While a lack of context compromises the broader impact, the boys’ charisma and compassion generates an easy rooting interest. When Fawzi and Mahmoud are given an opportunity that brings their goals closer to reality, it also brings their past and future into perspective. The Hoop Dreams formula translates from basketball courts in Chicago to soccer fields in Jordan in this inspiring documentary about two Syrian teenagers hoping to use their favorite sport to escape their challenging life in a refugee camp. While the overall insight is modest, the film astutely connects past, present, and future to provide a fresh perspective.

We also get a glimpse into Wilson’s ongoing passion for recording and performing into his 70s, along with on-camera praise from Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, and Jakob Dylan. The limitations presented by the former Beach Boys founder’s lifelong battles with mental illness and personal demons are mitigated by journalist Jason Fine, a Wilson confidant who enables him to reminisce about influential locales and collaborators. Like many of the songs in Wilson’s diverse catalogue, this documentary about his life and career finds its rhythm on multiple levels. While not for all tastes, this wild ride goes beyond shock value while avoiding heavy-handed stridency. Along the way, Jude throws plenty of other barbs at the lack of pandemic-era civil discourse that resonate beyond geographic boundaries, pointing out hypocrisies and absurdities in a way that invites knee-jerk confrontation. The loosely constructed story follows a mild-mannered schoolteacher (Katia Pascariu) facing community backlash and public scandal after a private sex tape with her husband was somehow uploaded online. Through a scattershot collection of rants and tangents both hilarious and harrowing, this offbeat satire from Romanian director Radu Jude ( Aferim) is frequently as outrageous as its title.

Timid by Jonathan Todd