Written by Allison Schroeder and Greg Ruka and directed by Tom Harper, the new Netflix action thriller “Heart of Stone” is the dictionary definition of ludicrous.

Gal Gadot (trying hard to emote but coming off stiff as a board) stars as Rachel Stone, a technician for MI6 whose handler is Parker (Jamie Dornan, truly one of the most dreadfully uninteresting actors working today).

As critics, we must review a film’s cinematic merit first and its politics second. In my film reviews and articles, I always try to do just that.  Alejandro Monteverde’s runaway box office hit “Sound of Freedom” wants the opposite. This is a film that wants viewers to focus on its politics first and any cinematic value second. Or maybe even third. Or maybe it is just interested in its own politics.

The screenplay (co-written by Rod Barr

“Fear the Night” is a new action/thriller starring the always watchable Maggie Q as Tess, an alcoholic Iraq War veteran who is forced to battle violent and murderous home invaders.

With its well-worn action genre plot in place, the film becomes (occasionally) something more interesting than it should be thanks to its writer/director Neil LaBute.

LaBute was once

Oh, to live in a time when there was almost always a Western playing at the local cinema. While the once respected genre has been almost completely put out to pasture, we are graced by the occasional treat of a new “oater”. Brian Skiba’s “Dead Man’s Hand” is the latest.

While filmmakers such as Kevin Costner and Walter Hill can still get their Western excursions in cinemas, 99% of today’s westerns are made

The twenty five year-old title character in Carolina Cavelli’s debut feature “Amanda” is something of a heroine.

Played by Benedetta Porcaroli, Amanda is from an upper-middle-class family who are cold and seem to fear any semblance of emotion who are closed off from the world, safe in their country manor. Every relationship between the women of the family overflows with conflict.

From the opening moments, writer/director Anubys Lopez sets an unnerving tone for his Texas-set horror/thriller “Aged,” the tale of a young caregiver who discovers a house of dark and dangerous secrets.

The film begins in a coffee shop where Veronica (Morgan Boss-Maltais) is meeting with potential employer Charles (Dave McClain), a man looking for in-home care for mother Mrs. Bloom (Carla Kidd) who may be suffering from dementia.

Immediately, something seems off kilter. Charles seems too determined to have Veronica take the job. After her initial refusal, he tells her that he will “pay anything” if she would say yes.

With a haunting Warhol-esque presentation of imagery and an artful gaze worthy of comparison to Peter Greenway and Derek Jarman Georden West’s “Playland” is an unquestionably unique experience. 

The film is, at once, a documentary and an avant-garde reenactment that examines Boston’s Playland Café; a haven to the city’s gay community and one where