Film-Forward

Fantasy

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Michael Keaton miraculously slips back into the title character’s self-absorbent, gothic Looney Tunes behavior like no time has passed.

Tuesday

Death = a macaw paying a call.

The Vourdalak

An odd, offbeat little gem wrapped up in an 18th-century vampire tale.

I Saw the TV Glow

There is a lot to unpack and ruminate over in Jane Schoenbrun’s moody and extraordinarily layered film, where abstract ideas are made tangible.

Poor Things

A Frankenstein fable that becomes a coming-of-age saga exploding societal conventions, particularly the physical kind. Nudity, explicit sex, and grotesqueries abound.

The Five Devils

With witchcraft, racism, a lesbian interracial affair, and even a case of arson in its mix, this French Alps–based fantasy thriller has a lot of potential to start fires.

Avatar: The Way of Water

In terms of scope, graphics, and tangible worldbuilding, the sequel is a jaw-dropping achievement, to say the least.

Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

Beautiful, self-critical, vulnerable, and above all impeccable in its craftmanship, Bardo is a statement of cinema as a form of therapy, exorcism, death, and resurrection.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon

Ana Lily Amirpour has given us is a valentine to the downtrodden. It’s like a Tom Waits tune covered by Duran Duran, and a delight.