The Contractor (2022, dir. Tarek Saleh)

A discharged veteran with money problems reluctantly takes on a private contracting job. Terse thriller with action elements: the cast’s good, the action is handled in a no-nonsense manner, and there’s a pleasing downbeat tone. No surprises, but a decent programmer with subtext about post-military lives.

Here’s the trailer.

Candyman (2021, dir. Nia DaCosta)

A troubled artist invokes an urban legend. Both a direct sequel and a reboot to the minor 90s classic (while borrowing also from the David Cronenberg version of The Fly), this version has effective visuals and strong gore moments, but isn’t remotely scary. A problem for a genre pic, its good intentions notwithstanding.

Here’s the trailer