The Holy Girl
dir. Lucrecia Martel
Fri June 24–Thurs June 30 at the Varsity.

This intoxicating film by Lucrecia Martel (La Ciénaga) stars María Alche, a young Argentine actor, and I'm tempted to say she's all the reason you need to see the movie. It's impossible to take your eyes off her, not because she's beautiful, exactly—though she has the smudged, rosy looks of a particularly luscious Renaissance Madonna—but because her face registers religious and sexual conflict with an alarming intensity. Her mouth crumples at the corners and her eyes become hooded as her character tries to will spiritual ecstasy or physical arousal, and she effortlessly navigates the tough contours of a plot that might not have made sense without her.

Amalia (Alche) is a young Catholic girl who lives in a hotel with her divorced mother and her uncle. When she's not floating idly in the hotel pool with her friend, the sexually experienced Josefina, she attends religious education classes in which girls recount violent stories of martyrdom. When the pretty teacher coaches them to be alert to the call to join a religious order, Josefina whispers to Amalia wickedly, "Don't listen to her. She only wants tongue kisses." Then a conference of doctors at the hotel puts Amalia in contact with a man named Dr. Jano. Unfortunately, the contact is literal.

When Amalia catches him rubbing up against her in a crowd, she reacts not with fear but with an insatiable curiosity that is both altruistic and cruel. She's an innocent taught to save sinners, but in her impulse to pursue her frotteur she is uncannily aware of his deepest fears. Martel's direction is equally acute; even as the cinematography becomes more and more disorienting and hazily erotic, the emotional core of the film tightens until you have to remind yourself to breathe. (ANNIE WAGNER)

Herbie: Fully Loaded
dir. Angela Robinson
Opens Fri June 24.

Rumors of star Lindsay Lohan's overly active social life and digitally reduced cup size may have led to toxic levels of advanced snark, but the rather unfortunately titled Herbie: Fully Loaded proves to be considerably less of a disaster than the web buzz would suggest. What's more, as with Disney's previous Lohan-led retrofits from the vault, the results are honestly pretty entertaining; while not quite on a Freaky Friday level of surprise quality, the return of the beloved possessed Volkswagen should be a more-than-acceptable timewaster for both the jungle-gym set and their captive chaperones.

The plot follows the standard believe-in-your-dreams template: Reformed speed demon, initially determined to follow a different path than her NASCAR dad and brother, is given an alarmingly animated VW junker as a graduation present. Family redemption, true love, a Big Race, and cameos from the likes of Jeff Gordon quickly follow.

Predictable, yes, but one unfortunate erect antenna gag aside, director Angela Robinson and Reno 911! writers Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant show a good feel for the delicate balance between not boring the target audience while also appealing to adults. The strong supporting cast, including Michael Keaton, Justin Long, and Curb Your Enthusiasm's invaluable Cheryl Hines, bolster this all-access vibe. (Special kudos to the exceedingly game Matt Dillon, who tackles his oily villain role with Snidely Whiplash levels of enthusiasm.) As for Lohan, well, dang it, she's adorable, with an energy level that belies any speculated off-camera activities. This may well be her last venture into the kiddie pool, but she makes it a winner. Ten demerits, however, for her unbelievably crass end-credit song, which features lyrics about, ahem, coming first that might give even John Waters and Lil' Kim pause. Parents, this might be a good time for earmuffs. ANDREW WRIGHT

Brothers
dir. Susanne Bier
Fri June 24–Thurs June 30 at the Varsity.

The Dogme 95 movement is dead, if it was ever truly alive, but Lars von Trier's wise-ass experiment in cinematic monasticism has spawned more than a few interesting careers. Chief among these is director Susanne Bier, whose 2002 film Open Hearts fashioned a compelling fusion between the bare-bones filmmaking restrictions and a fairly hokey melodramatic scenario. Winner of the Audience Award at Sundance, Bier's latest, Brothers, attempts to chase the same alchemy, but with noticeably diminishing returns. Sometimes, cheese remains cheese, no matter how honorable the intent.

Working from a script by her Open Hearts collaborator Anders Thomas Jensen, Bier's scenario is as hoary as the hills: After a (genuinely startling) helicopter incident in Afghanistan renders a Danish family man MIA, his grieving wife finds herself unaccountably drawn toward his bad-seed kid brother (Dogme vet Nikolaj Lie Kaas, who resembles Ben Affleck in Encino Man makeup). Cue one shell-shocked return, and the stage is set for some serious family tension. Given the dustiness of the premise, it is to the director's considerable credit that her style of lengthy hand-held close-ups and uncomfortable silences still manage to generate more than a few moments of genuine tension. Still, the been-there, seen-that feeling is hard to shake, despite the undeniable skill in the presentation.

Thankfully, Bier has a wild card working for her, in the Amazonian persona of Connie Nielsen. Working for the first time in her native language, the gorgeous but normally stiff actress knocks it out of the park here, with a performance that mixes sexiness, willful defiance, and wariness in equal amounts. She can't quite redeem the tiresome squabbling hokum all by her lonesome, but she makes it much less of a grind to witness. ANDREW WRIGHT