Lisa Miller

Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan in ‘Drive-Away Dolls’

After New Yorker Edward (Carloto Cotta) tests his DNA, he learns of his identical twin brother (Carloto Cotta, again) and mother, living in Portugal. With girlfriend Riley (Brigette Lundy-Paine) by his side, Edward arrives to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal. While the circumstances of his separation from the family remain mysterious, Edward and Riley soon learn that there’s much that is unusual about his mother Amelia (portrayed by both Anabela Moreira and Alba Baptista) and her relationship to his brother. Once majestic, the family’s dilapidated villa provides a share of atmospheric creaks and creeps. Directed and written by Gabriel Abrantes who studied in New York and Paris, and now lives in Lisbon, this horror relies on jump cuts to generate many of its scares, the bulk of which are the product of a pathological mother-son relationship. (Lisa Miller)

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You can also learn about women in conservation, volunteer to restore Chicago prairie land and birding excursions.

The “Sound of Freedom” team delivers a nuanced, faith-based drama, distributed by Angel Studios. The film focuses on America’s first saint, the Roman Catholic nun Frances Xavier Cabrini, played by Italian actress Christiana Dell’Anna. In 1887, believing she is meant to do good in a big way, Cabrini persuades Pope Leo XIII (Giancarlo Giannini) that she must go to New York City to help Italian immigrants. Once there, Cabrini surmises the need for an orphanage, and sets about getting approval and donations to establish one. She is opposed by the local archbishop, Michael Corrigan (David Morse), and by New York’s mayor, a self-aggrandizing, fictional political animal played by John Lithgow. Equipped with tireless determination and a stream of clever one-liners, Cabrini’s story exposes anti-immigrant proponents, along with the battle waged between Irish Catholics and Italian Catholics. Director Alejandro Monteverde recreates, with a relatively low budget, New York City during the late 1800s. Dell’Anna’s understated, affecting performance, brings speculation that she could receive an Oscar nod. (Lisa Miller)

In a child’s first seven years, their growing brain begins to build the foundations for how they communicate and interact with the world.

Pamela Badjogo ‘s third album, Yieh, marks a pivotal moment in her career. After the warm reception of her first two albums, she solidified her musical identity and championed feminist and ecological ideals worldwide. Now, with this more intimate offering, Pamela reaffirms her dedication to the empowerment of African women and implores listeners to embrace resilience in the face of adversity.

Yuku is a reporter for a TV channel investigating the suicide of a teenage girl and her teacher. What begins as a story of bullying gone really bad leads to accusations of improper relations between the teacher and his student. Is he being framed by the school? Did the media sentence him to death by its lurid headlines and unproven accusations? And will Yuku’s channel allow her to criticize the conduct of media? This thoughtful drama by Japanese director Yujiro Harumoto wrestles with the lies perpetuated by the omission of truth as Yuku is forced to confront a scandal within her own family. (David Luhrssen)

Musician, composer and physician, Eki Shola, is originally from London but now calls both the San Francisco Bay Area and Japan home. Fresh from a tour in Japan, she eagerly presents her album 還 Kaeru. The album was recorded predominantly with local Japanese talents such as drummer Hidenori Tsugita, shamisen and shakuhachi virtuoso Uma Ebina, and Mongolian Morin Khuur maestro Tatsuya Okabayashi. This fifth album represents a captivating mix of traditional Japanese instrumentation with electro jazz elements.

Director David Leitch loosely adapts an ‘80s TV series from a screenplay by Drew Pearce. The film’s triumph is both revealing the risks of doing stunt work while weaving its eye-popping action into a winning romantic comedy. Ryan Gosling appears as stuntman Colt Seavers. He’s determined to woo back former girlfriend Jody Monero (Emily Blunt), and so agrees to perform stunts for her science fiction blockbuster. The pair’s chemistry runs deep, but wounded egos and a disaster-prone history present hilarious impediments. Meanwhile, the star of Jody’s film, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), goes missing, prompting Seavers to work some search-and-rescue magic for the same actor who fails to appreciate the risks Seaver takes on Ryder’s behalf. Gosling himself boasts he had four specialized stunt men for this film, bragging he’s the first star to perform none of his own stunts. Blunt’s woman-in-charge is romantically vulnerable, and vengeful, finding excuses to make Seaver perform the most difficult stunts repeatedly. With over 100 reviews to its credit, “The Fall Guy” sits at an 87% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. (Lisa Miller)