Critics’ picks, August 16–29, 2012

1. A Separation
Dir. Asghar Farhadi. 2011. PG-13. 123mins. In Persian with subtitles. Peyman Moadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Sarina Farhadi, Shahab Hosseini.
The slippery nature of truth lies at the center of Farhadi’s shape-shifting Iranian drama, in which two families go head-to-head in a legal battle that’s really a trial of moral responsibility. It’s the greatest Foreign Language Oscar winner in decades. Available on demand widely Tue 21.

2. Bernie
Dir. Richard Linklater. 2011. PG-13. 104mins. Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey.
Truth is stranger than fiction in Linklater’s nervy documentary-narrative hybrid, which surrounds School of Rock funnyman Black with a bunch of gabby (and very real) Texas townsfolk. Available on demand widely Tue 21.

3. The Raid: Redemption
Dir. Gareth Evans. 2011. R. 101mins. In Indonesian with subtitles. Iko Uwais, Doni Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian.
Guns blaze, machetes slice, and the bloodshed never lets up. Evans’s Indonesian import is the year’s purest blast of no-frills, adrenaline-junkie cinema. Available on demand widely.