A Kind of Hades 

One of the great achievements of this film is its ability to challenge the mind and to force you to try to process information in a different way than you’re used to.

Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing is a gritty, darkly funny thrill ride through 1998 New York, with Austin Butler delivering a raw, magnetic turn as Hank Thompson—a washed-up ex-ballplayer turned bartender whose life implodes after cat-sitting for his punk neighbor drags him into a violent underworld of gangsters, crooked cops, and chaos. Brutal yet unexpectedly hilarious, the film blends noir grit with midnight-movie absurdity, proving Aronofsky can reinvent himself while Butler cements his status as a true movie star.

Kat Wahlen’s The Whiteboard tells, or rather shows, a delightful love story between two young women who meet in detention.

Although Christmas is a time of year for love and cheer for all, holiday cinema has not always represented diverse communities. Being a holiday with Christian origins, much of its media consists of straight white families or straight white romances. Luckily, modern years have been bringing with them plenty of POC and LGBTQ+ representation that the holidays so desperately need.

The accountant in question is Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), who’s neurodivergent. We know this because at a dating event, he bores women with tax advice. He also places his breakfast foods in neat stacks and has no friends.

"Up" features one of Pixar's few Asian-American heroes and explores the institutionalized hardships elderly people face. Also, Dug is a good boy.