Capsule reviews for May 19

The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future

Ambitious if unfocused, this transfixing Chilean eco-fable infuses magical realism into a haunting story of grief and fractured family dynamics. Cecilia (Leonor Varela) is a surgeon forced to confront her troubled past when she returns to the family farm after her father’s heart attack. Already struggling to accept her transgender teenager, Cecilia encounters the ghost of her mother (Mia Maestro), which prompts a surreal and introspective odyssey blurring fantasy and reality. It’s not for all tastes, but rookie director Francisca Alegria uses striking imagery to craft an elegiac portrait of generational strife. Even if the underlying environmental message turns heavy-handed, it finds optimism amid the bleakness. (Not rated, 98 minutes).

Dotty and Soul

Although its heart may be in the right place, this broad comedy tackles themes of cancel culture and socioeconomic disenfranchisement without the subtlety or nuance to make its points. It unspools a story of personal redemption and corporate comeuppance centering on Ethan (Adam Saunders, who also wrote and directed), a brash Dallas entrepreneur whose self-driving car company looks to manipulate public transportation into big profits. But after a social-media scandal, he’s prompted to partner with elderly snack-cart vendor Dotty (Leslie Uggams) who changes Ethan’s perspective. The feisty Dotty generates sympathy, yet the scattered big laughs can’t rescue an idea that feels more familiar than fresh. (Not rated, 78 minutes).

Moon Garden

Although its dazzling eye candy tends to overshadow the thin narrative, this dark fantasy about childhood innocence and imagination remains compelling. It follows Emma (Haven Lee Harris), a precocious 5-year-old girl who becomes comatose following an accident. From there, we’re taken on a dreamlike journey through her mind, set in an elaborate industrial landscape where amid strange encounters, Emma must follow her mother’s voice back to consciousness. Even if the visual gimmickry is excessive and the screenplay by director Ryan Stevens Harris struggles to maintain its momentum, the film confidently juggles genre elements while finding an expressive emotional anchor via the filmmaker’s young daughter. (Not rated, 93 minutes).

Robots

As the contrivances go up, the laughs go down in this romantic comedy with a science-fiction twist, and a potentially amusing premise is squandered along the way. In the near future, womanizing Charles (Jack Whitehall) and gold-digging Elaine (Shailene Woodley) have each fashioned robot clones of themselves — which is illegal but comes in handy when trying to navigate the shallow end of the dating pool. However, when they fall for one another in real life, they must stop their cyborg doppelgangers from doing the same. Any satirical ambitions are overshadowed by abundant quirks and broad slapstick, while the lovebirds never spark to life in either form. (Rated R, 93 minutes).

Sanctuary

Two committed performances can’t keep this intimate two-hander about sexual politics and the pressure of family legacies from becoming more tedious than provocative. It takes place entirely in a penthouse where Hal (Christopher Abbott) wants to end a longtime relationship with his dominatrix, Rebecca (Margaret Qualley). But the breakup doesn’t go well, triggering a power struggle that threatens Hal’s future as the CEO of his late father’s luxury hotel chain as Rebecca threatens to expose everything. The intense back-and-forth builds some moderate tension as they viciously turn on one another, yet beneath the surface bickering, both characters lack the empathy to make anyone else care. (Rated R, 96 minutes).

White Men Can’t Jump

High spirited but mostly unnecessary, this sporadically amusing remake of the 1992 basketball buddy comedy from director Calmatic (House Party) is hardly a slam dunk. Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson are replaced in this version by Sinqua Walls (“Power”) and rapper Jack Harlow as a pair of brash streetball players from different backgrounds who must put aside their differences — and overcome their respective obstacles — to win some major cash in a 3-on-3 tournament. Coasting on the authentic rapport of its two stars and some convincing hoops action, the film softens the edges of the original without taking the material in a meaningful new direction. (Rated R, 101 minutes).