10 of the best and 10 of the worst movies of the year, so far
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99%
Summary: When the actor Will Ferrell learns that his best friend — and fellow "Saturday Night Live" alum — Harper Steele has come out as a trans woman, he suggests they take a road trip across the country together, leading them to reconnect in deeper ways than they thought possible.
The documentary was a critical hit from the day it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, with critics praising the sincerity, humor, and heart at the center of the film.
"Ferrell and Steele have earned their livings by making other people laugh, and their banter has plenty of drollery sprinkled among the truth nuggets," Robert W. Butler wrote for Butler's Cinema Scene. " I believe I'm a better person for having watched it."
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%
Summary: Three estranged sisters — Rachel (Natasha Lyonne), Katie (Carrie Coon), and Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) — reunite as their father reaches the end of hospice care. However, the reunion devolves into anger as they argue over how to live and grieve.
The family drama earned rave reviews across the board from critics.
"'His Three Daughters' is messy in a way that reflects all of our families," Tina Kakadelis wrote for Beyond the Cinerama Dome. "The way we fight, the way we grieve, and, hopefully, the way we love."
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
Summary: Based on the 2016 novel by Peter Brown, "The Wild Robot" follows ROZZUM unit 7134, aka "Roz" (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o), a curious robot stranded on an island.
Over time, the robot learns to adapt to its surroundings, as well as its new animal friends (voiced by Kit Connor, Pedro Pascal, and more).
Rendered with dazzling animation and voiced by a noteworthy cast, the family-adventure film was a favorite among critics.
"Not to be hyperbolic, but this might be DreamWorks Animation's best since Shrek," Cory Woodroof wrote for USA Today's For the Win.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
Summary: During the taping of a Halloween episode in the 1970s, a late-night-talk-show host, Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), finds that old secrets have come back to haunt him.
Critics loved seeing Dastmalchian take the spotlight in this clever horror throwback after decades of acting in supporting roles.
"Dastmalchian conveys the creeping unease Jack feels as his TV career is circling the drain, which is nearly as terrifying as the horrors his show is about to unleash on America," Sean P. Means wrote for The Movie Cricket.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Summary: After their grandmother dies, two cousins, David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin), take a guided tour through Poland to honor her. As they journey, old family dynamics bubble up to the surface.
Between Eisenberg deftly playing triple duty as actor, writer, and director and Culkin's "Oscar-worthy" performance, critics said "A Real Pain" had the staying power of a modern classic.
"Jesse Eisenberg's 'A Real Pain' successfully carves out its niche as one of the best dramedies of the year," Elliott Collins said on his YouTube channel, Movie Files, adding that "the film's ability to intertwine humor with the profound themes surrounding grief, and identity, and historical context" left him with "a lasting impression."
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
Summary: In the sequel to Denis Villeneuve's "Dune," Paul (Timothée Chalamet) learns to adapt to life with the Fremen warriors — including the rebellious Chani (Zendaya) — after the downfall of his house.
Villeneuve was praised for making "Dune" his own without falling victim to the pitfalls of other tentpole franchises.
"It almost feels like a miracle that Denis Villeneuve got to make a 'Dune' adaptation this bold and daring in the current studio system," Andrew J. Salazar wrote for Discussing Film.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
Summary: After an experimental procedure successfully removes his facial tumors from neurofibromatosis, Edward Lemuel (Sebastian Stan) is approached to have his life adapted into a play. Soon, however, he finds himself upstaged by an actor with the same condition (Adam Pearson).
Critics called the film unsettling, absurdist, and chaotic — and they loved every second of it.
"Adam Pearson really shows range here," Aaron Neuwirth wrote for We Live Entertainment. "Having this actor, who has neurofibromatosis, arrive on the scene as the most charming, affable character in the film is such a blast."
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
Summary: Feeling like a has-been, the Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is persuaded into trying an experimental drug that allows her to revert into a younger, more beautiful version of herself (played by Margaret Qualley).
However, the drug's side effects become increasingly grotesque.
Critics said audiences were in for a masterclass in feminist horror — if they could stomach the film's "David Cronenberg"-esque visuals.
"This is a film unlike any other you will see right now," Stephen Romei wrote for The Australian. "It will not be to everyone's taste. For this reviewer, who craves originality, it is a winner.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
Summary: On the night of her 18th birthday, Elliott (Maisy Stella) takes hallucinogenic mushrooms and finds herself talking to her older self (played by Aubrey Plaza), who tries to give her advice for the future.
Critics said "My Old Ass" could've easily veered into hokey territory. But its writer-director, Megan Park, kept the film on track, anchoring it with Stella and Plaza's memorable performances.
"The talented cast, paired with a well-crafted and humorous script, creates a delightful time-travel paradox pic that can sit along with other teen comedies as a timeless treasure," Erin Maxwell wrote for Bust.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
Summary: When Riley (voiced by Kensington Tallman) hits puberty at 13, new emotions join the "control panel" in her head. Soon after their arrival, it's clear that Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) and Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke) have different ideas of what's right for Riley.
