Tired of your family? Here’s what you might see at the movies

Santa has come and gone. There’s wrapping paper strewn all over the floor. And the family is starting to bicker.

Must be time to head to a dark theater where you don’t have to speak to one another!

Fortunately, Hollywood’s got your back. Four new films were released nationwide on Christmas -- “Joy,” “Concussion,” “Daddy’s Home” and “Point Break” -- and if you live in L.A., you’ve got six fresh options because “The Hateful Eight” and “The Revenant” opened here, too.

To avoid any further family drama, we’ve helped you narrow down the choices. Here’s what critics are saying about the new films -- all of which have awards aspirations.

“The Revenant”

Chances are you’ve already heard about the extreme lengths Leonardo DiCaprio went to while shooting Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 19th century survival drama. While filming in the barren Canadian wilderness, the actor put up with freezing temperatures, slept in an animal carcass and tried raw bison liver. He’s a regular Bear Grylls!

DiCaprio’s efforts seem to have paid off, as he’s already received best actor nods from the Screen Actors Guild and the Hollywood Foreign Press, the voting body behind the Golden Globes. Critics are pretty enamored with his performance, too -- “The Revenant” is the best-reviewed film of any Christmas release.

In the film, DiCaprio plays Hugh Glass, a fur trapper who lives through a bear attack and brutal winter conditions as he attempts to seek revenge on his son’s killer. Though the 41-year-old doesn’t have much dialogue, the Los Angeles Times says it is still “one of the most powerful and convincing roles the actor has had.”

“Full-bearded, capable of expressing rage with only his eyes, determined to survive to take revenge on those who did him dirty, even if he has to literally crawl to do it, DiCaprio makes us believe that he has the will and the skills to turn himself into a revenant, a man who has managed to come back from the dead with blood in his eye,” writes Kenneth Turan.

The other winner here? Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. Shot in both Canada and Argentina, the film features “the brilliant, crystalline look that high-definition digital can provide, with natural vistas that seem to go on forever and suggest the seeming limitless bounty that once was,” says the New York Times.

For some, though, there wasn’t much substance underneath the beauty.

“Iñárritu’s savage endurance test of a film almost works better as a series of stunning images and surreal sequences,” writes Entertainment Weekly, “than as an emotionally satisfying story.”

“The Hateful Eight”

Your other best bet this holiday? Quentin Tarantino’s latest, a western with a star-heavy cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh. But beware: It’s long. Just over three hours long.

Most critics seem to agree it’s worth your time, though not the Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips, who called the 70mm version of the film “an ultrawide bore.” Others were kinder.

“It’s not as audacious or as provocative or as brutally violent as ‘Django Unchained,’” says the Chicago Sun-Times, but “it’s still an exhilarating moviegoing experience, filled with wickedly dark humor, nomination-worthy performances and a jigsaw puzzle plot that keeps us guessing until the bloody, brilliant end.”

The movie, shot on 70mm film, is a traditional western -- complete with an overture and an intermission -- mixed with a murder mystery of sorts. It’s set after the Civil War and the picture’s exploration of racial issues makes it particularly timely, says NPR: “‘The Hateful Eight’ is a big, shambling, audacious inversion of the western, held together by Tarantino’s sincere conviction that beyond his high juvenilia, American audiences might recognize their own fractious nation.”

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FOR THE RECORD
Dec. 25, 1:01 p.m.: An earlier version of this article said “The Hateful Eight” was set before the Civil War. The film takes place after the war.
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“Concussion”

Want to make those Sunday football games even more lively? See “Concussion.” The film, which stars Will Smith, is about Bennet Omalu, the doctor who set out to prove that NFL players who take brutal hits to the head during games can suffer serious brain injury down the road.

Directed by Peter Landesman, the movie has earned mixed reviews. Some think the movie is too melodramatic, beating the audience over the head with its earnest message in a way that is more “ungainly than effective,” notes the L.A. Times’ Turan. But Smith’s performance saves the film, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“The great strength of “Concussion” is its star’s performance,” says the Wall Street Journal. “Meticulous in his accent and grave in his demeanor, Mr. Smith makes Bennet charmingly eccentric (the doctor talks tenderly to his corpses before cutting them up); quick to detect casual racism (his detractors call him “mister” or nothing at all, rather than Dr. Omalu); and, for someone with a self-declared interest “in the science of death,” a vivid advocate for the lives of imperiled athletes.”

“Joy”

Jennifer Lawrence and David O. Russell: How can you go wrong -- right? The actress and the director have teamed up twice before, scoring big with “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle” over the last few years.

Unfortunately, the third time wasn’t a charm for most critics. In “Joy,” the 25-year-old “Hunger Games” star plays Joy Mangano, a divorced mother who created the Miracle Mop. And everyone pretty much agrees that Lawrence -- as usual -- turns in an award-worthy performance.

“The performance, focused where it needs to be but largely just enjoyably freewheeling, is a reminder that Lawrence, only 25, doesn’t yet need to be great,” writes Time. “Sometimes, especially for such a young performer, it’s enough to be casual.”

Russell, however, doesn’t do his best work here. “There’s no teeth in Russell’s bite this time,” says Rolling Stone. “His admiration for Joy has blurred his vision. And he lets the climactic scenes of empire building drown the film in a sea of cliches. Sadly, Russell’s movie is not a joy forever.”

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