Capsule reviews for July 30

Enemies of the State

It provides more questions than answers, but this documentary spins a fascinating true-life yarn about injustice, paranoia, dark secrets, and conspiracy theories. The subject is Matt DeHart, an Indiana loner who was instrumental in the founding of the online hacker collective Anonymous. That leads to his arrest and subsequent 10-year legal battle, during which he flees the country to seek asylum with the steadfast support of his churchgoing, ex-military parents at every turn. Is Matt the target of shady FBI surveillance or is the unusually tight-knit family hiding something? Structuring her film like a thriller, director Sonia Kennebeck (National Bird) skillfully navigates the maze of twists. (Not rated, 103 minutes).

The Exchange

Neither as hilarious nor heartwarming as intended, this Canadian coming-of-age comedy from director Dan Mazer (Bad Grandpa) strains to be edgy while indulging in stereotypes and cliches. Tim (Ed Oxenbould) is a small-town nerd who sees the chance to welcome a French exchange student as a chance to connect with someone more cultured and intellectual. However, Stephane (Avan Jogia) instead likes to party and chase women, which endears him to everyone except Tim. Being politically incorrect is fine, but too many jokes fall flat. Plus, a film that seems to despite its sad-sack characters so much doesn’t incentivize moviegoers to root for them, either. (Not rated, 93 minutes).

Lorelei

Deeply felt performances help elevate this blue-collar romantic melodrama above its conventional relationship dynamics. Set in the Pacific Northwest, it centers on Wayland (Pablo Schreiber), who is released after 15 years in prison and happens upon Dolores (Jena Malone), his former high school sweetheart now a single mother of three still haunted by past regrets. The uneven screenplay by rookie director Sabrina Doyle lacks much subtlety and surprise in exploring the struggles of ex-cons to reintegrate and rebuild their lives. However, some evocative visual details and chemistry among the two leads help generate modest sympathy for Wayland and Dolores as they chart an uncertain future. (Not rated, 110 minutes).

Never Gonna Snow Again

Within the specifics of its setting, there’s a powerful emotional resonance to this offbeat suburban satire from Polish filmmaker Malgorzata Szumowska (The Other Lamb). It follows Zhenia (Alec Utgoff), a Russian immigrant who begins working a masseur in an upscale gated community, where he gradually gains an almost hypnotic level of trust from his mostly female clientele of unfulfilled housewives. The circumvention of traditional context and structure in the ambiguous screenplay by Szumowska and co-director Michael Englert might polarize moviegoers. But despite those mildly pretentious flourishes, the film adeptly modulates its disparate tones and examines connections between wealth and happiness without resorting to heavy-handed cliches. (Not rated, 113 minutes).

Ride the Eagle

Although it traverses a familiar path of forgiveness and reconciliation, this bittersweet comedy finds enough quirky charm to avoid becoming lost in the woods. Leif (Jake Johnson) is a musician who finds out he has inherited the family cabin from his estranged mother (Susan Sarandon). But in order to claim the picturesque mountain property, he must first complete a list of oddball tasks designed to bring posthumous clarity to their troubled relationship. Melodramatic contrivances create some hurdles toward the film’s attempted cathartic resonance, although Johnson’s screenplay manages some scattered big laughs, and benefits from a scene-stealing turn from J.K. Simmons as a nosy neighbor. (Rated R, 88 minutes).

Sabaya

Religious persecution and gender-based oppression in certain Middle Eastern countries has been thoroughly chronicled on film, but this harrowing documentary finds a new angle that’s relevant as it is riveting. It’s set in Syria, where Kurdish girls from the Yazidi faith are exploited for sex and slavery by entrenched ISIS members. The film tracks the efforts of volunteers from a group who infiltrates refugee camps to free the captives and return them home. With remarkable access, director Hogir Hirori charts the efforts of the courageous freedom fighters and the young survivors. This visceral glimpse into systemic subjugation finds a glimmer of hope amid the heartbreak. (Not rated, 91 minutes).

Twist

Charles Dickens might not care that his iconic coming-of-age novel Oliver Twist has been reimagined as a 21st century heist thriller. But he’d surely be irritated at this slapdash collection of genre cliches, which is distinguishable only by its self-conscious winks to the source material. For some reason, Michael Caine stars as Fagin, in this case a London art thief whose band of orphaned petty crooks welcomes Twist (newcomer Raff Law, son of Jude), a graffiti artist grieving his mother’s death. Twist finds the lifestyle alluring, along with the brooding Red (Sophie Simnett). It strains to be hip without regard to the book’s thematic depth. (Rated R, 89 minutes).