Movie Blog´s archives ↓
Best new movies of fall 2021: release dates and where to …
What a difference a year makes. Last fall, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic sent shockwaves through the movie industry. Studios pushed back some of the season’s biggest premieres to 2021 or indefinitely halted production all together as movie-going audiences sheltered in place. The upheaval resulted in a year of “lost” releases. Except for Tenet … which really came out last August. Wild.
A year later, conditions are at once both radically different and much the same. The development and subsequent rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine has given some studios the confidence to move forward with their fall premiere plans, though a rise in cases tied to the COVID Delta variant has forced both filmgoers and studios to make the calculated decision of where and how to watch this year’s most anticipated new releases, if at all. But off the theatrical success of Marvel’s Shang-Chi over Labor Day weekend, many studios are prepared to move forward with the release schedule — and lean on streaming like never before.
To that end, here’s a list of what movies are playing in wide release this fall, from theater-only screenings to streaming exclusives and everything in-between. There’s a wealth of exciting new films to watch this season, here’s what you should keep your eyes out for.
The Card Counter
Image: Focus Features
Paul Schrader follows his 2018 spiritual drama First Reformed with a moody vehicle for Oscar Isaac. The actor plays William Tell, an ex-military interrogator-turned-gambler who makes it his personal mission to reform a troubled young man (Tye Sheridan) out for revenge against Major John Gordo (Willem Dafoe). With the backing of La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), Tell and his protege set out on the road with their sights set on winning the World Series of poker in Las Vegas. Having screened out of festivals, early word is that Schrader has once again delivered a gnarly human drama. Vulture critic Alison Wilmore wrote in her review:
William recognizes the puerility of Cirk’s dead-end mission, and without acknowledging the degree it’s also his, dedicates himself to helping the young man move on. The Card Counter takes place in a punishing world of windowless casinos, hotel ballrooms, and highways devoid of scenery — a vision of the America used to justify the actions that now so traumatize William, that is intentionally bereft of poetry until La Linda takes William to a park illuminated by Christmas lights. If it’s not a country worth losing your soul for, it’s also not one that will pay any mind to a life spent wallowing in angst over it, either.
In theaters on Sept. 10
Kate
Photo: Jasin Boland/Netflix
Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars in the Atomic Blonde-meets-Crank revenge action thriller Kate as a preternaturally gifted assassin who is poisoned by her employers and sets out on a 24-hour manhunt to exact revenge on those who betrayed her. As her body rapidly deteriorates under the effects of the poison, Kate forms an unlikely bond with Ani (Miku Patricia Martineau), the teenage daughter of one of her past targets. With nothing left to lose, Kate embarks on one last self-appointed mission of retribution.
Streaming on Netflix on Sept. 10
Malignant
Image: Warner Bros.
Saw and Insidious director James Wan returns to the horror genre with Malignant, his latest psychological horror thriller starring Annabelle Wallis (Peaky Blinders). The film follows Madison (Wallis), a young woman inexplicably wracked by debilitating visions and nightmares of people being brutally murdered. Except … the visions are real. In order to stop the killer and save her own life, Madison delves into the long dormant secrets of her past and face her darkest fears. If this has anywhere close to the energy of Wan’s Insidious, audiences are sure to be in for a horror film that keep their hearts racing and make it just a whee bit harder to fall asleep at night.
In theaters and on HBO Max on Sept. 10
Nightbooks
CHRISTOS KALOHORIDIS/Netflix
If you’re hungry for a retro-themed horror fantasy in the vein of 2019’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark or Leigh Janiak’s Fear Street trilogy, David Yarovesky’s Nightbooks should sate your appetite. Based on the J. A. White’s children’s book of the same name, the film stars Winsolw Fegley (Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made) as Alex, a precocious young boy with an obsession with scary stories who is abducted by a nefarious witch (Krysten Ritter) and imprisoned in her magical apartment. Forced to tell a scary story every night or face horrific consequences, Alex must team up with his fellow prisoner Yasmin (Lidya Jewett) to escape the witch’s grasp and safely return home.
