Capsule reviews for Oct. 9

The Beast

Samuel L. Jackson is a heroic commander-in-chief, but his resilient, gadget-filled presidential limousine is the true star of this otherwise flimsy thriller from director Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger), which provides some loopy amusement before the narrative wheels eventually fall off. It takes place almost entirely inside of the titular vehicle, being driven by POTUS during an unexplained global terror attack. A badly wounded secret-service agent (Joel Kinnaman) languishes in the back seat while the president tries to steer them both through a barrage of explosions and enemy fire. The thin story is incoherent nonsense, of course, but Jackson’s conviction keeps it rolling far longer than it should. (Rated R, 98 minutes).

Big Girls Don’t Cry

It doesn’t break new ground as a nostalgic tale of sexual awakening and adolescent angst, but this Kiwi coming-of-age drama is a quietly perceptive look at self-discovery and acceptance carrying a universal resonance. Set in a beachside town in 2006, it centers on Sid (Ani Palmer), a reserved teenager living with her emotionally distant father (Noah Taylor) who harbors a secret crush on an outgoing older girl (Beatrix Wolfe). Meanwhile, Sid channels her frustrations into an online chat room, which shuts off other relationships. Her confusion is portrayed with nuanced anguish by newcomer Palmer, as the film sensitively captures Sid’s vulnerability during its intentionally awkward pauses. (Not rated, 99 minutes).

California Schemin’

As it follows a familiar rise-and-fall trajectory, this true-life comedy about hip-hop fraudsters is a spirited crowd-pleaser that mostly hits the right notes. In the early 2000s, Scottish duo Silibil and Brains (Samuel Bottomley, Seamus McLean Ross) are aspiring rappers whose middling talents are initially dismissed because of their accents. So they adopt American personas and became embraced by an industry searching for the next Eminem. The directorial debut of actor James McAvoy (Split) is hardly revelatory in exposing corporate greed in the music business. Yet although the film develops more pity than sympathy for its enterprising con men, it also overflows with scrappy working-class charm. (Rated R, 107 minutes).

Kikuyu Land

Although its investigative ambition sometimes exceeds its structural grasp, this eye-opening documentary spills the tea on an enduring legacy of colonial exploitation within Kenya’s agricultural heartlands. It chronicles an activist fighting to reclaim his family’s ancestral land, part of a wave of British seizures to construct profitable tea plantations that now belong to multinational corporations. Digging beyond its lush scenery, rookie director Bea Wangondu connects historical theft with contemporary coercion — making an urgent and unsettling case for reflecting on global consumer habits and everyday consumption to the tradition of corporate greed sustaining it. The result is an uneven yet provocative look at cultural identity and oppression. (Not rated, 93 minutes).

The North

Turning a demanding hike into an absorbing examination of friendship strained by diverging expectations, this meditative drama is bolstered by stunning visuals. Ten years after they last lived together as roommates, Chris (Bart Harder) and Lluis (Carles Pulido) reunite for a daunting long-distance trek through the rugged Scottish Highlands Often surrounded by silence and harsh weather, they confront unspoken truths about aging, personal burdens, and their relationship. Although the pacing compromises narrative momentum, the film honors the quiet introspection found on the open trail. A resistance to tidy catharsis makes it more affecting as path to acceptance that doesn’t mistake physical progress for mutual understanding. (Rated PG-13, 132 minutes).

Other Mommy

Despite some unsettling imagery, this supernatural domestic horror saga from director Rob Savage (The Boogeyman) uses genre tropes to generate surface-level frights rather than deeper or sustained terror. It centers on Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark), an 8-year-old girl whose mother (Jessica Chastain) starts to behave erratically amid friction with Bela’s father (Jay Duplass). To cope with the crumbling marriage, Bela begins conversing with an unseen maternal presence in her bedroom, only to find it has sinister intentions. There’s a creepy ball-pit sequence, but the film fails to explore childhood innocence and fractured family dynamics with enough coherence to yield the requisite chills. Chastain deserves better. (Rated R, 93 minutes).

A Prayer for the Dying

Driven more by atmosphere than plot, this downbeat Western character study yields some haunting visuals while lacking the accompanying narrative intrigue to flesh out its themes of isolation, grief, and spirituality. It chronicles a sheriff (Johnny Flynn) in 1870s Wisconsin forced to quarantine his entire town after the local doctor (John C. Reilly) diagnoses an outbreak. However, his loyalty and leadership are tested amid pressure from his own family as he spirals into madness. Rookie director Sara Van Dusen’s assured craftsmanship — including an evocative autumnal color palette — aren’t matched by her deliberately paced screenplay, a tedious examination of morality that too often wallows in gloomy despair. (Not rated, 95 minutes).

Winter of the Crow

A magnetic performance by Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) galvanizes this sturdy Cold War historical thriller as it transforms from an academic fish-out-of-water saga into an immersive, slow-burning study of state oppression. It’s set during Warsaw’s 1981 military crackdown, when Joan (Manville) is a prickly visiting psychiatry professor delivering a lecture just as the Polish government declares martial law. Crossing paths with a student activist (Zofia Wichlacz), Joan is forced to take sides as she becomes entangled in a perilous sociopolitical conspiracy. Despite some strained narrative mechanics, the film’s bleak atmosphere and moral complexity tighten the suspense, leading to an ambiguous conclusion that resists an uncomplicated redemption. (Not rated, 112 minutes).