The Brief

A third day of protests Sunday turned Los Angeles into a "tinderbox," according to Mayor Karen Bass, as law enforcement clashed with demonstrators over a series of federal immigration raids.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a Saturday post on X that it had arrested 118 immigrants during operations in Los Angeles last week. Since then, demonstrators protesting the raids have clashed with police in Los Angeles, Paramount and neighboring Compton.

Police deployed tear gas and pepper spray as protesters gathered outside a detention center on Sunday. Some of the immigrants detained by ICE agents were initially held at the facility.

President Trump said he would deploy 2,000 National Guard soldiers in response to the protests. In a social media post, Trump attacked what he called "Radical Left protests" by "instigators and often paid troublemakers."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the Trump administration's deployment of the National Guard was not necessary and was "inflaming tensions."

Elsewhere in California, police in San Francisco said 60 people had been arrested Sunday night and at least three officers were injured when police clashed with protesters demonstrating in that city's downtown in support of the Los Angeles protests against the immigration raids.

Here's what to know about what happened in Los Angeles over the weekend.

California Highway Patrol officers work to clear protesters blocking the 101 freeway on June 8, 2025, in Los Angeles.

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1: Protesters clashed with police and troops on Sunday

In downtown Los Angeles Sunday, two protests converged near the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison where immigrants were held. The demonstrations grew rowdy and tense. NPR reporters say tear gas was deployed and an "unlawful assembly" was declared from a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter.

The police wrote on X that they were conducting arrests and people were throwing "concrete, bottles and other objects." By Sunday evening, LAist reported that Los Angeles police had arrested 10 and the California Highway Patrol arrested another 17 people on the 101 Freeway.

The LAPD also authorized the use of "less lethal munitions." Several cars were burned in the streets in connection with the clashes.

Earlier in the day, demonstrators said the protests had been mostly peaceful.

"Everybody here wants to be peaceful," Anna Benedict told LAist . "We've been standing here for quite a while, and no one is menacing the National Guard. Everybody is just standing up for their own freedom."

Demonstrators attended protests around the city. Many were responding to ICE actions from previous days.

ICE operations targeted multiple locations across the Los Angeles area, and in some cases demonstrators tried to block the transport of detained immigrants. Authorities used flash bangs, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse crowds. One particularly contentious confrontation occurred at a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, just outside Los Angeles.

"We have to stand united against the attacks on the immigrant community because an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us," Eli Lockwood told LAist .

2: Trump warned more troops could come

By Sunday morning, around 300 California National Guard troops had been deployed at three sites around Los Angeles, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, deputy director of communications for Gov. Newsom, told NPR by email.

On Sunday evening, Trump told reporters that the federal government would ensure there's "law and order." He described the Los Angeles protests as a "riot" and said that justified calling in the National Guard to support ICE agents.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X Saturday that active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton also were on high alert and would also be mobilized "if violence continues."

Trump said he could also deploy troops to more cities. ICE actions sparked protests in multiple cities across the country, including Minneapolis and Chicago.

"We're going to have troops everywhere. We're not going to let this happen to our country. We're not gonna let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden and his autopen," Trump said Sunday. (The reference to an "autopen" comes after Trump last week ordered an investigation into whether his predecessor Joe Biden used an autopen to sign documents in office).

This is the first time since the 1960s that the federal government has called up National Guard troops without a governor's consent.

Law enforcement clash with demonstrators in front of a federal building during a protest in Los Angeles on Sunday.

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Etienne Laurent

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3: Local authorities pushed back on Trump — hard

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said on All Things Considered on Sunday that coordination with federalized National Guard troops is "collaborative, at this point" but she was critical of Trump's decision to deploy them.

"I believe that these raids and now the federalization of troops to come into Los Angeles is an intentional effort to sow chaos," Bass said. She called the city a "tinderbox" and said, "I do not want to see civil unrest take place in this city and I think bringing the National Guard in is provocative."

Newsom said on social media that he formally asked Trump to rescind the "unlawful" deployment Sunday.

"We didn't have a problem until Trump got involved," Newsom wrote. "This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they're actually needed."

The Democratic Governors Association issued a statement calling Trump's National Guard deployment "an alarming abuse of power."

"Governors are the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with a state's governor is ineffective and dangerous," read the statement, which included the names of 22 Democratic governors.

4: It sets the stage for more clashes

President Trump and conservative media have labeled the protests in Los Angeles as a "riot" and said that justified deploying the National Guard.

"I think it was a riot. I think it was very bad. It was covered as a riot by almost everybody," Trump said before leaving for Camp David from New Jersey Sunday evening. He questioned the ability of local officials to bring the protests under control and said the federal government would ensure there's "law and order."

Trump appears likely to continue his administration's ramped up immigration enforcement in his second term, after running on a promise to conduct mass deportations.

At Camp David, Trump said he plans to meet with people, including generals and admirals. Asked about sending Marines and protests in other cities, Trump left open that possibility.

"The bar is what I think it is. I mean, If we see danger to our country and to our citizens, we'll be very, very strong in terms of law and order. It's about law and order," Trump said.

The Democratic governors, in their statement, said they are capable of maintaining order.

"It's important we respect the executive authority of our country's governors to manage their National Guards — and we stand with Governor Newsom who has made it clear that violence is unacceptable and that local authorities should be able to do their jobs without the chaos of this federal interference and intimidation," they wrote in their statement.
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The Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday it is lifting all restrictions on commercial flights that were imposed at 40 major airports during the country's longest government shutdown.

Airlines can resume their regular flight schedules beginning Monday at 6 a.m. EST, the agency said.

The announcement was made in a joint statement by Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.

Citing safety concerns as staffing shortages grew at air traffic control facilities during the shutdown, the FAA issued an unprecedented order to limit traffic in the skies. It had been in place since Nov. 7, affecting thousands of flights across the country.

Impacted airports included large hubs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta.

The flight cuts started at 4% and later grew to 6% before the FAA on Friday rolled the restrictions back to 3%, citing continued improvements in air traffic controller staffing since the record 43-day shutdown ended on Nov. 12.

The number of flights canceled this weekend was at its lowest point since the order took effect and was well below the 3% cuts FAA was requiring for Saturday and Sunday. Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed that less than 1% of all flights were canceled this weekend. The flight tracking website FlightAware said 149 flights were cut Sunday and 315 were canceled on Saturday.

The FAA statement said an agency safety team recommended the order be rescinded after "detailed reviews of safety trends and the steady decline of staffing-trigger events in air traffic control facilities."

The statement said the FAA "is aware of reports of non-compliance by carriers over the course of the emergency order. The agency is reviewing and assessing enforcement options." It did not elaborate.

Cancellations hit their highest point Nov. 9, when airlines cut more than 2,900 flights because of the FAA order, ongoing controller shortages and severe weather in parts of the country. Conditions began to improve throughout last week as more controllers returned to work amid news that Congress was close to a deal to end the shutdown. That progress also prompted the FAA to pause plans for further rate increases.

The agency had initially aimed for a 10% reduction in flights. Duffy had said worrisome safety data showed the move was necessary to ease pressure on the aviation system and help manage worsening staffing shortages at air traffic control facilities as the shutdown entered its second month and flight disruptions began to pile up.

Air traffic controllers were among the federal employees who had to continue working without pay throughout the shutdown. They missed two paychecks during the impasse.

Duffy hasn't shared the specific safety data that prompted the cuts, but he cited reports during the shutdown of planes getting too close in the air, more runway incursions and pilot concerns about controllers' responses.

Airline leaders have expressed optimism that operations would rebound in time for the Thanksgiving travel period after the FAA lifted its order.
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According to the American Christmas Tree Association , 83% of households who plan on displaying a Christmas tree in 2025 will choose an artificial one. But this year, not even holiday cheer is safe from economic tensions, as tariffs and supply chain pressures are pushing prices up.

Mac Harman, founder and CEO of Balsam Hill, an artificial Christmas tree company, explains the increase will be noticeable. "Whatever price point you might have been looking at last year, expect that to be about 10% to 15% more this year," he says.

Nearly all artificial Christmas trees are imported from China. While Harman says that manufacturing costs remain steady, the price vendors pay to U.S. customs has increased, as a result of President Trump's ongoing tariffs on China.

Trump often says his tariffs are intended to incentivize manufacturing on American soil. However, manufacturing domestically wouldn't be a simple switch for Harman and his team. "The interesting thing about pre-lit artificial Christmas trees is they've never been made in the U.S.," Harman explains.

Harman says it's a tedious process to attach the lights by hand like his company does – involving zip ties and painstaking attention to detail to ensure each bulb is perfectly placed – a task American workers rejected 30 years ago when prelit trees first hit the market. "It's very unlikely that something almost like basket weaving is a trade that's going to move from a lower wage, lower cost of living country to the United States for the first time," Harman says.

