As the slew of high profile film festivals that usually kick off the fall season come to a close, critics pass judgment on films they’ve seen in anticipation of their wider releases. Which only sounded good on paper? Which exceeded expectations? Which, despite early projections, are no longer awards contenders?
Based on all the Oscar buzz, I’ve put together a list of the dozen films I’m the most excited to see when they come out over the next few months. I’ve noted the release date and format for each, so you can mark the ones you’re interested in on your calendars too. Note that if I only list a streaming service release, the implication is that the film will also be available in theaters on the same day.
There are a couple of films that aren’t on this list despite my excitement because I haven’t heard any rumblings in terms of the critical response to them. Netflix’s The Harder They Fall, a Western with an insanely talented Black-led cast, comes out November 1. And The Eternals, the next big Marvel movie, directed by Chloe Zhao, hot off her Best Picture and Best Director wins for Nomadland, hits theaters November 5. Perhaps they necessitate an alternate, non-Oscars conversation version of this list.
12 Tick, Tick…Boom!
On Netflix November 19.
We’ve gotten a lot of musicals this year: In the Heights was good, but not mind-blowingly so, and Annette still haunts my mind to this day, but isn’t for everyone. And we will continue to get more — most notably, Spielberg’s completely unnecessary but who are we kidding I’m going to see it anyway adaptation of West Side Story. But Lin Manuel Miranda’s directorial debut, Tick, Tick…Boom!, seems like it might be the most critically acclaimed. I’ve never seen the stage version of the source material, the late Rent composer Jonathan Larson’s semi-autobiographical one man musical. I have no idea if Andrew Garfield can actually sing. But I’m willing to find out.
11 The Last Duel
In theaters October 15.
I’ll watch anything Sir Ridley Scott directs, sight unseen. In high school, I would pop the Gladiator soundtrack CD into my Disc-man to listen to on the bus ride home. I’d watch it on the weekends. I’d quote it with my friends. So the fact that Ridley Scott has gone back to making a big, shiny, action-packed historical drama is extra appealing to me. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have reunited to co-write a script for the first time since their Oscar-winning collaboration on Good Will Hunting. But the main concern with the film is how it will handle the rape accusation at the center of its plot. Two aristocrats, played by Matt Damon and Adam Driver, fight in what was considered the last legally sanctioned duel in French history, after Marguerite de Carrouges, played by Jodie Comer, accuses Driver’s character of rape. Affleck and Damon brought in indie filmmaker Nicole Holofcener to better represent a woman’s perspective, but will that be enough to make this film resonate with post-#metoo audiences? If believing women becomes a noticeable theme, it could. But if it prioritizes the swashbuckling too much, then probably not.
10 Don’t Look Up
On Netflix December 24.
The majority of the trailer for Adam McKay’s dark comedy shows Leonardo DiCaprio hyperventilating, and the fact that I couldn’t quite tell if it was funny or serious — but uncomfortably laughed anyway — is about what I would expect from the creator of Anchorman, The Big Short, and, most recently, Vice. McKay has an acerbic wit and highly active political mind, so I’m primarily interested in how this story about a comet headed for Earth and no one believing it can serve as a satirical allegory for climate change. The star-studded cast is the major draw for me as well. In addition to Leo, of whom I’m a big fan, Jennifer Lawrence returns after what I assumed was a longer hiatus when in fact she just hasn’t been in a successful film since the Hunger Games series ended. Jonah Hill and Meryl Streep have their own scene in the trailer, but the cast list also includes Rob Morgan, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Ron Perlman, Timothee Chalamet, Cate Blanchett, and…Ariana Grande?
9 The Tragedy of Macbeth
In theaters December 25 and on Apple TV+ January 14.
It’s been a minute since I’ve seen a really great Shakespeare adaptation. In fact, I think they may have peaked in the 90s. So when I saw this promo still for Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, I immediately added it to my watchlist. A shadowy black and white frame features Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand — who have SIX Oscars between them — in a wreath-like embrace. Both actors have an intensity and charismatic severity that suit the overly-ambitious power couple they play. The trailer reveals that the black and white aesthetic is stunningly high contrast, dramatic, and moody. Reviews out of the film’s premiere at the New York Film Festival this week have been nothing but positive.
8 Spencer
In theaters November 5.
As a self-proclaimed Anglophile and avid viewer of Netflix’s The Crown, I can’t help but let Pablo Larrain’s biopic about Princess Diana bait me. After its premiere at film festivals in Telluride and Toronto earlier this month, two narratives emerged: Kristen Stewart gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Diana and the film itself is not the traditional biopic I might have expected. Critics have been using words like “surreal” and “dream-like” to describe it. This may be a minus for some, but moved the film up my list.
7 Belfast
In theaters November 12.
Kenneth Brannagh’s black and white memoir won the audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and as a result has skyrocketed to the top of many pundits’ Best Picture nominations lists. They do seem to be split on whether or not the film is “Irish Roma,” though; some insist that it is because, like Roma was for Cuaron, this is Brannagh’s most personal film yet. He tells the story from the point of view of a little boy, presumably himself, growing up during “The Troubles,” a tumultuous and violent period in Ireland’s history. Others say the only thing it has in common with Roma is that it’s in black and white. Everyone who has seen it agrees that it’s a crowd pleaser. Jamie Dornan (50 Shades of Gray) and Caitriona Balfe (Outlander) reportedly give strong performances as Brannagh’s parents. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that GOAT Dame Judi Dench plays his Granny.
