In Waves, writer-director Trey Edward Shults’ latest feature, characters suffer tragedy caused by little sins that compound. The film shows a family overcoming darkness through forgiveness, but objectionable material—and a negative portrayal of the pro-life cause—makes this Oscar contender difficult to recommend.

Nothing is more satisfying than a good superhero origin story. And the tale of how the slave Araminta “Minty” Ross became American freedom fighter Harriet Tubman is more than a welcome change of pace from fictional caped crusaders. 

The roll out of No Safe Spaces, Dennis Prager and Adam Carolla’s documentary about assaults on free speech, seems to underscore the movie’s point. First Facebook refused to carry ads for the film. Then the MPAA insisted on giving it a PG-13 rating instead of PG. The reason? It shows footage of a protester punching a conservative student in the face for passing out tracts. And because of a brief tongue-in-cheek cartoon showing the First Amendment being shot. 

In The Irishman, director Martin Scorsese tells, somewhat historically, the story of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a World War II veteran turned hit man for the mob, and his relationship with the infamous Teamsters union boss Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). For those of us who weren’t around in the 1960s and ’70s, the film is a good, surprisingly funny piece of remedial history on the union boss who disappeared in 1975, never to be found.

The new documentary Sheep Among Wolves Vol. II describes mass conversions of Muslims to Christ inside Iran. The film relates this good news amid some production foibles and controversial missiology, yet rightly challenges viewers to self-examination and prayer for the persecuted church.

It seems fairly obvious that Joker director Todd Phillips wanted to court some controversy. And not just for the disturbing content of his R-rated film. Last week, in the run-up to Joker’s Hollywood premiere, he gave several interviews practically guaranteed to set media tempers flaring. “Outrage has become a commodity,” he told one trade publication. He then lambasted “woke culture” to Vanity Fair, claiming it’s killing the comedy genre.

Director Orlando von Einsiedel lost his brother Evelyn to suicide 15 years ago, and he and his family find it too painful to talk about their loss. Determined to change this, Orlando, sister Gwen, and youngest brother Robin set off to reminisce by repeating a series of hikes in Scotland they had traveled with their brother.