You know how finicky printers are. Sometimes the printed paper comes out part way and then goes back a bit to do some more printing and comes out again. Sometimes you forget to put on the tray the paper lands on, and so it drops to the floor. It turns out that in the future, when someone develops a 3D printer that uses organic waste to print out people, actual human beings, those finicky printers do the same thing.

Mickey (an outstanding performance by Robert Pattinson) needed to leave the planet because a vicious loan shark who loves to watch the gruesome murders of those who haven’t paid on time was after him. The only way to jump to to head of a very long waiting list was to agree to be an “expendable.” He’s not very bright (see: in trouble with a vicious loan shark), so when he is repeatedly asked if he has read the contract he is signing, he says yes. That gets him a four-year-long trip to a new planet, where is job will be, basically, lab rat crossed with a crash test dummy. He is continually put in mortal danger until he dies, and then they print a new one of him out of that finicky printer. And sometimes they forget the paper tray, or I guess person tray, and he falls out onto the floor.

The new planet’s colony is run by an officious former politician named Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo with some large teeth) and his wife, Yifa (Toni Collette). Kenneth is obsessed with the “purity” of the civilization on his new planet, and Yifa is obsessed with superficial indicators of elegance and grace. She constantly drapes herself over her husband and coos into his ears, except when she is creating exotic sauces for their luxurious meals, while the rest of the people they brought with them to build their new community are fed with slop and live in bare, dorm-like cells.

Even in this miserable situation, there are levels of status, and Mickey is at the bottom. With one exception, he is considered less than human because he keeps dying and getting re-printed. The exception is not his Earth friend Timo (Steven Yeun), the one who got him into all the trouble he had to leave the planet to escape. The exception is the beautiful and intelligent Nasha (Naomie Ackie), who is, somewhat improbably, devoted to him.

As the movie begins, before a flashback telling us how he got there, Mickey has died and been reprinted 17 times, thus the title. He is stuck in an icy crevasse and certain he is about to die again, from exposure or from being eaten by the planet’s indigenous inhabitants, who look. like giant combination tardigrades and caterpillars. But somehow he survives. Only everyone else assumed he had died again and the most severely punished crime has been committed: another Mickey has been printed while the last one is still alive. There are multiples.

Some of the resulting complications work better than others, but the movie comes together in a tight climax as the Marshalls go over the top and the Mickeys and Nasha have to save the day.

Director Bong Joon Ho continues the sly, dark humor and provocative commentary on class hierarchies, hypocrisy, and pervasive societal inequities he featured in “Parasite,” “Snowpiercer,” and “Okja.” More heightened than the Oscar-winning “Parasite,” this imagines the future consequences of arrogance, exceptionalism, and careless exploitation. The Marshalls are so caricatured they undermine the more nuanced elements of the story. The other characters’ understated, matter-of-fact acceptance of the outrageous abuse is far more powerful.

Parents should know that this film includes peril and graphic violence, with some disturbing images including a severed hand and bloody barfing, injuries and deaths. A character is repeatedly killed. There are sexual situations and explicit sexual references and drawings. Characters use very strong language.

Family discussion: What would make someone agree to be expendable? What did the Marshalls want their new world to be like? Why were they so affectionate to each other and so cruel to everyone else?

If you like this, try: “Snowpiercer,” “Okja,” “The Maze Runner,” and “The Hunger Games”

Sonequa Martin-Green gives an exquisite, unforgettable performance in a story of love, grief, memory, and healing, “My Dead Friend Zoe.” First-time writer/director Kyle Hausemann-Stokes was a Bronze Star-awarded paratrooper in the US Army who served as a convoy commander in Iraq. He brings enormous specificity and understanding to an “inspired by a true story” film, with Martin-Green as Merit, a veteran struggling with PTSD. As she says, her struggle is not over “an incident but a person.”

