Alma (Julia Roberts), a Yale professor, gets into a dilemma when her protégée, Maggie (Ayo Edediri), accuses her colleague and friend, Hank (Andrew Garfield), of sexual assault in After the Hunt. Michael Stuhlbarg plays Alma's husband, Freferik, a psychiatrist, and Chloë Sevigny plays her friend who's also Yale's student liaison. Director Luca Guadagnino and screenwriter Nora Garrett have made a vapid, clunky, dull and undercooked psychological thriller. The way that Alma treats others makes her seem mean-spirited and selfish. She definitely has issues and, as it turns out, past trauma that she hasn't overcome yet. After the Hunt, like the recent Sorry, Baby, doesn't actually show the sexual assault scene, so it leaves it up to the audience's imagination to fill in the dots about what happened---and to figure out whether or not Maggie can even be trusted. Could she be falsely accusing Hank? Maggie also has issues of her own that makes her flawed and not easy to trust or like. 

      The characters are complex and interesting enough to turn the film into a profound character study, so it's unfortunate that the screenplay fails to breathe life into any of them. How introspective are they? How remorseful are they? It's unclear because After the Hunt remains afraid to dig deeper into the heart, mind and soul of any of the characters. Moreover, the ending feels rushed, the music score sounds heavy-handed and intrusive, and too many scenes drag, so there also are pacing issues. Oh, and the decision of Guadagnino to yell "cut" at the tail end of the film feels awkward and leaves a very bad aftertaste. At a running time of 2 hours and 19 minutes, After the Hunt opens at Angelika Film Center and AMC Lincoln Square on October 10th, 2025 before expanding nationwide on October 17th, 2025.

      Ray (Daniel Day-Lewis), who's been living in an isolated cabin in the middle of the woods, gets a visit from his estranged brother, Jem (Sean Bean), who just left his wife, Nessa (Samantha Morton) and stepson, Brian (Samuel Bottomley), in Anemone. Tensions arise between the two brothers as they deal with long-buried trauma. Writer/director Ronan Day-Lewis and co-writer Daniel Day-Lewis have made a poetic and slow-burning, but undercooked and meandering drama with breathtaking cinematography and heartfelt performances, especially by Daniel Day-Lewis. However, the screenplay suffers from clunky and lazy exposition, and it takes too long to get to the meat of the story: Ray and Jem's emotional pain. Once it arrives at that point, there's a very lengthy monologue that feels stilted. Just having two characters sit around and talk could be interesting, but after a while it gets tiresome. Then there are the scenes with Nessa and Jem's stepson, Brian, which aren't quite as engaging as the ones with the two brothers. The plot gets bizarre, though, with a few surpries including interesting uses of symbolism like a very destructive hailstorm and the titular anemone flowers. Ronan Day-Lewis should be commended for understanding the power of silence, particularly during the first 10 minutes which are wordless. If only the screenplay were as strong as the performances and cinematography, Anemone would've been a much more powerful and engrossing experience. At 2 hours and 1 minute, Anemone opens nationwide on October 3rd, 2025 via Focus Features.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      Beautifully shot in stunning black-and-white, Below the Clouds is a mesmerizing, fascinating and unconventional documentary portrait of the city of Naples. Director Gianfranco Rosi opts for a fly-on-the-wall approach with a potpourri of different perspectives from the daily lives of Naples inhabitants. Locals call a fire department's emergency hotline to report tremors. Someone complains that their loved one fell out of bed and weighs too much to be picked up by just three people. The dispatcher says that at least 5 people are needed, but all of their firemen are busy at the moment. Other locals express their worry about a nearby volcano, Phlegraean Fields, erupting. Japanese tourists visit a museum that displays the plaster casts of the victims of the Vesuvius volcano eruption in 79 AD. Those images alone are harrowing and among the most powerful ones in the film. Below the Clouds also has a surprising amount of comic relief, especially from the witty and snarky dispatcher who answers the emergency calls at the fire station. To be fair, patient audiences will be rewarded because Rosi moves the film at a very slow pace with many scenes without dialogue, just music. At a running time of 1 hour and 55 minutes, Below the Clouds opens TBA.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

