Jennifer Harrington’s smart horror film skewers social-media influencers—literally.

It's also rather hilarious. And it makes us viewers complicit with a storyline that makes something less than total sense, but does so in such a good-natured way that we don't really care.

One of the saving graces of Saint Maud -- in fact, its chief virtue -- is the disequilibrium one experiences watching her walk the line between mere disturbance and outright insanity.

Mr. Wilson has always seemed congenitally sardonic and Ms. Hayek, quite game given the material, is a comedian at heart. So neither seems wholly committed to the seriousness of Bliss -- and if the story isn't serious, what is it?

In his best performance yet, Justin Timberlake plays an ex-con who finds himself the surrogate dad to a struggling kid.

Penguin Bloom director Glendyn Ivin doesn't honey-coat the difficulties faced by Sam or her family, which is one of his film's virtues.

One Night in Miami is about innocence and experience, and Regina King, a well-known actress herself, has a cast at her disposal that is capable of enormous subtlety.

Ms. Jackson has always shown herself to be an exacting and gifted artist, but Maud Horsham is the kind of role that requires much more out of a performer than just actorly craft. And that, happily, is what we get.

As director Alison Ellwood shows in her briskly entertaining documentary, the band's members can explain away, with enormous charm, the naked ambition that made them the most successful "girl group" ever.

Much is tailored to the needs of drama in "Godfather, Coda." But one cannot manufacture urgency in a film that lacks the kind of cosmic conflict of its two predecessors.

What films like this need to do instead is construct steel-man arguments for both sides. Make the opponent's argument a fortress. Let us see the handiwork of both sides and judge accordingly.

Nolan’s true triumph lies in filling this complex world with characters who keep it spinning with their desires, which in turn are finely tuned products of the new world and the familiar.

What enhances nostalgia from a malingerer’s daydream to worthwhile study is the ability to re-evaluate the joy against what soured it—precisely what’s missing here.

It is his and others’ many honest, searing flares of temper that give Lance a rapturous allure. The anguish, both self-imposed and in response to a corrupt system, has built up over decades and finally finds an outlet.

I’ve seen many films, but I’ve never cried and laughed at the exact same moment. Until now.

What we lack is a real Vader, even a Tapia-level villain. Ours spends most of the film barking orders on the phone, her plotting like an incantation, more of the same.

A creative amalgamation of seemingly dissonant themes that end up combining surprisingly well.

The Titanic of finance; focus on one group scrambling all night to survive gives us the collapse’s emotional heartbeat.

It pays to consider the wake Life is Beautiful left behind; the controversy would be moot if not for Jojo’s brilliance.

We ought to remember, and not lament, that we are all fit for many things, but the greatest of these is still love.

Plenty of films squeeze their protagonists under deadline pressure; rarely is it so keenly felt.

Martin does his work for the Art; Moore does his for the fans whose adulation he craves.

Good that rookie Brian Kirk admires Michael Mann more than Michael Bay.

Baumbach has created a masterful elegy for Nicole and Charlie's love story.

Perhaps it’s my background as a little girl who didn’t discover her inner strength until far too late in life that helped me fall absolutely head over heels in love with it.

How she was saved. Why she was chosen. And why more than 8,000 souls now call her, “Mom.”

One of my favorite moments may not be so popular with young viewers, but the tender father-daughter reconciliation underscores both the film’s primary theme and director Jude Weng’s desire to be respectful of and authentic to native Hawaiian culture.

In the age of social media, the term “friend” has taken on a far looser meaning. Watching this is an unexpected, often painful but emotionally rewarding masterclass in friendship.

I loved the climactic portions of “Soul” that helped Joe himself realize that although playing jazz is his life’s greatest passion, perhaps ultimately it was not his most significant purpose in life.

In a very real way, Howard and screenwriter Vanessa Taylor have made choices to pretty up what is anything but a feel-good family story.

Forest Whitaker is smashing as Jeronicus Jangle.

The primary cast of the film takes what could be another predictable tear-jerker and infuses fresh perspectives.

There is true magic in what transpires.

While definitely a military action movie at its core, it is also an examination of perseverance, commitment to own's duty, and of enduring faith.

While there are a few clunker cases of overacting, the cast is for the most part strong and likable.

While not the length or quite the quality of the previous films, there’s some joy to be had.

