Contributor: Paul Asay

Paterson is enjoyable without being entertaining. It’s a shyly thoughtful story that asks its viewers to stretch themselves and dream a little … but to not be in a rush to quit their day jobs.

Even though its dialogue can be harsh and its protagonist can be a monster, Fences has some important things to say.

Lion is a gripping, moving, inspiring film that’s high in heart and relatively low in content.

Why Him? This zany, raunchy movie asks. When I left the movie, it had me asking another question: Why me?

Even in a place and time when brutal forces mercilessly sought to silence the faithful, their voices could still be heard. In their prayers. In their screams. In their stubborn, resilient devotion.

If Passengers teaches us anything, it’s only as an afterthought. The film is an entertainment vehicle. And like the spaceship we see on screen, it does its job only halfway well.

Nocturnal Animals is a devastating movie about sin and retribution. It’s as searing as a thunderbolt, as poisonous as the strike of a snake.

So is it possible to make an effective exorcism story without, y’know, all that God stuff? No. And Incarnate proves it.

Believe stresses the importance of charity while lauding entrepreneurship and plain hard work. It celebrates the ties between people and questions the commercialism of Christmas.

Jackie is a moving, surprisingly spiritual portrait of a woman grieving in the public eye and, in so doing, shaping a nation’s story. And it reminds us all of just how important our stories are.

It’s sad this film about Howard Hughes lacks any sort of real moral underpinning. It seems the makers took its title, Rules Don’t Apply, quite seriously.

Bleed for This is filled with brutal blows, bare bodies and occasional blasphemy. It asks us to look at Vinny as a hero, but that’s not easy to see.

Wonderfully acted and deeply felt, Manchester by the Sea is also a difficult movie in every way.

Shut In is a thriller without the thrill, an exercise in jump scenes without the jumps. While it stays within its PG-13 confines, it strays wildly from any sort of logical cohesion.

Loving, with its intimate scale and sparse content concerns, is an accessible, sometimes beautiful story about one couple’s love.