Streaming on Netflix on Sept. 15
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Photo: Amazon Studios
In director Jonathan Butterell’s film adaptation of Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae’s award-winning coming-of-age stage musical, Max Harwood stars as Jamie New, a 16-year-old teenager from a blue collar English town who just doesn’t quite fit in. Spurned by his teachers and ostracized by his peers, Jamie nonetheless remains determined to pursue his dream of become a proud drag queen. With the support of his best friend Pritti (Lauren Patel), his mother (Sarah Lancashire), and his mentor Loco Chanelle (Richard E. Grant), Jamie defies his naysayers and inspires his community across several colorful music numbers in a story about remaining true to yourself even (and especially) when it’s hard.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 17
Prisoners of the Ghostland
Photo: Toshio Watanabe/ RLJE Films
Nicolas Cage (Mandy, Jiu Jitsu) stars in Japanese provocateur Sio Sono’s neo-noir western action film Prisoners of the Ghostland as Hero, a notorious criminal imprisoned in the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town who is hired by a wealthy warlord known as The Governor (Bill Moseley) to rescue his adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) in exchange for his freedom. Fitted with a set of explosive devices fitted to his neck, arms, and ahem other areas, Hero ventures into the dark parallel universe known as the Ghostland and break a terrible curse that imprisons both Bernice and countless others. We caught this wild movie out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, so here’s a taste of what to expect:
Let’s not underestimate Cage. He rises to Sono’s level. Sporting strange sprayed-on Ken-doll makeup and Lee Marvin killer energy, Cage becomes a living action figure. He even has kung-fu grip! In a third-act sequence, Cage (or at least a spot-on body double in armor) goes toe-to-toe with the head samurai, delivering moves that keep up with the kinetic camerawork. If only Sono had found more for Boutella to do, Prisoners of the Ghostland might have achieved instant cult status. With action credits like Kingsman, Atomic Blonde, and Star Trek Beyond to her name, she’s more than capable of executing stunts and choreography. Sono loses her in Cage’s shadow, but again, she can really make that gatling gun sing.
In theaters and on VOD on Sept. 17
The Many Saints of Newark
Photo: HBO Max
David Chase’s The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel to The Sopranos, follows a young Anthony “Tony” Soprano through his formative years as a young gangster working for his uncle Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola). As rival crime families rise up to wrest apart the powerful DiMeo family’s stranglehold over the tumultuous race-torn city, Dickie’s actions and decisions in the face of these challenging times will leave a profound and lasting impression on his young nephew and play an inevitable role in shaping him into the ruthless crime boss he will one day become.
In theaters and streaming on HBO Max on Oct. 1
Titane
Image: Neon
Raw director Julia Ducournau returns with another raucous body horror-thriller in the form of her sophomore feature, Titane. The film stars Agathe Rouselle as a young girl who survives a horrific car crash and has a titanium plate fitted inside her skull. Featuring murder, sex, impregnation by vehicles, and love borne out of deception, with a premise that sounds like head-on collision between David Cronenberg’s Crash and 2012’s The Imposter, Titane won the Palme d’Or during its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this past July and seems all but poised to become this year’s most talked-about film.
In theaters on Oct. 1
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Image: Sony Pictures
Tom Hardy returns as the down on his luck reporter-turned-symbiote-infused-vigilante Venom in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Directed by Andy Serkis (yes, that Andy Serkis), the film follows Eddie Brock (Hardy) as he attempts to reinvigorate his career by interviewing the notorious serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson). Still struggling to adjust to his life as the human host for the sentient symbiote Venom, Eddie will have to face off against a slobbering new nemesis, Carnage. The film was originally slated to premiere in September, but was delayed to October due to renewed concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
In theaters on Oct. 1
No Time To Die
Photo: MGM
Daniel Craig returns for his final outing as 007 in director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s No Time to Die, the 25th installment in the James Bond film series. Set five years after the events of 2015’s Spectre, the film follows the now-retired MI6 agent as he is enlisted in the search for a missing scientist named Valdo Obruchev. Bond’s search for answers thrusts him into the crosshairs of a dangerous new nemesis in the form of Lytusifer Safin (Rami Malek), as well as old friends and adversaries alike. Featuring returning performances by Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, as well as new appearances by Lashana Lynch and Ana de Armas, No Time to Die will finally see its long-awaited premiere in theaters this fall after being delayed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In theaters on Oct. 8
Lamb
Photo: A24
Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snaer Gudnason play a childless couple, who discover a mysterious lamb-headed newborn in Valdimar Jóhannsson’s supernatural drama Lamb. Adopting the child and raising it as their own, the couple’s newfound happiness is nevertheless assailed from both within and outside their idyllic Icelandic farm. Like most A24 films, it looks impeccably well-shot and deeply sinister. I am absolutely terrified both for and of that child.
In theaters on Oct. 8
Halloween Kills
Photo: Ryan Green/Universal Pictures
Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode in Halloween Kills, the 12th installment in the long running Halloween horror franchise. Taking place directly after the events of 2018’s Halloween — that movie being a canon-scrubbing sequel to John Carpenter’s original 1978 film — Strode and her family must continue to fend off the relentless murder spree of Michael Myers with the help of the Haddonfield community. Will Michael finally, finally die this time? Probably not, because director David Gordon Green is rounding out his reboot/sequel series with a third movie Halloween Ends, but we bet this one’s a spooky time at the movies anyway.
