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Anna and the Apocalypse This zombie comedy has a few irreverent wrinkles: catchy musical numbers, a dose of high school angst, and even a Christmas motif. It doesn’t consistently soar, but by and large, it’s an entertaining concoction of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “High School Musical” and especially “Shaun of the Dead.” Rated R. 92 minutes. — D. Lewis

Aquaman The latest “Justice League” spinoff is filled with awkward dialogue, a poorly conceived visual-effects plan and a soul-crushing and bladdercrushing 139-minute run time.

Jason Momoa returns as Aquaman, and Nicole Kidman and Willem Dafoe are among the Atlantis residents. Director James Wan has some decent land-based thrills, but this is a shallow-end DC movie. Rated PG-13. 139 minutes.

— P. Hartlaub At Eternity’s Gate An inspired and heartfelt performance by Willem Dafoe as Vincent van Gogh raises this movie far above the standard biopic. With Oscar Isaac as Paul Gauguin and Rupert Friend as Vincent’s brother, Theo. Directed by Julian Schnabel. Rated PG-13. 110 minutes. — W. Addiego Bathtubs Over Broadway Amusing documentary about the hidden world of industrial musicals — live, elaborate productions put on by Broadway theatrical professionals meant as both pep rally and private entertainment at national corporate conventions. With Martin Short, Florence Henderson, Chita Rivera and David Letterman. Rated PG-13. 87 minutes.

— G. Allen Johnson Beautiful Boy Drug addict stories are repetitious, and hence, they tend to be undramatic. This one, based on the memoir by David Sheff, about his son’s struggle with addiction, is worse than most, in that the father (Steve Carell) becomes the sympathetic focus and the son (Timothee Chalamet) becomes the inadvertent object of the audience’s disdain. Rated R. 112 minutes.

— M. LaSalle Becoming Astrid This Swedish-made biopic of “Pippi Longstocking” author Astrid Lindgren traces her tumultuous early life, in slow and loving detail, without ever getting to her years of achievement. It’s a bit of a slog, but benefits from Alba August’s lively performance in the title role. Not rated. 123 minutes. In Swedish with English subtitles.

— M. LaSalle

Ben Is Back Writerdirector Peter Hedges delivers an effective, surprising, gripping film about addiction, which compresses the action to a single day, in which a young man (Lucas Hedges) leaves rehab and goes home to see his mother (Julia Roberts). Rated R. 103 minutes. — M. LaSalle Bird Box After an intense opening 20 minutes, this apocalyptic horror thriller, starring Sandra Bullock, confines itself to a single house and becomes mostly a dull chamber drama. It’s not worth the time. Directed by Susanne Bier. Rated R. 124 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Bitter Melon Intriguing, absorbing tragicomedy set in San Francisco’s Excelsior district by local writer-director H.P. Mendoza about a young gay man who visits his Filipino American family for Christmas and confronts the family’s dark undercurrent of domestic violence. The film changes tone on the second half, with several twists and turns. Not rated. 110 minutes.

— G. Allen Johnson Bohemian Rhapsody Big and splashy, sentimental and not completely true, this is the biopic that Freddie Mercury deserved, an absorbing story about an outsider who was either going to be a weirdo or an artist, and so he became a very flamboyant artist. The sound track is full of Queen songs, and even if you’re not a big Queen fan, you’ll find they sound better in the movie than they do on the radio. Rated PG-13. 135 minutes.

— M. LaSalle Boy Erased This factbased story about a teenage boy who is put into gay conversion therapy doesn’t go to the depths of horror — it’s only a mildly dramatic story — but it’s well acted by a strong cast (Lucas Hedges). R. 114 minutes. Rated R. 115 minutes. — M. LaSalle Bumblebee The latest installment in the “Transformers” series, about an alien robot that befriends an angst-ridden teenager, actually has wit, charm and likable characters. It’s as if the often unwatchable franchise has pleasantly mutated into a robotic version of “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” — and become a decent popcorn movie for the holidays. Rated PG-13. 114 minutes. — D. Lewis Burning Master filmmaker Lee Chang-dong assails South Korea’s current image-obsessed culture in an intriguing but ultimately frustrating tale of a young rural wannabe writer caught in the strange orbit of a Gatsby-like rich guy and his girlfriend, a onetime schoolmate of the writer with whom he is in love. It’s at times absorbing, but the intentionally obtuse second half leads to an ending that satisfies no one, especially after 2½ hours. Not rated. 148 minutes.

— G. Allen Johnson Can You Ever Forgive Me? Melissa McCarthy is terrific in this reallife story of the writer Lee Israel who, after the collapse of her literary career, found a lucrative second career as the forger of letters by historical people. Directed by Marielle Heller, it’s a film of wit and atmosphere and about the most twisted rags-to-riches story you could ever hope to see. Rated R. 106 minutes.

— M. LaSalle

Capernaum Programmed, slick and maudlin neo-neorealist film about the mean streets of Beirut. With a gripping lead performance by 14-year-old Zain Al Rafeea, a Syrian refugee; his energy recalls JeanPierre Leaud in Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows.” The filmmakers have not made a call to action, but a calling card for them-