It was a tall order for Pixar animators to surpass the critical success of the original "Inside Out," but critics said the sequel came pretty close.
"While the original remains the gold standard for modern animation, this sequel more than justifies its existence via its empathetic themes, strong humor, and engrossing animation style," Calum Cooper wrote for Cinerama.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 33%
Summary: A reclusive author, Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard), is on the brink of finishing the fifth book in her famed "Aubrey Argylle" series when she's drawn into a world of real-life spies, evil plots, and secret identities.
The film had a ton of press leading up to its release — namely because of a misguided rumor that Taylor Swift was behind it — but in critics' eyes, the story itself failed to live up to the hype.
"'Argylle' is deeply unpleasant to watch and also deeply sad as a query of what exactly studio executives think audiences are meant to glean from a film like this, other than training us to expect less from our films," Andrew Kendall wrote for Stabroek News.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 32%
Summary: As Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) awaits trial for murder at Arkham State Hospital, his fellow psych-ward patient Harleen "Lee" Quinzel (Lady Gaga) forms an obsession with him and dreams up an escape plan.
Critics largely agreed that the second installment paled in comparison to the first "Joker."
"Longer than it should be (it clocks in at 138 minutes), 'Joker: Folie à Deux' is toilet paper on the shoe of a film that had a unique rhythm and an original point of view," Bruce R. Miller wrote for the Sioux City Journal.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 28%
Summary: Lucy Field (Madison Bailey) accidentally travels back in time to 2003. Then, she realizes she might be able to save her older sister, Summer (Antonia Gentry), before she's murdered.
Overall, critics said "Time Cut" failed to be truly scary or funny.
"Unlike other horror comedies, 'Time Cut' has nothing unique to say about creating satire about the differences between the past and the present or the tropes of predictable events in horror films," Lindsay Press wrote for Culturess.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 21%
Summary: Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and her boyfriend (Froy Gutierrez) go to a secluded cabin in the woods for their five-year anniversary — only to be visited by sadistic trespassers.
Critics largely agreed that the legacy of "The Strangers" and "The Strangers: Prey at Night" should've stopped at two.
"The latest entry is an uninspired, ineffective retelling of the original, with a narrative that strives to give us answers to questions we never asked for," Emma Vine wrote for Loud and Clear Reviews.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 20%
Summary: Ray (Wyatt Russell), Eve (Kerry Condon), and their children move into a new house and soon discover that the swimming pool in the backyard harbors a deadly presence.
Positive reviews for "Night Swim" were few and far between — with some critics being outright bored by the muted horror.
"'Night Swim' is a shallow genre exercise that goes in one ear, out the other," James Preston Poole wrote for Cosmic Circus.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 17%
Summary: A group of college friends violates a cardinal rule of Tarot by using someone else's deck — and they soon face the consequences.
Critics said it amounted to little more than a movie cobbled together with recycled tropes from better horror films.
"'Tarot' is a creatively bankrupt and passionless horror movie that clearly has studio interference written all over it, from its formulaic and blood-free scares to a surprising cheapness that dilutes any potential it may have otherwise had," Jack Martin wrote for Film Feeder.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 16%
Summary: Based on the book by Scott Westerfeld, "Uglies" takes place in a seemingly utopian future where everyone's worries melt away once they're given cosmetic surgery at the age of 16.
Young Tally (Joey King), however, learns that her world is built on lies.
Critics generally agreed that the Netflix adaptation reeked of low production value.
"'Uglies' is so carelessly made, it feels like an active gesture of contempt toward the readers of Scott Westerfeld's 2005 source novel and to anyone who watches the small-screen result," Steve Murray wrote for ArtsATL.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 13%
Summary: Lana (Brooke Shields) is shocked when her daughter (Miranda Cosgrove) announces that she's getting married in Thailand in less than a month. That shock only grows when she learns that the groom is the son of her old flame from college (Benjamin Bratt).
Most critics said "Mother of the Bride" wasn't even bad enough to be "funny bad" — it was simply forgettable.
"These superficially 'pretty people' are all bland, underdeveloped stereotypes, and each shallow, awkward scene turns out to be more predictable than the one preceding it," Susan Granger wrote for Susan Granger Reviews.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 11%
Summary: After Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson), a New York City paramedic, begins to experience clairvoyant visions, she sets out to save three young women from their certain deaths.
"Madame Web" appeared to lose itself in a fog of bad dialogue and bland acting, leaving critics begging for more original storytelling.
"'Madame Web' is not fun and not entertaining," Ayla Ruby wrote for Loud and Clear Reviews. "Most of all, it's disappointing, because it teases you with possibilities that never come to bear."
Rotten Tomatoes score: 10%
Summary: Lilith (Cate Blanchett), a bounty hunter, reluctantly sets off on a rescue mission with a ragtag group of misfits to save a teenager named Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt).
Critics didn't have many kind words for the video-game adaptation, which featured goofy CGI and underwhelming acting performances despite the stacked cast.
"This is the worst movie I have seen in years," Julia Swift said. "Lots of top talent looking very uncomfortable. I'm assuming they didn't read the script before signing on for this mess."