This next year looks like a bad one for box office blockbusters (until Avatar arrives) but a good one for quality cinema. It’s a bit too soon to start calling the Oscar nominees, but here are 20 films that might just make the cut—and a list worth getting excited for.
A college professor is forced to grapple with her own secretive past after one of her colleagues is faced with a serious accusation.
Director: Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, Challengers)
Actors: Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri (The Bear)
Anemone
A screenplay by Daniel Day-Lewis and his son tells the story of intergenerational family bonds, ending Daniel's seven-year retirement.
Director: Ronan Day-Lewis
Actors: Daniel Day-Lewis
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Here we go, again. James Cameron's third film in the series, the Na'vi encounter fire-wielding clans, expanding the rich world of Pandora.
Actors: Daniel Day-Lewis
Here we go, again. James Cameron's third film in the series, the Na'vi encounter fire-wielding clans, expanding the rich world of Pandora.
Director: James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic)
Actors: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver
Blue Moon
A biopic of the later days of songwriter Lorenz Hart.
Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Dazed and Confused, the Before trilogy)
Actors: Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley (The Substance) and Andrew Scott (1917, Fleabag, All of Us Strangers)
Deliver Me From Nowhere
A music bio about early eighties Bruce Springsteen, who recorded his album Nebraska on a four-track cassette in his bedroom in New Jersey.
Director: Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart)
Actors: Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) as the Boss, Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice) as Jon Landau
Frankenstein
A modern adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic, shot in Edinburgh.
Hamnet
From the popular novel, a historical drama that explores the life of Anne Hathaway and her grief following the death of her son, Hamnet, whose death is believed to have inspired William Shakespeare's play Hamlet.
Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)
Actors: Florence Pugh (Oppenheimer Little Women), Paul Mescal (Normal People, Aftersun, Gladiator II), Tom Burke (Living)
Highest To Lowest
A reimagining of Akira Kurosawa's High and Low, this crime thriller follows a businessman whose son is kidnapped, only for the kidnapper to demand a ransom that isn't what it seems.
Director: Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman, Do The Right Thing)
Actors: Denzel Washington, Michael B. Jordan
Is This Thing On?
Alex and Tess have reached an amicable end to their marriage, thus beginning the awkward stage of figuring out how to live separately while raising two boys and maintaining their friendships
Director: Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born, Maestro)
Actors: Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Sean Hayes, Andra Day
Jay Kelly
Get ready for the serious-actor Adam Sandler press tour! A coming of age movie written by Noah Baumback (Barbie, Frances Ha) and Emily Mortimer (Paddington in Peru)
Actors: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver
A biopic of the later days of songwriter Lorenz Hart.
Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Dazed and Confused, the Before trilogy)
Actors: Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley (The Substance) and Andrew Scott (1917, Fleabag, All of Us Strangers)
Deliver Me From Nowhere
A music bio about early eighties Bruce Springsteen, who recorded his album Nebraska on a four-track cassette in his bedroom in New Jersey.
Director: Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart)
Actors: Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) as the Boss, Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice) as Jon Landau
Frankenstein
A modern adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic, shot in Edinburgh.
Director: Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water)
Actors: Christolph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Star Wars) as Dr. Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi (Saltburn) as the Monster, and Mia Goth (Emma)
The Bride
Which will be better? There's also the retelling of the Bride of Frankenstein, also adapted from Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein.
Director Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter)
Actors: Jessie Buckley (Wicked Little Letters), Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard and Annette Bening
The Bride
Which will be better? There's also the retelling of the Bride of Frankenstein, also adapted from Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein.
Director Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter)
Actors: Jessie Buckley (Wicked Little Letters), Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard and Annette Bening
From the popular novel, a historical drama that explores the life of Anne Hathaway and her grief following the death of her son, Hamnet, whose death is believed to have inspired William Shakespeare's play Hamlet.
Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)
Actors: Florence Pugh (Oppenheimer Little Women), Paul Mescal (Normal People, Aftersun, Gladiator II), Tom Burke (Living)
Highest To Lowest
A reimagining of Akira Kurosawa's High and Low, this crime thriller follows a businessman whose son is kidnapped, only for the kidnapper to demand a ransom that isn't what it seems.
Director: Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman, Do The Right Thing)
Actors: Denzel Washington, Michael B. Jordan
Is This Thing On?
