Friday, April 25, 2025

Movies Update: The case for a sequel to “The Accountant.”

Plus, David Cronenberg on life after loss.
Movies Update

April 25, 2025

When a sequel to "The Accountant" was announced, I have to admit I was puzzled. In my memory, the 2016 original, starring Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick, was a fun action flick and little more. But as I learned from my colleague Reggie Ugwu, who interviewed Affleck and his collaborators on the remake, "The Accountant" was the most rented movie of 2017, ahead even of "Moana."

"Since it came out, it's been one of the likeliest movies that people mention when they come up to me," Affleck told Ugwu, adding the surprise of the plot (about a neurodivergent C.P.A. who dabbles in revenge on the side) "made people say, 'Hey, you should see this, even if you might not typically watch action movies.' That's how a movie kind of breaks out a little bit."

As for the sequel, while it's not a critic's pick, Manohla Dargis writes approvingly, "It's adroitly paced, unburdened by narrative logic (there are almost as many coincidences as corpses) and buoyed by its well-synced, charismatic leads."

What did our critics like? Alissa Wilkinson praises the quiet drama "Blue Sun Palace," about workers at a Queens massage parlor, describing the director Constance Tsang's debut feature as "sensitive, lovely and ultimately devastating."

Whatever you decide to watch, enjoy the movies!

CRITICS' PICKS

A woman with long dark hair stands indoors, looking up with a concerned expression. She is next to a laundry rack and basket, in a dimly lit room with tiled walls and a curtained area.

Dekanalog

Critic's Pick

'Blue Sun Palace' Review: A Whole World Inside

A gorgeously intimate debut feature explores the lives of Chinese immigrants in a massage parlor in Queens.

By Alissa Wilkinson

Two men in sharp suits lean against a red automobile from 1930s.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Critic's Pick

'Sinners' Review: Ryan Coogler's Southern Horror Fantasia

The director goes boldly out there in his fifth feature, a genre-defying, mind-bending shoot-em-up that stars Michael B. Jordan as twins.

By Manohla Dargis

ANATOMY OF A SCENE

A man in a white dress shirt stands in a wood-paneled room in a trailer, adjusting his tie in front of an open closet filled with hanging clothes. Light filters in from an adjacent room with a table and cushioned seating.

Amazon MGM Studios

Anatomy of a Scene

Watch Ben Affleck Line Dance in 'The Accountant 2'

The director Gavin O' Connor narrates a sequence from the film featuring the actor and Jon Bernthal.

By Mekado Murphy

MOVIE REVIEWS

A woman in blue scrubs and surgical gloves looks sternly over a dining table laid with a tablecloth and medical instruments.

Metrograph Pictures

'April' Review: A Doctor's Dilemma

In this, her second feature, the Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili takes on the risks faced by an obstetrician who performs kitchen-table abortions.

By Manohla Dargis

A serious man in dark clothing restrains another person in a dimly lit club with neon lights, while people in the background socialize and dance.

Netflix

'Havoc' Review: A Fighting Spirit

Tom Hardy is a crooked cop looking to make amends in Gareth Evans's action-packed film.

By Robert Daniels

A man in a gray T-shirt laughs in a convertible. Next to him, a man in a yellow tracksuit holds a basketball and leans into the car.

Ed Caraeff/Keep Smokin’

'Cheech and Chong's Last Movie' Review: Rolling Another One for the Road

The comedy duo celebrates a partnership that they just can't quit in this celebratory documentary.

By Glenn Kenny

Five actors stand around a kitchen island and a table, looking at the camera.

Music Box Films

'The Trouble With Jessica' Review: Dinner Party or Crime Scene?

This British black comedy, starring Indira Varma, centers on a group of wealthy middle-aged friends with fraught histories.

By Beatrice Loayza

A woman, with tousled hair and blood on her face, holds a flashlight in a dark, eerie room lit by candles.

Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures

'Until Dawn' Review: They Keep Dying, You'll Keep Shrugging

Based on a video game, this movie is done in by mediocre monsters and muddled time loops.

By Erik Piepenburg

Three people sit at a table, two looking up toward the camera, in a scene from

Mubi

'Magic Farm' Review: A Droll Delight

Amalia Ulman's playful second feature follows an American television crew that lands in rural Argentina.

By Natalia Winkelman

A pangolin stands upright on its hind legs in a dry, grassy landscape with scattered rocks and leafless bushes in the background.

Netflix

'Pangolin: Kulu's Journey' Review: Emotional Rescue

In this heartfelt wildlife documentary, a volunteer conservationist and an endangered critter develop a parent-child connection.

By Jeannette Catsoulis

NEWS & FEATURES

An older man with neatly combed white hair and blue eyes looks thoughtfully at the camera. He is wearing a black zip-up hoodie, and the background is softly blurred with hints of light.

Tommy Keith for The New York Times

David Cronenberg Lost His Wife and the Will to Make Movies. Then Came 'The Shrouds'

The acclaimed filmmaker discusses bringing death to the forefront in his latest picture.

By Kyle Buchanan

A large group of people onstage at the Academy Awards under a sign that says

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

A New Requirement for Oscar Voters: They Must Actually Watch the Films

The new rule, announced this week by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, was greeted with laughter and disbelief that it had not been required all along.

By Derrick Bryson Taylor

The

Stella Kalinina for The New York Times

There's a Feeling We're Not in Hollywood Anymore

Movies and TV productions are rapidly leaving California to film outside the United States, where labor costs are lower and tax incentives greater. Industry workers are exasperated.

By Matt Stevens and Nicole Sperling

A woman stands in half-profile, wearing an anorak.

Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times

Her Abortion Drama Won Praise, but Not in Her Native Country

The director Dea Kulumbegashvili's new movie, "April," shines a light on the complicated situation for women seeking abortions in Georgia.

By Beatrice Loayza

Article Image

Ben Hickey

Do You Know These Books That Became Disaster Movies?

Many blockbuster films were inspired by literature and this short quiz tests your knowledge about five of them.

By J. D. Biersdorfer

A black-and-white photo of a young Karen Durbin, with short hair and large, round glasses, wearing a tunic over a white turtleneck.

James Hamilton

Karen Durbin, 80, Dies; 'Fearless' Feminist Who Edited The Village Voice

A fierce advocate of sexual liberation, she pushed the alternative weekly to cover women's issues, as well as gay rights and avant-garde culture.

By Sam Roberts

STREAMING RECOMMENDATIONS

In a film still, a cardinal in red and white, wearing a large cross, stands in a sea of blue seats where other, similarly dressed cardinals are seated, all with dust from an explosion on their shoulders.

Focus Features

Pope Francis, the Unlikely Movie Star: 6 Films Show His Cinematic Appeal

In fictional tales and documentaries, directors approached him as a screen character who was both admired and controversial.

By Alissa Wilkinson

A young woman with long dark hair wearing a light blue sleeveless dress stands behind a grocery cart in a supermarket, looking at someone off-camera. Produce is visible in the background.

Cara Howe/Warner Bros. Pictures

Five Horror Movies to Stream Now

This month's picks include a robot revenge drama and a supernatural detective story.

By Erik Piepenburg

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