Here are the movies we’re most excited about that are playing in New Orleans this week, in case you want to escape the maddening revelry of Mardi Gras with some amusing genre schlock.

Movies We Haven’t Seen (Yet)

The Lodge – Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala follow up their art-house torture porn oddity Goodnight Mommy with another story about spooky children being isolated in close quarters with their overwhelmed female guardian. Looks traumatic. Playing wide.

Brahms: The Boy II – An out-of-nowhere sequel to the bonkers evil doll movie The Boy, which boasts one of our favorite go-for-broke horror endings of the last decade (and somehow landed high on our Top Films of 2016 list). Playing wide.

Movies We Already Enjoyed

Parasite – The latest from Bong Joon-ho (director of Okja and Swampflix’s favorite movie of 2014, Snowpiercer) is a twisty, crowd-pleasing thriller about class resentment that’s sold out screenings & earned ecstatic critical praise for four solid months as its distribution & Awards Attention exponentially spread, culminating in a 4-category sweep at this year’s Oscars ceremony. It appears as if its New Orleans run might be coming to an end this week, though, so don’t miss your chance to see one of 2019’s universally beloved genre gems big, loud, and with an enraptured crowd. Playing at AMC Elmwood.

Birds of Prey – Harley Quinn emerges from the beloved-by-all Suicide Squad in a hyperviolent, femmed-out action comedy of her own where she beats the shit out of dirtbag men, models sparkly costumes, and mugs directly at the camera for two hours of pure sugar-rush. Instantly one of my favorite superhero pictures of all time, and it felt nice to finally enjoy a Deadpool-style movie for once (it helps that Margot Robbie is, unlike Ryan Reynolds, actually funny). Playing wide.

-Brandon Ledet