The years before Agnieska Holland, icon of Polish cinema, was born in 1948 placed her parents at the center of some of humanity’s worst crimes.  Her father, a non-religious Jew and a Communist activist, served in Polish resistance armies while her Catholic mother fought in the Warsaw Uprising and was named as Righteous Amongst the Nations for hiding Polish Jews.  That kind of center-of-history background has informed Holland’s work and led her to make several films about World War II and the postwar Communist regime in Poland.  With In Darkness, she tells the gripping story of another person named Righteous Among the Nations, and sculpts an impossible morality play around the role of Poles under Nazi occupation.

After an outpouring of support following a 2021 heart attack revealed him to be one of the culture’s most beloved figures, Bob Odenkirk is primed to move forward into the next logical phase of his career.  The pioneering sketch comedian turned compelling dramatic actor goes the Liam Neeson route in Nobody, staking out the next decade as one that will put Odenkirk in plenty of old-man action flicks once Better Call Saul wraps up next year.  Produced by David Leitch of John Wick fame and directed by Ilya Naishuller, Nobody recapitulates the John Wick arc of a retired violence-dealer brought back into action when his home is invaded.  Odenkirk’s a better actor than Keanu Reeves, but not as fluid a physical presence.  Nobody could’ve leaned into that distinction but the lure of mowing through goons is too tempting to pass up.  After Wick films ran out my personal bloodlust two entries ago, middle-aged white-guy brutality has run out its thread.