Heretic. 111 min. A24. 2024. Blu-ray UPC 198715962277. $29.99. Rated R. HORROR

Young Mormon missionaries Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) have their faith put to the test when they visit the home of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), an eccentric recluse who won’t let them leave unless they play a game that forces a choice between belief and disbelief. Best known for scripting the hit 2018 sci-fi/horror movie A Quiet Place, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods wrote and directed this work. VERDICT The film is more interesting when probing religious beliefs than serving up horror-film tropes, but box-office belief in blood is sacrosanct.

In the Summers. 95 min. In English & Spanish w/English subtitles. Music Box. 2024. DVD UPC 751778952038. $24.99; Blu-ray UPC 751778952045. $29.99. DRAMA

Every summer for two decades, sisters Eva and Violeta (played by various actors) visit their father, Vicente (René Pérez), in the deteriorating New Mexico house he inherited from his mother. The siblings’ volatile relations with the otherwise loving but unstable Vicente largely trace back to his drunk-driving crash; everyone survived, but nobody was the same. Making her auspicious directorial debut, Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for this semiautobiographical story relying on observation over exposition. VERDICT Universally relatable.

Lake George. 118 min. Magnolia. 2024. DVD UPC 876964018463. $23.99. FILM NOIR

Ex-convict Don (Shea Whigham) tries to collect a debt from Los Angeles mobster Armen (Glenn Fleshler), who makes a deal with him: first, kill his ex-girlfriend Phyllis (Carrie Coon). But Don can’t bring himself to do it. Instead he teams with Phyllis to rob Armen’s safe houses of his ill-gotten gains, with the hope of retiring to a lakefront property. Indie film–turned–television director Jeffrey Reiner returns to his roots with this gritty-humored tale of treachery. Measured against expectations, this modestly budgeted neo-noir punches above its weight class. VERDICT An unexpected pleasure for the genre's fans.

A Real Pain. 90 min. Searchlight. 2024. Blu-ray UPC 043396641914. $40.99. Rated: R. DRAMEDY

Disaffected cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) go on a guided tour of Polish Holocaust sites to honor their Jewish heritage and late grandmother. But Benji’s emotional outbursts, while surprisingly well-tolerated by other tour participants, embarrass David and compel him to make apologies. By their trip’s end, the odd-couple cousins make amends, despite their differences. Writer, director, and star Eisenberg deserves kudos for tackling fraught material, but the soundtrack’s use of Chopin piano pieces does a lot of the heavy emotional lifting. VERDICT Culkin's oft-annoying character may test viewers’ discomfort level, but the pain is ultimately worth it.

A Woman of Paris. b/w. 82 min. Criterion. 1923. DVD UPC 715515310918. $29.99; Blu-ray UPC 715515310819. $39.99. DRAMA

Comedic silent-film star and director Charlie Chaplin veered from his staple genre, as well as not taking a starring role, in this drama that failed at the box office for thwarting audience expectations. After her fiancé abandons her, Marie St. Clair (Edna Purviance) leaves her provincial French village for Paris, where she takes up with a rich suitor (Adolphe Menjou). But tragedy ultimately compels Marie to choose a simple life of charitable work over a glamorous life of leisure. VERDICT While not quite in a league with his later masterworks, Chaplin’s portrait of an independent woman was cutting-edge for its time.