“Annabelle: Creation”

R, 1:39, horror

The Devil-doll prequel “Annabelle: Creation,” while pulled together from familiar components, is uncommonly, nerve-wrackingly satisfying. The 1950s-set tale centers on orphans living in a remote, sprawling house. Its proprietor is a retired dollmaker, whose magnum opus is the titular, demented-looking poppet. Twelve years after losing their daughter, Sam and Esther Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto) open their home to six orphaned girls and a nun (Stephanie Sigman). One of the youngest girls begins to see apparitions, while the aforementioned doll just won’t stay put. On paper, “Annabelle: Creation” shouldn’t work. But to be fair, what horror movie doesn’t sound stupid when you talk about it? — Michael O’Sullivan, The Washington Post

“Dunkirk”

PG-13, 1:47, drama

Thanks to lucky breaks at an early point in World War II, between 340,000 and 400,000 Allied soldiers were rescued from the titular coastal city. Christopher Nolan’s screenplay tells three interlocking stories. On land, “The Mole” unfolds over a week’s time. A soldier in a British uniform (Fionn Whitehead) joins a desperate fray awaiting naval rescue, while Kenneth Branagh’s naval commander eyes the skies for the enemy. Story two, “The Sea,” features Mark Rylance as a sailor diving into the rescue effort. Story three, “The Air,” is where Tom Hardy leads as a Royal Air Force Spitfire pilot. Nolan creates some images worth seeing on the biggest screen possible. — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

“The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature”

PG, 1:31, animated

You’d never expect radical ideas from “The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature,” but somehow, it’s true. Surly the Squirrel (Will Arnett) and his rodent pals enjoy a feast in the basement of a closed nut shop. This abundance, however, is all too easy, and soon, the shop has been blown to smithereens, the result of an errant boiler valve. “The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature” is a indictment of capitalistic government corruption, embodied by Mayor of Oakton City (Bobby Moynihan). — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

“The Dark Tower”

PG-13, 1:34, action

“The Dark Tower” stars Idris Elba as the Gunslinger, a good man struggling to survive in what’s left of Middling-world. His nemesis is a sorcerer played by Matthew McConaughey. Back on Earth, in New York City, middle-schooler Jake is possessed by visions of the Dark Tower and a man in black and a gunman in pursuit. He learns that Manhattan is crawling with demon-y humanoids passing for human. Jake finds a portal to Mid-World in Brooklyn. Zwoop he goes, and from there “The Dark Tower” goes back and forth from Mid-Earth to midtown. It’s designed as a launching pad for a “Dark Tower” television series. So this is an hour-and-a-half TV pilot; it just happens to be a big summer movie too. — M.P.

“The Emoji Movie”

PG, 1:26, animated

The truth is that “The Emoji Movie” is exactly what you expect. When malfunctioning “meh” emoji Gene starts a glitch in Alex’s phone, he goes from app to app, hoping to reprogram himself to only express one emotion, the way emojis should. But, of course, what makes him different, his “malfunction,” is what makes him unique. Every step of the journey is to prevent Alex from restoring the phone to factory settings, destroying the world of Textopolis, where emojis live. But there’s no explanation as to why the emojis can’t just come back, if it’s all digital detritus. — K.W.