In theaters on Oct. 15
The Last Duel
Photo: 20th Century Studios
Good Will Hunting duo Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have written another movie … and wisely hired Nicole Holofcener (Walking and Talking) to help them grapple with a challenging subject matter. Set in 14th-century France, The Last Duel follows the story of Marguerite de Thibouville (Jodie Comer), wife of knight Jean de Carrouges (Damon). After accusing de Carrouges’s best friend Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) of rape, the two men engage in trial by combat in the last legally sanctioned duel in France’s history. Directed by Ridley Scott with beautiful cinematography courtesy of Dariusz Wolski and supporting performances by Affleck and Alex Lawther as Count Pierre d’Alençon and King Charles VI respectively, The Last Duel by all appearances looks like a historical drama destined for award buzz.
In theaters on Oct. 15
Dune
Photo: Chiabella James for Vanity Fair
Set thousands of years in the future, Denis Villenueve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s celebrated sci-fi epic Dune stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, son and heir to the powerful Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), who is haunted by strange and vivid dreams related to some great, yet unknown destiny. Assuming stewardship of the desert planet Arrakis, colloquially known as Dune, the Atreides must contend with not only the challenges of their dangerous new terrain but the treachery of the Harkonnens, their centuries-long adversaries and Dune’s former stewards led by the villainous Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård). Can Villeneuve’s film succeed where David Lynch and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s efforts fell short and deliver an adaptation worthy of its source material? We got an early look at the film out of the Venice Film Festival and signs point to yes.
In theaters and streaming on HBO Max on Oct. 15
The French Dispatch
Image: Searchlight Pictures
Wes Anderson’s latest film is a self-described “A love letter to journalists,” inspired by the director’s love of The New Yorker and following the stories of American newspaper outpost based in the in the fictional French city of “Ennui-sur-Blasé.” Featuring performances by Benicio del Toro, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafoe, Liev Schrieber, Timothée Chalamet, Frances McDormand, Léa Seydoux, Bill Murray, and many more, The French Dispatch (alternatively titled The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun) sounds as be as offbeat, hilarious, and whimsically idiosyncratic as any of Anderson’s films at his best.
In theaters on Oct. 22
Last Night in Soho
Image: Focus Features
Thomasin McKenzie (Old) stars in Edgar Wright’s psychological horror thriller Last Night in Soho as Eloise, an aspiring fashion designer who finds herself miraculously transported to the 1960s where she vicariously inhabits the life of a dazzling lounge singer (Anya Taylor-Joy). It’s not long before Eloise’s lucid escapades morph into insidious sojourns into a dark and terrifying world of waking nightmares.
In theaters on Oct. 29
Antlers
Photo: Searchlight Pictures
Black Mass director Scott Cooper’s supernatural horror thriller Antlers stars Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons as Julia and Paul Meadows, a school teacher and sheriff of a small town in Oregon, who become embroiled in a desperate fight to protect a young child (Jeremy T. Thomas) who is secretly harboring a malevolent, ancestral creature inside his house. It looks terrifying, and Guillermo del Toro’s name as a producer goes a long way.
In theaters on Oct. 29
The Harder They Fall
DAVID LEE/Netflix © 2021
Starring an ensemble cast including Regina King, Delroy Linkdo, Idris Elba, LaKeith Stanfield and more, and produced by none other than Jay-Z, Jeymes Samuel’s (aka The Bullitts) feature length debut The Harder They Fall is a contemporary Black Western worth getting excited for. When outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) discovers his longtime nemesis Rufus Black (Elba) has escaped from prison, he’ll have to reunite his old gang in order enact revenge on Rufus and his cohorts. Expect a whole lot of shootouts, anachronisms, and impeccably sleek-looking leather dusters.
Streaming on Netflix on Nov. 3
Eternals
Image: Marvel Studios
Chloe Zhao’s Eternals introduces longtime MCU fans to its titular cast of interstellar guardians ( not to be confused of with the Guardians of the Galaxy, of course). Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, an immortal alien race who have been living on Earth secretly for thousands of years rise up to defend the planet against a grave threat in the form of their immortal enemies, the Deviants. Starring Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Don Lee, Salma Hayek, and Angelina Jolie, the film is sure to have major consequence in the lead up to Spider-Man: No Way Home and next year’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
In theaters on Nov. 5
Finch
Photo: Apple TV Plus
Though science fiction isn’t something for which he’s particular well known for, Tom Hanks proved his skills as a dramatic performer could translate to the genre through his work on 2012’s Cloud Atlas. Finch, the feature debut of Game of Thrones director and soon-to-be House of the Dragon showrunner Miguel Sapochnik, sees Hanks once again dipping his toes back into sci-fi, this time as one of the last surviving men on the planet who invents a robot companion named Jeff (Caleb Landry Jones) before embarking on a journey across the country. There’s no footage released as of yet, but the look of Hanks’ funky shirt and his robot pal it seems like it’ll be fun, weird, and soul-stirring adventure.
