This French sci-fi film plays on elements of claustrophobia and suspense to deliver a compelling, though limited, tale. Oxygen takes a big risk by reducing its settings, outside of a few flashbacks, to a single, coffin-sized pod. The film banks on the emotion conveyed by star Mélanie Laurent, alone with a camera close on her face and interacting solely with other voices. Laurent does a convincing job transmitting fear, anger, shock, resignation, and more. For fans of the genre, viewers interested in the futuristic concepts here, and/or fans of Laurent, this will all be enough. For others, the film may feel too limited to maintain interest for the full hour and 40 minutes, even despite plot twists and a cleverly-controlled unspooling of the mystery surrounding the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the character and her unusual predicament. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

If you take this quirky movie from Austria as a kind of throwback to the goofy but not entirely scary teen-led mysteries of the 1980s, you may just enjoy yourself. The Strange House mixes silly humor, some of it quite local and much of it based in the character of nerdy Fritz, with campy terror, complete with possessed kids and comically creepy neighbors. But if you don't know this going in, the set-up could throw you off and give you the erroneous sensation you're in an actual horror film. What gives the movie its retro feeling? It could be the innocence of the teens (including a budding romance with one chaste kiss), their relative independence to roam around town (think Stranger Things), and their multi-age teamwork in cracking the case (those meddling kids!). Or maybe it's the stereotyped baddies and single-mom family (E.T.-like). It might also be the synthesizer music that creeps in repeatedly. The combination works if you're open to it; if you're looking for real scares, you should look elsewhere. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

This frothy film about the #lifelessons an Instagram influencer learns during Carnival in Brazil is as superficial as it sounds, but its postcard-perfect setting and gorgeous cast are easy to watch. Scenes from the massive, pulsating street parties of Brazil's Carnaval are captivating, and viewers get a tour of some of the locations, people, and traditions of the gorgeous coastal city of Salvador de Bahia when the women are invited to explore tour guide "Salvador's Salvador." The sexy setting and cast offset a predictable story arc. Of course Nina will risk losing what's truly important to her in her single-minded pursuit of Insta followers. Obviously she needs to put down her phone and learn to enjoy what's "real." Curiously, two other recent Brazilian films -- Love.com and Airplane Mode -- took on similar themes. The actors give it their best effort, especially charismatic lead Cordeiro, but they're straddled with surprisingly one-dimensional characters. The women are drawn in broad strokes -- the social one, the promiscuous one, the quiet one, and the nerdy one (whose actions are often accompanied by her own synthesizer riff to underscore she's, yep, the nerdy one). Their biggest concerns during this film are having the right bracelet and the right eyeshadow for the right parties. The men are mostly there as topless eye candy. A late twist on Freddy's character offers some welcome depth, but it comes a little late. Still, If you take this film at face value, meaning you enjoy watching beautiful people partying in gorgeous settings, getting gussied up in glittery costumes, and making out with each other, then go ahead and click on Carnaval. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

Uplifting films about kids discovering themselves through sport are not new, but this one takes on deeper significance thanks to its setting. Skater Girl is successful precisely because it's location-specific but has universal messages. Some of those messages may feel obvious -- of course girls deserve equal opportunities and to decide their own destinies -- but the setting gives them a new urgency. When Prerna, played by magnetic newcomer Rachel Saanchita Gupta, rides a skateboard for the first time, the way her eyes and face light up says it all. The freedom, the excitement, the fun she experiences is a complete novelty and wakes her up to a life of new possibilities. It's hard to imagine a film in any other context infusing quite so much meaning to riding a skateboard down a street. When her mother pulls Prerna's red wedding veil down over her face, it's symbolic of a shutting down of those possibilities, a closing off of her dreams, and it represents just how much she now has to lose. This film isn't based on a true story, but it was inspired by similar ones. The Indian village is depicted as a place where unspoken rules of caste and gender discrimination still reign, but kids everywhere just want to play and explore. Prerna's brother Ankush (adorable Shafin Patel) embodies this innocence -- he's not yet burdened by the rules of society and doesn't fully understand or abide by them. He even puts on a nonviolent, pro-skating protest inspired by Gandhi. The village is decrepit -- houses with holes in the roofs and single beds kids must share, abandoned buildings -- but it has its own beauty that the camera captures in contrasting the luster of the local women's flowing, jewel-toned clothing against white-washed and sun-soaked stone edifices. The film isn't without flaws. Parts of the plot feel rushed to get from point to point, Jessica's story of searching for her roots doesn't feel fully resolved, the fairy godmother character deserved more development, and dialogues, particularly between the White characters, can feel a bit forced. But you'll easily forgive those flaws when you get caught up in the sweetness and positivity of this story. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

