‘THE ACCIDENTAL GETAWAY DRIVER’: In 2016, three men escaped from an Orange County jail, and then, out of options, called a cab. The driver who showed up was an elderly Vietnamese man, Long Mã, a divorced war veteran, whom they kidnapped and held hostage during a weeklong ordeal, the escapees and their captive evading arrest by hiding out in Southern California motel rooms. Mã’s experience was elaborated in a 2017 GQ article by Paul Kix. It described the unique bond he formed with Bac Duong, one of his kidnappers, a Vietnamese national, and the terror he experienced at the hands of Hossein Nayeri, the ringleader. This wild story has now been brought to the screen by co-writer and director Sing J. Lee, in a lyrical and meditative adaptation that focuses on mood and feeling, rather than action-oriented suspense. “The Accidental Getaway Driver” seeks not to elucidate the facts of this true-crime tale, but rather to imagine Mã’s state of mind during it, which is emotionally evocative but hinders the viewing experience as the film grinds to a halt for meandering asides. The performances are moving, but it does feel like the film loses steam under its own conceit, despite the wealth and narrative richness of the material at hand. 1:42. 2 1/2 stars. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

‘IN THE LOST LANDS’: There’s something strangely moving about the filmography of Paul W.S. Anderson and his muse, wife Milla Jovovich. The couple have been making absolutely flabbergasting sci-fi and fantasy B movies for 23 years. Perhaps Anderson’s love language is making his wife act against a green screen, and it seems to be working, at least for their marriage, if not the cinematic results. Their latest effort is “In the Lost Lands,” a postapocalyptic fantasy Western based on a George R.R. Martin short story, with a screenplay by Anderson and Constantin Werner. The entire thing looks like a steampunk “300” with nods to George Miller’s “Mad Max” movies, but rendered almost entirely in gray scale. With pops of red, fiery accents and an overly stylized digital look. It’s an eyesore, but it’s an eyesore like no other, which makes it distinctive, at least. Truly, there is no one who does vulgar auteurism like Anderson. The man is committed to his sci-fi/fantasy sometimes video game adaptation dreck — and his wife — and one can’t help but be moved by devotion like that. 1:41. 1 1/2 stars. — Katie Walsh

‘LAST BREATH’: There’s an enduring appeal to the survival thriller. Stories of daring adventure, freak accidents and the sheer endurance required to survive are reminders of the resilience of the human spirit. But in “Last Breath,” a new film based on the true story of a 2012 diving accident in the North Sea, the humanity of the story is subtly pitched against something more threatening to life itself: mechanized automation. “Last Breath” is directed by Alex Parkinson, who co- directed the 2019 documentary of the same name about the same event. In 2012, a team of saturation divers in the North Sea, off the coast of Scotland, were repairing underground oil rigging when one of the diver’s “umbilical” cables snapped in rough weather, stranding him on the seabed, 300 feet underwater, with only a few minutes of backup oxygen. This sturdy, solid thriller underscores that at their core, survival stories are always stories of humanity’s best, and the impossible things we can achieve when we work together. 1:33. 3 stars. — Katie Walsh

‘THE MONKEY’: Oz Perkins’ latest film, “The Monkey,” based on a Stephen King short story, is about how siblings might handle generational trauma, family curses and the horrid randomness of death. “The Monkey” is a horrific fable in King’s signature style in that children endure terrifying events in the state of Maine, and a sense of unyielding sadness is streaked throughout this tale (Perkins balances that sorrow with dry humor). Twin brothers Hal and Bill (played as children by Christian Convery; Theo James as adults) find a wind-up toy monkey in the effects of their long-lost pilot father, who has abandoned them and their mother, Lois (Tatiana Maslany). Bill winds up the monkey, it plays its drum and then very, very bad things start happening, such as their babysitter dropping dead before their eyes. In an attempt to direct the monkey’s ire at his bullying brother, Hal turns the monkey’s key; soon they are orphans, living with their Aunt Ida and Uncle Chip (Perkins — he saves the worst death for his own character). The true curse of winding the monkey is that you’ll never be harmed, it’s just everyone around you who will, resulting in a life of isolation and loneliness; a secretive cloud of shame hanging over Hal and Bill in adulthood. The message is clear: “Everybody dies,” as Lois tells her boys, and that’s something we have to learn to live with. Generational trauma can be contained if it is acknowledged. The randomness of death is not something anyone can control. Executed with panache, “The Monkey” is a droll and stylish expression of these sentiments, yet there is still something about this gory fable that feels a bit like an exercise, rather than an epic. It’s too glib to fully penetrate, but sometimes, all you can do is laugh in the face of death. 1:38. 3 stars. — Katie Walsh

‘MICKEY 17’: Set 29 years from now, writer-director Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17” imagines a world beyond ours because Earth isn’t worth the trouble anymore. Failed politician Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) gains a new lease on his career by leading a cultlike space colonization mission to the icy planet Niflheim. And there they are: Niflheim’s mysterious, oversized, toothy bugs, the native life forms of indeterminate hostility, nicknamed “creepers” by the visiting humans. The human at the center of “Mickey 17” is Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), a genial sad-sack who has volunteered for the mission because loan sharks are trying to kill him on Earth, along with his dubious friend (Steven Yeun). As an Expendable, Mickey takes the single lowest rung on the job ladder. He’s a human guinea pig on a “Groundhog Day” sort of work schedule: In the interest of science, Expendables are exposed to various lethal threats, poison gas or radiation, etc. Mickey dies many times, and then is reborn. A new body, just like Mickey’s old one, comes out of a reprinting machine, with all his memories and features intact. The technology making this possible, along with some unauthorized cloning, has caused a bit of a fuss back on Earth — but off-Earth? Not a problem. No federal oversight to worry about. The equipment on the spaceship may be a little wonky — in one of the film’s better running gags, the human reprinter machine clearly needs some oiling, and makes noises like a 2003-era Hewlett Packard paper printer — but for Mickey, it’s a living. Dying, but a living. 2:17. 2 1/2 stars. — Michael Phillips

RATINGS: The movies listed are rated according to the following key: 4 stars, excellent; 3 stars, good; 2 stars, fair; 1 star, poor.