The live-action film produces a bump in the visual continuity, in the way an old vinyl record might skip a beat.

It grips viewers in a taut war thriller.

One might call this a sobering film that should resonate not just in Denmark but around the world, especially in those places with alcohol problems, and especially with male audiences.

The strength of the film is very much in the performance of Zengel. The young actress was acclaimed at Berlin for her performance as a wilful young girl in ‘System Crasher’. Here she is able to hold her own with Tom Hanks – an indication of a successful future career.

In many ways it is fey. In many ways it is twee. So, the genial frame of mind and mood for this visit to County Mayo requires a blend of fey and twee, with more than a touch of tolerance.

Twelve families took to the mountains set up a society that would be an exemplar so that if the world collapsed, the members of the Foundation and their descendants could emerge. An arresting idea.

The Irish can spin a yarn and this is what this film is, a complicated yarn with so many twists and turns, so many characters with dubious and double values, and betrayals galore.

Words can be brutal. Silence after brutal words can be healing.

For audiences unfamiliar with Sia, it may take some time to get used to her musical style, as well as the inclusion of songs and dance in this drama. For those who do not respond to music videos, there will be puzzlement, and perhaps the urge to move on.

This is an ambitious film. It continues the challenge for honestly examining the life of the Australia’s First Nations peoples after 1788 – acknowledging the oppression, the massacres, and exploitation.

It is also a movie for those who love nature films because at its heart is the life of a flock of geese.

Quite an enigmatic title. Does it apply to the characters or to human behaviour? Whatever the meaning of the title, this is a murder mystery thriller with more than one twist.

Once upon a time, the go-to stars for an action show tended to be the martial arts champions. For the past twelve years, it has been Liam Neeson, averaging an action show a year.

Where you, we might ask, is Summerland? Not an immediate name for anywhere in Britain.

Penguin Bloom is an enjoyable film about a family, joy, tragedy, hope and inspiration.

Just as we think of Agatha Christie, and she is explicitly mentioned in the screenplay, the structure of the film begins to play tricks with the audience.

The theme of The Prom captures audience attention. It is one of sexual orientation, equality, and tolerance moving to respect.

The posters for the film urging everyone to see it, declare that it is a must-see film from 2020, that contributes to the #MeToo campaign. And, it does, but certainly not in the ways that we might have been anticipating.

In the US in the 1930s, during the aftermath of the Wall Street financial collapse and the pervasive Depression, a dreamland would have been in the imaginations of many Americans.

This is a film with a strong gay sensibility, in its portrait of the men, their sensitivities, their lives.

For audiences who enjoy this kind of quest, an encounter with an archaeologist in the desert, a visit to a genie who grants wishes only after the correct question is asked, who does give them an indication of where they might search for the Rim.

This is a powerful drama about the deeply personal story of a woman learning to live alongside loss.

It isn’t always easy to be on the wavelength of the sense of humour of a particular culture. There is something about French culture and humour that is different from the rest of the world.

In some ways this presents something of an idyll of French farming, zest and enthusiasm, full of hope.

A stranger is embraced by a family of inept scam artists and becomes a catalyst for change.

For those who enjoy films in space, there is a lot to interest as well as dialogue about life and death, life and meaning to ponder on. For those who are not so attracted to space stories, this particular version will seem rather ponderous.

For an American audience, this is an opportunity to look at the people of the United States, the part-time workers who wander the land in their vans, as well as a look in detail at the land itself. And, for non-American audiences, it is also quite an eye-opener.

This is a robust version of the story.

Colourful, full of action, eccentric characters, funny dialogue, especially popular for family audiences.

The story of Dreambuilders is a story of broken families, families joining together, difficulties, clashes, memories of parents… In fact, this is rather a tough world and so it is for the children in this film.

Probably too sweet for many an audience, but probably engagingly sweet for many more. And, a bit of a change, in fact, to see a young couple so lovingly committed with a wedding ceremony as one of the most significant events of their lives.

But, for a film released in 2020, it is in the vein of Black Lives Matter. It is a condemnation of those who have preserve the racist attitudes of the past – where white supremacist violence can erupt.

In a time when tragic deaths and protests have drawn renewed attention to the issue of racism in the U.S., “The Ride” offers a reality check and a sign of hope.

Unorthodox as she might be, Enola’s personality offers a valuable lesson on the meaning of female empowerment, both for women of her own time as well as today.

