Opening This Week: THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB Cries for Help, THE HOUSEMAID Gets Twisted

Our guide to new movies opening this week, only in theaters, is rather slender. Theaters are already filled with wide-appeal flicks, as well as FYC award contenders.

Of the new releases -- just four -- an extraordinary indie is our pick of the week. We'll be republishing another that debuted at a recent film festival, along with new reviews of the other two.

Pick of the Week: The Voice of Hind Rajab
The film opens Wednesday, December 17, only in movie theaters, via WILLA. Visit the official site for locations and showtimes.

Our site has not been offered an official screener for the film, though my local critics group received a FYC (For Your Consideration) screener, which I watched and found quite extraordinary: instantly gripping, intensely chaotic, and deeply touching.

Official synopsis: "January 29, 2024. Red Crescent volunteers receive an emergency call. A 5-year old girl is trapped in a car under fire in Gaza, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the line, they do everything they can to get an ambulance to her. Her name was Hind Rajab."

The Housemaid
The film opens Friday, December 19, only in movie theaters, via Lionsgate. Visit the official site for locations and showtimes.

Official synopsis: "A wildly entertaining thriller starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, based on the best-selling book. From director Paul Feig, the film plunges audiences into a twisted world where perfection is an illusion, and nothing is as it seems.

"Trying to escape her past, Millie (Sweeney) accepts a job as a live-in housemaid for the wealthy Nina (Seyfried) and Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar). But what begins as a dream job quickly unravels into something far more dangerous -- a sexy, seductive game of secrets, scandal, and power. Behind the Winchesters' closed doors lies a world of shocking twists that will leave you guessing until the very end."

Is This Thing On?
The film opens Friday, December 19, only in movie theaters, via Searchlight Pictures. Visit the official site for locations and showtimes.

Official synopsis: "As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex (Will Arnett) faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess (Laura Dern) confronts the sacrifices she made for their family--forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form. Directed by Bradley Cooper."

In her review from the New York Film Festival in October, our critic Olga Artemyeva wrote: "Is This Thing On? has obvious signs of being a crowd-pleaser that chooses to pretend that it isn't a rather conventional dramedy about a man in the throes of a midlife crisis and a couple who are obviously up for a stab at a second chance. In reality, the story, co-written by Cooper, Arnett, and Mark Chappell, as well as Cooper's already trademark broad-strokes directorial style, feature most of the recognizable clues pointing to this very thing."

Avatar: Fire and Ash
The film opens Friday, December 19, only in movie theaters, via 20th Century Studios. Visit Fandango for locations and showtimes.

Official synopsis: "This world is much deeper than you imagine. ... James Cameron takes audiences back to Pandora in an immersive new adventure with Marine turned Na'vi leader Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Na'vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and the Sully family."

Opening This Week celebrates the theatrical experience.