New in theaters this week: ‘Carol,’ ‘Revenant,’ Christian indie ‘Masked Saint’

Best bets opening Friday

▪  “Carol” is getting rave reviews and is a strong Oscar contender in many categories. Todd Haynes’ period romance follows two very different women (Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara) who fall in love.

▪  Leonardo Di Caprio is the Oscar front-runner to win best actor in “The Revenant,” if for nothing else than that he endured the film’s harsh production shoot in frigid temperatures. He plays a man left for dead after a bear attack who hunts down the men who betrayed him. Nothing warms you up like revenge, apparently.

Also opening Friday

▪  “The Forest” is a horror tale that follows a young woman who travels to Suicide Forest under Mount Fuji in Japan looking for her missing sister but instead encounters paranormal forces. Because nothing strange would ever happen in a place called Suicide Forest.

▪  The Christian drama “The Masked Saint” is based on a true story about a professional wrestler who becomes a small-town pastor and moonlights as a masked vigilante by night.

Coming up

▪  Tallgrass Film Association kicks off the new year with “Smallgrass,” a family-friendly film festival.

Screenings will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 16 in Exploration Place’s Boeing Dome Theater.

For more information, go to www.tallgrassfilmfest.com.

Rod Pocowatchit

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 4:12 PM with the headline "New in theaters this week: ‘Carol,’ ‘Revenant,’ Christian indie ‘Masked Saint’."