But what is equally amusing is that by her own standards, Mulan herself falls short.

It’s a noble goal on the part of David Smick, who wrote and directed the film, but the end result is sadly just as disjointed as the America it portrays.

By truly listening, he not only offers Adam a source of love and truth, but he also opens himself up to grow more in his faith and ability to communicate it well.

Amid all the glamor, drama, and fun, Feel the Beat offers something more profound.

Suffice it to say her writing is not for the faint of heart.

It proposes something that so many films before it featuring the cliche, fearless American war hero do not: the need for an ‘interior life’ in order to win the battles that matter the most.

Such an editing decision not only gives the film a lopsided structure but also robs it of a more nuanced portrayal of the conservative team.

The beloved characters created by Beatrix Potter in her series of children’s books stray even further from their amiable roots.

Pleasantly silly escapist fun.

Since the tone of the narrative is one of amoral detachment, moreover, mature viewers need to bring careful discernment to bear as they watch Balram’s story unfold.

Unfortunately, The Dig buries itself.

It relies on the familiar formula of a megalomaniac seeking global domination and the superhero determined to stop him in escapist fun.

This femme fatale is in Sin City for what she calls a “therapeutic getaway,” a fancy name for having sex with a stranger.

You may never eat bacon again.

“The Croods: A New Age” is a barrel of laughs as it mines the culture clash between the families, who gradually come to understand and respect each other.

His habit of inserting old movie clips to advance the story and adding Italian pop songs to the soundtrack is somewhat jarring, albeit effective and entertaining as well.

No threat to Hitchcock’s classic.

It’s a solid, entertaining action thriller.

Think James Bond on Red Bull, only this time the villain is pursued in the past as well as in real time.

Josh Boone serves up a distasteful and derivative horror thriller.

It will satisfy the most demanding Marvel fan, while those unfamiliar might enjoy the comedic moments but find the jargon incomprehensible, writes McAleer.

McAleer: This clever fiction layers a welcome civics lesson atop your basic soap opera, one overstuffed with adult conflicts, teen angst and occasional sexual banter.

McAleer: The déjà vu is overwhelming since ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’ borrows heavily from just about every superhero myth.

McAleer: An urban-gothic mess. Why bother?

McAleer: Potentially absorbing crime drama never becomes even the ‘Wawa’ of HBO shows

Netflix’s latest dip into Sherlock Holmes canon is an offbeat mix, writes Joseph McAleer

McAleer: The CW’s new series isn’t your grandad’s Superman.

McAleer on why Kevin James, The Rock, and Kenan Thompson go underutilized in their shows debuting now.

McAleer: Why PBS’s All Creatures Great and Small is a soothing tonic for tense nerves

McAleer: Though it looks similar, Downton it is not.

McAleer: A worthy attempt, but the books are still superior.

McAleer: Political animals, no snakes

McAleer: A real, though not unmixed, blessing for viewers with maturity.

McAleer: From one plot twist to the next like a dingo on steroids

McAleer: Re-read the book instead.

Using Coward’s basic setup as no more than a springboard, the trio of script collaborators ill-advisedly substitute their merely serviceable dialogue for his sparkling exchanges and displace his urbane wit in favor of broad physical humor.

The result is a poignant drama pervaded by a sense of loneliness, with Frances McDormand in a bravura performance.

As a personality-rich study of conflicted loyalties, the fact-based drama “Judas and the Black Messiah” is a compelling piece of moviemaking.

Rather than feel-good entertainment, accordingly, this is a film of authentic emotions, humane values and serious intent.

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite and screenwriter Brad Ingelsby treat tragic events in a spare, matter-of-fact manner that magnifies their impact on viewers. This is matched by restrained performances from the gifted cast.

In the brooding crime drama, writer-director John Lee Hancock sets out to explore moral ambiguity in the context of police work. The result, however, ultimately feels more muddled than finely balanced.

There’s a sketchy feel to director and co-writer Robert Lorenz’s action drama and it ultimately fails to make much of an impression.

The tale of Sandra’s aspirations also becomes one of infectious community spirit as the proceedings take on the tone of an old-fashioned barn raising.

A steady focus on the believable characters who populate it elevates director Ric Roman Waugh’s engaging film above the status of a disaster movie.

