opening this week
BEYOND THE LIGHTS Gina Prince-Bythewood, writer and director of the adored Love & Basketball, turns her camera from hoop dreams to the stage. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays a popular singer who feels trapped by celebrity. When a police officer (Nate Parker) thwarts her suicide attempt, an unlikely romance blossoms. Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
CITIZENFOUR While researching her film on the nanny state and excess use of government surveillance, director Laura Poitras began receiving emails from a whistleblower calling himself “citizen four.” She began meeting with him in 2013 with her cameras on. He turned out to be Edward Snowden, and this is the documentary that resulted from those meetings. Not rated. 114 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
DUMB AND DUMBER TO It’s been 20 years since Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels first put on those wigs and talked in goofy voices for the Farrelly brothers (admit it: you laughed). The whole gang is back is for more antics and to help audiences forget Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd ever happened. Rated PG-13. 110 minutes. Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe; Dream Catcher, Española. (Not reviewed)
DYING TO KNOW: RAM DASS & TIMOTHY LEARY This documentary, which screens as a benefit for the Center for Contemporary Arts, looks at the decades-long friendship between spiritual teacher Ram Dass and psychedelic-drugs advocate Timothy Leary. Filmmaker Gay Dillingham will attend. 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, only. Not rated. 99 minutes. Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
FORCE MAJEURE A prosperous Swedish businessman and his wife and children vacation at a French Alps ski resort. On their second day, a controlled avalanche gone wrong threatens the terrace where they are having lunch. The man panics and saves himself, leaving his wife and kids to survive on their own. Moment later, the crisis has passed, and everyone is safe. From there on, director Ruben Östlund paints a tense, emotionally fraught, sometimes oddly comic observation of the consequences of the man’s split-second, instinctive reaction of self-preservation and the shame of his compromised role as male protector. This isn’t a uniformly solid movie — some scenes don’t hold up — but it’s a provocative, powerful film, and the key event will send you home with something uncomfortable to think and talk about. Rated R. 118 minutes. In Swedish, French, and English with subtitles. The Screen, Santa Fe. ( Jonathan Richards) See review, Page 40.
THE GREAT INVISIBLE This documentary looks at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig — which exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, killing 11 people and filling the water with oil — by interviewing many people in the industry and the local community. Presented by Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Rated PG-13. 92 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: OF MICE AND MEN James Franco and Chris O’Dowd star as the famous pair at the heart of John Steinbeck’s play in this recent Broadway production. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, only. Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: SKYLIGHT In this Stephen Daldry production of the David Hare play, Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy portray former lovers who reunite for one evening and try to rekindle their romance despite their differences. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, only. Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
ROSEWATER Jon Stewart of The Daily Show adapted for the screen and directed this story about journalist Maziar Bahari (Gael García Bernal), who was imprisoned in Iran for 118 days after the country’s 2009 election. The reason? Among other things, an interview he gave on The Daily Show that year, which led Iranian authorities to believe he was a spy. Rated R. 103 minutes. Regal DeVargas, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
WHIPLASH Miles Teller plays teenage jazz drummer Andrew Neiman, whose dreams of becoming one of the greats hinge on surviving elite music instructor Terence Fletcher (a riveting J.K. Simmons), the sort of teacher who’s more likely to throw a chair at his student’s head than say “please” when requesting a drumroll. This indie-drama by Damien Chazelle won two major awards at Sundance and compellingly explores the ways in which the power dynamics of a mentoring relationship can turn a teacher’s obsession into a student’s compulsion. Rated R. 107 minutes. Regal DeVargas, Santa Fe. (Loren Bienvenu) See review, Page 38.