Onlookers
Kimi Takesue’s entrancingly framed image-based documentary follows swarms of tourists in Laos.
Film-Forward
The Monk and the Gun
A buoyant parable that manages to portray messy, complicated matters like democracy in a deft, light-to-the-touch, yet complex manner.
How to Have Sex
At first, the film conjures Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers as it revels in the shallow inanity of carousing drunk teens. But wait for its second half.
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
The elegant framing, the long takes, and the eclectic soundscapes almost induce a trancelike state.
The End We Start From
Though the movie feels patterned after other survivalist sagas, its depiction of climate change is chilling and realistically captured.
The Color Purple
At first, it’s difficult to not think of Whoopi Goldberg’s incredible debut, but Fantasia Barrino proves a marvelous screen presence with her authentic, powerful turn.
A Disturbance in the Force
The behind-the-scenes making of CBS’s misguided and ill-fated two-hour variety show The Star Wars Holiday Special.
The Strangler
An intriguing, elegantly-crafted psychological portrait that is a hidden gem in the horror genre.