Their relationship may be rotten, but the revenge it inspires is so very sweet.

It might take the discrepancy of a former boy wizard shaving his head to pique your interest, but you should have a lot to mull over when the credits roll.

It would be a gross understatement to say that I Smile Back is a bit of a downer. The film covers depression, drug use, and childhood trauma, among other things. The story itself is fairly straightforward, but it’s the main performance that makes the experience worthwhile: Sarah Silverman commits completely to an extremely challenging character. […]

Just the facts, ma’am. That catchphrase from the old Dragnet TV series well describes director Tom McCarthy’s efficient, workmanlike approach to his beat-by-beat unmasking of a scandal. In 2002, the Boston Globe published an exhaustively researched exposé of how the city’s Roman Catholic diocese shielded hundreds of sexual abusers among its ranks for decades. This […]

This masterful balancing act of docudrama and morality tragedy is set in 2010, but we aren’t given that date until more than halfway through. It doesn’t matter, as the events of the film—taking place in Orlando, Florida—could be taking place right now. This goes to show how in the moment and forceful Ramin Bahrani’s fifth […]

The directorial debut of cinematographer Reed Morano (The Skeleton Twins, Kill Your Darlings) is an emotional roller coaster from its first moments as it follows a young couple in the aftermath of a horrifying tragedy. Morano keeps Meadowland hauntingly realistic; its devastating subject matter feels all too possible. New Yorkers Sarah (Olivia Wilde) and Phil […]

Pawn Sacrifice is a love story unlike any other, as it is a love between a man, chess genius Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire), and silence. Chess played at the grandmaster level requires stretching the human mind to its outermost limits, as matches have to be exhaustively prepared for, and there are more potential moves and […]

Written and Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, based on the novel by Eleanor Henderson Produced by Anne Carey, Amy Nauiokas, Luca Borghese, Trudie Styler, and Celine Rattray Released by Screen Media Films USA. 90 min. Rated R With Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Emile Hirsch, Avan Jogia, Emily Mortimer, Julianne Nicholson, Nadia Alexander, […]

Written and Directed by Woody Allen Produced by Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum and Edward Walson Released by Sony Pictures Classics USA. 94 min. Rated R With Jamie Blackley, Joaquin Phoenix, Parker Posey, and Emma Stone Philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) causes a stir by arriving at Braylin College just in time for the summer […]