In this photo, Balsam Brands founder and CEO Mac Harman poses with artificial Christmas trees at the Balsam Hill Outlet store in Burlingame, Calif.

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Other companies in the Christmas industry are facing the effects of tariffs too. Harman says many of his company's U.S. based suppliers, who purchase their component parts overseas, are also seeing higher costs too. "The prices have gone up no matter if we make something here or if we make it in other places," he says.

Harman has tried multiple strategies to keep Balsam Hill's prices competitive. Internally, he's made reductions to his workforce, paused hiring, and frozen raises. He's also diversified his supply chain, manufacturing trees in Mexico, Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Last year, when President Trump won the election, Harman pre-ordered his supply for Christmas 2025, almost a year in advance. "We shipped as many products as we could between November and January 20th, Inauguration Day, because there was a lot of discussion that there was going to be a day one tariff," Harman says. Each time the administration lowered tariff rates this year, Harman restocked his supply – an option he fears may not be available to him next holiday season.

For shoppers, his advice is simple: don't procrastinate. Because of the price increases, some retailers ordered less stock, raising the risk of mid-December shortages. "Look for a tree that you love, and if it's on some kind of sale, buy it," Harman says.

In past festive seasons, shoppers might have delayed in the hope of getting a bargain, but that might not be such a good idea this time around. "Seeing if you might get 10% off if you wait two weeks, I don't think that's going to work as well this year as it might in a normal year," Harman says.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Last week, people from around the world descended on Belém, Brazil, a gateway to the Amazon rainforest. They're there through this week for the United Nations ’ annual climate summit, called COP30, so-named for the 30 years the meeting has been in existence.

But missing among them will be delegates from the federal government of the U.S., including President Donald Trump, who has denied the existence of climate change. The lack of federal officials does not mean the country won’t be represented, however. Filling the void are leaders from states and cities alike. And California is leading the pack .

“California is a stable and reliable partner in low-carbon green growth,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said while attending the gathering along with several of his top climate leaders. “I’m here because I don’t want the United States of America to be a footnote at this conference.”

“It’s embarrassing that the federal government is missing in action on this global crisis,” said Wade Crowfoot, California’s Natural Resources Secretary, who’s in Brazil alongside Newsom this week and spoke with KQED.

While the formal part of the conference involves delegates hammering out goals around reducing emissions and more, California has been working through other channels, from both informal meetings to signing memorandums of understanding with other countries, states, and cities.

“The fact is that states and cities, led by California, are working to fill the void,” Crowfoot said.

The backstory

California has long punched above its weight in shaping U.S. environmental rules. In the late 1950s , the state established clean air standards before the federal Clean Air Act, signed by President Richard Nixon in 1970 .

Over time, the state has partnered with other countries like China and Australia on goals like improving air quality. Crowfoot said these agreements are both symbolic and substantive.

“In each instance, the policy and program staff of the different jurisdictions spends months, sometimes a couple of years, really identifying capacities or technologies or expertise that that one government has that the other government might be interested in,” Crowfoot said.

California partnered with Brazil in September to help it set up a carbon market. Another recent deal will bring Danish flood management expertise to California’s delta region .

What other states are doing

Experts said agreements like these aren’t new, but they are more visible given the vacuum of federal climate leadership.

Newsom is not the only U.S. governor attending the conference or meetings happening around the formal event. Governors Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Tony Evers of Wisconsin also traveled to the climate event.

“The impact of governors and mayors traveling to Brazil is to make sure that the rest of the global community recognizes how much progress the United States is still making in spite of the headwinds,” said Casey Katims, executive director of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition of American governors committed to keeping emissions low.

Chris Field, director of Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment, said the federal government is forfeiting leadership and future economic opportunities by not attending or taking action on climate. But, he said, non-nation actors do matter.

“There are critically important roles for states and companies and communities and even individuals. The whole thing is going to be successful only if we can figure out a way to get everybody moving in the same direction,” he said.

California’s consistency, despite which political party has held the governor’s office, has been very important in moving the climate needle, Field said.

Where things stand

Gov. Newsom has already signed even more agreements while in Brazil. One is with Colombia, to address, among other things, the potent greenhouse gas methane. And another is with Nigeria, to help increase the adoption of electric vehicles.

The state’s representation at COP comes as President Trump has rolled back national climate policies. And, for the second time, the U.S. began the process of removing itself from the Paris agreement, which aims to limit global warming.

The weather's turning cooler, back-to-school shopping's all done and, sure, you could rake the leaves, but wouldn't it be more fun to escape to your local cinema?

