NEWS OF THE WORLD (2020)

Capt. Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks), Civil War veteran,, makes a living in postwar Texas reading newpaper headlines and articles to local audiences. He agrees to return 10-year-old Johanna (Helena Zengel), raised by Kiowa Indians who killed her family, to an aunt and uncle hundreds of miles away in Castroville. She knows no English and doesn't want to go. The two make the perilous journey, encountering good people and bad, and many narrow escapes, gradually bonding along the way. The film is slow moving at times but it tells the story beautifully, with superb cinematography, and offers a happy ending without being mawkish or sappy. Hanks, always good, doesn't disappoint. Zengel doesn't talk much, but she's exceptionally expressive. Well worth watching.