Movie Reviews

Director Kenneth Branagh makes the story’s detective, Hercule Poirot, his own in this version of the classic whodunit.

The movie “Novitiate” (Sony Classics) falls short of presenting a well-rounded picture of what it is — or, in this case, was — like for a young woman to enter religious life and discern whether it’s right for her.

There’s plenty of combat but relatively little bloodletting in the sweeping Marvel Comics adaptation “Thor: Ragnarok” (Disney).

Catholic screenwriter, Frank Cottrell Boyce, adapted Ann Thwaite’s book “Goodbye Christopher Robin: A.A. Milne and the Making of Winnie-the-Pooh” for the new movie “Goodbye Christopher Robin,” now in theaters and is rewriting a new script for a movie on the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, with Anthony Hopkins in the title role.

Aggressive vulgarity is the incongruous hallmark of the holiday-themed sequel “A Bad Moms Christmas” (STX).

Butchery accompanied by siren-wail screaming, franchise shock value that has long since played out and a rapid descent into self-parody, this is “Jigsaw” (Lionsgate).

As bleak as wintry “Fargo” may have been, the spiritual landscape of “Suburbicon” is an unrelieved — and therefore unrealistic — stretch of utter desolation, with two innocent children dangerously lost in its midst.

Judi Dench is no stranger to playing royalty, and she shines once again as the titular queen in “Victoria and Abdul” (Focus).