That person is Zoe, played with warmth and bone-dry humor by Natalie Morales. Merit and Zoe have the kind of deep connection that comes from a similar response to intense and terrifying circumstances rather than some of the factors that sustain other friendships like interests in common. The way they talk to each other shows that their rhythms synch perfectly. They can finish each other’s thoughts; they are endlessly supportive through and in spite of perpetual teasing; they can switch seamlessly from joking to, if not seriousness, joking grounded by sincerity. When male soldiers demean Merit with sexist remarks, Zoe stands up for her friend, even though they outrank her. They utterly trust and rely on each other.

For that reason, Merit does not see that they have differences of increasing importance as their terms of service are ending.

Or rather, did not see. As the movie begins, Merit’s service has ended and she is back at home, profoundly traumatized. She will not let herself remember how her best friend Zoe died. Instead, she is awash in memories so vivid she feels like Zoe is still with her. And she likes that feeling. She is not ready to let Zoe go.

We can see why. Morales, always endlessly appealing on screen and here in a perfect role, the warm, wise-cracking, ride or die friend we would all love to have, imaginary if necessary.

Hausemann-Stokes depicts the imaginary character with assurance and exceptional delicacy, especially impressive for a first-time writer/director. It would be easy to make this concept intrusive or unintentionally funny. But we can see, thanks to sensitive writing and Martin-Green’s extraordinary performance. Oscar-winners Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris show up to provide able support. Freeman plays a support group counselor and Harris is Merit’s grandfather, Dale, a veteran whose service inspired Merit to enlist and whose early dementia is both another source of loss and a possibility of finding some purpose. Their scene together in a boat on the lake near his home is especially moving and one of many graceful moments that expand our understanding and move the characters forward.

Merit meets Alex (wonderfully appealing Utkarsh Ambudkar) and their immediate connection gives her the first sense of future possibilities, her first reason to think about leaving Zoe in the past. Hausemann-Stokes and his brilliant cast get the details right to bring us into this world and expand our understanding of our own struggles with loss.

Parents should know that this movie deals with wartime peril and violence, suicide, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Characters drink, smoke, and use very strong language. A character has dementia and there is family stress.

Family discussion: What is survivor guilt? How does Dale help Merit think about memory and loss? Why didn’t Merit know what Zoe was worried about?

If you like this, try: “The Outpost” and “Thank You for Your Service”

Paddington is entertaining because of his naivety, which sometimes results in amusing slapstick. But he is beloved because he is true-hearted and kind, and because he knows that a hard stare is called for when people forget their manners. Following the second Paddington film, famously the highest rated movie in the history of Rotten Tomatoes, above expectations for this next in the series were high. It just about meets them with a heartwarming and delightful film, filled with adventure, family, a lost city, singing and tap-dancing nuns, and, when called for, orange marmalade and a hard stare.

One highlight of the series has been its A-list villains, and I strongly urge audiences to stay through the credits for an update on the best so far, Hugh Grant as Phoenix Buchanan.

We get a reminder of Paddington’s origin stories here, both his being separated from his family and being taken in by his beloved Aunt Lucy (warmly voiced by Imelda Staunton), to reassures the little cub that if he ever gets lost again, he should roar and she will roar back. We also see him arrive at the train station that give him a name humans can pronounce, and then we are up to date with Paddington (Ben Wishaw) not only a beloved part of the Brown family but a naturalized British citizen with a passport to prove it.

The timing is very good, because Paddington receives a concerning letter from the Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) at the home for retired bears in Peru. She says Aunt Lucy is doing poorly. The Browns like the idea of a trip with some adventure included. Henry (Hugh Bonneville), whose job is assessing risk, with thick notebooks of triple-laminated documentation of every possible peril, is therefore inclined to be very risk-averse. His new American boss has encouraged him to take some risks, and Peru, even with its scary purple-kneed tarantulas, looks like a good opportunity. Mary Brown (Emily Mortimer charmingly taking over from Sally Hawkins) thinks a trip will bring the family together, something she’d been missing with her children getting older. Judy Brown (Madeleine Harris) is getting ready to leave for college and Jonathan Brown (Samuel Joslin) spends all day in his room working on inventions to help him “put a lot of effort into doing as little as possible.”

