Capsule reviews for Feb. 23

About Dry Grasses

Although not for all tastes, fans of Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Winter Sleep) will appreciate his latest visually striking effort, in which the deliberate pace yields subtle and gradual rewards. It’s set in the filmmaker’s native Anatolia region, where a misanthropic young art teacher (Deniz Celiloglu) hopes for a transfer to Istanbul but becomes embroiled in a controversy that threatens to derail his dreams, perhaps justifiably. He meets a fellow teacher (Merve Dizdar) from another school who could be both a help and a hindrance. The screenplay offers some compelling twists between its philosophical ramblings, along with some moral ambiguity that ratchets up the intrigue. (Not rated, 197 minutes).

Drugstore June

The title character is amusing when she’s off-putting and obnoxious, but this satire of millennial self-absorption and entitlement stumbles when it makes a strained plea for sympathy. June (Esther Povistky) is a slacker still living with her parents whose ex-boyfriend (Haley Joel Osment) accuses her of stalking just as the pharmacy where she works is robbed. Yet what worries her most is how this will affect her neuroses and triggers, and how her small collection of social-media followers will respond. Povitsky, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Nicholaus Goossen (Grandma’s Boy), generates some laughs with June’s dyspeptic sarcasm, although the thin story doesn’t provide much support. (Not rated, 91 minutes).

Golden Years

After starting as a lighthearted look at lovably eccentric seniors, this German comedy evolves into a tender and thoughtful examination of aging, companionship, and personal fulfillment that resonates across cultural boundaries. When Peter (Stefan Kurt) retires from his 40-year job, it somehow puts a strain on his marriage with Alice (Esther Gemsch). Their routine is thrown off, and they find themselves dealing with a friend’s tragedy, bickering adult children, and unresolved goals. Will a luxury cruise bring them closer or drive them further apart? Although it struggles with tonal consistency, the film offers a quietly perceptive glimpse into finding and reassessing happiness while confronting mortality. (Not rated, 92 minutes).

The Invisible Fight

Meshing genre elements with go-for-broke audacity, this campy comic fantasy from Estonian filmmaker Rainer Sarnet (November) can’t sustain its energy for the entirety of its bloated running time. It begins in 1973 along the Chinese-Soviet border, where a somewhat bumbling soldier (Urcel Tilk) survives an attack from kung-fu warriors with an affinity for vintage heavy-metal music. Memories of that encounter later spur him toward becoming an Orthodox monk, where his adventure toward spiritual enlightenment coincides, and sometimes clashes, with his dream of becoming a wuxia warrior. Despite some scattered laughs, the film struggles to cohere into anything more than a goofy exercise in style over substance. (Not rated, 114 minutes).

Io Capitano

A gut-wrenching powerhouse, this vivid and immersive immigrant drama from Italian director Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah) is a riveting examination of big dreams and childhood innocence colliding with harsh realities and uncomfortable truths. Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) are inseparable Senegalese cousins who see Europe as a way to escape their impoverished upbringing. So the naïve teenagers sneak out overnight and begin a harrowing journey through the desert, realizing too late that trusting strangers can lead to desperation and peril. Mild contrivances aside, the coming-of-age film resonates broadly by eschewing politics in favor of gritty, character-driven compassion and humanity. The young actors are magnificent. (Not rated, 121 minutes).

Red Right Hand

Lacking original characters or scenarios, this ultraviolent Deep South crime thriller from sibling directors Eshom and Ian Nelms (Fatman) manages some scattered moments where it rises above the formulaic fray. It’s set in the Appalachian foothills, where Cash (Orlando Bloom) is an ex-con looking for a fresh start. But he’s also saddled with his family’s bad business deals, which forces Cash back into the clutches of local crime boss Big Cat (Andie MacDowell) to pay off his debts. Bloom’s character earns sympathy by default given the film’s stereotypical collection of backwoods rogues and scoundrels. However, it’s a vigilante mission of standard-issue confrontations with middling stakes. (Not rated, 111 minutes).

The Stolen Valley

The underlying themes are more compelling than the story driving this low-key thriller about greed and corruption where cultures collide in rural oil country. It follows two resilient women — Mexican-Navajo mechanic Lupe (Briza Covarrubias) and bull rider Maddy (Allee Sutton Hethcoat) — who form a reluctant partnership under desperate circumstances. An attempt to reconcile with family leads Lupe to a ruthless landowner (Micah Fitzpatrick) with sinister intentions. Its heart is in the right place and some of the landscapes are visually striking, but the screenplay by rookie director Jesse Edwards relies too heavily on melodramatic contrivances that overshadow the film’s message of heritage preservation and compassionate coexistence. (Rated PG-13, 104 minutes).

Stopmotion

Remaining grounded in the emotional anguish of a troubled artist, this peculiar British horror saga effectively builds suspense beneath the surface despite a final act reliant on calculated twists and gory cliches. A stop-motion animator (Aisling Franciosi) becomes obsessed with the painstaking final project of her domineering late mother (Stella Gonet). That sends her and her young daughter (Caoilinn Springall) down a surreal spiral in which real-life and fantasy intersect. For those on the same offbeat wavelength, it marks a promising debut for director Robert Morgan, as the film layers its creepy atmosphere with dark character-driven psychodrama. The result emphasizes subtle terrors over more visceral thrills. (Rated R, 93 minutes).

They Shot the Piano Player

Although ambition surpasses execution, this documentary spotlighting the talent and eventual disappearance of an obscure Brazilian pianist finds its own offbeat rhythm by using rotoscope and watercolor animation to connect past and present, fact and fiction. The film tracks a New York journalist (voiced by Jeff Goldblum) researching a book on the proliferation of samba and bossa nova music from South America during the 1960s. Among the most prominent names in the movement was Tenorio Jr., a virtuoso who later disappeared under mysterious circumstances amid political unrest. Accompanied by a period jazzy soundtrack, the uneven film provides biographical insight even as its investigative journalism lacks punch. (Rated PG-13, 103 minutes).