DEATH SENTENCE
R, 119 minutes

In this thriller from “Saw” director James Wan and screenwriter Ian Jeffers, a family falls victim to a vicious attack perpetrated as a gang initiation ritual. Vengeful father Nick Hume (Kevin Bacon), transformed by grief, sets about tracking down each person involved in the crime. Aisha Tyler co-stars as the homicide detective who questions her pledge to assist Nick after suspecting that he may have turned to murder as a means of taking his revenge.

VANAJA
Unrated, 111 minutes

Vanaja (Mamatha Bhukya) is 15, beautiful, and too impulsive for her own good. In a seaside village in India’s Andhra Pradesh state, trouble will find a girl like this and Vanaja meets trouble halfway. Ambitious to a fault, she talks her way into the household of Rama Devi, the landlady who rules over the entire village.

Rama is a past master of kuchipudi, a South Indian narrative dance usually reserved for high caste Brahmins. Despite her low social position, Vanaja is desperate to learn. She endears herself to Rama, but is undone when the mistress’s son, Shekhar (Karan Singh), returns to the household. He takes advantage of Vanaja, leaving her pregnant. But Rama Devi is grooming her son for political office and will not abide a child born out of wedlock to a low-caste village girl.