Justin Chang

My next two favorite movies put an enchanting modern spin on ancient myths. In La Chimera, the Italian director Alice Rohrwacher riffs on the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. As a tomb raider in the Tuscan countryside, Josh O'Connor has never been better. The other one is Music, a brilliant rethink of Oedipus Rex from the German director Angela Schoneleck.

My next two favorite movies put an enchanting modern spin on ancient myths. In La Chimera, the Italian director Alice Rohrwacher riffs on the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. As a tomb raider in the Tuscan countryside, Josh O'Connor has never been better. The other one is Music, a brilliant rethink of Oedipus Rex from the German director Angela Schoneleck.

My next two favorite movies put an enchanting modern spin on ancient myths. In La Chimera, the Italian director Alice Rohrwacher riffs on the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. As a tomb raider in the Tuscan countryside, Josh O'Connor has never been better. The other one is Music, a brilliant rethink of Oedipus Rex from the German director Angela Schoneleck.

Her storytelling is enigmatic to the point of baffling, but it's also moving beyond words. Next on my list is No Other Land, a searing documentary from a collective of four filmmakers, two Palestinian and two Israeli, who chronicled the demolition of homes in the occupied West Bank. It has yet to find a U.S. distributor, despite having won numerous prizes at festivals and from critics groups.

Her storytelling is enigmatic to the point of baffling, but it's also moving beyond words. Next on my list is No Other Land, a searing documentary from a collective of four filmmakers, two Palestinian and two Israeli, who chronicled the demolition of homes in the occupied West Bank. It has yet to find a U.S. distributor, despite having won numerous prizes at festivals and from critics groups.

Her storytelling is enigmatic to the point of baffling, but it's also moving beyond words. Next on my list is No Other Land, a searing documentary from a collective of four filmmakers, two Palestinian and two Israeli, who chronicled the demolition of homes in the occupied West Bank. It has yet to find a U.S. distributor, despite having won numerous prizes at festivals and from critics groups.

No other land would make a harrowing double bill with my next movie, Green Border, a ripped-from-the-headlines drama that embroils us in the chaos at the Polish-Belarusian border. The veteran Polish director, Agnieszka Holland, has spent much of her long career depicting the plight of refugees in wartime. Green Border is one of her very best.

No other land would make a harrowing double bill with my next movie, Green Border, a ripped-from-the-headlines drama that embroils us in the chaos at the Polish-Belarusian border. The veteran Polish director, Agnieszka Holland, has spent much of her long career depicting the plight of refugees in wartime. Green Border is one of her very best.

No other land would make a harrowing double bill with my next movie, Green Border, a ripped-from-the-headlines drama that embroils us in the chaos at the Polish-Belarusian border. The veteran Polish director, Agnieszka Holland, has spent much of her long career depicting the plight of refugees in wartime. Green Border is one of her very best.

The last two movies on my list illuminate the lives of their women characters with rigorous realism. All We Imagine as Light is a quietly shimmering drama about three Mumbai women who find solidarity in the face of societal repression. It confirms the Indian director Payal Kapadia as a remarkable new talent.

The last two movies on my list illuminate the lives of their women characters with rigorous realism. All We Imagine as Light is a quietly shimmering drama about three Mumbai women who find solidarity in the face of societal repression. It confirms the Indian director Payal Kapadia as a remarkable new talent.

The last two movies on my list illuminate the lives of their women characters with rigorous realism. All We Imagine as Light is a quietly shimmering drama about three Mumbai women who find solidarity in the face of societal repression. It confirms the Indian director Payal Kapadia as a remarkable new talent.

And last on my list is Hard Truths, in which the great English director Mike Lee reunites with the actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste almost 30 years after they worked together on Secrets and Lies. All I'll say about it is that Jean-Baptiste gives the greatest performance I've seen in ages, and it will be watched and remembered long after this year is over.

And last on my list is Hard Truths, in which the great English director Mike Lee reunites with the actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste almost 30 years after they worked together on Secrets and Lies. All I'll say about it is that Jean-Baptiste gives the greatest performance I've seen in ages, and it will be watched and remembered long after this year is over.

And last on my list is Hard Truths, in which the great English director Mike Lee reunites with the actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste almost 30 years after they worked together on Secrets and Lies. All I'll say about it is that Jean-Baptiste gives the greatest performance I've seen in ages, and it will be watched and remembered long after this year is over.

It's a common complaint among moviegoers that the best new films aren't released until the last few months or even weeks of the year, so as to maximize their Oscar prospects. While that's not always the case, great movies are in fact released all year round, I do wish audiences hadn't had to wait until December to see Nickel Boys and The Brutalist.

It's a common complaint among moviegoers that the best new films aren't released until the last few months or even weeks of the year, so as to maximize their Oscar prospects. While that's not always the case, great movies are in fact released all year round, I do wish audiences hadn't had to wait until December to see Nickel Boys and The Brutalist.

It's a common complaint among moviegoers that the best new films aren't released until the last few months or even weeks of the year, so as to maximize their Oscar prospects. While that's not always the case, great movies are in fact released all year round, I do wish audiences hadn't had to wait until December to see Nickel Boys and The Brutalist.

They're both ambitious period dramas, directed by two filmmakers of extraordinary talent and vision. Nickel Boys is simply one of the most thrillingly inventive literary adaptations I've seen in years. It's based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 2019 novel by Colson Whitehead about two black boys in 1960s Florida who were sent to a reform school called Nickel Academy.

They're both ambitious period dramas, directed by two filmmakers of extraordinary talent and vision. Nickel Boys is simply one of the most thrillingly inventive literary adaptations I've seen in years. It's based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 2019 novel by Colson Whitehead about two black boys in 1960s Florida who were sent to a reform school called Nickel Academy.