Paddington and the Browns go to Peru, but when they get to the home for retired bears, Aunt Lucy is gone and no one knows where she is. The clues she left behind seem to suggest she has gone in search of the legendary lost city of El Dorado. And so what they thought was going to be a quiet visit in a nun-run assisted living facility turns into an adventure on the Amazon, in a boat captained by Hunter Cabot, played by Antonio Banderas.

Banderas also plays Cabot’s ancestors, who were all obsessed with finding the legendary lost city of El Dorado, filled with gold. The ancestors are in pictures on the wall and also appear to Cabot to urge him on.

Like the others, this latest entry in the Paddington saga is visually enchanting, charmingly funny, surprisingly wise, and genuinely heartwarming. I admit I teared up near the end. While there is nothing as enthralling as the second film’s gently animated pop-up book or as hilarious as the prison scene, there is plenty to enjoy. This is a story about the power of being kind, empathetic, and gentle, about learning to challenge ourselves, about where we come from and where we are going. It is funny, smart, and endearing, a true gift.

NOTE: Stay for some very funny mid-credit scenes.

Parents should know that there is some fantasy/cartoon-style peril and violence including a tarantula, a gun, a machete, quicksand, and various mildly scary situations. We see the “comic” deaths of the ancestor characters. There are themes of family separation and adoption. Some in the audience may be bothered by the comic and disconnected from faith portrayal of nuns and the “sentencing” of a villain to a convent.

Family discussion: Were you surprised by Paddington’s choice at the end of the film? Why did he make that decision? How should you decide what risks are worth taking?

If you like this, try: the other Paddington movies and the books

Michaela Watkins does not get a chance to show us all she can do nearly often enough, and so it is a special pleasure to see her in the title role of “Suze.” Her name is Susan, and that is what she is called by her colleagues at work and by her ex-husband Alan (Sandy Jobin-Bevans) and his new wife Jacinta (Sorika Wolf). Her daughter, Brooke (Sara Waisglass) calls her Mom, usually when she is trying to wheedle her into giving her something. And Susan has a very hard time saying no to Brooke, who, as the story begins, is about to graduate from high school. Though she promised her mother she would go to college locally and live at home, she is going to leave for McGill in Canada, several hours away.

The person who calls her “Suze” is Gage (Charlie Gillespie), Susan’s boyfriend, who has the personality of a St. Bernard who keeps knocking people over and jumping on the furniture, but who is always sincerely affectionate. Brooke, who is selfish, manipulative, and immature, likes Gage for the same reason she does not like her mother; both devote their whole lives to adoring her.

After Brooke dumps Gage by text, he has a bad fall, either a suicide attempt or a result of poor, high-risk decisions. Gage’s feckless father asks if he can stay with Susan for a few weeks. She says no at first. But she sees he has no other option, and reluctantly agrees.

So, we have one character with no filter and another who has so many filters her authentic self is barely recognizable. Susan gradually begins to understand that Gage is as lost as she is, and that his hearty ebullience is as much of a cover-up as her effort to create a perfect world for Brooke. She ultimately admits that was less for Brooke than for herself. “I thought if I made her really happy and gave her everything she needed she wouldn’t want to leave me.”

I have been a huge Watkins fan since she was on SNL, playing a highly caffeinated blogger and as a perpetually trying to maintain her professionalism Hoda Kotbe opposite Kristen Wiig’s irrepressible Kathy Lee Gifford. She brings enormous depth, complexity, and vulnerability to Susan.

