Tom Cruise stars in a scene from the movie "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation." The OSV News classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Photo: OSV News/Paramount. Tom Cruise takes his eighth turn as infinitely resourceful spy Ethan Hunt in the grand-scale...

Moviegoers may want to take a break from their cell phones after seeing the intriguing thriller Drop (Universal). That’s because the technology involved in send-ing the titular type of message – as well as the ubiquity of the devices themselves – has the film’s protagonist in a quandary.

Though it has the relationship between a teen girl and a cuddly creature at its core, The Legend of Ochi (A24) is not a sunny children’s movie. In fact, this fantasy tale is a sort of infernal machine of confounding dark imagery, threats of violence and a mixed moral about honouring your parents while respecting nature.

Rich in secrecy and suspense – and endowed with the potential to alter history – the conclave process by which popes have been elected since the 13th century has obvious dramatic appeal. So it’s no surprise that conclaves have occasionally been portrayed on screen. Some depictions have involved real-life elections, others fictional ones – and the accuracy of the details on display has varied greatly.

As the first pontiff from the Americas, the first Jesuit successor of St Peter and as an innovator in other respects, Pope Francis struck many in the world of visual media as a breath of fresh air.

As Easter approaches, Charles Dickens’ biography comes to the big screen as The King of Kings (Angel Studios). The film is an excellent animated introduction to its sacred subject matter for youngsters.

Director Jared Hess’ production is not the type of picture from which viewers expect to take away an especially meaningful message.

The project surveys the transformation of Talbot from a desperate teenage alco-holic to a sober, steadfast man of piety, well prior to the development of 12-step addiction recovery programs and inpatient substance abuse treatment.

Viewers of The Last Supper, director and co-writer Mauro Borrelli’s dramatisation of events surrounding the Passion, may be able to tell that he has a strong visual background.

On the run from a brutal loan shark, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), a hapless misfit, finds an opportunity to escape his pursuer by joining the crew of a space mission to a distant planet. To do so, however, he must agree to become an “ex-pendable,” someone who can be repeatedly killed and recreated via advanced 3D printing technology.