Movie & Television Reviews

For better or worse, the sports biopic “The Smashing Machine” (A24) registers as a highly realistic film. With both a real-life figure as its focus and a documentary as its source material, that may be unsurprising. But the low-key, unsensational approach adopted by writer-director Benny Safdie ultimately produces varied results.

Returning to the big screen for the first time in nearly eight years in “Anemone,” Daniel Day-Lewis plays this central figure, Ray Stoker. Day-Lewis also co-wrote the screenplay with his son, Ronan, who directed the film.

“Light of the World” (Salvation Poem Project), an animated recounting of the Gospel story, provides an excellent vehicle for delivering its fundamental message in an easily absorbed manner. Although the film includes material that would be too frightening for tots, more mature youngsters are its appropriate target audience.