In the lead-up to awards season, smaller films often get trampled by studio releases backed by huge and well-oiled marketing blitzes.

“Monster” is one such film that should get more attention and love. We’ll tell you why, and check in on the “Chicken Hill” gang (23 years later) and spotlight a riveting new Italian mob series.

Here’s our roundup.

“Monster” >> Three unique perspectives guide and dramatically shift the serpentine narrative course of Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s exquisite movie. It begins with a striking image of a mother and son observing from their apartment a fire that’s devouring a tall building (an image that could well serve as a mirror to the warring firestorm of emotions roiling inside each of its characters). But what seems to be emerging as a standard family drama soon pivots in Yuji Sakamoto’s award-winning script. And Kore-eda interlocks the pieces into a gorgeous, touching portrait of the solace of friendship and our universal need to connect with others so we can fully embrace the person we were meant to be. The story centers on single mom Saori (Sakura Ando) — harried and mourning the loss of her husband — and her fifth-grade son Minato (Soya Kurokawa), an emotionally shut-off kid who starts to act strangely in the aftermath of a heated exchange with homeroom teacher Mr. Hori (Eita Nagayama).

Loosely structured like Akira Kurosawa’s iconic “Rashomon,” “Monster” then offers events from the eyes of socially awkward Mr. Hori, who grows more desperate and, well, awkward and believes that Minato has in fact been bullying Yori (Hinata Hiiragi), a sweet, ethereal kid who’s picked on at school and at home. A grieving principal (Yuko Tanaka) hobbled by a horrific tragedy, rounds out the foundation of emotionally scarred characters, all of whom are viewed by others in this small Japanese city as different and/or abnormal.

But as “Monster” so gracefully and sensitively points out, there is no reason for anyone to walk this path alone when there are so many willing to walk it with you.

Details >> 4 stars out of 4; in theaters Friday.

“Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” >> While it isn’t as good as its 23-year-old predecessor “Chicken Run,” a hilarious homage in part to the classic Steve McQueen actioner “The Great Escape,” this chipper and lovable Aardman stop-motion animation effort is certain to delight people of all ages. Parents be prepared, though: Your kids might never want to order chicken nuggets again, since our foul friends are trying to escape the clutches of a massive factory poultry plant and its evil nugget inventor Mrs. Tweedy (voice of Miranda Richardson) who wants to turn our heroes into deep-fried, dippable chunks of fast food. Looking to foil that plan is the Wonder Woman of the poultry set, the brainy and athletic Ginger (voice of Thandie Newton). She, her less-agile-of-mind hubby Rocky (Zachary Levi), their resourceful daughter Molly (Bella Ramsey) and her goofy chum Frizzle (Josie Sedgwick-Davies) wing it from Chicken Island, where they’ve been roosting comfortably, to the evil Compound to save the day. “Dawn of the Nugget” gets better as soon as it lands at the Compound, where the pace picks up and a barbed message about the dangers of mass production and animal cruelty is hatched.

Details >> 3 stars; drops Friday on Netflix.

“The Lovers” >> In this witty opposites-attract rom-com series, Belfast suicidal supermarket clerk Janet (Roisin Gallagher) and overly confident British political commentator Seamus (Johnny Flynn) get cozy even though he has a social-media savvy girlfriend (Alice Eve). A large reason this six-part series works is because the two leads work so well off each other. Gallagher is hilarious as a quick-tempered and quick-witted person who is unimpressed by all the notable politicos Seamus so proudly interviews and grills. It’s their interplay and the two actors’ natural charisma that draw us in. The writing is as nimble and spirited as the leads — not a shock since the screenplay is by playwright David Ireland, who ditches the schmaltz in favor of tart, edgy interplay. He also introduces some tricky material near the final third that gives the series another dimension that reflects on the Troubles and its lasting impact.

Details >> 3 stars; now available on Sundance Now and AMC+.

Find of the week

“Suburraeterna”: One of the best Italian mob stories running shows no sign it’ll be swimming with the fishes anytime soon. This eight-parter set amid the turmoil of 2011 Rome finds Alberto “Spadino” Anacleti (Giacomo Ferrara) drawn reluctantly back into the bloody family business when his mother is killed by a rival family that wants to control the drug biz in the seashore tourist town of Ostia. Spadino ditches his male partner and his job in Berlin and enters a bloody, tangled mess that involves criminals, overzealous politicians and even the Vatican. Hopefully, Netflix won’t leave us dangling and pick it up for another season.

Details >> 3 stars; now on Netflix.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.