Stories about opposites finding a way to care for each other are immediately compelling, especially those, like this one, where one represents the repressions of the ego and the other the impulses of the id. “Suze” keeps us enthralled with the specifics, authentically messy, of the developing relationship. There’s a touch of Susan’s missing someone to mother, especially someone, unlike Brooke, who appreciates being cared for and about. But most of what develops between them is a friendship. She begins to see that what irritates her the most about Gage is not the result of bad manners or a lack of boundaries but parental neglect. She begins to realize she has missed having someone to talk to. Her doctor tells her she is in perimenopause, meaning “things winding down inside.” That plus Brooke’s absence and news from her ex make her decide to open up to a possible relationship. But the stress of those factors also impair her ability to take that step.

Gillespie also makes a strong impression, especially in a quieter scene where he visits his mother. Both Susan and Gage keep making mistakes but they never lose our sympathy or our hope that they find purpose and connection. “Suze” is bittersweet, funny and sometimes sad but always heartfelt and honest, everything we hope for from an indie.

Parents should know that this movie includes sexual situations and some sexual references, teen drinking, drugs, and a possible attempted suicide.

Family discussion: Is Susan a good mother? Why did she tell Brooke to go back to school?

If you like this, try: “Take Care”

As the poem goes, in this action/comedy/romance starring two Oscar winners, the character played by Ke Huy Quan is bloody but unbowed. As the old Timex commercial goes, he takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

Quan plays mild-mannered realtor Marvin Gable, whose passion is finding homes for his clients. He tells them how much he loved moving into his home and how he wants to create that same feeling of joy, comfort, and safety for them. When he wins the regional realtor of the year award, it brings him to tears. He says that his work as a realtor has given him meaning

And then Marvin receives a handmade valentine that simply says, “I’m back.” Based on this and so many, many other movies, including the recent “Back in Action,” plus “The Family Plan,” “Spy Kids,” and even Viveca A. Fox in “Kill Bill,” you’d think every block in suburbia has a neighbor with a history as an assassin or spy.

As the realty firm’s Valentine’s Day party goes out outside his office door, Marvin is visited by someone from his past, a poetic hitman known as Raven (Mustafa Shakir, making a strong impression in action scenes and more sensitive moments as well). A local gangster named Knuckles (Daniel Wu), who happens to be Marvin’s brother, Alvin, has sent a bunch of tough guys after Marvin. Knuckles thinks Marvin can lead him to Rose (Ariana DeBose). Marvin was ordered to kill her for stealing from Knuckles, but instead he told Knuckles Rose was dead and let her escape. Knuckles has also received a valentine, and he wants Rose captured alive. He does not know that his top henchman, Merlo (Cam Gigandet) wants Rose dead so she cannot reveal that he was the one stealing from Knuckles.

All of this means that we are in for one bone-crunching literal back-stabbing (and other stabbing of body parts, too, including a hand and an eye) after another, plus lots of kicking, punching, bone-crunching, body part slicing, knives, darts, guns, a taser, a giant fork and spoon (production designer Craig Sandells really nails the Pinterest aesthetic staging of homes for sale), and, surprisingly, a lethal boba tea straw. The poster boasts that this film is from the producers of “Nobody” and “Fright Night,” and Quan says this is a tribute to the Hong Kong action films of Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and his other favorites, which means it is bloodier and more graphic than most action comedies. A lovable character is murdered. So is an innocent bystander who tries to help.

Quan and DeBose have endlessly appealing screen presences and the fight scenes are superbly choreographed. There are many touches of humor and even charm, an assassin finding love with Marvin’s depressed assistant (Lio Tipton), Marvin using his karate chop skills to plump the accent pillows in the house he is showing, some clever use of available objects in the fight, especially when Marvin keeps trying to protect his precious award certificate. But the brutality of the fight scenes is so intense and disturbing that it will outweigh the lighter moments for many viewers.

Parents should know that this movie has constant strong language and constant very graphic and bloody fight scenes with characters badly injured and killed.

Family discussion: What did Marvin like about being a realtor? What does it mean to say “hiding isn’t living?” What creates a “beautiful monster?”

If you like this, try: “Bullet Train”