Streaming on Apple TV Plus on Nov. 5
Spencer
Image: Neon
Kristen Stewart is a far way away nowadays from her days as a Twilight starlet, having proven her chops as a dramatic actress with engrossing performances in films like 2016’s Personal Shopper and 2020’s Underwater. With Pablo Larraín’s biographical drama Spencer, Stewart takes on her most challenging and multifaceted role yet as Princess Diana in the midst of her impending divorce from Prince Charles. The cinematography in the film’s trailer, courtesy of Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s Claire Mathon, looks sumptuous and bathed in an ethereal glow of washed out hues, and Stewart’s resemblance to the late Princess of Wales in her heyday is uncanny. If Larraín’s work on 2016’s Jackie is any indication, Stewart could very well be set for a Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
In theaters on Nov. 5
Passing
Photo: Netflix
Rebecca Hall’s adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing stars Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga as Irene and Clare, two childhood friends from a mixed-race background who reunite in adulthood. While Irene openly identifies as a black woman, Clare as manage to live a life “passing” as a white woman in an attempt to circumvent the institutional prejudices of her time. Larsen’s novel is acclaimed for its nuanced portrayal of social malleability of race as a form of both performance and innate identity. Hall, miraculously, captures it with surgical precision and immaculate black and white photography. Passing was the big surprise of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and shouldn’t be missed when it slips on to streaming later this year.
Streaming on Netflix on Nov. 10
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Image: Columbia Pictures
When you’re (once again) trying to reboot the Ghostbusters movie franchise, who ya gonna call? Jason Reitman apparently, that’s who! Set 30 years after the events of Ghostbusters 2, Ghostbusters: Afterlife stars Carrie Coon as Callie, a single mother and daughter of the late Dr. Egon Spengler. After moving to her family’s decrepit farmhouse in Oklahoma, her daughter Phoebe (I, Tonya’s Mckenna Grace) and son Trevor (Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard) discover their grandfather’s legacy and set out to resolve a paranormal disturbance that threatens to endanger the entire world.
In theaters on Nov. 11
Red Notice
Photo: Netflix
Dwayne Johnson stars in yet another high-octane action thriller as a law enforcer working alongside a former (?) criminal to take down a mutual adversary, but this time wholly unrelated to the Fast and Furious franchise! Rawson Marshall Thurber’s Red Notice follows FBI Agent John Hartley on his mission to track down and apprehend Sarah Black (Gal Gadot) and Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds), two notorious criminals that vie to compete across several high-profile heists across the globe. The tone of the trailer feels similiar in the vein of The Hitman’s Bodyguard meets the aforementioned Hobbes Shaw, with Reynolds playing the comic relief foil to Johnson’s more steely by-the-books persona. This looks like a blast, especially with Gadot serving up some serious Carmen Sandiego vibes.
Streaming on Netflix on Nov. 12
Encanto
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures / Walt Disney Animation Studios
You know what it feels like to not feel special? Encanto’s Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) sure does. Set in a fantastical version of Colombia, Lilo Stitch director Byron Howard and Zootopia co-director Jared Bush’s musical fantasy comedy centers on the Madrigals, a family in which each member is gifted with a dazzling magical ability like super strength, shapeshifting, or the power to conjure rainbows — all except for Mirabel, the sole “ordinary” member of the family. Obviously, what makes a person “special” is more or less a subject of perception, and Mirabel’s journey to find her place among her siblings will most likely yield a powerful message that what makes one exceptional is not always what is seen on the outside. With original music by Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda and gorgeous visuals, Encanto looks like a dazzling feel-good animated film for the whole family.
In theaters on Nov. 24
House of Gucci
Photo: MGM/Scott Free Productions
Ridley Scott’s second feature film of 2021 — the filmmaker is 83, by the way — centers on the life and death of Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), the Italian businessman and namesake of the international fashion house Gucci. Playing opposite of Driver is Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) in the role of Gucci’s ex-wife (and the chief conspirator behind his murder) Patrizia Reggiani. Jared Leto looks ridiculous as Maurizio’s cousin Paolo Gucci, and the picturesque villas and neon-lit nightclubs look appropriately luxurious and decadent. If the trailer is any indication, fans of Lady Gaga and similar fare like 2018’s The Assassination of Giani Versace are sure to love this one.
