Movie Reviews

As a personality-rich study of conflicted loyalties, the fact-based drama “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Warner Bros.) is a compelling piece of moviemaking.

Although it ultimately celebrates spiritual renewal, the meditative drama “Land” (Focus) first takes viewers through an experience of physical and emotional purgation on the part of its protagonist that, however valuable it may be to witness, is not easy to watch.

Set in the 1980s, “Minari” (A24), a gentle mix of drama and comedy, explores the immigrant experience from a Korean American perspective.

“Under the slightly altered title ‘Our Friend,’ Teague’s award-winning piece comes to the screen as an emotionally wrenching but ultimately uplifting drama.”

Adapted from the late British Jamaican writer Andrea Levy’s 2010 novel, “The Long Song” is an uneven, melodramatic miniseries.

Seventy years have passed since cunning understudy Anne Baxter usurped glamorous star Bette Davis in “All About Eve.” Now, with “The White Tiger” (Netflix), comes a grittier, ethically unmoored take on ambition and deceit set in modern-day India.

The following are capsule reviews of the Top 10 movies overall and eight of the best family films of 2020 as selected by the Media Review Office of Catholic News Service.

The discovery of an ancient burial ground in southeastern England in 1939 was one of the top archaeological events of the century; a fictionalized version of this intriguing story is told in the aptly titled film “The Dig” (Netflix).