We've got you covered. Everything from rom-coms to heist flicks, a sports/horror mashup, a pair of Broadway musicals, a biopic of The Boss, festival award winners, and lots of showbiz sagas — all curated by NPR critics.

We'll see you at the movies.

Twinless, Sept. 5 (out now)
The second film from writer/director James Sweeney vindicates my admiration for his first film, Straight Up, which was funny, smart and sweet — but not too sweet. In Twinless, two young men (Sweeney and Dylan O'Brien) meet in a support group for people who have lost a twin. There's more to the story, of course, and Sweeney handles the various revelations adroitly, but he knows that stories like this live or die not by their twists alone, but in what happens after the truth comes out. — Glen Weldon

Riefenstahl, in limited theaters across the country this fall
Arguably the most controversial director in film history, Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl always denied having known about the Holocaust. She repeated those denials to producer Sandra Maischberger in a 2002 interview. When she died at 101 in 2003, Riefenstahl left 700 boxes of letters, film excerpts and other material to a foundation, and Maischberger offered to organize and catalog them if she could use them in a documentary . This more complete portrait also serves as a commentary on current events. — Bob Mondello

The History of Sound, Sept. 12
Music conservatory students Lionel (Paul Mescal) and David (Josh O'Connor) meet in 1917, bond over folk songs, and fall into a passionate, life-altering affair in Oliver Hermanus' elegiac period romance. Based on a short story by Ben Shattuck, the film shares narrative DNA with Annie Proulx's short story "Brokeback Mountain," but sings an altogether different tune, as the music-besotted pair traipse through ravishingly-shot hill country to capture folk songs before they disappear using wax cylinders. — Bob Mondello

The Long Walk, Sept. 12
One of Stephen King's bleakest stories is this 1979 tale (published under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman) of a competition in which a group of young men starts out walking, each having only one goal: walk longer than everybody else, because when you slow down, fall down, or misbehave, you'll be executed. An impressive cast including Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson and Mark Hamill seems promising, even though the story itself could not be more hopeless. Even for Stephen King, this one is dark. — Linda Holmes

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Sept. 12
The bustling saga that seemed destined to go on forever is apparently coming to an end, which is not to say the Crawleys will go out with a whimper. Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) is handed the reins of the household, but is also involved in a public scandal; there's bad news from the American side of the family, and to add a bit of spectacle, the whole crowd heads for the races at Ascot. — Bob Mondello

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Sept. 19
Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie play strangers who connect and take a road trip, only to stumble upon a door in the middle of the woods. That door, and others, lead them to revisit their respective memories and, presumably, confront some heavy emotional baggage. If anyone can make this work, it's director Kogonada, whose previous films Columbus and After Yang proved him adept at finding moments of poignancy and resonance. — Aisha Harris

Him, Sept. 19
Selling point 1: Exec-producer Jordan Peele who, based on promos, is not just slapping his name on here for visibility — he seems genuinely excited about it. Selling point 2: Marlon Wayans as a football legend who's now, apparently, the mentor from hell. He runs a training camp that looks grueling and creepy, and like the kind of place you might not make it out of alive. Is this Suspiria for football? The protagonist, a rising quarterback (Tyriq Withers), is about to find out.. — Aisha Harris

One Battle After Another, Sept. 26
Paul Thomas Anderson loosely adapts another Thomas Pynchon novel; this time it's Vineland. The movie's official logline reads: "When their evil enemy resurfaces after 16 years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunites to rescue one of their own's daughter." It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall, and Benicio del Toro. I don't need any more convincing. Do you? — Aisha Harris

Plainclothes, Sept. 19
Plainclothes, the debut feature from writer/director Carmen Emmi, features Tom Blyth as a closeted undercover cop in '90s New York City who's part of a sting operation that entraps and arrests gay men cruising for sex. He finds himself drawn to one of his potential targets, played by Russell Tovey. Critics out of Sundance were split on the film — some found Emmi's stylistic flourishes distracting — but Tovey and Blyth reportedly keep things grounded, emotional ... and sexy. That, too. — Glen Weldon

All of You, Sept. 26
It seems like the perfect moment for a Brett Goldstein rom-com, given his strong and funny showings in Ted Lasso and Shrinking. Here, Goldstein and Imogen Poots play best friends who think they might just want to be more, but a futuristic test that can identify soul mates tells them no — they are not meant to be. For years, they wonder whether to take the machine's word for it. With more and more people turning decisions over to robots, expect more and more stories like this. — Linda Holmes

