In a commendable effort to avoid sensationalism in his dramatization of allegedly real events, set in the Midwest in 1928, director and co-writer David Midell downplays the chills and icky special effects to concentrate on more cerebral matters.

In rural Limerick, three teenage brothers are turning Lego into a tool for evangelization as Blessed Carlo Acutis continues to inspire a new generation of digital evangelists.

One thing seems certain about the exorcism-themed movie “The Ritual” (XYZ); it is not intended as the first installment in a franchise.

The Grim Reaper will have his revenge on those who try to cheat him of his haul. Such is the dubious message of the franchise whose sixth installment, “Final Destination Bloodlines” (Warner Bros.), maintains the series’ high splatter factor while throwing in some “moral” posturing that only makes the film more repellant.

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.

“Lilo & Stitch” (Disney) is the latest yield of a long-term project on the part of the Mouse House to remake some of their more popular animated features of the past into live-action films. The result in this instance is a morally sound but shrill updating of a well-received — and, in some quarters, cherished — 2002 release.

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.

Considered strictly as a piece of cinema, the genre-mashing feature “Sinners” (Warner Bros.) can be acknowledged to be a successful production in several respects. But assessed ethically from the standpoint of a Scripture-based worldview, writer-director Ryan Coogler’s film is critically deficient.

Tom Cruise takes his eighth turn as infinitely resourceful spy Ethan Hunt in the grand-scale adventure “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” (Paramount).

More than 20 years ago, Kate Stapleton stood on the shores of Lake Michigan and made the heart-wrenching decision to place her daughter for adoption. What happened afterward is captured in the new documentary “The Inner Sea” — a film Kate believes may be the first directed by and created from the perspective of a birth mother.