Here are some reviews of films coming out at the theater this week as well as others that may be in theaters or newly on home video.
Opening: Dec. 19, 2025
Wide (United States)
Avatar: Fire and Ash
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Housemaid
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Limited (United States)
Is This Thing On?
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Arnett, asea separately, and Dern, energetic on her own, are just wonderful together, convincing of a long held partnership that could use some refreshing, each changing for the better having been given room to grow. Cooper is great comic relief…
- Excerpt: Is This Thing On is a well-conceived and solidly executed attempt to show stubborn people in all their complexity as they age, drift apart, and realize the wonders that communicating about their feelings can do for them and their relationship.
Matt Oakes @ Silver Screen Riot
- Excerpt: Will Arnett erupts onto the screen as a real dramatic actor in Bradley Cooper’s thoughtfully funny ‘Is This Thing On?’, a midlife crisis story that tackles themes of commitment and purpose with striking clarity. Laura Dern, unsurprisingly, remains a standout.
2025 Films in Theaters Now in Select Areas
The Carpenter’s Son
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Dog Man
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Dust Bunny
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Ella McCay
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Hamnet
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It Was Just an Accident
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No Other Choice
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The Phoenician Scheme
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Rental Family
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The Smashing Machine
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Sorry, Baby
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The Ugly Stepsister
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Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
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Zootopia 2
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100 Meters
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Brilliantly animated and narratively simple, the film manages to convey a lot visually, which is compensated for by the sometimes stiff and frequently flowery dialogue.
ARTSAKH Armenian Genocide Continues
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Gerami is a master of political understanding and a true documentarian of the continuing suffering and destruction of the Armenian cultural history.
Brides
Caterpillar
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: The dangers of going too far with image-altering procedures are examined in this very interesting film. Like the lesson learned in “The Ugly Stepsister,” maybe what we have, in most cases, is already good enough.
Dhurandhar
Fackham Hall
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: The gleeful silliness skewers the propriety of upper-crust British dramas. It’s a reminder of how clever a farce can be when executed with real craft.
Flames
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Flames” is an impressive debut. Kaushik succeeds in blending social drama and intense commentary with a thriller-style survival narrative — a combination rarely seen from first-time feature directors.
A Girl Is a Gun
- Excerpt: Starring the iconic Jean-Pierre Léaud as a “Billy Le Kid” who is the antithesis of the ruggedly masculine characters you’re used to seeing riding across the American West in the form of John Wayne or Randolph Scott, A Girl is a Gun is a weird, wild romp that is virtually impossible to categorize as anything other than…well, a Luc Moullet movie.
Hani
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In the end, “Hani” is one of those works whose importance outweighs its quality. The issues with narrative presentation make the viewing experience challenging, resulting in a movie that will certainly circulate the festival circuit but will likely appeal primarily to dedicated festival audiences.
I Wish You Had Told Me
- Excerpt: I Wish You Had Told Me is slight, but it does everything it needs to be an effective movie about overcoming toxic faith to deepen your love.
If You See Something
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: There needs to be more script to flesh out the story so we can answer, at least in the end, what the film title references – as well as how much Ali knew and when he knew it.
Keeper
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Christopher Reed @ Hammer to Nail
- Excerpt: Emotions are never oversold, instead landing with just the right notes. The end result is a lovely work of art that transports and transforms, exactly how a movie should.
Lucky Lu
Mimpi Keluarga Sempurna
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Ultimately, one can clearly see the good intentions and good ideas Satrio brings to “Mimpi Keluarga Sempurna”, yet the execution proves problematic on several levels, which unfortunately diminishes the overall result.
Mistress Dispeller
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “Mistress Dispeller” is a truly surprising and even revolutionary documentary. It captures shame in real time and dissects something Americans have in common with Chinese: social mobility and infidelity.
A Night Like This
Only Good Things
Papa Buka
Pig Hill
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Pig Hill deals with cultures that turn trauma into commercialised folklore, and the horrifying real-life results that can occur when victims have their stories disregarded.
Pillion
Plan C for Civilization
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: … a grand topic of interest and the proponents on both sides, especially the Make Sunsets guys, are eccentric, entertaining people.
Resurrection
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: In an industry increasingly asking filmmakers to conform for their paycheck, Gan reminds us of what can be done with the medium when they’re allowed to dream.
Saali Mohabbat
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
The Secret Agent
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: I love a title with the power to feed into how you interpret the story on-screen. It’s a brilliant bit of implicit manipulation that ensures engagement in such a way that we don’t get angry once the strings are revealed. We become impressed.
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: I spent almost 2 hours and 40 minutes of this too-long film wondering when the action would start, what the purpose of Filho’s film might be, and what that leg from the shark really represented.
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Song Sung Blue
Tusshar Sasi @ Filmy Sasi
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Yes, it has tragic and terribly emotional moments, but overall, it should be able to leave its audience with a big smile on their faces and, of course, with several Neil Diamond songs etched in their minds.
Tere Ishk Mein
The Thing With Feathers
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: A misguided drama on grief.
This Too Shall Pass
The Tiger
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: In the end, it becomes clear that “The Tiger” might have been stronger had it focused fully on its action backbone, allowing the narrative elements — while adding richness and context — to remain secondary.
Where the Wind Blows
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: This is the kind of film I love. The story revolves around a perfect woman with high expectations.
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