NEW YORK. Families don’t have to achieve perfection in order to live in harmony. Along with a lesson about the breaking down of fear-based barriers, that’s the basic theme of “Trolls Band Together” (PG, Universal), a pleasant third animated adventure for the music-loving, doll-derived beings of the title who first arrived on the big screen in 2016.

NEW YORK. Swedish producer Adam Anders has long been associated with such peppy musical fare as the Fox TV series “Glee” and the big-screen comedy “Rock of Ages.” As he makes his directorial debut with the lively song and dance-filled film “Journey to Bethlehem” (PG, Sony), that legacy is on full display.

Call it the jazz-hands Nativity story.

NEW YORK.  Emotional ambiguity pervades the dramatization “Killers of the Flower Moon” (R, Paramount/Apple TV+). Epic yet intimate, director and co-writer Martin Scorsese’s masterful recounting of real-life events in 1920s Oklahoma is too gritty for kids, but deeply rewarding for grown-ups and possibly acceptable for older teens.

NEW YORK.  Although the horror sequel “The Exorcist: Believer” (R, Universal) gets off to a reasonably promising start, it degenerates quickly. In fact, it ends up being a muddle both dramatically and, more significantly, in its treatment of religion.

NEW YORK.  “A Haunting in Venice” (PG-13, 20th Century) is the third in a series of Agatha Christie adaptations, all featuring her famed sleuth Hercule Poirot, on which director and star Kenneth Branagh has collaborated with screenwriter Michael Green. Yet, in at least two related respects, the newcomer is noticeably distinct from its predecessors.