Justin Chang
Stories
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Drama or comedy? Matchmaker movie 'Materialists' is undone by its own ambition
Dakota Johnson plays a savvy New York City matchmaker caught between two men in a film that ultimately fails to reconcile the screwball vigor of a comedy with the emotional oomph of a drama.
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'The Life of Chuck' might leave you brushing away tears -- or scratching your head
Mike Flanagan's new film, a maudlin mystery about a man dying of cancer, feels hobbled by its extreme faithfulness to the Stephen King novella on which its based.
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Wes Anderson peers into the hollowness of extreme wealth in 'The Phoenician Scheme'
Benicio Del Toro plays a globe-trotting tycoon trying to convince his estranged daughter (Mia Threapleton) to be his heir. The film is darker, angrier and more violent than Anderson's usual fare.
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'Caught by the Tides' turns discarded documentary scraps into a remarkable drama
This documentary-drama hybrid is one of the best new movies our critic's seen this year. It draws on archival footage to tell a story of two lovers separating and reuniting over roughly two decades.
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'Thunderbolts*' is an unwieldy jumble, and also the best Marvel film in a while
Thunderbolts* is unapologetically formulaic. And yet, Florence Pugh is terrific; the action is coherent; and the character dynamics strike the right balance of earnest sincerity and glib humor.
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'The Shrouds' introduces a new stage of grief: Watching your loved one decompose
David Cronenberg's thriller centers on an unusual technology that allows people to watch their loved ones decompose in real time. The Shrouds is both deeply morbid and disarmingly funny.
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'Sinners' is one of the most interesting and audacious movies this year
This latest Ryan Coogler/Michael B. Jordan collaboration is set in 1930s Mississippi — it's awash in gorgeous music, turbulent romance, pan-African spiritualism and, by the end, buckets of blood.
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'Warfare' embeds the audience in the chaos of modern combat
Inspired by the true story of a squad of Navy SEALs who came under fire in Iraq in 2006, Warfare offers a moment-by-moment view that manages to say something new about the combat experience.
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A young man's homecoming sets off erotic shockwaves in this unsettling French thriller
Misericordia is one of the most surprising films our critic's seen this year. It focuses on a man who returns to his small village for a funeral — only to become enmeshed in countless entanglements.
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'The Alto Knights' is a mob drama with a double dose of De Niro and ... not much else
Robert De Niro plays rival mob bosses in a new biographical crime drama. But while it's fun to watch De Niro argue with himself, The Alto Knights ultimately feels dubious and derivative.
