LIFE ITSELF

outfitted in tweeds and a ubiquitous pair of goggles. He fits right in to his uncle’s creaking, groaning, ticking house of wonders, where there are no rules, plentiful chocolate chip cookies and lots of mysterious goings-on, courtesy of Jonathan and his neighbor, Mrs. Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett). It’s not so easy to fit in with the kids at school, though Lewis does make one friend in the cool-kid greaser Tarby (Sunny Suljic). But if Lewis is going to learn anything from his impressively bearded and kooky uncle, it’s to embrace the weird — it’s the only way to be a warlock. Lewis is soon receiving lessons in magic from his uncle and Mrs. Zimmerman, a combination of old-school vaudeville magician tricks, and real, mystical conjuring of the ethereal fantastic.Despite all the rich elements — the fantastic cast, the wonderfully detailed production and costume design, an oddball family story of black sheep finding each other — there’s something missing from “The House with a Clock in Its Walls.” — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

H1/2 R, 125 minutes. Through tonight only at Niantic, Stonington, Lisbon. It’s difficult to discuss what “Life Itself” is exactly about, because the film, written and directed by “This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman, is such a twisty, tangled narrative that to describe any aspect of it is to risk spoilers. Besides, it’s best to experience the twists and turns for yourself — going in cold really enhances the baffling experience of watching this emotionally sadistic film. The worst thing about “Life Itself” is not that it is emotionally sadistic. It’s just how much it wants to be emotionally sadistic, while simultaneously missing the mark by a mile. Maybe over the course of a series, one could build the kind of attachment to characters in which the morbid and frankly, gory scenarios might wring an emotional reaction, but contained within a feature-length running time — and with so much effort showing — it’s a grand failure. Watching “Life Itself” itself feels like being constantly pranked. It is an exercise in pulling the rug out from under the viewer, because the larger theme of the film is the “unreliable narrator,” which is spelled out for us in kindergarten blocks when Abby (Olivia Wilde), in a flashback, declares her college English thesis is going to be on said literary device. She describes her epiphany to her boyfriend Will (Oscar Isaac) in a tumble of words: The most reliable narrator is … life itself. Or maybe life itself is the most unreliable narrator. Who knows? — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

LITTLE WOMEN

H1/2 PG-13, 112 minutes. Westbrook. “Little Women,” Louisa May Alcott’s tale of sisterhood and hardship, is a much beloved story female filmmakers have embraced often over the years. Director Gillian Armstrong and screenwriter Robin Swicord adapted the book memorably in 1994, and Oscar-nominated director Greta Gerwig announced her next project will be her take on “Little Women.” There must be something in the ether, because there’s yet another version of “Little Women” being released, written and directed by Clare Niederpruem. Distributed by faith-based movie purveyor Pureflix, this version is so far the only adaptation (there’s also a 2017 miniseries) set in the present day, and while it seems like a fun idea to update the trials and travails of the March sisters, dragging the story into the 21st century shows just how of its era “Little Women” truly is. For starters, since when have you heard of a girl selling her hair for money these days? That’s one of the most indelible moments of the fiery Jo March, played here with vim and vigor by Sarah Davenport. Watching Jo intellectually tussle with men and boss around her younger sisters, all in the name of her individuality and dedication to the creative life as a writer, you can’t help but realize, in the harsh light of modernity, that Jo truly is a toxic individual. Or at least this Jo is a self-aggrandizing bully who makes you wonder why anyone can stand to be around her. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

NIGHT SCHOOL

PG-13, 111 minutes. Waterford, Stonington, Lisbon. A group of troublemakers and ne’erdo-wells are forced to attend night school in the hopes of passing their GED and earning high school diplomas. A review wasn’t available by deadline.