      Ethan Hawke portrays songwriter/lyricist Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon. On the opening night of the Rogers and Hammerstein's show Oklahoma which he collaborated on, he spends his time drunk and depressed while sitting at the bar at Sardi's. Bobby Cannavale plays a bartender, Andrew Scott plays Richard Rogers, and Margaret Qualley shows up as Eliizabeth, Lorenz's young muse. Director Richard Linklater and screenwriter Robert Kaplow have made a warm, witty and breezy, but slight and forgettable biopic. Audiences looking for a thorough biopic on Lorenz Hart will be disappointed, though, because this is merely a brief snapshot of Lorenz's experience at the bar of a restaurant during the opening night of Oklahoma. Margaret Qualley is miscast and gives a wooden performance, although she's undermined by a screenplay that doesn't give her much to do other than look and act charming. Bobby Cannavale is wasted in a supporting role that doesn't give him much to do either. However, Ethan Hawke's solid performance helps to elevate and invigorate the film. He breathes life into the role of Lorenz Hart which the screenplay fails to accomplish. Moreover, the filmmakers should be commended for keeping the running time under 2 hours because if the film were longer, it would've started to drag. At 1 hour and 40 minutes, Blue Moon opens on October 17th, 2025 at Angelika Film Center via Sony Pictures Classics.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

      U.S. government officials, including Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson) must figure out what to do when they learn that a nuclear missile is headed toward the United States in A House of Dynamite. Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Noah Oppenheim have made a dry, by-the-numbers and lethargic political thriller that's low on thrills, suspense and intrigue. All of the ingredients for a taut and spellbinding thriller are there, but Bigelow and Oppenheim squander those opportunities. They opt for a procedural which would've been fine if it were engaging or exciting on any level. There are too many characters, distracting subplots, and a main plot that runs out of steam around the hour mark. Nothing about the cinematography or set design stands out, and the music score feels overbearing and unnecessary as though Bigelow didn't trust that the plot had enough tension, so she tried to add tension through the music. None of the actors or actresses among the ensemble cast, including Rebecca Furguson, Tracy Letts, Jared Harris, Greta Lee, Anthony Romas, Idris Elba and Jason Clarke get the chance to shine. On top of that, the ending feels bafflingly abrupt and unintentionally funny while leaving too many questions unanswered. At 1 hour and 52 minutes, A House of Dynamite opens on October 10th, 2025 at Angelika Film Center via Netflix.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, Linda (Rose Byrne), struggles to take care of her terminally ill young daughter (Delaney Quinn) while temporarily living in a motel after a pipe bursts her apartment's bedroom and causes a flood as well as a gaping hole in the ceiling. Her husband, Charles (Christian Slater), who works in the military, calls her every now and then while he's away. She's addicted to alcohol, sees a therapist (Conan O'Brien) who's not good at helping her to get better, and befriends the motel's superintendent, James (ASAP Rocky). Her daughter will lose access to the treatment center for her illness if she doesn't gain 50 pounds very soon. One day, Caroline (Daniell Macdonald), leaves her baby with her and disappears. Writer/director Mary Bronstein has made a poignant, tender and unflinching psychological character study. It's also one of the most unnerving films since Uncut Gems as Linda descends more and more into madness and the plot briefly veers into psychological horror territory. She's hot-tempered, narcissistic, unreliable and emotionally immature. She was probably raised by a toxic mother and father who didn't provide her with the proper tools needed to become a mature and emotionally stable grown up.

     Much of If I Had Legs I'd Kick You feels heartbreaking thanks to Rose Byrne's raw, honest and bravura performance---the best performance of her career. Her performance is as powerful as Gena Rowland's performance in A Woman Under the Influence. Bravo to writer/director Mary Bronstein for designing a window into the heart, mind and soul of Linda, and bravo to Rose Byrne for opening that window very widely for the audience to observe, to absorb and to occasionally feel like a voyeur. Don't be surprised if she'll be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. At 1 hour and 54 minutes, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You opens on October 10th, 2025 at Angelika Film Center and AMC Lincoln Square via A24.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1




 

      In It Was Just an Accident, Vahid (Vahid Mobasser) kidnaps Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi) because he thinks that he's the officer who tortured him when he was a political prisoner, but he's not 100% sure because he was blindfolded at the time. Soon enough, a wedding photographer, a bride and her groom join Vahid on his revenge quest and help him to decide whether or not to kill Eghbal. Writer/director Jafar Panahi has made a mildly engaging thriller that lacks palpable suspense, emotional depth and any surprises. This is the first film by Panahi where the characters are merely plot devices and underdeveloped thereby making it hard to care about anyone on screen. All that the audience knows about Eghbal is that he has a family including a young daughter and wife. Was he the one who tortured Vahid? Vahid seems very thirsty for revenge and isn't against burying him alive if he's guilty. Unfortunately, other than the sound of his torturer's false leg which Eghbal also has, that's all the evidence that he has to confirm his strong suspicion.

