‘Flight Risk’
In Mel Gibson’s return to directing, an air marshal (Michelle Dockery) joins a pilot (Mark Wahlberg) to fly a high-level informant (Topher Grace) to trial. Predictably, things go awry in the sky.
From our review:
Where “Flight Risk” fails as a film is not really Gibson’s fault. He knows how to shoot action sequences. The screenplay is instead all over the place, in a way that feels tired and halfhearted. This is the kind of thriller where you keep hollering at the characters to pay attention.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
Spectral spectacular.
‘Presence’
This quietly tense chiller directed by Steven Soderberg is told from the perspective of a ghost who haunts a family home and takes particular interest in the daughter, Chloe (Callina Liang).
From our review:
Chloe’s past, her parents’ marriage and the ghost’s restricted point of view together create palpable unease that the filmmakers build on until everyone is vibrating with tension and things have gotten weird. Although there are a few haunted-house shocks, the cumulative effect is more unsettling than scary. To a degree, the movie is an elaborate storytelling exercise for Soderbergh, but it’s one with stakes and characters who, as real feeling creeps into the movie, you grow to care for.
In theaters. Read the full review.
(i)Phoning it in.
‘Inheritance’
After discovering that her father is a spy, Maya (Phoebe Dynevor) embarks on a globe-trotting adventure in this thriller directed by Neil Burger and shot entirely on an iPhone.
From our review:
If you’re going to risk making a movie with the same device many of us use to document our children’s birthdays and the concert we went to last weekend, then you’ve really got to sell it. And not only does “Inheritance” fail to sell its aesthetic; it doesn’t sell its story, either.
In theaters. Read the full review.
To badly go where many movies have gone before.
‘Star Trek: Section 31’
Michelle Yeoh stars as Philippa Georgiou, a wanted criminal who reluctantly joins an intergalactic spy agency, in this spinoff directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi.
From our review:
Captain Picard would not approve. Luckily, he isn’t around yet to comment on “Star Trek: Section 31,” the 14th film in the franchise and the first to be made for streaming. Set in 2333 — in the so-called Lost Era between the original movies and Picard’s series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” — this everything-and-the-kitchen-sink movie is stuffed with so many neurotic mutants and hidden motives that even the unflappable Jean-Luc would struggle to keep them straight.
On Paramount+. Read the full review.
Colors too far inside the lines.
‘The Colors Within’
This anime directed by Naoko Yamada follows a teenage girl who has the ability to see people’s “colors” — their auras or spirits — as she forms a band and forges friendships.
From our review:
Though the band is, for each of the three nascent musicians, a small act of independence, even rebellion, “The Colors Within” has such an aloof tone that the deeper motivations and stakes for each character, though alluded to, don’t feel substantial enough to provide the story with any sense of urgency.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A widow reaches new peaks.
‘Rose’
After her husband dies, Rose (Françoise Fabian) must find a way to survive without him and in the process discovers herself in this touching drama directed by Aurélie Saada.
From our review:
On paper, the premise — a sheltered woman learns late in life to embrace a more adventurous, extroverted version of herself — sounds too cute by half. Onscreen, it only sometimes crosses that line.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Compiled by Kellina Moore.
