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47 Meters Down This tension-filled horrorthriller, about two sisters trapped in an underwater shark cage, has its share of implausible moments, but much of the time, it’s genuinely terrifying. Rated PG-13. 89 minutes. — D. Lewis

Alien: Covenant The latest from Ridley Scott is an effective monster film with interesting overtones dealing with the fear of artificial intelligence. Michael Fassbender is superb in a dual role, playing two different robots. Rated PG. 122 minutes. — M. LaSalle

All Eyez on Me Biographical drama about rapper Tupac Shakur. Starring Demetrius Shipp Jr. Not reviewed. Rated R. 140 minutes.

Baby Driver Edgar Wright’s action movie, starring Ansel Elgort as a talented young getaway driver, is propulsive and fun, full of surprises and delights. The gimmick of a very pervasive soundtrack wears a bit, but this is an entertaining genre movie. Rated R. 113 minutes. — M. LaSalle

Band Aid Zoe ListerJones marks herself as a genuine triple threat, writing, directing and starring in this slight but well-observed story of a husband and wife who find comfort and artistic fulfillment in writing songs that re-enact their arguments. Not rated. 94 minutes.

— M. LaSalle

Beatriz at Dinner A kindhearted holistic healer (Salma Hayek) winds up at a fancy dinner party with a billionaire creep (John Lithgow) and is unable to control her anger at the depredations of the rich. It’s all pretty heavy-handed, and the dice are loaded completely on the side of the healer. Hayek is good, but the whole affair is simplistic. Rated R. 83 minutes. — W. Addiego

The Beguiled Though interesting for a time, Sofia Coppola’s style piece sucks life, energy and nuance out of this story, based on Thomas Cullinan’s novel, about the destabilizing effect that a handsome Union soldier, convalescing from battle wounds, has on residents of a girl’s school in Virginia during the Civil War. Starring Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Colin Farrell. Rated R. 109 minutes. — M. LaSalle

The Big Sick Kumail Nanjiani co-wrote (with his wife, Emily V. Gordon) and stars in this romantic comedy, based on his own life, about a romance that is interrupted by the woman’s getting sick and

falling into a coma. Funny, unexpected, human and appealing, it features winning performances by Nanjiani and especially Zoe Kazan, who is asleep for most of the film. Rated R. 120 minutes.

— M. LaSalle The Book of Henry Naomi Watts plays the single mom of two young boys, one of whom is a genius (Jaeden Lieberher) who begins to suspect that a neighboring police official is abusing his stepdaughter. It’s a blend of tearjerker and thriller that offers an appealing portrait of the mother’s loving relationship with her sons. But the movie is less satisfying when conveying the more downbeat material, showing an unappealing streak of self-righteousness. Rated PG-13. 105 minutes.

— W. Addiego

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

Dav Pilkey’s creation “Captain Underpants” is a very popular book series that doesn’t seamlessly translate to the big screen, and the filmmakers can’t solve this problem. Despite moments where the writing is strong, the animated comedy is a little too dark, a little too nihilistic, a little too empty. Rated PG. 89 minutes. — P. Hartlaub

Cars 3 The third entry in this Pixar series is one too many, with Lightning McQueen — the red car voiced by Owen Wilson — going through a midlife crisis having to do with not being as fast as he used to be. This is a long film that feels longer, with many sequences consisting of nothing but racing, but Pixar’s sterling production values give it something of a lift. Rated G. 119 minutes.

— M. LaSalle

Churchill Brian Cox plays Winston Churchill during an atypical juncture of his life, one in which he was not just worried but wrong, anticipating disaster in the days leading up to D-Day in 1944. The movie has too many similar scenes, and though Cox is the right age and size for Churchill, he lacks the wartime leader’s wit and lovableness — though that may be a consequence of the movie, in which he gets little chance to do anything but fret. Rated PG. 105 minutes.

— M. LaSalle

Despicable Me 3 The latest installment in the juggernaut series, about an ex-villain who now chases super-villains, has cute characters, some clever set pieces and dazzling animation, but this time around, the story appears to have been lost in the shuffle. It’s competent, but rather joyless. Rated PG. 90 minutes. — D. Lewis

Guardians of the

Galaxy Vol. 2 This second installment improves on the first by concentrating on the comedy. It’s like a postmodern take on the sci-fi action film genre, with Kurt Russell showing up this time as Ego, the long-lost father of Peter (Chris Pratt). It’s a pretty good action movie, but it’s also one of the funniest movies of the season. Rated PG-13. 138 minutes.

— M. LaSalle

Harmonium In this riveting, masterfully executed drama, bad karma pays a visit to a family — and overstays its welcome. It’s bleak, yet it remains engrossing throughout with its genuinely surprising twists and outstanding acting. Not rated. 120 minutes. In Japanese with English subtitles. — D. Lewis

The House Comedy with Will Farrell and Amy Poehler about a couple who start an illegal casino in the basement of their home. Not reviewed. Rated R. 128 minutes.

It Comes at Night It might come at night, but you can stay home from this stretched-out horror/ apocalyptic tale that never gets much past its opening premise, that in some future time society will collapse and everyone will be fending for themselves — and fighting off everyone else. Watching it is as fun as being there. Starring Joel Edgerton. Rated R. 97 minutes. — M. LaSalle

The Journey This drama takes a real-life historical event — a 2006 agreement to end the Northern Ireland dispute — and imagines it as a road trip/buddy movie between two political foes. The construct is a bit forced, but the winning performances make the excursion worthwhile. Rated PG-13. 94 minutes.

— D. Lewis

Letters From Baghdad Absorbing documentary

about Gertrude Bell, often called the female Lawrence of Arabia, and her role in the making of the modern Middle East. Taken from actual correspondence and journals by Bell and her fiends and colleagues, with Tilda Swinton as the voice of Bell, and filled with archival photographs and film footage, directors Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum intimately evoke Baghdad, Syria and London in the first two decades of the 20th century. Not rated. 95 minutes.

— G. Allen Johnson

Manifesto This movie’s concept no doubt sounded better on paper than it plays on the screen. In 13 varied guises, Cate Blanchett recites provocative passages from numerous artistic manifestos. Because of the material’s intensity, the overall effect is numbing — all these radical proclamations blend together and begin to sound like the free-floating rage of an adolescent. Not rated. 95 minutes.

— W. Addiego

Maudie This year’s example of the Vera Drake

Syndrome in action — a movie that has no life and vitality but that you feel guilty for disliking because it tells the story of a nice person — is a biopic about the Canadian artist Maud Lewis (a relentlessly poignant Sally Hawkins) who, if you believe this movie, went through life without a single interesting thing happening to her. Deadly. Rated PG-13. 115 minutes.

— M. LaSalle

Moka Emmanuelle Devos drives this slow-burning French thriller/character study as a grieving mother hunting down the couple who killed her son in a hit-and-run accident, and gets to know the woman (Nathalie Baye) she thinks is responsible. In French with English subtitles. Not rated. 90 minutes.

— G. Allen Johnson

The Mummy Tom Cruise gives this movie a lift, and so do some superb early sequences and the casting of Annabelle Wallis as an Egyptologist. However, the movie bogs down in action-movie no-