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Arrival Director Denis Villeneuve casts aside almost every “Independence Day,” “E.T.” and “Contact” cliche, and makes a science fiction epic that breaks free of genre shoe-boxing. Amy Adams is a linguistics professor who races against the clock to make conversation with aliens. Better to leave the rest to surprise. The film is tightly calibrated, but leaves things open to interpretation, for discussion on the ride home from the theater and beyond. Rated PG-13. 116 minutes.

— P. Hartlaub

The Bye Bye Man This horror film about a ghoul who kills people who say his name out loud feels off, as if along with the souls of the college kids in the movie, the bad guy made off with about 20 pivotal minutes of film as well. Moments of humor fall flat, and crucial plot points are unintentionally hilarious. Rated PG-13. 96 minutes. — P. Hartlaub

Chronic Drama about an in-home male nurse who works with terminally ill patients. Stars Tim Roth. Not reviewed. Rated R. 92 minutes.

The Eagle Huntress A remarkable and entertaining documentary about a 13-year-old Kazakh girl who trains to become the first female practitioner of the Mongolian art and sport of eagle hunting (that is, using an eagle as a hunting aid). More background information would have been helpful, but this is a very good first feature from Otto Bell. Rated G. 87 minutes. — W. Addiego

Elle The latest from Paul Verhoeven (“Basic Instinct”), which is also France’s foreign film entry in the Oscar sweepstakes, provides a signature role for Isabelle Huppert as a woman who is brutally raped in the movie’s opening sequence and seems bizarrely unaffected. A genuinely perverse and arresting character study. Rated R. 130 minutes. In French with English subtitles. — M. LaSalle

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Eddie Redmayne’s excellent performance is emblematic of a “Harry Potter” spin-off that manages to clone the vibe of the earlier films, even as it aggressively distances itself from Hogwarts. It’s a safe and frequently enchanting experience. But there’s also a sense that the filmmakers were locked in their own Azkaban-style prison, forced at wand-point to replicate a product that has become its own industry. Rated PG-13. 133 minutes. — P. Hartlaub Fences Brilliantly written (by playwright August Wilson) and directed by Denzel Washington, this is one for the ages, alongside “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “A Streetcar Named Desire” as one of the handful of great movies made from great plays. The ensemble work is flawless, highlighted by Denzel Washington and Viola Davis as a working-class couple in the Pittsburgh of the 1950s. Rated PG-13. 138 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Hacksaw Ridge This latest bloodbath from Mel Gibson — a war movie that makes the first half-hour of “Saving Private Ryan” look like a folk music concert — is also one of the year’s best movies, the truelife story of a pacifist medic who achieved extraordinary heroism in World War II’s Pacific Theater. Andrew Garfield is terrific in the lead role. Rated R. 131 minutes.

— M. LaSalle

Hidden Figures Hidden Figures: A by-thebooks historical piece, about black women mathematicians working in NASA’s early days, the film is enlivened by the three principal actresses, Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Octavia Spencer, and by Kevin Costner, who is the perfect vision of the early 1960s man. Rated PG. 127 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Jackie Natalie Portman plays Jacqueline Kennedy as an insecure weirdo in this unintentionally laughable and relentlessly dull reverie on Mrs. Kennedy’s White House years, told mostly in flashback, in random order. It’s a movie without drama or impact, made worse by absurd casting choices (including Peter Sarsgaard as Bobby Kennedy). Rated R. 99 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Julieta Pedro Almodovar delivers one of his best films, the story of a woman from age 25 to 56, as played by two actresses who really do seem to be inhabiting the same soul. It’s subtle, brilliantly acted and in touch with essential truths, a great film. Rated R. 99 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles. — M. LaSalle

La La Land This modern musical takes the best of the old (rich color, extended shots for the dances) and weds it to new music and a contemporary story. The result is one of the best films of the year, with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as a pair of strivers who meet in Los Angeles and try to help each other. Rated PG-13. 128 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Live by Night This story of a gangster during Prohibition in 1930s Tampa suffers from a meandering story and the miscasting, by director Ben Affleck, of himself in the lead role. But the film is more or less entertaining throughout, with a number of fine supporting performances and effective scenes. Rated R. 128 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Loving Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple whose case went to the Supreme Court after Virginia threatened to imprison them

for getting married, are the subjects of this very low-key, realistic drama that eschews the usual Hollywood heroics. It’s not a glorious story, but one of hardship and doubt that shows the difficulty of being a pioneer. Directed by Jeff Nichols. Starring Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga. Rated PG-13. 115 minutes.

— M. LaSalle

Manchester by the Sea Casey Affleck is magnificent in this portrait of a working-class guy in Massachusetts, stumbling through life in the wake of personal tragedy. Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan. Rated R. 137 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Moana A slow start keeps Disney’s latest animated adventure from reaching “Frozen” or “Beauty and the Beast” levels of excellence. But the comic self-awareness, engaging songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a fulfilling finish in the Polynesian adventure are enough to merit a strong recommendation. Walt Disney Animation Studios, which arguably hasn’t had a dud since “Meet the Robinsons” in 2007, continues its roll. Rated PG. 103 minutes.

— P. Hartlaub

A Monster Calls A gloomy but beautiful collaboration by director J.A. Bayona and screenwriter Patrick Ness, the author of the 2011 novel by the same name. Lewis MacDougall is wonderful as a boy whose mother is dying, but has a tree monster giving him therapy. Crowds will be fooled by the more upbeat movie trailers, but it’s still a satisfying film. Rated PG-13. 96 minutes.

— P. Hartlaub

Monster Trucks This family film concerns a teenager who befriends an underground creature that enjoys inhabiting big trucks. It’s a well-paced misfire. Rated PG. 104 minutes. — D. Lewis

Moonlight One of the best movies of the year, this Barry Jenkins film tells the story of a man, from childhood through young adulthood, and shows how environment can exert enormous changes on the spirit. Vigorously filmed and sensitively guided, this is beautiful work. Rated R. 110 minutes.

— M. LaSalle

Neruda A fantasia by the talented Chilean director Pablo Larrain about the 1948 pursuit of poet Pablo Neruda, for political reasons, by a dogged Chilean police officer. The poet is played robustly as a man of many contradictions, a Communist and a hedonist, an artist and a propagandist. There’s a nice twist involving the cop, played by Gael Garcia Bernal. Rated R. 117 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles. — W. Addiego

Nocturnal Animals Stylish and moody, this Tom Ford film mingles three stories in its exploration of a successful woman’s past and present. Amy Adams is superb as as a wealthy art dealer whose new life is hitting a dead end, just as a man from her old life (Jake Gyllenhaal) seems to be returning. Rated R. 117 minutes. — M. LaSalle

100 Streets Ensemble drama set in London that follows the interwoven stories of a former rugby star (Idrisd Elba), his wife (Gemma Arterton) and others. Not reviewed. Not rated. 93 minutes.

Passengers This is a well-made romantic drama, set in outer space, with Chris Pratt as a mechanic who wakes up from what was supposed to be 120 years in a hibernated state, only to find that only 30 years have passed, and he’s