For several years, we had “The Best Movies in Theaters” as a running article. We felt it was a helpful utility for those looking for a night out at the movies. Obviously, the pandemic shut all that down pretty quickly, but now that the vaccines are here and widely available, that means there’s a path back to the movies. Let us stress that you should really only be going back to the movies if you’re fully vaccinated. To return to an enclosed space where people may or may not be wearing masks and may or may not be infected with COVID is not a wise decision. While you should still wear a mask whenever possible at the theater (per current CDC guidelines), it’s far safer to go to the movies once you’re fully vaccinated.

If you have been fully vaccinated, you’re probably itching to go back to the movies, and the good news is that there are some great films worth checking out. Below you’ll find our recommendations of films that are currently playing in theaters. While some of these movies are also on streaming, nothing can compare to the theatrical experience, and we think it’s worth going out to see these films on the big screen.

However, what's most important is your health. Please only go to the movies if you're fully vaccinated and feel comfortable being in an auditorium.

Editor's note: Last updated August 2nd to add The Green Knight and Jungle Cruise.

The Green Knight

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Writer/Director: David Lowery

Cast: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, and Ralph Ineson.

Fair warning: The Green Knight is weird. If you haven't seen David Lowery's 2017 movie A Ghost Story, you may be thrown by the kind of unique tone he brings to his adaptation of the medieval chivalric legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. However, the story is still easy to follow--the young, untested Gawain (Dev Patel) meets the challenge of dealing a blow to the Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) with the understanding that the blow will be returned in a year's time. When Gawain tries to show off by beheading the Knight, he's startled when the Knight picks up his own head, and says he'll meet Gawain in the Green Chapel one year hence.

So begins an episodic journey where Gawain is repeatedly beset by temptations and challenges as he goes to meet his destiny against a foe who promises to behead him. It's a fascinating, sumptuous film that explores what it means to live with honor in the face of certain death. If you can get on board with what Lowery is doing here, you'll be rewarded with one of the year's best films. - Matt Goldberg

Jungle Cruise

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Image via Walt Disney Studios

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Writers: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa, and Michael Green

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, Édgar Ramírez, and Paul Giamatti.

The latest adaptation of a Disney theme park attraction wisely borrows some plot points and energy from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. The film follows scientist Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and her uptight brother MacGregor (Jack Whitehall) as they join with acerbic boat captain Frank (Dwayne Johnson) on the search for a mystical flower that's said to have incredible healing powers. However, the trio is pursued by a German officer (Jesse Plemons) hoping that the flower will help him win World War I as well as the cursed spirits of Spanish conquistadors.

Jungle Cruise has a light, fun adventure energy that makes it perfect for an afternoon out at the movies. It's charming, Blunt and Johnson have terrific chemistry, and the film is colorful and fast-paced. It's the kind of movie you could easily slot alongside the original Pirates or 1999's The Mummy for a lazy weekend in that it provides a good time without making any heavy demands of its audience. - Matt Goldberg

Zola

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Image via A24

Director: Janicza Bravo

Writer: Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris

Cast: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Ari'el Stachel, and Colman Domingo

Before you turn away at "based on a Twitter thread", give Zola a chance. Yes, the film was based on a famous Twitter thread by Aziah "Zola" King from 2015, but director/co-writer Janicza Bravo turns it into an electrifying and satisfying story of backstabbing, increasing insanity, race, sex, Internet culture, and more. The film follows Zola (Taylour Paige) and her odd friendship with Stefani (Riley Keough), who says that the two of them can make some easy money stripping in Tampa, but once along for the ride Zola realizes this is not the fun trip she was promised. Thankfully, she always manages to keep her head as everything continues to spin out of control around her. Bravo's razor sharp direction shows she's a filmmaker to watch, and you'll easily get wound up in this stranger-than-fiction tale. - Matt Goldberg

In the Heights

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Image via Warner Bros.

Director: Jon M. Chu

Writer: Quiara Alegría Hudes

Cast: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, and Jimmy Smits

If you’re looking for a big, bold, colorful, and exuberant theatrical experience for the summer, you probably won’t do much better than Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning musical In the Heights. The story follows a group of young Washington Heights residents during the summer and their various dreams. There’s Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) who dreams of moving back to his father’s homeland of the Dominican Republic; Nina (Leslie Grace) who wants to move back home after making it to Stanford due to feeling like an outsider; and Vanessa (Melissa Barrera), who wants to get out of the neighborhood to work as a fashion designer. The story explores the complexities of the immigrant and 1st-generation American experience without ever losing the vibrancy and immediacy of the musical numbers that are destined to get stuck in your head. If there’s an ideal film to welcome people back to theaters, In the Heights is it. - Matt Goldberg

The Sparks Brothers

The Sparks Brothers
Image via Sundance

Director: Edgar Wright

If you’ve never heard of Sparks, that’s okay. The thesis of Edgar Wright’s first documentary, The Sparks Brothers, is that you’ve never heard about one of the greatest bands of all-time, but your favorite bands have. The massive documentary flies by as Wright covers all 25 albums from Sparks, a band comprised of brothers Russell and Ron Mael. Through interviews with both the band, their admirers, and a wealth of footage, The Sparks Brothers makes the convincing case that Sparks was a game-changing band that never got the recognition they were due despite their creative bravado and willingness to chart their own path. If you’re not a fan of Sparks going into The Sparks Brothers, you will be by the time you leave it. – Matt Goldberg