THE NUN

1/2 R, 96 minutes. Through tonight at Westbrook. Still playing at Stonington, Waterford, Lisbon. “The Conjuring” franchise has steadily become the most dependable horror film franchise of late, conquering the box office with good old-fashioned and flawlessly executed spooks and scares, with a few interesting ideas to boot. Spinning off James Wan’s 2013 “The Conjuring,” about real-life married ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren, the franchise started with true tales of hauntings, possessions and spectral invasions. But there were so many side stories and creepy characters that both “The Conjuring” and “The Conjuring 2” well, conjured up, that more movies were necessary. Now “The Nun” takes on the backstory of the imposing demon in a habit that terrorized Lorraine’s visions. In this spinoff, director Corin Hardy delivers a ‘70s throwback gothic horror epic. Written by “Annabelle” screenwriter Gary Dauberman and James Wan, it’s lush, operatic, hardcore Catholic horror from the depths of “The Omen” and “The Exorcist,” with hints of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s “Black Narcissus,” washed with medieval overtones. And it’s a total, screaming blast. Demián Bichir is perfectly cast as Father Burke, a reluctant priest tasked by the Vatican to investigate unusual religious phenomena, or as they call it, “miracle hunting.” After young deliveryman Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) discovers the hanged body of a nun at a cloistered Romanian abbey, Burke is sent to investigate the suicide. He is asked to bring along a young novitiate, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga). — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

OPERATION FINALE

1/2 PG-13, 123 minutes. Westbrook. The film chronicles the thrilling, stranger-than-fiction 1960 Mossad operation to kidnap principal Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann from Argentina and extradite him to Israel to be tried for war crimes. Unfortunately, “Operation Finale” feels a bit behind the ball when it comes to the dramatic true story. Oscar Isaac stars as Peter Malkin, a Mossad agent tapped for the mission to Argentina to nab Eichmann (Ben Kingsley), a high-level Nazi bureaucrat who oversaw the transportation of millions of Jews to their deaths in concentration camps. Peter is tormented by surrealistic visions of his sister Fruma (Rita Pauls), who met her demise in a German forest with her three children at the hands of Nazi soldiers. The story’s details are truly wild and unbelievable, but the plotting and characters feel rote. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

PEPPERMINT

H1/2 R, 102 minutes. Westbrook, Lisbon. Following in the time-honored tradition of “Taken,” “John Wick,” “Atomic Blonde” and “Death Wish,” Jennifer Garner arms up in the vigilante mom action-thriller “Peppermint.” Directed by “Taken” helmer Pierre Morel, written by “London Has Fallen” screenwriter Chad St. John, what distinguishes “Peppermint” from every other vigilante shoot-em-up is this time, our hero is a mom. Motherhood defines who she is and what she does, which is both her strength and her weakness, and often, it’s somewhat limiting. Garner is Riley North, a lower-middle class Los Angeles bank teller with a family struggling to make ends meet. Her husband, Chris (Jeff Hephner), a mechanic, entertains the idea of driving the getaway vehicle in the robbery of a powerful drug dealer, Diego Garcia (Juan Pablo Raba), which earns a hit on his name. Chris and their daughter, Carly (Cailey Fleming), are gunned down in front of Riley. When the thugs walk, thanks to a corrupt judge and lawyer, she disappears, only to pop up five years later. Those who wronged her start turning up dead, too. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

THE PREDATOR

R, 107 minutes. Through tonight only at Waterford and Westbrook. Still playing at Stonington, Lisbon. It’s been more than 30 years since audiences were first introduced to the universe’s deadliest hunter in 1987’s “Predator,” a testosterone-fueled action flick that helped define the overthe-top tone of the era. Since then, sequels and crossover films have failed to capture the interstellar reptilian magic of the original. Now, we can add the latest addition to the series, “The Predator,” to the attempts list. Directed and co-written by Shane Black, who played squad member Hawkins in the original film, “The Predator” follows Army sniper Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook), who has a close encounter with a predator when its ship crashlands nearby during a mission. The alien hunter kills his squad, but McKenna escapes, and is interrogated about the incident by a shadowy government group that has worked to keep the predators’ existence a secret. Dr. Casey Brackett (Olivia Munn), a biologist with a penchant for aliens, is summoned by the group to investigate a captured predator, which is believed to have human DNA. Known as the Fugitive, that predator is actually on the run from a larger, more advanced predator, or Yautja, known as the Upgrade — a hulking, 11-foot-tall monster with bulletproof skin and plenty of aggression. Ever the warrior, McKenna joins another squad known as The Loonies — a group of downtrodden military veterans — to stop the Upgrade and save the world. — Nick Vardala, Philadelphia Inquirer