6 King Richard
On HBO Max November 19.
Biopics don’t have the best track record, but the film festival buzz is strong for this one. Telling the origin story of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, King Richard acts as a showcase for Will Smith, who plays their father. Most critics who have seen the film say we can already call the Best Actor race in his favor. I’ll confess, I teared up a little when I watched the trailer, which gave me very strong American Dream vibes. It seems like the film will not shy away from the systemic racism that motivates its titular character to push his daughters so that they might have a brighter future. I hope that turns out to be true.
5 Licorice Pizza
In theaters November 26, with a wider release set for December 25.
I can’t actually tell you that much about this film because a trailer has not been released to the public yet. But Writer and Director Paul Thomas Anderson — who brought us Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, and Phantom Thread — and a set photo of Bradley Cooper dressed like a hippy is enough to pique my interest. Cooper plays Jon Peters, real-life hair stylist turned high-powered film producer, but the story is about a teenager becoming an actor in the 70s, so Cooper must be a supporting character. The teenager coming of age will be Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. The rest of the cast is an eclectic bunch: Maya Rudolph, Ben Stiller, John C. Reilly, musician Alana Haim, Tom Waits, Sean Penn, Benny Safdie (yes, he’s one half of the Safdie brothers, who made Uncut Gems in 2019), and Christopher Walken. A critic on the most recent episode of the InSession Film Podcast said that a studio executive told him that Licorice Pizza is “a more romantic Boogie Nights.” Romantic is not an adjective I would normally associate with PTA, so this makes me extra curious.
Image Credit: The Daily Mail
4 The Power of the Dog
On Netflix December 1.
A Western? I’m listening. A Western starring Benedict Cumberbatch? Okay, I’m in. The trailer for Jane Campion’s tense drama about, according to Netflix, a “charismatic rancher” who “torments” his brother when he “brings home a new wife and her son.” Much of trailer is set to Cumberbatch’s menacing whistle, and while I couldn’t tell you what was happening, I was very stressed out yet invested the entire time. I am embarrassed to admit that I did not recognize Campion by name, but, in retrospect, I should have; she made The Piano, was the second woman to win a Best Director Oscar, and the first female filmmaker to win the Palme d’Or, the highest honor at the Cannes Film Festival. Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst, who play the rancher’s brother and sister-in-law, have received praise from critics, but more of them say this is a career best for Cumberbatch.
3 Nightmare Alley
In theaters December 17.
Say what you will about The Shape of Water (which I enjoyed!). I will follow Guillermo del Toro wherever he wants to take me, even when he doesn’t put out his best work. This psychological thriller about carnies, con artists, and a “dangerous” psychiatrist, based on a 1946 novel and 1947 noir film of the same name, looks to be the perfect cocktail of old Hollywood glamour, Hitchockian suspense, occult intrigue, and GDT’s signature blend of Gothic horror and fantasy. Pan’s Labyrinth was just right for me, but Crimson Peak was too scary; Nightmare Alley seems closer to the former than the latter. I couldn’t tell you why both Bradley Cooper and Willem Defoe are dressed almost exactly like Indiana Jones. But I’m into it. Cate Blanchett is ready for her close-up, channeling a lot of Katherine Hepburn and Lauren Bacall energy. This is the most made-for-me film on this list, if I’m being honest with myself.
2 House of Gucci
In theaters November 24 and on Paramount+ at some point thereafter.
Sir Ridley Scott has not one but two films coming out this year, though this ripped from the headlines crime drama looks and feels quite different than The Last Duel. The good folks over at The Big Picture podcast are hyped about this movie, and I’m right there with them. Are the accents in this trailer ridiculous and terrible? Yes. Does everyone sound like Mario or someone doing a parody of The Godfather? Yes. Do I care? Nope. Everything else in the trailer is intoxicating: the late 80s, early 90s opulence — with big sunglasses and even bigger hair — the assassination plot, the campy dialogue, and movie stars I love to see. Towards the end of the trailer, after it’s already been implied that Maurizio Gucci, played by Adam Driver, has been murdered, we see Lady Gaga in a high fashion ski suit, stirring her tiny espresso. She says, “I do not consider myself to be a particularly ethical person, but I am fair.” The way she forcefully taps her spoon on the side of the cup twice is not only great trailer editing, but it’s incredibly intimidating in a way that makes me want to see more of her character. She’s a total boss, and this film seems like a perfect way to showcase it.
1 Dune
On HBOMax October 22.
The spice. Must. Flow. I was going to see this opening weekend regardless of the buzz because it’s an adaptation of one of the most celebrated science fiction novels of all time, Director Denis Villeneuve has proven he can handle the demands of the genre with Arrival and Bladerunner 2049, and the trailer indicates that even if the film is a disappointment from a narrative perspective, it will be epic and beautiful. But good news: critics say it’s actually good! Some have even thrown around the word “masterpiece.” And it’s already crushing the box office internationally. I’m ready to be transported.