The attempt to put Santa Claus in the middle of a lot of frenetic brawling and then wrap the whole thing up with a climactic sleigh chase leads to a hopelessly unbalanced tone in this ill-conceived holiday offering.

Co-writers and directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ chiller “Heretic” (A24) probes the nature of faith.

Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.

Gentle and family-oriented, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” (Lionsgate) offers top-flight holiday entertainment for a wide range of age groups. In adapting author Barbara Robinson’s 1972 children’s novel, helmer Dallas Jenkins blends wry humor and touching drama while also successfully conveying some valuable insights.

Designed to present a portion of the Gospel narrative to fans of mixed martial arts fighting and heavy metal music, the biblical drama “The Carpenter” (Purdie) adds a whole new meaning to the term muscular Christianity.

A trilogy of Marvel Comics adaptations that launched in 2018 comes to a dull close with “Venom: The Last Dance” (Columbia). Hobbled by the apparent exhaustion of the franchise’s trademark wit, writer-director Kelly Marcel’s wrap-up feels less like a waltz out the door than a stagger to the finish line.

Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.

Donn Fendler’s story is recounted in the restrained dramatization “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” (Blue Fox). Though the lad’s experience was a harrowing one, this look back at it is ultimately a life-affirming tale about the power of perseverance.

Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty talks with Holy Cross Father David Guffey, national director and head of production at Family Theater Productions about the work it produces, and about a new film that will begin airing in November on PBS stations, “Playing Like a Girl: The House that Rob Built.”

A filmmaker and graduate of Miami Catholic schools with a new documentary film about Guatemalan-Mayan immigration to the U.S. said her project brought clarity to her own immigrant history as a Venezuelan American.