The first weekend of the year is usually considered a dumping ground for new movies. The big Christmas releases are still presumably going strong, and the lower-profile award-season titles haven’t quite made their way into local theaters. (That changes next week, in big way, as four acclaimed films, led by The Brutalist, make their way to Oregon.)

Here at FilmWatch, however, we’d rather light a candle than curse the darkness. There are a couple worthy options, although at first glance neither exudes an excess of promise. But what if I told you that a three-hour French costume drama based on a 19th-century doorstopper of a novel actually proves to be a modest treat? It doesn’t feature any well-known (at least stateside) names, it doesn’t really take any chances, and it has a dorky poster. But this new version of The Count of Monte Cristo has the satisfying solidity of a Classics Illustrated text and enough Gallic flair to make the extended running time fly by.

Alexandre Dumas’s novel, serialized between 1844 and 1846, has been adapted dozens of times in various media, so the outlines of its plot are familiar. As a young man, Edmond Dantès (Pierre Niney) is about to marry his true love and assume the captaincy of a merchant ship when he is falsely accused of being an agent of Napoleon Bonaparte, who has recently escaped his imprisonment on the isle of Elba. Dantès spends years in prison, where he eventually meets an Italian priest who educates him and tells him the location of a hidden Templar treasure before dying. Escaping from prison, Dantès retrieves the hoard and re-appears in French society as the titular noble, embarking on a complex, calculated plan to take vengeance on the three men responsible for his misfortune.

It’s a decades-spanning saga as full of incident, character, and historical detail as any of its canonized, Dickensian brethren. Writer-directors Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte do yeomen’s work in trimming Dumas’s Byzantine plot and busload of characters down to manageable size, perhaps thanks to the practice they had co-writing a two-part, four-hour adaptation of The Three Musketeers that was released in 2023. That effort showcases stars such as Eva Green, Vincent Cassel, and Vicky Krieps (and is available on Hulu), whereas the only cast member in Monte Cristo I recognized was Anamaria Vartolomei, who delivered one of 2021’s best performances in the abortion drama Happening. She plays the daughter of the Albanian ruler Ali Pasha, who had been sold into slavery and rescued by Dantès, whom she now serves as his ward. (There’s a reason the Wikipedia page for the novel includes a graphic illustrating the relationship between the two dozen characters.)

Edmond Dantès has been played by Robert Donat, Jean Marais, Richard Chamberlain, Gérard Depardieu (of course), and, just two years ago, Jim Caviezel. There’s also a new English-language miniseries version that has yet to debut in the U.S. So, does the world really need another version of The Count of Monte Cristo? Especially one that doesn’t even bother to explain how the sandwich got its name? Well, probably not, but there are plenty of films out there the world doesn’t need, and this one is a far sight more entertaining than most of those.

Credit goes to Dumas, of course, for crafting a gripping, timeless tale of determination, betrayal, and revenge that has inspired readers and filmmakers for generations. But Patellière and Delaporte were smart enough not to mess with success, but to put together a skilled cast and crew (cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc gives the visuals an epic sweep) and let them cook. (Living Room Theaters, Regal Fox Tower; opens January 3)

Nearly as likely to fly under the radar is the engaging, surprising thriller The Damned. In an Icelandic fishing village in the 1870s, during a barren winter, supplies are running low and tensions high. The de facto leader of the town is, to the chagrin of some, a woman. Eva (Odessa Young, seen last year in Zia Anger’s My First Film) inherited the community’s fishing boat when her husband died, and has decided to stay in that position rather than sell it to a man. When another vessel wrecks on some treacherous, toothlike rock formations just offshore, Eva defies stereotypical notions of femininity by opting not to rescue its crew. Instead, a salvage mission is launched, leading to an unpleasant encounter with one last surviving sailor.

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From there, things only grow more ominous, as the requisite superstitious old cook warns of supernatural vengeance in the form of the Draugur, an undead creature that serves as a metaphor for the moral dilemma and feelings of guilt with which Eva wrestles. Icelandic director Thordur Palsson, who helmed the Netflix series The Valhalla Murders, works from an English-language script by British writer Jamie Hannigan, and crafts an authentically arctic, genuinely eerie vibe. The supporting cast are a somewhat interchangeable gallery of gruffness, with the expected exception of one more sensitive dude who becomes Eva’s ally. The creepiness is decidedly enhanced by the restrained sound design, in which every creaking timber or crunchy footfall creates a sense of doom. In that, it reminded me of the neglected paleolithic horror film Out of Darkness from a couple years back. (Regal Fox Tower and other area locations; opens January 3)

There’s another intriguing film opening in Portland this week, but I wasn’t able to screen The Black Sea in advance. It’s a quasi-documentary from director Crystal Moselle, whose riveting documentary The Wolfpack won the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2015. A Brooklynite travels to Bulgaria to meet the woman he’s developed a relationship with over Facebook, only to find that she has died, leaving him stranded as the only Black man in a completely foreign environment. Filmed without a script, it certainly has a unique premise. (Living Room Theaters)

ALSO OPENING

El Hana El Ana Feeh: Also known as The Happiness I Have, an online relationship advice guru has troubles with his own marriage in this Egyptian romantic comedy. (Regal Fox Tower)

ALSO THIS WEEK

From Ground Zero: The Palestinian submission for Best International Feature Film was recently named to the 15-film shortlist in that category. It’s a compilation of twenty-two short films made by refugees in Gaza during the Israeli assault on the enclave, which has been described as genocidal by many. Spearheaded by Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi, who provided the resources for the project, it includes straightforward documentary, fictional vignettes, and even crude animation. In one entry, a man wakes up in a body bag and sets out to figure out how he got there. In another, a veteran Gazan filmmaker apologizes to cinema itself for no longer being able to create. Scarcity, misery, and death are ubiquitous, but From Ground Zero is ultimately inspirational, showcasing the power of both cinema and the human ability to create art out of chaos. But it’s not idealistic: a short documentary about a taxi driver who ferries people and goods through Gaza’s vast tent cities is presented only half-finished, because its director’s brother was killed in an Israeli airstrike partway through production. (Clinton Street Theater; Sunday, January 5)

FRIDAY, JAN. 3

• A Hard Day’s Night [1964] (Tomorrow Theater)
• Dinner in America [2020] (Cinemagic; also Saturday, Tuesday, & Thursday)
• Se7en [1995] (Regal Cascade; in IMAX; through Sunday)

SATURDAY, JAN. 4

• Longlegs [2024] (Cinemagic, also Tuesday & Wednesday)
• Strangers on a Train [1951] (Kiggins Theater)
• The Substance [2024] (Cinemagic; also Wednesday & Thursday)
• Twilight [2008] (Tomorrow Theater)
• The Twilight Saga: Eclipse [2010] (Tomorrow Theater)
• The Twilight Saga: New Moon [2009] (Tomorrow Theater)

SUNDAY, JAN. 5

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• Basquiat [1996] (Tomorrow Theater; black and white version)
• Dune: Part One [2023] (Cinemagic)
• Dune: Part Two [2024] (Cinemagic; also Monday)
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack [1988] (Hollywood Theatre)

TUESDAY, JAN. 7

• Rage to Kill [1987] (Hollywood Theatre)

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 8

• Eno [2024] (Cinema 21)
• Paprika [2010] (multiple locations; also Thursday & Sunday, Jan. 12)

THURSDAY, JAN. 9

• Songs from the Second Floor [2000] (Tomorrow Theater)