Opening this week

Wednesday: Happy Death Day 2U Isn’t It Romantic Friday: Alita: Battle Angel Everybody Knows Holiday

The Invisibles Never Look Away

Can You Ever Forgive Me? Melissa McCarthy is terrific in this real-life 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 Jean-Pierre Léaud in Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows.” The filmmakers have not made a call to action, but a calling card for themselves. Rated R. 123 minutes. Reviewed by Carlos Valladares

Cold Pursuit This latest Liam Neeson action thriller has the big guy seeking revenge for the death of his son, but the usual Neeson formula is undercut by a sardonic tone in the direction, and some overplotting stalls the action. Rated R. 118 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Cold War Polish actress Joanna Kulig gets the role of a lifetime, and she responds with passion and ferocity, in this latest from director Pawel Pawlikowski, about a couple that is obsessed with each other but can’t seem to get along. It’s set in Europe in the 1950s and shot in gorgeous, glossy black and white. Rated