Welcome to L.A. Weekly’s Movie Guide, your look at the hottest films in Los Angeles theaters this week — from indie art house gems and classics to popcorn-perfect blockbusters and new movies garnering buzz. Check here every week before you make your big screen plans.

Friday, April 26

For his third effort behind the camera, Ralph Fiennes chose the story of Rudolph Nureyev, the Soviet ballet dancer who defected to Paris in 1961 under the noses of KGB officers watching his every move. Generally regarded as the finest male dancer of his generation, Nureyev was also the first Soviet artist to defect during the Cold War, and Fiennes creates a suspenseful escape scene set in the Paris Le Bourget Airport. To this day, the ballet star insists that his decision to abandon his country had more to do with art than politics, but Fiennes supplies a mixture of both. The White Crow features a screenplay by David Hare (The Hours, The Reader) and a cast led by Oleg Ivenko. Fiennes himself plays Alexander Pushkin, master of the Kirov Ballet Company.

Also opening Friday: Avengers: Endgame; The Baker’s Wife; Body at Brighton Rock; Chasing Portraits; Christ Stopped at Eboli; JT Leroy; Knock Down the House; Only Yesterday; The Sign of the Cross

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.