      There are attempts at dark and absurdist comedy, but the humor often falls flat, i.e. when everyone include the bride, groom and photographer have to push Vahid's van suddenly or when they have to hide Eghbal from authorities who want to check the inside of the van. The third act goes in a direction that makes very little sense given the little that the audience learned about Vahid, and it's hard to grasp what's going on inside of him emotionally or how introspective he is for that matter. The last few moments of the film are supposed to be shocking, but it's easy to predict given the preceding scenes. It Was Just An Accident asks a lot of questions, but doesn't answer them with anything insightful or revealing about the dark side of human nature. At 1 hour and 42 minutes, It Was Just an Accident opens on October 15th, 2025 at Film Forum via NEON.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      James (Josh O'Connor), has a wife, Terri (Alana Haim), and two children. He leads a double life as the mastermind of a gang of art thieves in The Mastermind. Writer/director Kelly Reichardt has made a very slow-burning, dull and lethargic crime drama that lacks palpable suspense, intrigue, memorable characters or comic relief. It's loosely based on a true story, but very few scenes actually ring true. Josh O'Connor is a fine actor, though, who has plenty of charisma, so it's disappointing that he's undermined by a shallow, witless and undercooked screenplay. He does make it somewhat easier to somewhat still like James even when he robs an elderly woman. Unfortunately, the female characters including Terri, James' mom, Sarah (Hope Davis), and his friend, Maude (Gaby Hoffmann) remain underwritten. At a running time of 1 hour and 50 minutes, it opens at Angelika Film Center on October 17th, 2025 via MUBI.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

       Betty (Barbara Auer) takes care of Laura (Paula Beer), a piano student, after she survives a car crash that kills her boyfriend in Miroirs No. 3. She lets her stay at her home and invites her estranged husband, Richard (Matthias Brandt) and son, Max (Enno Trebs), over. Writer/director Christian Petzold has made an understated and quietly moving  meditation on grief. He begins the film with the car crash; there's little to no first act or exposition that sets up the relationship between Laura and her boyfriend. Miraculously, Laura survives the crash with just a minor cut. Betty seems sad, depressed and lonely. Her faucet constantly drips, her dishwasher and one of her bicycles are both broken. When she tells Laura that she's inviting her husband and son over, she refers to them as "the men." They happen to work as mechanics, so they insist on fixing her faucet, dishwasher and bicycle. Very little happens in terms of plot, but there's a twist near the end that helps to add more emotional depth and to explain where Betty's sadness comes from. Interestingly, Laura and Max don't develop a romance, although they do flirt a little. This isn't a Hollywood film, after all. There's also some surprisingly lively use of music during a few scenes. Paula Beer and Barbara Auer give warm, nuanced and radiant performances that ground the film in humanism. They're both wonderfully natural actresses who get many chances to shine here. The unconventional ending feels abrupt, though, although it does leave some room for interpretation. At a running time of only 1 hour and 26 minutes,  Miroirs No. 3 opens TBA via 1-2 Special.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1




 

      After getting laid off from his job at a paper manufacturing company, Man-soo (Lee Byung-hun) sends his resume to a rival company and hatches a plan to kill the other employees competing with him for the position in No Other Choice. Writer/director Park Chan-wook and his co-writers, Don McKellar, Lee Kyoung-mi and Lee Ja-hye, have made a clunky, overlong and tedious dark comedy. The plot eventually loses steam and just becomes over-the-top, mean-spirited and exhausting while making it very hard to care for Man-soo. His wife, Lee Min (Son Ye-jin), seems more likable, but underdeveloped like most of the female characters. Does it sound funny to you when another woman sucks the venom out of a snakebite on Man-soon's leg while he FaceTimes his wife? concurrently? Or when the woman mistakenly tells him to raise his leg above his heart instead of lowering it below his heart? The attempts at comedy are more physical rather than any funny lines. There are also issues with the film's blend of tones because it's hard to take anything seriously when the plot seems so outrageous and preposterous almost like a satire, but with not enough bite. There have been better films that have tackled the issue of job loss in a family with more humor, wit and heart, i.e. Tokyo Sonata. Keep in mind that this won't be the film for you if you can't handle teeth porn---there's a scene involving teeth that will make you squeamish like in Bring Her Back. At a running time of 2 hours and 19 minutes, No Other Choice  opens in select theaters on December 25th, 2025 via NEON.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      Jean-Luc Godard (Guillaume Marbeck) shoots Breathless in Nouvelle Vague. He casts Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch) and Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubry Dullin) in the lead roles. Director Richard Linklater and screenwriters Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo have made a charming, breezy and amusing, but shallow and tedious homage to the French New Wave that overstays its welcome. All of the actors and actresses resemble the Golden Age actors and actresses that they portray as do the actors in the role of directors like Adrien Rouyard who plays François Truffaut. The stand-out, though, is Aubry Dullin who's Nouvelle Vague's MVP. Linklater shoots the film in black-and-white which adds to the authenticity, but beyond that, this probably would've worked better as a short. At 1 hour and 38 minutes, Nouvelle Vague opens on October 31st, 2025 at Angelika Film Center and The Paris Theatre via Netflix.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      Peter Hujar (Ben Whishaw), a photographer, has a conversation with his friend, Linda Rosencrantz (Rebecca Hall) in Peter Hujar's Day. The screenplay by writer/director Ira Sachs, set during December 1974 in NYC, is dull, monotonous and shallow. Even though the conversations between Peter and Linda actually occured back then, that doesn't make it interesting today. They talk about very trivial things that reveal too little about both of them. If you could imagine My Dinner with Andrew without the intellectual or emotional depth, it would look like this. It's slight, pointless, meandering and should've been a short because it overstays its welcome while dragging on and on without being even remotely cinematic. The performances by Ben Wishaw and Rebecca Hall are fine, though, but the screenplay doesn't give them enough to chew on which would've allowed them to shine. At a running time of 1 hour and 16 minutes, Peter Hujar's Day opens at Angelika Film Center on November 7th, 2025 via Janus Films and Sideshow.