In theaters on Nov. 24
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Image: Sony Pictures
Director Johannes Roberts’ (47 Meters Down) reboot of the Resident Evil film franchise draws more explicitly from the source material of Capcom’s long-running horror series than Paul W. S. Anderson’s 7-film saga. Based on the first two installments in the videogame franchise (and inspired by John Carpenter’s Assult on Precint 13), Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City follows the origin stories of Claire (Kaya Scodelario) and Chris Redfield (Robbie Amell), Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen), and Leon Kennedy (Avan Jogia) as they attempt to survive in the aftermath of a horrific zombie infestation brought about by the machinations of the mysterious Umbrella Corporation.
In theaters on Nov. 24
65 Best Movies of 2021 – Top New 2021 Films to Stream Now
2021 is in the books, and despite the chaos, we’re still standing. So too is the movie industry, which has been on quite a rollercoaster ride courtesy of COVID-19 and our up-and-down efforts to contain it. Between the theatrical business’ state of flux, and the bumpy track record of movies that opted to debut day-and-date at the multiplex and at home–not to mention the sheer confusion caused by all these shifting paradigms–it’s a minor miracle that, as we get set to turn the calendar to 2022, the country’s cinematic state of affairs is as stable as it presently is.
Credit for that resilience goes in large part to the insatiable appetite of American cinephiles, as well as the abundance of terrific features that, over the past twelve months, have graced screens both big and small. No matter where they premiered (or were seen), offerings from illustrious auteurs and promising newcomers were everywhere, led by the latest from Joel Coen, Joachim Trier, Roy Andersson, Paul Thomas Anderson and Ryusuke Hamaguchi, whose dramas comprise our top five. Rather than restrict ourselves to a select few triumphs, however, we here at Esquire continue to believe that more is always merrier, and that especially this year, it’s only right to celebrate the numerous diverse domestic and international works that chilled, thrilled, amused, excited and inspired us.
While no list can be definitive, and no unanimous consensus can be achieved, we’re confident you won’t find a more eclectic and electric group of gems than those we’ve chosen as the Best Movies of 2021.
Biggest Movies Coming in 2021: ‘Dune,’ ‘Spider-Man 3’ and More
(July 23)
Based on the graphic novel “Sandcastle” by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters, “Old” centers on a family on a tropical holiday. Things take a turn when they discover a secluded beach that causes them to age rapidly— reducing their entire lives into a single day. From thriller veteran director M. Night Shyamalan, it stars Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abbey Lee, Aaron Pierre, Alex Wolff, Embeth Davidtz, Eliza Scanlen, Emun Elliott, Kathleen Chalfant and Thomasin McKenzie.
Here are the movies we can’t wait to watch this fall
Clockwise from top left: Invisible Beauty, Foe, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds Snakes, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 and Nyad.
Magnolia Pictures; Amazon Studios; A24; Murray Close/Lionsgate; Focus Features; Liz Parkinson/Netflix
hide caption
toggle caption
Magnolia Pictures; Amazon Studios; A24; Murray Close/Lionsgate; Focus Features; Liz Parkinson/Netflix
Clockwise from top left: Invisible Beauty, Foe, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds Snakes, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 and Nyad.
Magnolia Pictures; Amazon Studios; A24; Murray Close/Lionsgate; Focus Features; Liz Parkinson/Netflix
With no end in sight for the Hollywood strikes, we check in on new film releases for the fall. Our critics share recommendations for more than 25 films coming out between now and Thanksgiving.
September
Nia Vardalos as Toula in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.
Focus Features
hide caption
toggle caption
Focus Features
Nia Vardalos as Toula in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.
Focus Features
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 Nia Vardalos wrote and directed this third installment in an unexpected franchise springing from her 2002 romantic comedy. Toula and Ian take their daughter and some of their family members to Greece for a reunion. Expect lots of beautiful scenery and, most importantly, the great and good Andrea Martin. — Linda Holmes
Bethann Hardison in Invisible Beauty.
Magnolia Pictures
hide caption
toggle caption
Magnolia Pictures
Bethann Hardison in Invisible Beauty.
