Reel cool: December movie openings

Movies coming out around the holidays include “Office Christmas Party,” “Collateral Beauty,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and “Passengers.”

Manchester by the Sea

Drama

Director: Kenneth Lonergan

Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler

In theaters: December 2

When a childless janitor’s estranged older brother suddenly dies, the middle-aged maintenance man is made sole guardian of his adolescent nephew and must choose between caring for the kid in Boston or returning to his family’s hometown of Manchester by the Sea.

Office Christmas Party

Party like your job depends on it.

Comedy

Directors: Josh Gordon, Will Speck

Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, T.J. Miller

In theaters: December 9

In an effort to save the company and keep their jobs, a pair of hard-partying corporate colleagues throw an off-the-chain Christmas rager to impress a new client.

Miss Sloane

Make sure you surprise them.

Drama | Thriller

Director: John Madden

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mark Strong

In theaters: December 9

A merciless D.C. powerbroker has a reputation for winning at any cost, but when she faces her most formidable opponent yet, her career might come to a catastrophic close.

Collateral Beauty

We are all connected.

Drama | Comedy

Director: David Frankel

Starring: Will Smith, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley

In theaters: December 16

After a talented businessmen suffering from a deep depression begins writing impassioned letters to emotions and other intangible recipients, three enigmatic strangers suddenly enter his life.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

A rebellion built on hope.

Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Director: Gareth Edwards

Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen

In theaters: December 16

This first “Anthology” film from in the Star Wars universe sets the stage for the action of the original 1977 classic by telling the tale of eclectic adventurers who attempt to pilfer plans for the oppressive Empire’s destructive Death Star.

La La Land

Here’s to the fools who dream.

Romance

Director: Damien Chazelle

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Finn Wittrock

In theaters: December 16

This love story set in the City of Angels chronicles the relationship between a fledgling actress and an underemployed jazz pianist who struggle to stay together under the pressure to achieve success.

The Space Between Us

What’s your favorite thing about Earth?
Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Director: Peter Chelsom

Starring: Gary Oldman, Asa Butterfield, Carla Gugino

In theaters: December 16

A teenage boy raised on Mars visits Earth for the first time and, after learning his body isn’t equipped for this planet’s atmosphere, eludes the scientists studying him and embarks on a mission to meet his long-distance crush and find the father he’s never known.

Assassin’s Creed

Your destiny is in your blood.

Adventure | Fantasy

Director: Justin Kurzel

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons

In theaters: December 21

Upon discovering he’s descended from a brotherhood of ancient assassins, a man uses powerful technology to re-live the experiences of his long-dead relative and take down the sinister organization secretly manipulating modern society.

Passengers

Every moment counts.

Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Director: Morten Tyldum

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen

In theaters: December 21

A pair of passengers en route to a distant planet awake from suspended animation nearly a century too soon and, with no one to help them, face the prospect of living out their lives on a luxurious and lonely spaceship.

Sing

Auditions begin 2016.

Drama | Musical

Director: Garth Jennings

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon

In theaters: December 21

A fashionable koala attempts to save his faltering theater by hosting the most epic singing competition the animal kingdom has ever seen.

A Monster Calls

Stories are wild creatures.

Fantasy | Drama

Director: J.A. Bayona

Starring: Liam Neeson, Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver

In theaters: December 23

As a means of coping with his mother’s impending death, an angst-ridden boy uses his imagination to create an astonishing tree monster that serves as his strength.

Why Him?

Of all the guys his daughter could have chosen...

Comedy

Director: John Hamburg

Starring: James Franco, Bryan Cranston, Zoey Deutch

In theaters: December 23

An overprotective father visiting his daughter’s college campus meets her well-intended, but extremely aggravating, billionaire boyfriend, who is the last person on Earth he wants sleeping with his baby girl.

Fences

Drama

Director: Denzel Washington

Starring: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Russell Hornsby

In theaters: December 25

Based on the Broadway play set in the 1950s, a retired baseball player creates family drama by shutting down his son’s dreams of becoming a professional athlete and bringing an out-of-wedlock baby into their home.

Gold

It was never about the money.

Drama | Thriller

Director: Stephen Gaghan

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Bryce Dallas Howard, Édgar Ramírez

In theaters: December 25

An unscrupulous gold prospector attracts unwanted attention from federal agencies and a foreign military after unearthing a staggering amount of precious metals in an Indonesian jungle.

Hidden Figures

Meet the women you don’t know, behind the mission you do.

Drama

Director: Theodore Melfi

Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe

In theaters: December 25

In this incredible true story set in the 1950s and ‘60s, a trio of ingenuous African-American women working for NASA defy racial and gender stereotypes by helping to launch America’s first astronaut into orbit.