Next Week in Tickets: Films playing Boston 16 January 2026 - 22 January 2025

Pretty great weekend if you like Ralph Fiennes in particular.

• 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple was filmed back-to-back with its predecessor from last year, with Nia DaCosta assuming director's duties but Alex Garland still writing, and it's pretty darn good, asking a bit at the start but with a nifty back half. It's at the Capitol, Fresh Pond, CinemaSalem, Boston Common (including Dolby Cinema & XL), Causeway Street, Kendall Square, the Seaport (Dolby Atmos), South Bay (including Dolby Cinema), Assembly Row (including Dolby Cinema), Arsenal Yards (including CWX), and Chestnut Hill.
  
  Also horror-adjacent is Night Patrol, in which an ambitious cop discovers that the elite unit he wants to join is made up of vampires, opens at Boston Common and the Seaport.
  
  Canadian animated film Charlie the Wonderdog, in which a doggo voiced by Owen Wilson gets super-powers, opens at Fresh Pond.
  
  Sheepdog, starring writer/director Steven Grayhm as a Vietnam vet trying to put his life back together after returning home, actually premiered at the Boston Film Festival in 2024 and plays Boston Common this week.
  
  No Other Choice adds West Newton, Causeway Street, and the Seaport to the Coolidge, the Somerville, Boston Common, Kendall Square, and Assembly Row. Dead Man's Wire adds Kendall Square, West Newton, the Seaport, and Assembly Row to Boston Common.
  
  The Lord of the Rings movies get extended cuts rereleased for their 25th anniversary, with Fellowship playing Friday/Monday, The Two Towers Saturday/Tuesday, and The Return of the King Sunday/Wednesday at Boston Common, Causeway Street, South Bay, Assembly Row, and Arsenal Yards (just the weekend for Arsenal Yards, while Boston Common, Causeway Street, and South Bay play all three movies every day, although the order may be odd). Boston Common also has another week of Labyrinth (mostly matinees), and Arsenal Yards has 20th anniversary shows of Madagascar Saturday to Wednesday. There's a Monday mystery preview in Imax 3D at Boston Common, South Bay, Assembly Row (running time suggests Mercy but I saw a post about a screening of Rogue Trooper and went hmmm). Music doc Megadeath: Behind the Mask, plays Boston Common on Thursday.
• The Testament of Ann Lee opens on 70mm film at The Coolidge Corner Theatre and The Somerville Theatre. It stars Amanda Seyfried as the title character, leader of the Shaker sect. Among other things, the previews seem to be doing a very bad job trying to hide that it's a musical.
  
  In addition to The Bone Temple, Ralph Fiennes stars in The Choral, in which a Yorkshire community chorus must recruit new men as the company is drafted for World War I, made all the more awkward as Fiennes's new director last worked in Germany. It's at the Coolidge, the Capitol, the Lexington Venue, West Newton, and Boston Common.
  
  After her recent visit to the Coolidge, director Kristen Stewart's The Chronology of Water opens there (and the Seaport) this weekend, with Imogen Poots starring as Lidia Yuknavitch, who had a tumultuous path from competitive swimmer to writer.
  
  In Coolidge rep, the Friday midnight true crime story is Zodiac, while the Saturday midnight giallo is Murderock. Monsters Inc. plays as a kids' show Saturday & Sunday mornings, Sinners has a special screening Saturday afternoon, the newly restored Brazil is Tuesday's Projections presentation, and Annie Hall is Thursday's Big Screen Classic.
• In Indian film, Tamil action-comedy Vaa Vaathiyaar, in which a man raises his grandson in the image of his favorite actor, opens at Apple Fresh Pond, as does Hindi-language spy spoof Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos and Hindi-language fantasy comedy Rahu Ketu. Held over at Fresh Pond (after many opened mid-week) are Telugu thriller Mana ShankaraVaraprasad Garu (also at Causeway Street), Telugu comedy Bhartha Mahasayulaku Wignyapathi, Telugu "entertainer" Anaganaga Oka Raju, Telugu romantic comedy Nari Nari Naduma Murari, Telugu fantasy adventure The Raja Saab (through Monday), and Tamil-language historical action-drama Parasakthi (through Monday).
  