Magnolia Pictures
Invisible Beauty Bethann Hardison’s self-portrait (co-directed with Frédéric Tcheng) chronicles the pioneering Black model’s rise and influence in a rigid, often-hostile fashion industry. After triumphing on the runway in a 1973 “Battle of Versailles” that pitted French designer royalty against American newcomers, Hardison founded a modeling agency and focused on changing the industry from the inside. She nurtured a community of models of color, including superstars Naomi Campbell, Iman and Tyson Beckford. — Bob Mondello
Cassandro Gael García Bernal is the titular real-life, gay luchador (wrestler) dreaming of being something other than the runt who gets smashed by the big guy. Someone suggests that he try being an “exotico” (a fey wrestling caricature), but they always lose, and he wants to win. Bernal is engaging, sexy and charismatic in the ring, and director Roger Ross Williams makes sure you hear the anti-gay slurs turn into cheers for the little guy. A Sundance Festival favorite. — Bob Mondello
Dumb Money In Craig Gillespie’s reality-based comedy, Paul Dano plays a guy with a Reddit page who went up against big hedge funds in 2021 in what became known as the “GameStop short squeeze.” The Reddit page recommended GameStop stock and its followers bought it. Hedge funds (Seth Rogen is their chief fall guy) saw them as amateurs (“dumb money”) and bet against the stock, assuming that it would fall. Small investors kept buying, making millions as the hedge funds lost billions. A feel-good comedy, yes? — Bob Mondello
Eve Hewson as Flora in Flora and Son.
David Cleary/Apple TV+
hide caption
toggle caption
David Cleary/Apple TV+
Eve Hewson as Flora in Flora and Son.
David Cleary/Apple TV+
Flora and Son When writer/director John Carney tackles a music-inflected story — Once, Sing Street, Begin Again — it pretty much always comes out crowd-pleasing. This one involves a single mom (Eve Hewson) who rescues a guitar from a dumpster hoping to find a hobby for her disaffected teen son, and when he’s not interested, she goes online to take lessons from Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Now, how could that not be a charmer? — Bob Mondello
October
Strange Way of Life I’d wager there isn’t a more sultry trailer this season than Pedro Almodóvar’s first (hopefully not last!) Hollywood Western. The iconic director once turned down the opportunity to direct Brokeback Mountain but clearly maintained his mission to queer the Western on his own terms. There couldn’t be a sexier casting coup than a gunslinging Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke revisiting an old romance — delivered with Almodóvar’s signature color palette, dark humor and emotional precision. — Bilal Qureshi
Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal in Foe.
Amazon Studios
hide caption
toggle caption
Amazon Studios
Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal in Foe.
Amazon Studios
Foe Australian director Garth Davis’ Lion starring Dev Patel was a deeply moving and underrated breakthrough, and in this otherwise quieter fall season, Davis’ latest family drama is one of the more promising and mysterious arrivals. The brooding and brilliant Paul Mescal joins Saoirse Ronan as a husband and wife forced to make a harrowing choice in a dystopian future. The sci-fi stakes are being kept cryptic, but the performances excerpted in the trailer suggest an awards season powerhouse. — Bilal Qureshi
Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally in Dicks: The Musical.
Justin Lubin/A24
hide caption
toggle caption
Justin Lubin/A24
Dicks: The Musical In a bizarre-o musical take on The Parent Trap, a pair of businessmen learn they’re long-lost twins and plot to get their divorced parents back together again. It’s a conceit that’s just out-there enough to succeed with the right creative elements. Luckily, director Larry Charles (Seinfeld, Borat) and performers Megan Mullally, Megan Thee Stallion, Nathan Lane and Bowen Yang (playing, appropriately, God) are all involved. — Aisha Harris
Alden Ehrenreich as Luke and Phoebe Dynevor as Emily in Fair Play.
Sergej Radovic/Netflix
hide caption
toggle caption
Sergej Radovic/Netflix
Alden Ehrenreich as Luke and Phoebe Dynevor as Emily in Fair Play.
Sergej Radovic/Netflix
Fair Play Written and directed by Chloe Domont, this story is about a couple, played by Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich, whose relationship is upended by a promotion at a hedge fund. That might sound like an unusual premise, but the thriller made a splash at Sundance and promises to tackle some interesting dynamics about gender and power. — Linda Holmes
What Happens Later Ex-lovers who’d just as soon never see each other again are stranded at a small regional airport during a snowstorm. Sounds like hell, but if the exes are played by Meg Ryan and David Duchovny, and if Ryan also steps behind the camera as co-writer and director, it might make a winning rom-com, yes? That’s the theory. It’ll be Ryan’s first appearance on-screen in eight years. — Bob Mondello
JaNae Collins, Lily Gladstone, Cara Jade Myers and Jillian Dion in Killers of the Flower Moon.
Apple TV+
hide caption
toggle caption
Apple TV+
JaNae Collins, Lily Gladstone, Cara Jade Myers and Jillian Dion in Killers of the Flower Moon.