Not every teen romance catches the blend of exuberance and awkwardness of youth with as much as authenticity as this film. Set in Turkey, Last Summer watches its characters experiment with alcohol and sex without judging them for it. When they come to a new level of maturity at the end of summer, we believe it. The film shows this innocence and growth in ways both obvious -- siblings forgoing a final night of partying for a last family dinner -- and symbolic, like Deniz stripping off a scab once and for all. The lead actors, particularly those playing Deniz and Asli, are totally credible as teens figuring out who they are. In one perceptive scene, they both say their only wish for when they grow up is to not be like their parents. Deniz's mindless habit of stacking random items he finds and balancing them on each other feels symbolic as well of his figuring out what he can and cannot control in life. When their dad offers his middle-aged wisdom that there is "always something to discover" as you grow up, it feels like a summary of the story being told here. The teen years are indeed full of angst and mischief, but they mostly end happily. It could be lost on non-local audiences why the film is set in 1997 because the story feels relevant and contemporary, minus cell phones, and the seaside summer setting is both beautiful and a perfect backdrop for this coming-of-age tale of freedom and growth. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

Billed as a "dramedy," this French Canadian film sometimes struggles to balance its tone between comedy and drama, but while the humor lightens the mood, its more serious scenes and ideas give it life. Some of the comedy in The Guide to the Perfect Family hits its mark, most involving overprotective helicopter parents and their entitled results. A mom can barely balance the body of her large 5-year-old on her lap while breastfeeding him; parents demand specialized individual treatment from a teacher; a dad ends a conflictive card-guessing game alone with a card of Hitler on his head, unbeknownst to him; a pumpkin spice-chugging millennial employee finds actually working at his job too emotionally taxing. The fact that many of these gags are so goofy do work to lighten the overall mood of the film and make it more approachable, but in doing so they also threaten to undermine the very serious message it aims to convey. That message is embodied in the father-daughter pair played exceptionally well by Louis Morissette and Emilie Bierre. A couple of scenes involving just the two of them are the film's highlights, one where they fight over what music to listen to on a car ride and another where their resentment and anger floats to the surface during an outing on a lake. We see the world through both of their eyes, as well as through their social media worlds, and it's possible viewers will sympathize with one or the other depending on their own station in life. Another dialogue involving a grandfather comparing his parenting style with his two grown sons, both also now fathers, brings in a third generation's view. What's more important than whether any one generation is actually right about the best way to parent is how they find common ground and see each other's perspective that counts. That's a lesson parents and teens alike can take away. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

This soapy love story works despite many shortcomings thanks to honest performances from its lead actors and the gorgeous snapshot of Bali and many of its local customs. Nadya Arina and Refal Hady make the deep attraction between Saska and Rio feel sweet and real in A Perfect Fit. This relationship carries the film, which starts out on wobbly feet with some ill-timed comedy, overwrought dialogues, and awkward background music. The music doesn't go away, unfortunately, giving the film more of a soap opera feel than necessary. But as you begin to care about the fate of the two main characters and settle into the postcard-perfect scenery, dotted with picturesque local customs highlighted and often explained by characters, you can't help but find this film a pleasant and engaging watch. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

A violent terrorist hijacking of a plane is apparently no longer enough of a plot for a feature-length movie. In Blood Red Sky, run-of-the-mill terrorists meet their match at cruising altitude in bloodthirsty vampires. Though it's never quite clear why the gang of thugs has hijacked the plane (to goose the stock market? sway elections?), a vampire's lust for blood is made extremely patent. The same might be said of Blood Red Sky's production design -- this is one exceptionally bloody movie. By the time the special forces enter the landed aircraft at the film's end, the entire tube is splattered red and scattered with mutilated bodies. You'll need a strong stomach to make it through the full two hours. But, perhaps surprisingly given the campy premise (and some genre staples, like the cry, "Does anyone on board know how to fly?!"), the character drama keeps you attentive. Since we know from the prologue that the plane will in fact land and the little boy will get off in one piece, it's the mother-son bond that provides the suspense. Nadja's love for Elias barely inhibits her from going full vampire, and his dedication to her prompts unexpected bravery. Peri Baumeister's performance as Nadja is largely physical, while young Carl Anton Koch carries the film's heavy emotional load and Kais Setti offers a compelling turn as Farid, the intelligent observer. The blend of accents and languages on this transatlantic thriller also feels novel for the genre. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

