8 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week

Critic’s Pick

Beauty amid brutality.

‘A Sad and Beautiful World’

In Beirut, Lebanon, childhood sweethearts Nino and Yasmina (Hasan Akil and Clara Roquet) reunite in the midst of havoc and instability in this drama directed by Cyril Aris.

From our review:

Aris manages to infuse both perspectives, Nino’s and Yasmina’s, into the film, which is funny, even joyous, without discounting the darkness that lives just outside (and sometimes inside) the walls of its characters’ homes. They dance and laugh and eat well and celebrate. They also worry, as conflict reignites, about the cost of food, about the electricity that isn’t on at night, about whether this is any kind of a life at all, or if they’d be better off somewhere else. The two moods intertwine effectively, sometimes within the same scene.

In theaters. Read the full review.

Doesn’t make it over the net.

‘The Dink’

Tennis and pickleball players face off in this sports comedy directed by Josh Greenbaum.

From our review:

Unfortunately, this one seems bound to drift out of memory pretty quickly, and not just because it’s going straight to streaming. Written by Sean Clements, “The Dink” has its moments, but they never completely cohere, and the movie struggles to maintain a consistent tone.

Watch on Apple TV. Read the full review.

Bright lights; dim story

‘Her Private Hell’

The latest from Nicolas Winding Refn features his usual suspects: neon-flooded cities, disturbed dads and daughters in peril.

From our review:

Baffling and at times perversely beautiful, “Her Private Hell” revisits some of the obsessions — murdered daughters, amputation, problematic parenting — of Refn’s wildly superior 2013 revenge tale, “Only God Forgives.” A dazzlingly gifted filmmaker, Refn will always have a place in my heart for his unwavering commitment to his scarlet-soaked visions, critics and audiences be damned. Now, though, he may simply be repeating himself.

In theaters. Read the full review.

You’ve seen this story before.

‘Sheep in the Box’

After the death of their young son, a mourning couple replaces him with an android imitation in this sci-fi drama directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda.

From our review:

“Sheep in the Box” is a halfhearted rehash of both the director’s past ideas and the familiar questions behind so many speculative science-fiction stories, all while abandoning that delicate emotional touch that makes the director’s work so special.

In theaters. Read the full review.

Critic’s Pick

This hell looks like heaven.

‘Hadestown: The Musical’

This musical movie captures a 2025 performance of the stage production, which transports figures from Greek myths into a gritty cityscape.

From our review:

Brett Sullivan directs this pro-shot like a concert film, occasionally panning to the ebullient audience. Even though the cutaways sacrifice onstage moments, the risk pays off. His delicate camerawork, moving with the rhythms of Anaïs Mitchell’s soulful score, immerses viewers in the musical.

In theaters. Read the full review.

An old dog and his best tricks.

‘72 Hours’

Desperate to understand Gen Z, an ad executive (Kevin Hart) crashes a bachelor party of 20-somethings in this comedy directed by Tim Story.

From our review:

The humor is broad and crude and often genuinely funny. The younger comedians are excellent foils for Hart, who himself remains an uncanny talent.

Watch on Netflix. Read the full review.

Taboo with no teeth.

‘Rosebush Pruning’

Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Lukas Gage and Jamie Bell star as siblings living with their father (Tracy Letts) in a grand, insular villa in Spain.

From our review:

Incest is implied early on; it is later made explicit. Even with this taboo thrust upon a comely cast, the director Karim Aïnouz fails to stir any interest. The screenplay, from Efthimis Filippou, reaches toward the perverse intrigue of “Dogtooth,” a film he wrote with his frequent collaborator, Yorgos Lanthimos. But in the hands of Aïnouz, the material is at once grating and boring, not deadpan enough to arrive at absurdism nor subtle enough to become a curio.

In theaters. Read the full review.

Say less (please).

‘Motor City’

Set in 1970s Detroit, this largely dialogue-free crime thriller directed by Potsy Ponciroli centers on John Miller (Alan Ritchson), a man of few words on a quest for revenge.

From our review:

The film shows a sense of humor about its gimmick, which only sometimes feels forced. … But the action and the gore (including an unexpected severed limb) seem almost gleefully cruel, and an unnecessary coda is failed by bad makeup.

In theaters. Read the full review.

Compiled by Kellina Moore.