6 new movies critics are talking about this week

“Flight risk”

Mel Gibson returns to the director's chair in the film, in which an air marshal (Michelle Dockery) joins a pilot (Mark Wahlberg) to bring a high-level informant (Topher Grace) to justice. As expected, things don't go well in the sky.

From our review:

It wasn't actually Gibson's fault that Flight Risk failed as a movie. He knows how to shoot action sequences. Instead, the script is all over the place and feels tired and half-baked. This is the type of thriller that keeps the characters screaming at you to pay attention.

At the theater. Read the full review.

critic's choice

Spectral spectacle.

'Face'

This quietly tense horror film from director Steven Soderbergh is told from the perspective of a ghost who haunts a house and takes a particular interest in his daughter Chloe (Karina Liang).

From our review:

Chloe's past, her parents' marriage, and the ghost's limited perspective combine to create a palpable sense of unease, which the filmmakers build upon until everyone is shaking with tension and things start to go awry. Put it away. There are some shocks like a haunted house, but when they add up, it becomes more disturbing than scary. In some ways, the film is an elaborate storytelling exercise for Soderbergh, but it's a film with stakes and characters that you care about more and more as real emotion creeps into the film.

At the theater. Read the full review.

(i) Make a phone call.

'inheritance'

When Maya (Phoebe Dynevor) discovers that her father is a spy, she embarks on a globe-trotting adventure in this thriller directed by Neil Berger and shot entirely on iPhone.

From our review:

If you're going to risk making a movie on the same device that many of us are using to record our kids' birthdays or the concert we went to last weekend, we're going to have to really sell it. And “Inheritance” doesn’t just fail to sell its aesthetic; The story doesn't sell either.

At the theater. Read the full review.

It's terrible going where so 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 spin-off directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi.

From our review:

Captain Picard wouldn't approve of that. Fortunately, he has no plans yet to comment on Star Trek: Section 31, the 14th film in the series and the first made for streaming. There's an awful lot of neurosis in this all-inclusive kitchen sink movie set in the year 2333, in the so-called lost era between the original film and the Picard series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Packed with mutants and ulterior motives, the unflappable Jean-Luc will have a hard time keeping them straight.

On Paramount+. Read the full review.

The color is too far inside the lines.

“Inner color”

This anime directed by Naoko Yamada, She is able to see people's “colors” – their auras and spirits – as she forms bands and develops friendships.

From our review:

For the three budding musicians, the band is a small act of independence, even rebellion, but “The Colors Within'' has a very detached tone, with each character, albeit hinted at, There's no sense of any deeper motivations or stakes. It's enough to give the story a sense of urgency.

At the theater. Read the full review.

Widow reaches new heights.

'rose'

After the death of her husband, Rose (Françoise Fabien) must find a way to survive Without him you find yourself in this touching drama directed by Aurélie Saada.

From our review:

On paper, the premise of a sheltered woman learning to embrace her more adventurous, extroverted self later in life sounds too cute by half. On screen, you only cross that line every once in a while.

At the theater. Read the full review.

Edited by Kelina Moore.