Van Damme proves again his prowess with both physical action and self effacing humor in this French spoof. Fans of the action hero will be satisfied with The Last Mercenary's nearly two hours of martial arts, weaponry, and car chases. But the film offers more by way of its self aware spoofing of the genre. There are fun references to other movies and goofy asides, like The Mist's frequent use of wise but also somewhat meaningless proverbs from world cultures. Van Damme's character is also a master of ridiculous disguise. Paris is on display in the background of this film, which has at least one line of patriotism in the script. The ragtag team of mercenaries, who stop occasionally to strike action-hero poses, all grow individually as a result of their group effort, and the father-son bonding between Van Damme's "The Mist" and his grown but coddled and estranged son Archie offers a sweet storyline. Supporting cast, particularly Alban Ivanov as the bumbling do-gooder agent and Assa Sylla as the tough and clever local survivor, create charming secondary characters. It's also refreshing to see two older women -- played by veterans Miou Miou and Valerie Kaprisky -- in key roles. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

This action-packed thriller aims to exploit the unexpected, offering a suspenseful watch with a unique combination of storyline, location, and actors. As such, viewers would be wise to read little and avoid spoilers to get the most out of the novelty of Beckett, which will diminish on repeat viewings. The film's Italian director and producer seem aware that this part of Europe is too often depicted on international screens as little more than a sunlit tourist destination, and they send Beckett scrambling over rocky cliffs and through rural villages far from Greece's iconic Mediterranean islands, on his way to a sprawling, monument-free Athens. Likewise, the decision not to translate or subtitle chunks of conversations between Greek characters adds to a feeling of "foreign-ness" and additional suspense for viewers who don't speak Greek. The political backstory of this movie might feel complicated to some viewers, but anyone with a passing interest in European politics will recognize real-to-life themes, and the plot is painted in very broad strokes mostly as justification for the action. Choosing a Black actor for the lead role in a film with no other Black characters, despite a medley of nationalities and accents among secondary actors, might have been used to add layers to the characterization. But instead the film takes pains to avoid any treatment of race. When he considers overdosing on sedatives or suffers panic attacks, Beckett's Everyman profile is reinforced, but the character's key emotions and Washington's performance here are mostly limited to fear, confusion, and pain. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

This Italian romantic drama really picks up in the second half when it stops trying so hard to be quirky and settles into a sincere love story. Out of My League seems to have borrowed a few pages out of the Amelie playbook (the 2001 French hit) -- from the eccentric protagonist with a pageboy haircut to the film's red/green/yellow palette and accordion music. The difference is that Amelie was appealing because she wanted to do good in the world, while League's Marta just wants to "do" a handsome guy. She's looking for a romantic experience before she dies, so you understand her single-mindedness, but the build-up to their first date is an awkward jumble of forced scenes. There are some funny one-liners (there's "more dignity in being rejected by someone out of my league") and a cute bit involving how she transforms her job reading daily grocery store discounts over a loudspeaker into a sexy voice performance. Marta's best friends slash housemates slash substitute parents are annoyingly available at her every whim -- don't these people have day jobs? Marta warns us at the start that this isn't like those trendy teen tearjerkers where the dying kid is perfect and popular. But, in fact, Marta is adorable. This is hit home during a montage where she auditions a variety of first date outfits. When the handsome, wealthy Arturo falls for her, it's a lot less surprising than the film wants us to believe. And when her illness inevitably comes between them, it's as heartbreaking as the film intends. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

From its sweet, energetic stars to its funny and occasionally earnest commentary on crossing cultures and discovering oneself, this Brazilian comedy is kooky and charming. One of the surprises in The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student is that it maintains its upbeat pace and keeps the laughs coming throughout. Just when you think a flashback about a boy's love affair with his au pair or a subplot about a crazy missing daughter might awkwardly derail the proceedings, they manage to work their way into the admittedly meandering storyline in an amusing and meaningful way. The glue holding the film together is the positive energy and genuine affability of the lead actors, particularly Brazilians Manoela, Lopes, and Montaleone. Diary also makes some insightful commentary about cross-cultural experiences. We see the US through the Brazilians' eyes -- Taila's conspiracy theories about the American imperialists undermining her country, Barbara's excitement seeing yellow school buses just like in the movies, the family who seems to subsist on bacon, and the apparent injustices of the US immigration system. Zoraia's comment that when you live abroad, you're always missing a piece of something from one or the other of your homes, is so astute. It's also refreshing to see American actors struggling to speak a language not their own, rather than the reverse, which also happens here but isn't as unusual to see on screen. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.