Apple TV+
Killers of the Flower Moon Monumental in scope (and in running time at three-plus hours), Martin Scorsese’s epic adaptation of David Grann’s nonfiction book is a true-crime drama about greed and homicide in 1920s Oklahoma. Cattle rancher Robert De Niro enlists his gullible nephew (Leonardo DiCaprio) in an intricate scheme to rob the Osage Nation of the oil under the “worthless” land to which its people had been exiled. Lily Gladstone plays Mollie, a wrenching figure in an escalating tragedy certain to be remembered during awards season. — Bob Mondello
Radical On the first day of sixth grade in a Mexican border town, students dodge hostage-dragging pickup trucks on their way to school and, once inside, are mostly bored. Except in Sergio’s classroom, where students float in “boats” (upside-down desks), trying not to capsize as part of a lesson about density and mass that only Sergio thinks they have the smarts to pursue. The film, based on a true story, has an uplifting take that’s conventional but proves winning. — Bob Mondello
Annette Bening as Diana Nyad in Nyad.
Liz Parkinson/Netflix
hide caption
toggle caption
Liz Parkinson/Netflix
Annette Bening as Diana Nyad in Nyad.
Liz Parkinson/Netflix
Nyad Annette Bening is swimming legend Diana Nyad and Jodie Foster is her longtime pal and reluctant coach, Bonnie Stoll, in this recounting of Nyad’s several attempts, in her 60s, to swim the 110 miles from Cuba to Florida’s Key West without a shark cage. She’d failed when still in her prime, but now — out of shape but determined — she wants another go. With Mother Nature throwing everything she has at them, Bening and Foster are garnering raves, as is the cinematography. — Bob Mondello
Niousha Noor as Shirin in The Persian Version.
Yiget Eken/Sony Pictures Classics
hide caption
toggle caption
Yiget Eken/Sony Pictures Classics
Niousha Noor as Shirin in The Persian Version.
Yiget Eken/Sony Pictures Classics
The Persian Version Immigrant angst and intergenerational collisions have always been at the heart of American cinema, and in recent years there have been even more specific and nuanced portrayals — from Hulu’s Ramy to Netflix’s Beef. Now I can’t wait for filmmaker Maryam Keshavarz’s big-screen Persian Version of that classic coming-of-self story. A hit at this year’s Sundance, it’s about a queer young woman and her Iranian mother, told through dance numbers, pop songs, sex, comedy and palpable heart. — Bilal Qureshi
Dear David Those of us who love web comic author Adam Ellis’ funny, creepy, sexy queer work have always expected him to break into the mainstream. Few of us expected it to happen this way, though. Dear David dramatizes a Twitter thread (no, seriously) that Ellis wrote in 2017, while he was still working at BuzzFeed, about encountering the ghost of a small boy in his apartment. The Tweet went viral, and here we are. Look, Lana Turner was discovered at a drugstore. — Glen Weldon
The Killer Bland title aside, David Fincher’s crime thriller looks like a fun, intense time at the movies in the tradition of John Wick. Michael Fassbender — in his first film since 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix — plays an assassin who goes head-to-head with his employers and might be losing his mind. It also features Tilda Swinton and is based on an acclaimed French graphic novel series. Following Fincher’s last feature, Mank, his return to the brooding psychological genre is a welcome one. — Aisha Harris
Dominic Sessa as Angus Tully and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Mary Lamb in The Holdovers.
Seacia Pavao/Focus Features
hide caption
toggle caption
Seacia Pavao/Focus Features
Dominic Sessa as Angus Tully and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Mary Lamb in The Holdovers.
Seacia Pavao/Focus Features
The Holdovers This comedy-drama reteams director Alexander Payne with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti in the story of an embittered teacher at a boarding school forced to supervise students who stay on campus over Christmas break. It’s Payne, so despite the setting, don’t expect maudlin, sentimental Dead Poets Society-type uplift. No, we’ll likely get lots of flintiness and passive-aggression. And if we get any moments of human connection, they’ll feel surprising — and fully earned. — Glen Weldon
November
Quiz Lady The triumphant year of the R-rated female-led comedy continues here, with Sandra Oh and Awkwafina playing estranged sisters who set aside their resentment to compete together on a game show. Jason Schwartzman and Will Ferrell also star, but really all you need to know is that Oh, primarily known for playing Type A overachievers, is portraying the hot mess sibling of the family — and that should be more than enough of a selling point. — Aisha Harris
Rustin Biopics can often be a rote slog, but the fact that this centers on the gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin and stars the fantastic Colman Domingo (who is himself gay) is promising. Director George C. Wolfe’s previous work for the stage and screen has never been dull, and the cast is stacked with some of our finest character actors, including Glynn Turman, CCH Pounder, Jeffrey Wright and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. — Aisha Harris
The Marvels Brie Larson returns as Carol Danvers, and meets up with Iman Vellani and Teyonah Parris as Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, in the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Nia DaCosta, the film will present a number of questions: What’s the status of the theatrical elements of the MCU? What will be the effect of releasing a big Marvel movie with very limited promotion during the strikes? The strong trio of MCU women is a reason for optimism. — Linda Holmes
Erika Alexander as Coraline and Jeffrey Wright as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison in American Fiction.
