Jane Campion, whose last movie was 2009’s “Bright Star,” makes a triumphant return to filmmaking in “The Power of the Dog,” a frontier psychodrama starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jesse Plemons. Adapted by Campion from Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel, Cumberbatch plays a domineering Montana rancher who resents his brother’s new wife and her son. Widely hailed as one of the best films of the year, “The Power of the Dog” begins streaming Dec. 1 on Netflix. In my review, I called it a “masterful vision of the West” that plays out “in a juxtaposition of rugged exteriors and murkier, more mysterious interiors.” (AP Film Writer Jake Coyle)
Also:
• “C’mon C’mon”: Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) and his young nephew (Woody Norman) forge a tenuous but transformational relationship when they are unexpectedly thrown together in this delicate and deeply moving story about the connections between adults and children, the past and the future, from writer-director Mike Mills. In theaters, it’s rated R.
• Director Matthew Heineman (“Cartel Land,” “A Private War”) has filmed before in an active war zone. In “The First Wave” (streaming on Hulu beginning Sunday), he plunges into the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic in a bracingly intimate portrait of doctors, nurses and patients during the first four months COVID-19 in New York. Heineman shot his film at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens amid the virus’ first surge to craft an emotional and vital time capsule of the health crisis. (AP Film Writer Jake Coyle)
• “Red Rocket”: The audacious new film from writer-director Sean Baker (“The Florida Project,” “Tangerine”), starring Simon Rex in a magnetic, live-wire performance, is a darkly funny, humane portrait of an American hustler and a hometown that barely tolerates him. In theaters, it’s rated R.
• Documentary filmmakers E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin last made the Oscar-winning “Free Solo,” about mountain climber Alex Honnold. In “The Rescue” (streaming Dec. 3 on Disney+), they swap high peaks for watery depths, chronicling the 18-day rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach in a flooded Thailand cave. As well covered as that 2018 event was, the riveting documentary details anew how a global coalition and a handful of cave-diving hobbyists pulled off an extraordinary feat. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called “The Rescue” “affirming, truthful, funny, macabre and unembellished,” and said “it achieves something extraordinarily difficult for a global news story that ended three years ago: It makes you feel like you’re there.” (AP Film Writer Jake Coyle)
• “Silent Night”: This holiday horror comedy premieres Dec. 3 in theaters and on AMC+ as a toxic gas cloud ruins plans for Christmas dinner. Stars Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode and Roman Griffin Davis (“Jojo Rabbit”).
• “Wolf”: In this surreal, mysterious tale of self-discovery, Jacob (George MacKay) is convinced he is a wolf trapped inside a human body and lives his days as he believes a wolf would. When he’s sent to a “curative” clinic for treatment, Jacob is determined to escape — until he meets the beguiling Wildcat (Lily-Rose Depp). As their relationship deepens, Jacob quickly realizes that he must choose between being himself and staying with the only person who’s ever understood him. In theaters.
