For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">Loving: With films like Take ShelterLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus FeaturesFor more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">Loving: With films like Take ShelterLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus FeaturesFor more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With LovingLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For moreLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus FeaturesFor more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For moreLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus FeaturesFor more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">writer-director Kenneth Lonergan asked this question in 2000’s sibling drama You Can Count on Me: What if the depressed guy doesn’t actually know he’s depressed? In that filmLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus FeaturesFor more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">and by showing the story equally through the eyes of the woman who had to deal with the returned man. NowLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus FeaturesFor more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">he again paints the portrait of an emotionally stunted guy who hasn’t processed a painful death. Only now Lonergan’s asking: What if no one in this story even knows what depression is? The result is a poignantLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For moreLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For moreLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus FeaturesFor more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">deeply unsettling worlds. He's at his best with mood piecesLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus FeaturesFor more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">about the mysterious appearance of 12 floating extraterrestrial vessels in different corners of the worldLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus FeaturesFor more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">read our review of Arrival.; Credit: Courtesy of Paramount PicturesLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus FeaturesFor more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">Allied: As Allied opensLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For more, read our review of Loving.; Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features">terse figure in the first act of Robert Zemeckis’ World War II thriller. —Bilge Ebiri
For moreLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
For moreLoving: With films like Take Shelter, Mud and even this spring's somewhat uneven Midnight Special, Jeff Nichols has steadily built a filmography of terse beauty. With Loving, he tackles the kind of boldface subject matter that Oscar season feeds on: It’s a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage. Which makes it perhaps even more impressive that Nichols stays true to his sensibility, avoiding the melodrama or the back-patting triumphalism you expect from such movies. Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. —Bilge Ebiri
Watching movies for a living is a tough job, but somebody's got to do it, and our film critics are up to the task. While they see plenty of stellar movies, they see some not-so-great ones, too. They've weeded through them all to give you their picks for the best films of November 2016. If a few haven’t opened in a theater near you just yet, don’t fret: There’s always a chance you’ll be able to stream them on your small screen.
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.
LA Weekly