Alex and Tess have reached an amicable end to their marriage, thus beginning the awkward stage of figuring out how to live separately while raising two boys and maintaining their friendships
Director: Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born, Maestro)
Actors: Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Sean Hayes, Andra Day
Get ready for the serious-actor Adam Sandler press tour! A coming of age movie written by Noah Baumback (Barbie, Frances Ha) and Emily Mortimer (Paddington in Peru)
Director: Noah Baumback
Actors: George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Riley Keough (Zola), Billy Crudup (Almost Famous)
Director: Josh Safdie (Uncut Gems)
Actors: Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tyler, The Creator
One Battle After Another
A series of battles, following soldiers who struggle to retain their humanity amidst the chaos of conflict. Anderson's first film to be released in IMAX.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread, Magnolia, Boogie Nights)
Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro.
Sentimental Value
A young woman in her late twenties faces the crossroads of life and love, while trying to balance her own ambitions with the weight of her family's history.
Director: Joachim Trier, (The Worst Person in the World)
Actors: Elle Fanning (A Complete Unknown) Stellan Skargargd (Dune, Andor), Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World)
The Ballad of a Small Player
The Way of the Wind
Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May, provided the six-year-in-the-making film is completed, is Terrence Malick's biblical epic. A bomb or a masterpiece? We'll find out soon.
Wicked: For Good
Sound familiar? Witch, please! Part two of the musical adaptation of the Broadway show, exploring the untold story of the witches of Oz. This time, there will be original songs.
Director: Jon M. Chu, (Wicked, Crazy Rich Asians)
Top Stars: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo
Actors: George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Riley Keough (Zola), Billy Crudup (Almost Famous)
Kind of Kindness
The next dark comedy from Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, The Favourite, The Lobster)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Actors: Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley (The Substance)
The Lost Bus
The next dark comedy from Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, The Favourite, The Lobster)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Actors: Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley (The Substance)
The Lost Bus
American drama film directed by Paul Greengrass, who co-wrote the screenplay with Brad Ingelsby, based on the 2021 book Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire — produced by Oscar-rally-queen Jamie Lee Curtis.
Director: Paul Greengrass (The Bourne films)
Actors: Matthew McConaughey, America Ferrera
Marty Supreme
A professional table tennis player navigates the cutthroat world of competitive sports, drawing inspiration from Marty Reisman's life.
Director: Paul Greengrass (The Bourne films)
Actors: Matthew McConaughey, America Ferrera
A professional table tennis player navigates the cutthroat world of competitive sports, drawing inspiration from Marty Reisman's life.
Director: Josh Safdie (Uncut Gems)
Actors: Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tyler, The Creator
One Battle After Another
A series of battles, following soldiers who struggle to retain their humanity amidst the chaos of conflict. Anderson's first film to be released in IMAX.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread, Magnolia, Boogie Nights)
Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro.
Sentimental Value
A young woman in her late twenties faces the crossroads of life and love, while trying to balance her own ambitions with the weight of her family's history.
Director: Joachim Trier, (The Worst Person in the World)
Actors: Elle Fanning (A Complete Unknown) Stellan Skargargd (Dune, Andor), Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World)
The Ballad of a Small Player
A psychological thriller, where a gambler and a con artist flee Britain for Macau.
Director: Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front)
Actors: Tilda Swinton, Colin Farrell
The History of Sound
Two men travel together in the summer of 1919 to record the folk songs of their countrymen in rural New England.
Actors: Tilda Swinton, Colin Farrell
The History of Sound
Two men travel together in the summer of 1919 to record the folk songs of their countrymen in rural New England.
Director: Oliver Hermanus (Living, Queer)
Actors: Paul Mescal (Normal People, Aftersun, Gladiator II), Josh O' Connor (Challengers, The Crown)
Actors: Paul Mescal (Normal People, Aftersun, Gladiator II), Josh O' Connor (Challengers, The Crown)
The Way of the Wind
Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May, provided the six-year-in-the-making film is completed, is Terrence Malick's biblical epic. A bomb or a masterpiece? We'll find out soon.
Director: Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life, Badlands)
Top Stars: Ben Kingsley, Mark Rylance, Joseph Fiennes
Top Stars: Ben Kingsley, Mark Rylance, Joseph Fiennes
Wicked: For Good
Sound familiar? Witch, please! Part two of the musical adaptation of the Broadway show, exploring the untold story of the witches of Oz. This time, there will be original songs.
Director: Jon M. Chu, (Wicked, Crazy Rich Asians)
Top Stars: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo
