★American Fiction. 117 min. Studio Distribution Service. 2023. Blu-ray UPC 883929824151. $35.99. Rated: R. DRAMEDY

“Be careful what you wish for” proves to be the lesson for Monk (Jeffrey Wright), an academic and novelist peeved with the way the publishing industry traffics in Black stereotypes. Using a nom de plume to write a book lampooning the pigeonholing, he ends up with a bestseller, and no one seems to get the joke; he receives a movie deal to boot! Writer-director Cord Jefferson’s darkly humorous feature-film debut offers an outrageous send-up evoking the 1976 television business satire Network. VERDICT A must-have choice for its Oscar-winning screenplay, adapted from the novel Erasure by Percival Everett.

Amore Mio. 80 min. In French w/English subtitles. Distrib Films/Icarus. 2023. DVD UPC 854565004184. $26.99. DRAMA

Along with her seven-year-old son and estranged sister Margaux (Élodie Bouchez), Lola (Alysson Paradis) flees her husband’s funeral for a road trip to deal with her grief. Despite their dissimilarity—nonconformist versus traditional—the sisters fitfully reconnect, arguing and making up along the way. In his feature-film debut, actor-cum-director Guillaume Gouix lets Paradis (with whom he has two children) navigate the wrenching process of letting go of a loved one. VERDICT Thanks to naturalistic acting and brevity, this heartfelt film doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Io Capitano. 121 min. In Wolof, French & Arabic w/English subtitles. Cohen. 2023. DVD UPC 738329266233. $19.99; Blu-ray UPC 738329266240. $29.99. DRAMA

Two teenage boys dreaming of a better life, Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and his cousin Moussa (Moustapha Fall), leave their native Senegal for Europe. Cutthroat human smugglers facilitate their arduous passage through North African deserts—with a “layover” in a Libyan detention center—before coercing Seydou to pilot a rickety old boat full of refugees to Italy. Director Matteo Garrone (Pinocchio; Gomorrah) takes his heroes on a Homeric odyssey that tests their mettle at every perilous turn. VERDICT This film is an Oscar-nominated crowd-pleaser.

★Perfect Days. 124 min. In Japanese w/English subtitles. Criterion. 2023. DVD UPC 715515299510. $29.99; Blu-ray UPC 715515299411. $39.99. Rated: PG. DRAMA

Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Koji Yakusho delivers a nuanced performance as an enigmatic public-restroom cleaner studiously plying his trade in Tokyo. Middle-aged Hirayama is a man of few words, but his facial expressions tell the story of someone grateful for the simple pleasures in his life: a favorite song playing on the car radio, a good book to read before bed, and lunch in the park with sunlight dancing on the leaves. Veteran director Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire) provides a minimalist character to maximum effect. VERDICT Will please viewers for whom subtlety is a virtue.

The Teachers’ Lounge. 95 min. In German w/English subtitles. Sony. 2023. DVD UPC 043396636477. $24.99 Rated: PG-13. DRAMA

A well-meaning high school teacher (Leonie Benesch) employs her laptop to record the theft of cash from her jacket—the latest in a series of thefts at her school—which appears to implicate another staff member. The subsequent accusation triggers a chain of events that puts students, parents, and teachers at odds with one another over rules and ethics that threaten to crush a once-idealistic instructor. Cowriter-director Ilker Çatak explores the moral ambiguities raised without providing easy answers. VERDICT This Oscar-nominated film provides plenty of food for thought.