  Anime All You Need Is Kill, an adaptation of the same book as Edge of Tomorrow but told from a different perspective and super-trippy aliens and action, plays Boston Common, South Bay dubbed & subbed. Zombie Land Saga: Yumeginga Paradise, which picks up right after the second season, plays Boston Common, the Seaport, Assembly Row on Monday (dubbed). Japan's submission for the best international feature Oscar, Kokuho, has an Imax early access preview at Boston Common on Wednesday.
  
  The latest gritty Chinese crime drama from Sam Quah, The Fire Raven, plays early and late shows at Boston Common.
• The Brattle Theatre screens the new restoration of Luis Buñuel's Viridiana from Friday to Monday; Albert birney's nifty 1980s shut-in computer fantasy adventure OBEX plays the later shows Friday to Monday.
  
  On Sunday, STArt Film Studio presents a 35th Anniversary Restoration of Ju Dou, Zhang Yimou's first film with longtime muse Gong Li. During the week, they have the annual birthday tribute to David Lynch, with Blue Velvet Monday and Inland Empire & Eraserhead on Tuesday. On Thursday, they begin the "Some of the Best of 2025" series with Sentimental Value & On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.
• The Seaport Alamo has This Is Spinal Tap Friday night; screenings of Twin Peaks episodes 7-9 on Saturday; Dolly Parton Weekend shows of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Saturday/Tuesday), Steel Magnolias (movie party Saturday/regular Wednesday), and 9 to 5 (Monday); a combined Sam Raimi selection/Gene Hackman tribute in The Quick and the Dead (Saturday/Tuesday); Gremlins 2: The New Batch to start the "Weirdo Wednesday" series; and a movie party for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse on Thursday.
• Landmark Kendall Square once again has Netflix movies back in theaters - Frankenstein and Train Dreams playing all week, Jay Kelly playing Friday & Thursday, and Left-Handed Girl playing Saturday to Thursday. Mulholland Drive is the Retro Replay on Tuesday, and Army of Darkness plays Wednesday for a Sam Raimi "director focus".
• The Capitol Theatre picks up The Secret Agent and Father Mother Sister Brother.
• The Museum of Fine Arts has two films this weekend - a "Global Cinema Now" screening of Chinese independent crime drama Only the River Flows Friday evening and an "Art of Film" presentation of documentary Caravaggio on Saturday afternoon.
• The ICA has their yearly weekend of Sundance Film Festival Shorts Friday evening and Saturday/Sunday afternoons.
• The Harvard Film Archive begins their winter/spring program with two 35mm prints from their collection directed by Ermanno Olmi on Saturday night: Il Posto (aka The Job aka The Sound of Trumpets) and The Fiancés later on.
• It's the first weekend of Belmont World Film's annual Family Film Festival, with programs at the West Newton Cinema Saturday & Sunday and at the Brattle on Monday.
• The Museum of Science has Avatar 3 on the Omnimax screen Friday & Saturday evenings through the end of January, and puts "Cities of the Future" back in the rotation once "Train Time" ends its run alongside the "All Aboard!" model train exhibit.
• The Lexington Venue website is open all week with The Choral, Marty Supreme (no show Thursday), and Is This Thing On?.
  
  The West Newton Cinema opens The Choral, No Other Choice, Dead Man's Wire, and The Voice of Hind Rajab, re-opens One Battle After Another, and keeps Father Mother Sister Brother, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Hamnet, andZootopia 2. 99 Homes plays Thursday afternoon.
  
  Cinema Salem has 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Marty Supreme, Zootopia 2, and Is This Thing On? from Friday to Monday. The Wednesday Classic is On the Town, with a Weirdo Wednesday show next door.

Already have tickets for The Fire Raven and Kokuho, will likely look at Only the River Flows tonight, and will probably also go for the Chorale, Ann Lee on the big film, and maybe All You Need is Kill on the big screen again and some catch-up. Check my Letterboxd page to find out!