The Smashing Machine, Oct. 3
Dwayne Johnson stars as the champion MMA fighter Mark Kerr, whose professional moniker gives the film its title. But the name that sets this biopic apart is that of Benny Safdie, the occasional actor and (with his brother Josh) director of the Adam Sandler stunner Uncut Gems. This solo directing effort is, if reviews from the Venice Film Festival are to be believed, more nuanced and intriguing than a conventional biopic. — Bob Mondello

Kiss of the Spider Woman, Oct. 10
This is the second film to adapt Manuel Puig's 1976 novel — although this latest version is technically an adaptation of the Tony-winning musical with a book by Terrence McNally, and music and lyrics by writing team Kander and Ebb. Two political prisoners in Argentina (Diego Luna and Tonatiuh) bond amid fantasies of a silver screen diva (Jennifer Lopez)(!). I'm hopeful, but keep in mind that writer/director Bill Condon wrote Chicago (great) and directed the live-action Beauty and the Beast (inert) — so this could go either way. — Glen Weldon

The Woman in Cabin 10, Oct. 10
Keira Knightley stars in the Netflix adaptation of Ruth Ware's thriller about a travel writer who finds herself trapped on a fancy yacht where something is very wrong. Specifically, she is certain a passenger was thrown overboard in the middle of the night, but no one seems to be missing. Ware just published a sequel called The Woman in Suite 11 (and both books are a lot of fun), so if this goes over well, expect to see Knightley back in this role before long. — Linda Holmes

Roofman, Oct. 10
Whenever Channing Tatum's wielding power tools, I'm interested — so count me in for this dramedy where he plays a real-life man who robbed dozens of restaurants by drilling holes in their roofs. By most accounts he was an amiable thief and no one was physically hurt, and the film's tone appears to be on the lighter side. Throw in a stacked supporting cast — Kirsten Dunst, Peter Dinklage, Uzo Aduba — and the chances of an entertaining time at the movies are through the (ahem) roof. — Aisha Harris

After the Hunt, in limited theaters Oct. 10, wide release Oct. 17
A popular college professor (Andrew Garfield) is accused of sexual assault by a promising grad student (Ayo Edebiri), in Luca Guadagnino's #MeToo drama. But the lynchpin in the drama is the student's mentor who is also the professor's closest friend (Julia Roberts). She's angling for tenure, and must decide what the optics are before she decides where to throw her support. — Bob Mondello

The Mastermind, Oct. 17
According to the positive reviews out of Cannes, the title of Kelly Reichardt's new heist movie is meant to be wry — Josh O'Connor plays an out-of-work suburbanite in the 1970s who turns to stealing art for cash, but has zero aptitude for thievery. With Reichardt though, we're always in capable hands, so this — along with a cast that includes Alana Haim, Bill Camp, Gabby Hoffman, and John Magaro — is a must-watch. — Aisha Harris

Blue Moon, in limited theaters Oct. 17, wide release Oct. 24
Lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke), who'd penned many Broadway shows (Pal Joey, Babes in Arms) and hundreds of songs ("My Funny Valentine," "The Lady Is a Tramp") with composer Richard Rodgers, is drowning his sorrows at the legendary showbiz hangout Sardi's on March 31, 1943. Why sorrows? Because it's opening night of Oklahoma!, the start of Rodgers' new partnership with Oscar Hammerstein II, and the birth of a new breed of musical that will eclipse everything Hart's ever done. Richard Linklater's been mulling this one for years. — Bob Mondello

Hedda, in theaters Oct. 22, on Prime Video Oct. 29
The actress Tessa Thompson starred in Nia DaCosta's impressive feature debut, Little Woods, and afterwards she appeared in DaCosta's The Marvels. It's nice to see them link up again in a non-superhero project. For this pairing they reimagine Henrik Ibsen's classic play Hedda Gabler, in which a general's daughter feels suffocated by her marriage and acts out in destructive, messy ways. Thompson's played a stifled wife in a period drama brilliantly before (the criminally underseen Passing), so we're almost certainly in for a treat. — Aisha Harris

Bugonia, in limited theaters Oct. 24, wide release Oct. 31
This U.S. remake of 2003's Save the Green Planet!, an incredibly dark, violent and twisted sci-fi comedy from Korea, will be directed by ... (checks notes) ... Yorgos Lanthimos. Which, you know. Makes sense. Two conspiracy theorists, convinced that a powerful CEO (Emma Stone) is an alien bent on destroying the Earth, kidnap and torture her. Dunno how, or if, the film will work once the truly unhinged original story gets filtered through Lanthimos' chilly aesthetic. But I'll be there to see. — Glen Weldon

