Freeze Frame: “Let Him Go” (R), “Operation Christmas Drop” (TV-G), “The Informer” (R), “Kindred” (R),

Kevin Costner and Diane Lane play a retired couple who attempt to rescue their grandson from a rural North Dakota family in the harrowing drama “Let Him Go,” based on a novel by Larry Watson. Leslie Manville memorably chews the scenery as the cultish family’s domineering matriarch. Violent and a bit lurid, “Let Him Go” plays a bit like a neo-Western and is a well-acted and unsettling revenge thriller.

If a Disney Channel movie married a Hallmark holiday romcom, the offspring might look a bit like the middling flick, “Operation Christmas Drop.” Kat Graham plays a Congressional aide who tries to pull the rug out from under Air Force Captain Alexander Ludwig and his Guam-based charitable efforts. It’s meant to be inspiring, but “Operation Christmas Drop” is a bland, slow moving and formulaic romantic comedy.

“The Informer” is a brutal thriller starring Joel Kinneman as an FBI informant who infiltrates a savage Polish drug gang. Things get tricky when Joel gets sent to prison. FBI agents Rosamund Pike and Clive Owen cut him loose and he must figure out how to fend for himself. The story is overly familiar and takes some twists and turns that stretch credibility, but “The Informer” is still a modestly involving thriller.

“Kindred” is a well-produced British suspense drama about a pregnant woman who fears that the family of her deceased boyfriend has nefarious plans for her baby. Is she suffering from paranoid or has she reason to fear? Tamara Lawrence, Fiona Shaw and Jack Lowden give strong performances in this dark drama that creates a creepy atmosphere. “Kindred” is competent but suffers a bit from a lethargic pace.

Your local art house theaters are offering online viewing options for a number of  intriguing movie titles. More information is available at nelson-atkins.org, Screenland.com, fineartsgroup.com and drafthouse.com.

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