The young woman who turns sheets at the local motel has a story, and it might be more remarkable than her menial chores suggest. The new film Yellow Rose tells such a story—an unpretentious, heartfelt tale about a Filipina teen who writes country songs in her Texas motel bedroom.

Shelby Steele’s new documentary, What Killed Michael Brown?, ostensibly focuses on the tragic case of a black teenager killed by a white officer in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014. But what it tells us about cultural myths—how they develop and why—goes far beyond a single flashpoint.

After watching numerous auditions, director Justin Baldoni knew he’d finally found in Fin Argus the right young man to portray teenager Zach Sobiech in the new movie Clouds, based on a true story. But he did not cast him until consulting with Zach’s mom, Laura.

“This is Zach! I feel it. I feel it,” she quickly agreed with Baldoni.

What sounds depressing—a teen’s diagnosis with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer—became the impetus for an inspiring new PG-13 movie from Disney+. 

Clouds tells the heartbreaking and joy-filled true story of Zach Sobiech and the remarkable events springing from his terminal disease. Based on his mom Laura’s memoirs, the two-hour film radiates realities and love of close family and friends in a small Minnesota town and shows the potency and purview of Zach’s music. His song “Clouds” became a global sensation.

The Keeper is a new film inspired by the life of Bert Trautmann, a German soldier who became a star goalkeeper for the Manchester City football (soccer) team. Trautmann (David Kross) stays in England after release from a Lancashire POW camp at the end of World War II. He works for a grocer, Jack Friar (John Henshaw), and plays goalkeeper for the local football team Friar manages. Henshaw gives a memorable turn as a lovable lout.

Minari is a beautifully told family drama loosely based on the childhood experiences of writer and director Lee Isaac Chung. 

In the 1980s, a Korean immigrant family leaves California and moves to rural Arkansas to start a farm. Jacob (Steven Yuen) and wife Monica (Yeri Han) have spent the last decade working in chicken hatcheries with little to show. Jacob brings his family to Arkansas with the hope of creating a “Garden of Eden.” 

The new film Heaven offers a positive message of hope for people broken by sin and sorrow. But artistic and theological quirks detract from the film starring, written, and directed by Angus Benfield.