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, Oct. 24
If Timothée Chalamet can learn to play guitar and sing as Bob Dylan, how could The Bear's Jeremy Allen White to do anything less while prepping to play New Jersey's blue-collar troubadour. Scott Cooper's biopic centers on the creation of Springsteen's iconic 1982 album Nebraska, during what was a troubled period for the singer. White reportedly spent months training with music coaches, and his efforts earned him a "sings very well" from the Boss himself after an on-set visit. — Bob Mondello

Nouvelle Vague, in theaters Oct. 31, on Netflix Nov. 14
It doesn't always go great when someone decides to make a movie about the making of a widely beloved and iconic movie (see: Hitchcock), but Richard Linklater's projects are consistently intriguing, at the very least, and quite often, great. The inventive filmmaker turns his focus to Jean Luc-Godard's Breathless, with Guillaume Marbeck playing the influential director, and Zoey Deutch and Aubrey Dullin as Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo. And of course, it's shot in gorgeous black and white. — Aisha Harris

Nuremberg, Nov. 7
In this drama based on Jack El-Hai's nonfiction book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, Russell Crowe plays Hitler confidant and Nazi leader Hermann Göring, and Rami Malek is Dr. Douglas Kelley, the U.S. army shrink tasked with determining whether Göring is mentally fit to stand trial. Director James Vanderbilt, having penned scripts for David Fincher's Zodiac and the crowd-pleasers White House Down and The Amazing Spider-Man, is turning a page here — appropriate, as the book is a page turner. — Bob Mondello

Sentimental Value, Nov. 7
Filmmaker Joachim Trier's follow up to the clear-eyed and unsparing The Worst Person in the World re-teams him with that film's co-screenwriter (Eskil Vogt) and its star (Renate Reinsve). Reinsve plays the estranged daughter of a filmmaker (Stellan Skarsgård) who reenters her life to offer her a starring role in his next movie. The catch: She'd be playing her own grandmother, who died by suicide. It's a lot, but I trust Trier to pilot these emotional waters without sliding into sentimentality. — Glen Weldon

Now You See Me: Now You Don't, Nov. 14
The cast keeps expanding in this magic-centric rob-from-the-rich-give-to-the-poor heist franchise, as if the writers saw Ocean's 11-13 and thought, "we could do that." New kids Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa and Ariana Greenblatt join original Horsemen (and hangers-on) Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman and Isla Fisher in pursuit of a priceless diamond. — Bob Mondello

Keeper, Nov. 14
We don't know much about director Osgood Perkins' follow-up to Longlegs and The Monkey, but what we do know is creepy as hell. Tatania Maslany and Rossif Sutherland play a couple who repair to a secluded cabin in the woods on their anniversary in a desperate attempt to reignite the romantic spark. What could possibly go wrong? I'm not as sold on Perkins as a lot of my fellow critics are, but I'm always intrigued by his command of the bones of horror — the infrastructure of a good scare. — Glen Weldon

Jay Kelly, Nov. 14
Director Noah Baumbach has surrounded George Clooney's title character with some heavyweight supporting talent — Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Adam Sandler, Patrick Wilson, Riley Keough, and Stacy Keach among others — but the film is all Clooney's from start to finish. It's about a movie star in his 60s who's suave, relaxed, always seems to be playing himself, and gives off a definite Cary Grant vibe — who is, in short, a lot like George Clooney. — Bob Mondello

Wicked: For Good, Nov. 21
The longest intermission in the history of musical comedy comes to an end Thanksgiving weekend when the second half of this Wizard of Oz origin story finally arrives at cinemas. Broadway audiences wait 15 minutes; movie audiences will have waited a year to find out what happens to Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), Glinda (Ariana Grande) and assorted hangers-on. To make it worth the wait, composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz has crafted two new songs. — Bob Mondello

Hamnet, in limited theaters Nov. 27, wide release Dec. 12
This movie comes with a serious pedigree: The terrific 2020 novel it's based on won the National Critics Book Circle Award. Author Maggie O'Farrell co-wrote the screenplay with director Chloé Zhao. It stars Jesse Buckley and Paul Mescal as Agnes and William Shakespeare as they grieve the death of their young son. Zhao's films are quiet and meditative — two words that may not slot easily into Eternals' superhero action but that resonate strongly with the emotional topography of loss. — Glen Weldon
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