuries of music which guide this story (and Ludwig Göransson’s excellent score). Most importantly, he remembers that the archetypal vampire tale is an inherently horny one, and he pulls some tricks from Luca Guadagnino’s book for making sexually explicit stories which play even more erotically from what they withhold. Every sex scene features fully clothed actors, but all contain dialogue, or specific kinky details, which serve to remind us that, Dracula onwards, the best vampire stories are carnal ones where characters’ lust is baked into the premise. – Alistair R. (full review)
More Films Now Playing in Theaters
The Best New Restorations Now Playing in Theaters
The below list features newly restored films receiving a theatrical release run. For NYC-specific repertory round-ups, bookmark NYC Weekend Watch.
- 8 1/2
- Killer of Sheep
- Northern Lights
- The Sealed Soil
- Shall We Dance?
Read all reviews here.