Capsule reviews for June 5

An Autumn Summer

With an emphasis on setting and mood over plot, this coming-of-age romantic drama is rich in timeless emotional specificity yet struggles to translate its bittersweet nostalgia into a more compelling story. It’s set in beautiful northern Michigan, where a high-school grad (Mark McKenna) spends a final carefree summer at a lake house with his girlfriend (Lukita Maxwell) and two buddies (Jun Yu, Julian Bass) before they go their separate ways to college. The screenplay by rookie director Jared Isaac is heartfelt and sincere as it sidesteps melodrama and contrived teenage angst, although the narrative momentum falters as the conflicts remain internalized. It’s pleasant but forgettable. (Not rated, 98 minutes).

Carolina Caroline

An impassioned portrayal by Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) propels this throwback crime thriller from director Adam Rehmeier (Dinner in America), an offbeat saga of empowerment and self-discovery that subverts genre tropes. Weaving plays the title role, a wayward young woman charmed by a con man (Kyle Gallner) into a life on the run through the 1990s Deep South. As their relationship deepens, the outlaw lovebirds become more brazen in their robberies, just as Caroline begins to realize that love and money aren’t really why she’s trying to escape. Alongside its gritty 1970s visual influences, the film’s character-driven layers add emotional depth to a conventional story. (Rated R, 105 minutes).

Jinsei

Blending dynamic hand-drawn visuals with an ambitious narrative chronology, this uneven anime drama is a cumulatively powerful story of trauma, identity, fulfillment, and the pitfalls of fame. It imagines the life of a man (voiced by musician Ace Cool) burdened by loneliness and emotional detachment over the course of a century. With each chapter, he has a different name and age as he overcomes a tragic upbringing to become a pop-music idol, only to leave that life behind, then later seeking happiness in futuristic nonhuman form. The episodic storytelling can be head-scratching, but the assured debut of director Ryuya Suzuki offers a bold and haunting vision. (Not rated, 93 minutes).

Rich Flu

Awkwardly combining a dystopian science-fiction thriller with an anti-capitalist satire, this muddled saga of socioeconomic class warfare suffocates any worthwhile messaging in heavy-handed sanctimony. The world is ravaged by a mysterious pandemic targeting billionaires and empowering the 99 percent. Learning what money cannot buy, a publicist (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and her estranged husband (Rafe Spall) are among those who suddenly must sympathize with the poor and disenfranchised by fighting alongside them for survival. Its heart might be in the right place, but the execution is haphazard as the film struggles to escalate the emotional stakes, instead leaning on egregious sentimentality to fuel its guilt-ridden comeuppance. (Not rated, 116 minutes).

Seven Snipers

Regardless of the overall number, it’s eventually whittled down to the two snipers who really matter in this boilerplate Australian thriller that misses the target. It chronicles an elite sharpshooter (Radha Mitchell) who has retired from the military to a rural farm with her rebellious teenage daughter (Annabel Wolfe). But after a visit from a vengeful past adversary (Tim Roth) exposes old secrets, she recruits some old friends including a mysterious marksman (Ioan Gruffudd) to defend her land. Tightly wound yet woefully formulaic, the film turns solid actors into glorified paintballers with slightly elevated stakes. It lacks the tension to generate a meaningful rooting interest. (Rated R, 88 minutes).

Underland

Inspiring both wondrous curiosity and cautious trepidation, this fascinating documentary about the world beneath our feet is as beautiful as it is haunting. It primarily follows three ambitious people who venture deep into an underground maze of rock, water, and eerie darkness — including a Mexican archaeologist scaling ancient Mayan caves, an urban explorer investigating a network of Las Vegas drainage tunnels, and a scientist seeking to discover elusive dark matter. As its subjects uncover secrets from the past with an eye toward preservation, the visually stunning film feels like it’s transporting us to another planet, except it’s just probing spectacular new layers of our own. (Not rated, 79 minutes).