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To help sift through the increasing number of new releases (independent or otherwise), the Weekly Film Guide is here! Below you’ll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.

Starting this month, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list here, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.

See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for June 2016

Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, June 24. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.

Wide

Free State of Jones

Director: Gary Ross

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Keri Russell, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Jacob Lofland

Synopsis: “In Jones County, Miss., Newt Knight joins forces with other farmers and a group of slaves to lead a rebellion against the Confederacy.”

Independence Day: Resurgence...

★★☆☆☆ During the Q & A session which followed the international première of Shemi Zarhin's The Kind Words (2015) on the opening night of this year's Toronto Film Festival, the Israeli director was asked how he struck a balance between the tragic and comedic elements of a story that teeters precariously between each end of the emotional spectrum. His sadly ironic response - given that the film has been nearly a decade in the making - was that he had no precise plans; that he did not want to oblige a viewer to feel a certain way. Whilst this ambiguity allows for individual interpretation, the lack of tonal clarity unfortunately prevents his sixth feature from being the film it should, and certainly could, have been.

There's no doubt that Zarhin, who also penned the script, is a gifted and creative storyteller. As with The World Is Funny (2012), his latest focuses on three siblings,...

Israeli filmmaker Shemi Zarhin is set to return to the big screen with his first directorial effort in three years.

The film, called The Kind Words or Hamilim Hatovot, now has a festival trailer. Along with directing, Zarhin also takes on screenplay duties for the film, which stars Rotem Zissman-Cohen, Roy Assaf, Tsahi Halevi, and Assaf Ben-Shimon.

The film’s synopsis is as follows:

In the wake of their mother’s death, three Jewish Israeli siblings discover that their biological father was a Muslim and set out on a journey across France to locate him.

The film is Zarhin’s first directorial feature since 2012, although he also wrote a screenplay in the intervening years. Zissman-Cohen and Assaf also worked together in 2012, in the feature God’s Neighbors. The trailer suggests that the film will have moments of levity, with the focus on the siblings at its core.

The film is...

Beasts of Burden: Levi’s Slapstick Heist Film Runs Amuck

For his sophomore film, Israeli director Reshef Levi inserts Patrick Stewart alongside the likes of Sasson Gabai, Moni Moshonov, and Moshe Ivgy for a comedic bank heist in Hunting Elephants. While there’s mild amusement to be had amongst this group of sassy old codgers, the whole endeavor feels a bit forced. Snippets of characters directly addressing the camera frequently distract as Levi and co-writer Regey Levi cut across timespans in attempt to give the scenario added depth. Reinforcing stereotypes rather than playing with them, Levi’s broad scenario feels tonally akin to something like Last Vegas (2013) but entrenched in more archaic stagnation.

Daniel (Zvika Hadar) is a security guard at a bank. While explaining to his twelve year old son Jonathan (Gil Blank) how the new security system works, replete with all the proper codes needed to gain entry,...