It’s disappointing to find that Docter’s latest project, a blend of drama and comedy, while often funny, fails to make an impact similar to those of Toy Story, Up, or Inside Out.

The ethnic, sectional and economic tensions of the Reconstruction era are explored in the epic adventure “News of the World”.

There’s more emotional conflict than straight-out sorrow in Rosenberg’s script—but its message that happiness is to be found by pursuing fulfillment in the present may seem simplistic and unbalanced.

It’s effectively undercut by the fact that neither of its lead characters is a believable figure.

Though it plays intelligently with moral twists and turns, The Last Vermeer has a reliable ethical compass in Piller.

In the absence of any effort at character development or any realistic restraint on the mayhem that results, what we’re left with is a bloody killing spree meant to justify retaliation in kind.

Pity the poor contemporary artist who just doesn’t know what to do about religion.

The gruesome bloodletting that marks such franchises as “Friday the 13th” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is all-too-faithfully reproduced.

A morally dicey affair in which characters’ good and evil instincts are intertwined in a way that can only be untangled through subtle ethical assessment.

Between the relish with which Rock approaches his task and Spencer’s commanding presence, things get off to a rollicking start.

If the monster movie is only reasonably effective in frightening its audience, it is at least refreshingly free of objectionable material, including gore.

As written and directed by Sofia Coppola, it sometimes feels as though meager material is being stretched out to fit feature length.

The liberal satire and mockery of American cluelessness that are presumably the main items on Baron Cohen’s agenda are overwhelmed in a welter of tawdry, demeaning jokes.

Aaron Sorkin has a knack for making politics interesting.

Humor goes AWOL.

Crowley’s original text may be a plea for tolerance. But it is decidedly not a polemic about the joys of same-sex attraction.

It’s impoverished rather than outrageously wealthy.

The family that prays together stays together.

Indeed, by the time they reach its ambiguous conclusion, movie fans may feel as though Pollock and Campos are toying with them.

Far-fetched and ham-fisted, the grim fantasy is marked by an outlook on timely racial issues that lacks both balance and a humane spirit.

In purely cinematic terms, moreover, the script’s attempt to strike a tone of cute bohemianism misfires.

It's not an angle normally seen in basketball films, but for Selvig, recruiting from reservations was a no-brainer.

This is a mid-life crisis story wrapped in gauzy metaphysics.

Writer-director Chris Columbus has been behind many hit movies, and likely would be listened to in any project.

Nobody says no to Dolly.

The Naudets give room for everyone to breathe, as bits of the firefighters’ personalities come out.

Filmed entirely in Portugal, it captures the look of the time without feeling self-consciously “period.”

Obviously, Ron Howard and his fellow filmmakers had no clue about the worldwide devastation to come in 2020, not from fire but from an invisible enemy that burns just as effectively through lives and economies.

To say that Greyhound has a plot would be stretching it.

The staging is sparse but inventive.

This film is an informative, inspiring and entertaining documentary that tells an important story about a small yet highly influential part of the history of the U.S. Catholic Church.

"Gun and a Hotel Bible" is entertaining, well-acted, thought-provoking and thematically, it is for mature audiences. I found it very engaging.

Once the trial starts, the film becomes a terrific courtroom drama. The conversations between Abbie Hoffman and Hayden are brilliant.

If you have ever lived with a family member who is dependent on alcohol or drugs or both, I think she's turned in an award-winning performance.

Raising questions, not giving answers, Soul is an animated delight.

Viola Davis is a manipulative diva who commands attention and obedience. Her mesmerizing performance consumes the screen, and Chadwick Boseman as Levee broke my heart.

Gorgeous to look at with a score by John Debney, and the voices of Usher and newcomer Madalen Mills are warm and beautiful.

It doesn't offer much analysis of these "dispatches" or interviews, it just kind of puts it all out there for you to experience.

I was very moved that the filmmakers included the dark expressionist paintings of a Holocaust survivor.

It shows that there are alternative ways to resolve conflict and redress wrongs other than violence.

The most frightening film of 2020.

This is a powerful film, but I thought Howard went soft on this notorious company that has a history of choosing profit over the health and well-being of its customers.

The stark landscape scenes are masterpieces of minimalism that evoke feelings of isolation and loneliness; the closeups are compelling still portraits.

The secrets of Fatima are included if you look closely, as are Mary's pleas to pray the rosary, to avoid sin and to do good.

