Best-Reviewed Movies 2018: Limited Release

Critics Consensus: Roma finds writer-director Alfonso Cuarón in complete, enthralling command of his visual craft - and telling the most powerfully personal story of his career.

Synopsis: Cleo is one of two domestic workers who help Antonio and Sofía take care of their four children in 1970s Mexico City. Complications soon arise... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Marco Graf, Fernando Grediaga

Directed By: Alfonso Cuarón

Critics Consensus: Leave No Trace takes an effectively low-key approach to a potentially sensationalistic story -- and further benefits from brilliant work by Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie.

Synopsis: A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Ore., rarely making contact with the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie, Jeff Kober, Dale Dickey

Directed By: Debra Granik

Critics Consensus: Deftly directed and laced with dark wit, Can You Ever Forgive Me? proves a compelling showcase for deeply affecting work from Richard E. Grant and Melissa McCarthy.

Synopsis: Lee Israel is a frustrated, hard-drinking author who can barely afford to pay her rent or bills in 1990s New York. Desperate for money, Israel... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Dolly Wells, Ben Falcone

Directed By: Marielle Heller

Critics Consensus: The Death of Stalin finds director/co-writer Arnando Iannucci in riotous form, bringing his scabrous political humor to bear on a chapter in history with painfully timely parallels.

Synopsis: When tyrannical dictator Joseph Stalin dies in 1953, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become the next Soviet leader. Among... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Jeffrey Tambor, Paddy Considine

Directed By: Armando Iannucci

Critics Consensus: Understated yet ultimately deeply affecting, Shoplifters adds another powerful chapter to director Hirokazu Koreeda's richly humanistic filmography.

Synopsis: On the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders is united by fierce loyalty and a penchant for petty theft. When the young son... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Lily Franky, Sakura Andô, Mayu Matsuoka, Kirin Kiki

Directed By: Hirokazu Koreeda

Critics Consensus: The Rider's hard-hitting drama is only made more effective through writer-director Chloé Zhao's use of untrained actors to tell the movie's fact-based tale.

Synopsis: After a riding accident leaves him unable to compete on the rodeo circuit, a young cowboy searches for a new purpose.

Starring: Brady Jandreau, Tim Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau, Lane Scott

Directed By: Chloé Zhao

Critics Consensus: McQueen offers an intimate, well-sourced, and overall moving look at a young life and brilliant career that were tragically cut short.

Synopsis: Archival footage and interviews with friends and family offer insight into the extraordinary life and career of British fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

Starring: Bernard Arnault, Joseph Bennett, Detmar Blow, Katy England

Directed By: Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui

Critics Consensus: Summer 1993 (Estiu 1993) finds writer-director Carla Simón drawing on personal memories to create a thoughtful drama elevated by outstanding work from its young leads.

Synopsis: Six-year-old Frida looks on in silence as the last objects from her recently deceased mother's apartment in Barcelona are placed in boxes. Although her aunt,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Laia Artigas, Paula Robles, Bruna Cusí, David Verdaguer

Directed By: Carla Simón

Critics Consensus: Surreal and surprising, Three Identical Strangers effectively questions the nature of reality and identity.

Synopsis: Identical triplets become separated at birth and adopted by three different families. Years later, their amazing reunion becomes a global sensation but also unearths an... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert Shafran, David Kellman, Lawrence Wright, Will Ennis

Directed By: Tim Wardle

Critics Consensus: Sleek, well-acted, and intelligently crafted, The Guilty is a high-concept thriller that wrings maximum impact out of a handful of basic - and effective - ingredients.

Synopsis: Alarm dispatcher and former police officer Asger Holm answers an emergency call from a kidnapped woman. When the call is suddenly disconnected, the search for... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jakob Cedergren, Jessica Dinnage, Omar Shargawi, Johan Olsen

Directed By: Gustav Möller