His Three Daughters

• Director: Azazel Jacobs
• Writer: Azazel Jacobs
• Starring: Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, Natasha Lyonne, Jay O. Sanders, Jovan Adepo

Grade: A-

Death often brings out the worst in people, and not just from the dying. Old grudges are brought back to the fore, and people tend to reveal themselves and their true intentions when a loved one is on the verge of crossing over. His Three Daughters takes this idea, and writer-director Azazel Jacobs runs with it to create a deeply empathetic portrait of longstanding trauma, resentment, love, and sisterhood. It’s the kind of film which presents as simple in concept but has many moving things to say, featuring characters who feel real and imperfect because of the grounded performances from the lead actresses.

Between the Temples

• Director: Nathan Silver
• Writers: C. Mason Wells, Nathan Silver
• Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Carol Kane, Dolly De Leon, Robert Smigel, Madeline Weinstein

Grade: B-

There’s a great deal of comedy to be found in the very idea of organized religion. Between the Temples focuses on one man’s crisis of Jewish faith and how he unintentionally passes it on to others, often leading to comically obtuse situations. Director and co-writer Nathan Silver takes a lo-fi, Christopher Guest-ian approach to the film, with quick banter, and improv heavy dialogue to mixed results. It’s a film which hinges on the strengths of its leads, Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane but, at nearly two hours long, it quickly runs out of steam to sustain itself to the end.

The Instigators

• Director: Doug Liman
• Writers: Chuck MacLean, Casey Affleck
• Starring: Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Hong Chau, Ron Perlman, Ving Rhames, Michael Stuhlbarg, Alfred Molina, Toby Jones, Paul Walter Hauser, Jack Harlow

Grade: C

Just as Paul Thomas Anderson’s films will forever be tied to the San Fernando Valley, and just as Martin Scorsese’s films will forever be tied to Queens, New York, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck will never be able to shake their association with the city of Boston. In theory, it makes perfect sense to pair them together in Doug Liman’s Beantown-based buddy-crime action-comedy film The Instigators – though perhaps there should have been a better reason for them to be with one another. The duo get put through the paces in a by-the-numbers caper that has enough fun, but should have been much more fun than the end result.

Break the Game

• Director: Jane M. Wagner

Grade: B

Break the Game shows a brutally honest first-person portrayal of Generation Alpha’s relationship to the internet, but it doesn’t have much new to say on the subject. It’s the kind of documentary that feels almost immune from criticism because of its deeply human observations, and what it says about the youth’s sense of community and belonging. Still, the film’s thesis on this matter essentially boils down to “internet equals good and bad”, and one can’t help but wish it was more nuanced than that.

Dandelion

• Director: Nicole Riegel
• Writer: Nicole Riegel
• Starring: KiKi Layne, Thomas Doherty, Melanie Nicholls-King

Grade: B

If nothing else, writer and director Nicole Riegel’s film Dandelion serves as another reminder that musicals don’t have to be lavish, extravagant productions in order to hook an audience. Really, all you need is some catchy songs, some well-written characters, and an engaging situation to put them in. Riegel has most of those components, even if none are the most special in the genre, but the film still manages to be a worthwhile experience because of Riegel’s attention to detail.

A Family Affair

• Director: Richard LaGravenese
• Writer: Carrie Solomon
• Starring: Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, Joey King, Kathy Bates, Liza Koshy, Sherry Cola

Grade: C

Romantic comedies only fit into so many boxes of certain sizes, and Netflix’s A Family Affair is no different. Fortunately, originality isn’t the final dealbreaker for the genre. You can only make your characters fall in and out of love in so many ways, after all. What really counts is the chemistry between the stars; we essentially know what the outcome will be by the end, but if we don’t care why it happens, we’re ultimately wasting our time. Richard LaGravenese’s film is formulaic to a fault, but it manages to scrape by because it’s populated by genuine movie stars.

Daddio

• Director: Christy Hall
• Writer: Christy Hall
• Starring: Sean Penn, Dakota Johnson

Grade: B-

It feels like forever since Sean Penn led a Hollywood picture. Not since his one-scene appearance in Licorice Pizza in 2022 has Penn shown off his star power. Dakota Johnson, however, has been all over the place recently. Whether it’s a critical failure like Madame Web or an indie hit like Am I OK?, 2024 has already been quite a busy year for Johnson. With the release of Daddio, Johnson and Penn command the screen in a tender drama about the complexities of life and feeling stuck.

Hit Man

• Director: Richard Linklater
• Writers: Richard Linklater, Glen Powell
• Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, Sanjay Rao

Grade: B+

If there’s been any kind of through-line to Richard Linklater’s long and varied career – besides spotlighting his love for his native Texas – it’s been his relentless pursuit of exploring our true selves, and how it often clashes against our public persona. In his latest, Hit Man, it’s his most overt effort to showcase this, and it gives its star Glen Powell the chance to show he can be a bona fide movie star.