Justin Chang

Justin Chang says of the film Tori & Lokita, "The story is swift and relentless; it runs barely 90 minutes and never slows down. But at every moment, the filmmakers' compassion for their characters bleeds through, along with their rage at the injustices that we're seeing."

Palm Trees and Power Lines marks a confident new filmmaking voice in the director Jamie Dack, who adapted the film from her 2018 short of the same title with her co-screenwriter, Audrey Findlay. They've written a disturbing cautionary tale about grooming and trafficking.

'The Quiet Girl' recently made Oscar history by becoming the first Irish-language production ever to be nominated for best international feature.

Our film critic, Justin Chang, has a review of the new movie "Emily," which he describes as a richly imagined portrait of the novelist Emily Bronte in the years before she wrote "Wuthering Heights." The movie stars Emma Mackey as Bronte and marks the directing debut of the actress Frances O'Connor.

Magic Mike's Last Dance, directed by Steven Soderberg, isn't nearly as sexy or as deliriously entertaining as its predecessors.

Film critic, Justin Chang, reviews one of this year's Oscar nominees for Best International Feature called "Close." It's a Belgian drama about the friendship between two 13-year-old boys. The movie is the second feature from 31-year-old director Lukas Dhont.

Sarah Polley's superbly acted Women Talking is an adaptation of Miriam Toews' novel of the same name. It's about a Bolivian Mennonite colony in 2009, when a group of men was charged with raping more than 100 girls and women in their community.

Last year, the Iranian writer-director Jafar Panahi, a longtime critic of his country's government, was arrested and imprisoned just a few months before his new movie, "No Bears," premiered at film festivals. Set in a small town, the movie stars Panahi as a fictionalized version of himself. "No Bears" topped the list of our film critic Justin Chang's best films of 2022.

Some of the movies on my year-end list passed quickly and quietly through theaters. Some are still in theaters, and a few will open more widely in 2023. Whether on the big screen or at home, I hope you'll take the time to seek them out.

Two new movies are based on well-known children's stories. One is "Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical," adapted from the popular stage show. The other is "Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio," a stop-motion animation version of the classic fairy tale. Our film critic Justin Chang recommends them both.