THE PACT

Dir. Nicholas McCarthy

Starring Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien

Feeling obligated to return home for the funeral of the mother she despised, Annie senses an evil presence in her childhood home. As she seeks answers about her mother’s death, she finds herself forced to face demons from her past.

SLEEPLESS NIGHT

Dir. Frederic Jardin

Starring Tomer Sisley, Joey Starr, Julien Boisselier

Vincent is one of two French cops whose bold drug heist goes bad, leading the mobster whose cocaine they’ve snatched to kidnap his son. Given one night to return the drugs to their owner, Vincent desperately tries to save the boy’s life.

“GRIPPING.”

- John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

Dir. Lynne Ramsay

Starring Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller

Eva’s relationship with her son, Kevin, has been difficult from the beginning. When the 15-year-old boy’s cruel streak erupts into violence, Eva wonders how much blame she deserves for his actions.

“Ms. Ramsay, with ruthless ingenuity, creates a deeper dread and a more acute feeling of anticipation by allowing us to think we know what is coming and then shocking us with the extent of our ignorance.”

- A.O. Scott, The New York Times

NORWEGIAN WOOD

Dir. Tran Anh Hung

Starring Ken’ichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi, Kiko Mizuhara

Set in 1969 Tokyo, this melancholic tale centers on serious young college freshman Toru Watanabe (Ken’ichi Matsuyama), whose developing relationship with childhood friend Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi) drags into the present a terrible event both would rather bury. While Naoko begins to withdraw, Toru awakens to the political and cultural tumult around him, and when he meets the intriguing Midori (Kiko Mizuhara), Toru must confront his own uncertain heart.

“This is a wonderful, passionate, well-nigh unforgettable adaptation of a great novel about the horrors of love, and the wonderful fact that at least some of us live through it and come back for more.”

- Andrew O’Hehir, Salon

RAMPART

Dir. Oren Moverman

Starring Woody Harrelson, Anne Heche, Cynthia Nixon, Robin Wright, Sigourney Weaver, Ned Beatty, Ice Cube, Ben Foster, Steve Buscemi

Dave Brown is a dirty cop with a mile-wide mean streak. As he roams the streets meting out “justice,” the LAPD sinks into a corruption scandal. The countdown to Brown’s judgment is on in this fact-based film co-written by crime novelist James Ellroy.

“Jarringly intimate…FULL OF MALIGNANT LIFE.”

- Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

HAYWIRE

Dir. Steven Soderbergh

Starring Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Bill Paxton, Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Mathieu Kassovitz

A last-minute mission in Dublin turns deadly for stunning secret operative Mallory Kane when she realizes she’s been betrayed — and that her own life is no longer safe. Now, to outwit her enemies, she’ll simply have to outlast them.

“A supremely economical, pulse-pounding and undeniably bewildering thriller, which plays like a blend of mid-’90s Hong Kong action flick and mid-’70s European crime drama.”

- Andrew O’Hehir, Salon

GOODBYE FIRST LOVE

Dir. Mia Hansen-Love

Starring Lola Creton, Sebastien Urzendowsky, Magne Brekke

In this lyrical drama, 15-year-old Camille must deal with her devastation when an older boy with whom she’s fallen in love leaves to travel through South America. Over the next few years, she grows into a young woman and tries to love again.

“An incisive, exhilaratingly frank examination of l’amour lost.”

- Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL

Dir. Brad Bird

Starring Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Ving Rhames, Lea Seydoux, Josh Holloway, Tom Wilkinson

Super-agent Ethan Hunt dangles from skyscrapers and otherwise takes daring to new heights on another operation from the Impossible Missions Force. Helping Hunt get the job done is droll fellow IMF agent Luther Stickel.

“ACTION POETRY.”

- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

SHAME

Dir. Steve McQueen

Starring Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan

Thirtysomething New Yorker Brandon is outwardly reserved, but inside is seething with an overwhelming sexual addiction. When his tempestuous and much-loved younger sister invades his life, Brandon struggles to escape his self-destructive behavior.

“It’s first and foremost a visual and sonic symphony, and a Dante-esque journey through a New York nightworld WHERE WORDS ARE MOSTLY USELESS OR WORSE.”

- Andrew O’Hehir, Salon

INTO THE ABYSS

Dir. Werner Herzog

Director Werner Herzog’s compelling documentary examines the emotional aftermath of a triple murder in Texas, interviewing the two convicted killers, their relatives, the victims’ families and law-enforcement officials involved in the case.

“An outlandish, compassionate and, at times, improbably buoyant film about life’s capacity for grief and horror and about how it bubbles on miraculously in the face of such things. IT’S THE BEST THING HERZOG’S DONE IN YEARS.”

- Alison Willmore, Movieline