Stan Deen (Jared Harris), a high school teacher, decides to help a student, Nate Williams (Nicholas Hamilton), a delinquent orphan, by letting him move into his home in Brave the Dark. Writer/director Damian Harris and his co-writers, Dale G. Bradley, Lynn Robertson-Hay, Nathaniel Deen and John P. Spencer, have woven a poignant, inspirational and tender emotional journey. Based on a true story, Brave the Dark is fundamentally about empathy, compassion, hope and conquering adversity. Stan and Nate are both complex human beings struggling with emotional pain. Nate doesn't have the emotional maturity to handle his pain, so he hurts other people and himself in the process. That changes when Stan takes him in and becomes like a surrogate father to him. You don't learn right away what tragic event Nate's childhood has been traumatizing him, but you gradually see snippets from his painful memories through flashbacks until Nate opens up emotionally to Stan toward the end. The fact that he's about to talk about his trauma represents a huge stepping stone and breakthrough for him. Stan also opens up to him candidly in one of the most powerful scenes in the film.

     Fortunately, Brave the Dark avoids schmaltz, melodrama and preachiness. Many scenes ring true mostly thanks to the convincingly moving performances by Jared Harris and Nicholas Hamilton each of whom manages to find the emotional truth of their role and to open the window into their character's heart, mind and soul. He ultimately learns how to grasp the wisdom behind the Pablo Neruda poem, "They can cut all of the flowers, but they can't stop the spring from coming.", and Dr. Maya Angelou quote, "Nothing can dim the light which shines from within." Throughout the course of the film, it's equally heartwarming and enlightening to observe how Nate grows innately, shines brightly and learns how to become a much better gardener of his soul. At a running time of 2 hours and 2 minutes, Brave the Dark opens nationwide via Angel Studios.

 

        Madelyn (Michelle Dockery) escorts Winston (Topher Grace), a government witness hiding out in Alaska, via a small propeller plane to New York to testify against a mob boss. Little do they know that their pilot, Daryl (Mark Wahlberg) has a hidden motive in Flight Risk. Director Mel Gibson and screenwriter Jared Rosenberg have made a tight and lean, but asinine, implausible and painfully dull action thriller. The dialogue ranges from stilted to awkward to unintentionally funny while the action scenes, CGI effects and cinematography are lackluster.  Michelle Dockery gives bland performance even during the scenes where Madelyn is in peril. Every single scene falls flat with not nearly enough thrills or excitement from start to finish.  This isn't even a guilty pleasure like Madame Web despite at least two lines that illicit bad laughs. At 1 hour and 31 minutes, Flight Risk opens nationwide via Lionsgate.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3

      After her mother dies, Maya (Phoebe Dynevor) reunites with her estranged father, Sam (Rhys Ifans), a real estate agent, who persuades her with a job offer that involves her coming with him on a business trip to Cairo. She learns that he's a former spy and, soon enough, he ends up kidnapped. It's up to her to rescue him and to figure out what's actually going on in Inheritance<. Writer/director Neil Burger and co-writer Olen Steinhauer have made a by-the-numbers thriller that lacks palpable suspense and intrigue. Its plot becomes increasingly preposterous as logic and realism get thrown out of the window early on. The use of exposition is awkward, lazy and clunky while the film barely lets the characters breathe which would've humanized them more. Why keep them at such an emotional distance from the audience, especially when it comes to Maya who's going through a lot innately after meeting her dad and discovering his dark past? The backstory about Maya's childhood and her rocky relationship with her father feel undercooked. Moreover, the performances are mediocre at best and the often bland cinematography fails to add much-needed atmosphere or to make the film feel more cinematic. At 1 hour and 41 minutes , Inheritance is an underwhelming, dull and convoluted thriller that's low on style, substance and suspense. It opens nationwide via IFC Films.

Number of times I checked my watch: 4




 

      Set in a futuristic world, Myth of Man is a bold, unconventional and refreshingly original sci-fi spectacle. Writer/director Jamin Winans has made a wildly experimental film that can't be adequately summarized by its plot which has something to do with Ella (Laura Rauch), a deaf mute who believes that she has received a message from her creator and needs to find the correct song to sing to it in order to communicate with it. Part animated, part live action, part surrealism, and 100% without dialogue, Myth of Man is unlike anything you've seen before. It's visually dazzling from start to finish. Clearly, a lot of time and effort was spent on the visual effects and "world building." That said, it does feel nauseating and exhausting at times with its fast pace, convoluted plot and a lengthy running time of 1 hour and 57 minutes. Perhaps this would work better as a video game than as a film. Myth of Man opens at Cinema Village via Double Edge Films.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3

      Rebecca (Lucy Liu), her husband Chris (Christopher Sullivan), and teenage children, Tyler (Eddy Maday) and Chloe (Callina Liang), move into a new house where they encounter paranormal activity in Presence. The screenplay by David Koepp is a repetitive, meandering and underwhelming blend of sci-fi, psychological horror and suspense. The plot takes too long to get to the supernatural elements and, once it does, the suspense wanes and the film runs out of ideas, even with the introduction of Ryan (West Mulholland), Tyler's creepy friend. Everything feels telegraphed from the get-go, i.e when a psychic shows up and doesn't even enter the house before mentioning something about vision she had about a window. Of course, something significant will happen involving a window at some point. In an underdeveloped subplot, Chris plans to divorce Rebecca who's often overworked. There are other underdeveloped backstories as well that make the plot seem complex, but instead make it more convoluted, especially during the very rushed ending. Why is Presence so tame in terms of horror and suspense? Insidious and Paranormal Activity are far more intense and terrifying. The camera, positioned in the POV of the ghost, is an interesting visual concept which leads to some stylish visuals, but nothing more than that. If you're looking for a lazy and bland horror film that won't give you nightmares, Presence might be just the film for you. At a thankfully brief running time of 1 hour and 25 minutes, Presence opens nationwide via NEON.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3

      Françoise Fabian stars as Rose, a 78-year-old woman who's coping with the recent death of her beloved husband, Philippe (Bernard Murat) in Rose. She spends time with her adult children, Sarah (Aure Atika), Pierre (Grégory Montel) and Leon (Damien Chapelle), and visits a cafe where she meets Laurent (Pascal Elbé), the owner, who becomes her potential love interest. The screenplay by writer/director Aurélie Saada and co-writer Yaël Langmann is undercooked, overstuffed, and clunky as it covers too much ground with not enough depth. The audience learns little to nothing about Rose's marital life with her husband. Within the first 5 minutes, he has already died and she's starting the grieving process. The dialogue often sounds too "on-the-nose" with not enough room for interpretation as though the filmmakers don't trust the audience's intelligence enough. Despite raising provocative, complex and universal issues like aging, grief, happiness and self-discovery, Rose barely even scratches the surface of those issues. Moreover, the editing feels choppy at times with awkward transitions, i.e. an abrupt cut to Rose and her daughter toward the end after a scene with her and Laurent. Rose barely even gets to know Laurent who's more like a plot device than a fully-fleshed human being. What helps to keep the film afloat, though, is Françoise Fabian's warm and genuinely moving performance. At 1 hour and 43 minutes, Rose opens at Quad Cinema via Cohen Media Group.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2

      At running time of 1 hour and 30 minutes, Three Birthdays, written and directed by Jane Weinstock, opens at Village East by Angelika via Good Deed Entertainment.

Number of times I checked my watch: 4