Capsule reviews for Sept. 18

Coming Home

The latest collaboration between Chinese director Zhang Yimou and actress Gong Li (Raise the Red Lantern) is a poignant bittersweet romance with some powerful sociopolitical undertones. It opens with Lu (Chen Daoming) being sent to a labor camp as a political prisoner at the onset of the Cultural Revolution. By the time he’s released years later, he tries to reunite with his wife (Gong), only to find that she’s contracted amnesia and can’t remember him. What results is a modest but affecting melodrama about their relationship and Lu’s desperate attempt to rekindle it, bolstered by strong performances and Zhang’s stylish visual approach. (Rated PG-13, 109 minutes).

Cooties

This subversive horror-comedy puts a fresh spin on zombie clichés, and also falls just on the right side of bad taste with its story set during summer classes at a suburban elementary school, where tainted chicken nuggets lead to the gradual outbreak of a virus that turns the kiddos into bloodthirsty cannibals, and sends a substitute teacher (Elijah Wood) and his colleagues scurrying for cover before realizing they must arm themselves for the fight of their lives. Not many movies could get away with teachers brutally bludgeoning their students, but this film has the courage to follow through on its twisted convictions to amusing effect. (Rated R, 88 minutes).

The Cut

The aftermath of the Armenian genocide should have more emotional resonance than is the case with this muddled and superficial period epic from director Fatih Akin (The Edge of Heaven), which chronicles Nazareth (Tahar Rahim), a mute blacksmith who survives a harrowing attack by Ottomans on Armenian laborers living in Turkey, then later finds out his twin daughters might be alive and living in (of all places) North Dakota. So he embarks on an arduous globetrotting odyssey that he hopes will end in a reunion. Although Rahim’s performance is strong and the ambitious film has some powerful moments, Akin’s meandering screenplay lacks a broader context. (Not rated, 138 minutes).

The New Girlfriend

As much as this wildly uneven French melodrama from director Francois Ozon (Swimming Pool) is frustrating for its erratic shifts in tone, it’s also funny and suspenseful and provocative for almost the same reason. The film offers a unique perspective on obsession and sexual identity through the story of Claire (Anais Demoustier), a young woman whose best friend has just died. Her guilt prompts her to look after the friend’s young child and grieving husband (Romain Duris), who reveals a secret that alters their relationship. The two actors develop an intriguing chemistry that keeps the film grounded even as Ozon’s script veers in too many directions. (Rated R, 108 minutes).

Some Kind of Hate

The title might accurately describe the reaction of most moviegoers to this lurid mix of ultraviolent revenge fantasy and supernatural thriller. It follows angst-ridden teenager Lincoln (Ronen Rubinstein) who is the target of bullies at school, so he’s sent to a remote boarding school where things don’t get any better until he teams up with the spirit of a girl (Sierra McCormick) who committed suicide years ago and is eager to clean up Lincoln’s mess. Rookie director Adam Egypt Mortimer isn’t concerned with any provocative examination of bullying but instead tries to appease a target demographic with plenty of intense brooding and gratuitous bloodletting. (Not rated, 82 minutes).