The result is a view of the Italian countryside, and the people who live in it, which is lyrical in tone and culturally fascinating. Its imagery, simply and informally, creates the magic that sustains what the movie reveals.

The value of Mank lies in the historical light it throws on Citizen Kane, the famous movie that is widely acknowledged as a masterpiece.

It is the first Pixar film to feature an African-American actor.

It is hard to sustain two villains, when most Superhero, or Superheroine, films have just one, and this movie largely sustains its pace through outstanding special effects, which it delivers well.

This is a home-grown movie of quality that authentically captures the Australian spirit of Jane Harper’s best-selling novel. As a thriller, the movie builds its tension slowly to a devastating finale that ties its subplots together.

This is an inspirational thriller, with real-life historical significance.

This movie has genuine impact. It has been directed and acted to project humanity in a thought-provoking manner into a coming-of-age story.

This is a violent Western that sustains strong tension, and it focuses on two resolute women, at odds about how to care.

Australian director of the film, Ashley Harris, takes time to air inner conflicts and interpersonal tensions.

This is a movie that conveys marital, family, and social tensions at multiple levels.

It only partially succeeds in negating the ideals of beauty pageants it would wish to argue ought not to be supported.

The movie is almost entirely action-dominated, and it compellingly transmits serious unease that is genuinely disquieting.

It is a movie that highlights the need to examine the nature of the relationship that presently exists between organised pro-choice and pro-life advocacy.

This film is essentially about what 'not to do', as well as 'what to do', to protect a relationship that is fracturing badly.

It is a film that projects African-American pride at a time when positive antidotes are urgently needed to the media’s hunger to show violence and aggression.

A spirited comedy that delves wittily into the relationships between husband and wife, and between father and daughter.

The major dramatic power of the movie resides in the difficulty of knowing who is telling the truth.

A highly enjoyable action movie that carries strong messages about female empowerment, lavishly and colourfully produced.

The film explores the premise that the future is best controlled by manipulating both the present and the past.

This is a brilliant, well-crafted movie that explores traumatised life in ethnically diverse communities.

The chief message of the film is that true love is something that should not be allowed to wither and die, and needs attention to keep it vibrantly alive.

It sentimentally explores (though effectively so) the surface level of the conflict that has festered over time.

There have been a number of good movies about children dying of cancer, like ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’, but this movie is different, and it is a tribute to Australian movie-making that it is so

The movie tells us in its own way that image-consumed people can be driven to madness by their obsession with clothing.

Its narrative has pulling power, but cinematically it is a hard ask to address all these themes well, and it challenges both director and actors.

This is a glamorously-styled, sophisticated documentary about an ageing artist looking across his achievements to reveal the meaning of the name of Pierre Cardin.

Iannucci, with the help of an ethnically diverse cast, humorously translates Dickens in a modern way that amuses, rather than enthrals. The result is a gentler version than Dickens’ presumably intended.

Before each game, Selvig would reputedly drive up into the hills, listening to opera in his car to relax. Yet as soon as the first ball went up, he became, by his own description, “psycho coach.”

Jacob’s pursuit of the American dream evokes a simple pathos shot through with fierce passion and conviction.

What makes these simple fishermen from Port Isaac a hit with everyone they meet is their absolute authenticity.

This family-friendly movie seems apt for the time of pandemic in which we’re living as it deals with themes of grief, isolation, discovery, imagination and love of family.

The Grizzlies could have been another white-savior film. It’s not.

A film like this, uplifts, transforms and makes you want to stand up and shout.

Was everyone just naïve about the flipside of the creation of these digital platforms? Did no one truly consider the human factor in all of this, that is, the very real human struggle with good and evil?

Patrick Riddick says that singing in this choir involves much more than perfect pitch.

Indeed, we can choose every day who we become regardless of where we came from, but our family is still our family.

The scars of childhood remain with us forever, that is, until a lasting, unconditional love can conquer the tragic memories and heal the psychological wounds.

Fatima brings this message to life.

When all hell breaks loose, Adam discovers who truly cares for him as a human being.

It is a beautifully crafted film that highlights the gift that she is to humanity and to the literary field.

Not only does it fill in the historical gaps of wartime understanding, but it also, and perhaps more importantly, inspires one to greatness in the eyes of God.