Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is neither very mad nor very multiversal, but it’s likely the most the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever allowed a filmmaker to reach out from its steel cage house style. Despite its bloat, inelegance, and sheer refusal to do anything interesting with the multiverse concept, this is as close as the MCU is going to get to pure horror and an auteur’s vision. Sam Raimi’s influence is invigorating and his winking verve is a balm: Multiverse of Madness brings the splatstick terror and a surprising brutality to its unwieldy superhero story. Minor spoilers ahead…

Jane Campion’s first film in over a decade, The Power of the Dog, is making waves at the New York Film Festival. A simmering domestic drama amidst the rolling mountains of cowboy country, Campion’s welcome return to cinema delivers poetry in motion and Benedict Cumberbatch’s career-best performance. Upending the rawhide masculinity of turn-of-the-century Montana, The Power of the Dog’s seeping venom sneaks up on you in an arresting slow burn. Minor spoilers ahead…