While the wide-release market may be thin this week in anticipation of Doctor Strange, the limited release market has a few gems if you are lucky.

By Sean Blanford

In Theaters (Wide Release)
Memory: This week’s only wide release is our second Liam Neeson action film in less than three months. In Memory, Neeson stars as Alex Lewis, an assassin on the run from the FBI after he refuses to do a job. Monica Bellucci and Gu Pierce co-star, and it is a re-make of the 2003 Belgian film The Memory of a Killer.

In Theaters (Limited)
Hatching: Premiering at Sundance 2022 and quickly snapped up by IFC Midnight, Hatching is a horror film from Finland and stars Siiri Solalinna in her feature film debut. Solalinna plays Tinja, the daughter in the ideal family; at least, that’s what they portray online. Pushed to be perfect by her mother (Sophia Heikkila) and not supported by her father (Jani Volanen) or younger brother (Oiva Ollila), she turns to the one thing she never thought she would: the bird monster she hatches from an egg she finds in the woods. Hatching is also available on VOD.

Vortex: Premiering at Cannes 2021, the latest from Gaspar Noe is a story close to his heart. After personally suffering a near-fatal brain hemorrhage, Noe developed the story of a married couple (Dario Argento and Francoise Lebrun) whose love for each other remains strong while they succumb to dementia.

Netflix
Bubble: Not to be confused with the latest Judd Apatow film, The Bubble, Bubble is an anime film by Attack on Titan director Tetsuro Araki. After Tokyo is cut off from the rest of Japan and the outside world, a group of young people is brought together while also experiencing mind-bending situations when a young girl named Uta with mysterious powers enters their lives.

Hulu
Crush: A feel-good coming-of-age romantic comedy, Crush tells the story of an aspiring artist who joins the school’s track team but finds herself falling in love with one of her teammates. The film stars Rowan Blanchard (Girl Meets World) and Auli’i Cravalho and is the feature directorial debut of Sammi Cohen.