Number of times I checked my watch: 4




 

       In The Secret Agent, Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a former teacher, gets more than he bargained for when he seeks refuge in Recife, Brazil while searching for his son.  Writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho has made a slow-burning and overlong, but bold, visually stylish and refreshingly unpredictable political thriller set in 1977. The tonal shifts feel jarring at times as it veers into horror, dark comedy and even a little satire, but it all comes together in a way that makes it unique and unconventional. Filho doesn't bombard the audience with exposition and keeps many things a mystery, especially who the secret agents are and why are there some men trying to track down Marcelo and kill him? Wagner Moura anchors the film with his palpable charisma. The cinematography and production design are also superb while adding both style and substance. To be fair, The Secret Agent does begin to drag around the 2 hour mark, so it could've used tighter editing. At 2 hours and 38 minutes, The Secret Agent opens on November 26th, 2025 at Angelika Film Center via NEON.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3

      Luis (Sergi López) takes his young son, Esteban (Bruno Núñez Arjona), to search for his missing daughter, Mar, in the Moroccan desert in Sirāt. Writer/director Óliver Laxe and co-writer Santiago Fillol have made a mesmerizing and often exhilarating, but tedious and exhausting thriller. The beats don't land as strongly as they would have if the audience were to know more about Mar and why she disappeared. Exposition remains at a bare minimum. There are some twists that make the film more and more tragic, but those twists seem like plot devices in retrospect, especially after something happens to one of the characters. The filmmakers aren't interested in getting to know Luis or any of the ravers that he meets during his dangerous trek through the desert, so they all stay at a cold distance from the audience. Moreover, the use of music feels bizarre, heavy-handed and intrusive. That said, the cinematography and breathtaking desert landscape, which becomes a character in itself, are the film's major strengths. They add visual style, although that's not enough to compensate for the lack of substance. At 1 hour and 55 minutes, Sirāt opens on November 14th, 2025 at Angelika Film Center via NEON.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

       Singer/songwriter Bruce Springstein (Jeremy Allen White) makes the album "Nebraska" while dealing with his childhood trauma and romancing Faye (Odessa Young), a single mother, in  Springstein: Deliver Me From Nowhere. The screenplay by writer/director Scott Cooper is shallow, by-the-numbers, bland and sugar-coated, much like last year's A Complete Unknown. However, the performances by the ensemble cast, namely Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser and Stephen Graham are terrific enough to invigorate the film. The flashback scenes to Springstein's childhood are redundant, though, and only serve as exposition. Cooper's screenplay ultimately fails to design enough of a window into Bruce Springstein's heart, mind and soul. He's a stranger to the audience at the beginning and remains a stranger to them until the very end. It's also hard to grasp how he's truly grown and changed throughout the course of the film. His few epiphanies don't feel contrived.

      Not surprisingly, the scenes with Springstein's music are the ones that are exhilarating on a palpable level. If only the same could be said about the scenes without his music which, sadly, fail to resonate on an emotional level like the recent, underseen music biopic Stelios manages to accomplish with flying colors. At 1 hour and 59 minutes, Springstein: Deliver Me From Nowhere opens nationwide on October 24th, 2025 via 20th Century Studios.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3


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