Hit Man
The story: Glen Powell is a philosophy professor who moonlights for the police in New Orleans when he finds himself undercover posing as a hit man in this Richard Linklater movie. An encounter with Madison (Adria Arjona), a housewife looking to hire him, raises the stakes, comedically and romantically.
Alissa Wilkinson’s take: “If I see a movie more delightful than “Hit Man” this year, I’ll be surprised. It’s the kind of romp people are talking about when they say that “they don’t make them like they used to”: It’s romantic, hilarious, satisfying and a genuine star-clinching turn for Glen Powell, who’s been having a moment for about two years now.”
Civil War
The story: Set in the near future, “Civil War” depicts a United States that has devolved into conflict between the Western Forces of California and Texas (yeah, yeah, we know) and the federal government. As photojournalists played by Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura and Cailee Spaeny make their way to Washington, D.C., they encounter dangerous and unsettling scenes, painting a disturbing portrait of America in this Alex Garland drama.
Manohla Dargis’s take: “Hollywood’s longstanding, deeply American imperative for happy endings maintains an iron grip on movies, even in ostensibly independent productions. There’s no such possibility for that in ‘Civil War.’ The very premise of Garland’s movie means that ... a happy ending is impossible, which makes this very tough going. Rarely have I seen a movie that made me so acutely uncomfortable or watched an actor’s face that, like Dunst’s, expressed a nation’s soul-sickness so vividly that it felt like an X-ray.”
‘Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World’
The story: In Radu Jude’s scathing comedy, a foulmouthed production assistant named Angela (Ilinca Manolache) drives around Bucharest, Romania, looking for injured workers to interview for a workplace safety video.
Manohla Dargis’s take: “As she changes gears, and the movie switches between black-and-white film and color video, Angela flips off other drivers, acidly critiques all that she encounters, creates TikTok videos and effectively maps the geopolitical landscape of contemporary Romania.”
‘Late Night With the Devil’
The story: In this horror show from the brothers Cameron and Colin Cairnes, David Dastmalchian is a Johnny Carson-like late-night host desperate for ratings and awards. The film purports to be the footage of the episode that “shocked a nation.”
Alissa Wilkinson’s take: People watch late-night TV “to laugh, to be entertained and to feel some kind of companionship when the rest of the world goes to bed. ‘Late Night With the Devil’ twists that camaraderie around on itself, layering in familiar 1970s horror tropes about demonic possession, Satanism and the occult. The result is a nasty and delicious, unapologetic pastiche with a flair for menace. I had a blast.”
‘Evil Does Not Exist’
The story: In a rural hamlet outside Tokyo, a developer tries to sell skeptical locals on the benefits of a glamping resort. As the residents push back against the prospect of tourism upending their quiet rhythms, the developer’s representatives come to see their point of view in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s deceptive drama.
Manohla Dargis’s take: “I have watched ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ twice, and each time the stealthy power of Hamaguchi’s filmmaking has startled me anew. Some of my reaction has to do with how he uses fragments from everyday life to build a world that is so intimate and recognizable — filled with faces, homes and lives as familiar as your own — that the movie’s artistry almost comes as a shock.”
Io Capitano
The story: Matteo Garrone’s drama tracks Seydou and Moussa, two Senegalese cousins (Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall), as they try to reach the West on a journey that takes them through the Sahara to a brutal stay in Libya, and then eventually to the edge of the Mediterranean.
Manohla Dargis’s take: “Garrone doesn’t spare you much, but if the movie never turns into an exercise in art-house sadism, it’s because his focus remains unwaveringly fixed on his characters who, from the start, are fully rounded people, not props, symbols or object lessons. ... His great strength here is the tenderness of his touch.”
La Chimera
The story: In Alice Rohrwacher’s 1980s-set tale, Josh O’Connor is Arthur, a tomb raider in rural Italy who pines for his missing lover. Through her mother, Flora (Isabella Rossellini), he meets a music student, Italia (Carol Duarte).
Manohla Dargis’s take: “‘La Chimera’ sneaks up on you. Rohrwacher is a discreet virtuoso with a visual style that is appealing and demonstrably unshowy. She likes to crowd the frame, yet does so coherently, and while she uses different film formats throughout to indicate distinct moments and spaces, she doesn’t make a fuss about it. She reveals beauty rather than pummels you with it.” — The New York Times
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