Claire Folger/Orion Pictures
hide caption
toggle caption
Claire Folger/Orion Pictures
Erika Alexander as Coraline and Jeffrey Wright as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison in American Fiction.
Claire Folger/Orion Pictures
American Fiction First off, this cast: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Erika Alexander, Sterling K. Brown. (And more!) Also, this creator: Cord Jefferson, in his feature directing debut. His fingerprints have been all over some great TV from the last few years, including Watchmen. And finally, the subject: In an adaptation of Percival Everett’s Erasure, Wright plays a notable author who unwittingly finds huge success with a novel full of Black stereotypes and must contend with the monster he has unleashed. — Aisha Harris
Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird and Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds Snakes.
Murray Close/Lionsgate
hide caption
toggle caption
Murray Close/Lionsgate
Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird and Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds Snakes.
Murray Close/Lionsgate
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds Snakes In this prequel to the original trilogy, it’s 64 years before Katniss Everdeen brought down the regime of President Coriolanus Snow. District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) is prepping to fight in the 10th Hunger Games, ironically, mentored by that same Coryo Snow (Tom Blyth), who is then 18. Also on hand, Game inventors Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage, and Jason Schwartzman as TV host “Lucky” Flickerman, presumed ancestor to Stanley Tucci’s character. — Bob Mondello
Next Goal Wins.
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Searchlight Pictures
hide caption
toggle caption
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Searchlight Pictures
Next Goal Wins.
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Searchlight Pictures
Next Goal Wins Writer/director Taika Waititi’s last couple of films (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Love and Thunder) showed signs that his sharp, defiantly off-kilter sensibility might be losing its singular vigor. Here’s hoping that in tackling this tale (along with co-screenwriter Iain Morris) about a sozzled, washed-up soccer coach (Michael Fassbender) trying to help the hapless American Samoan soccer team, Waititi is back on firm creative ground. If he manages to invert some sports-movie clichés along the way, all the better. — Glen Weldon
Napoleon Ridley Scott’s action epic traces the rise and fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, with Scott’s favorite Gladiator, Joaquin Phoenix, as the arrogant, height-challenged despot. Vanessa Kirby is Napoleon’s adored Josephine, and while much of her part has been trimmed from the director’s original four-hour cut, Scott says he hopes the long version will find a home on streaming. Wide-screen battles reportedly among the most enormous ever filmed offer an argument for seeing it first in theaters. — Bob Mondello
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro.
Jason McDonald/Netflix
hide caption
toggle caption
Jason McDonald/Netflix
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro.
Jason McDonald/Netflix
Maestro Much of the early attention has gone to a debate about the prosthetic nose that Bradley Cooper uses in his portrayal of composer Leonard Bernstein. But the film, which Cooper directed and co-wrote with Josh Singer, got solid reviews on the festival circuit in Venice. Carey Mulligan plays Bernstein’s wife, Felicia Montealegre, and that’s likely to be a potent on-screen combination. — Linda Holmes
Wish If the Disney folks had just one wish, it might well be for a hit animated comedy, after a run of box office misfires (Raya and the Last Dragon, Strange World, Lightyear, Elemental) and three pandemic-era Disney+ exclusives (Luca, Soul, Turning Red). Ariana DeBose voices Asha, a teenager in a land where wishes come true, though not always in the way you expect. Chris Pine is King Magnifico, who’s the keeper of wishes, and Alan Tudyk is a goat with lots to say when given a chance. — Bob Mondello
Barry Keoghan as Oliver in Saltburn.
MGM and Amazon Studios
hide caption
toggle caption
MGM and Amazon Studios
Barry Keoghan as Oliver in Saltburn.
MGM and Amazon Studios
Saltburn Little is known about Emerald Fennell’s directorial follow-up to Promising Young Woman, but early word out of test screenings is that it’s a sexually explicit version of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Barry Keoghan plays a college student who becomes obsessed with his schoolmate Jacob Elordi’s wealth, family — and charisma. We’re about due for a revisit to Brideshead Revisited that takes the sub out of the queer subtext, not to mention a chance for Keoghan to play a lead role at last. — Glen Weldon
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.
A24
hide caption
toggle caption
A24
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.
A24
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt Raven Jackson’s directorial debut spans decades and generations of a Mississippi family, primarily through the eyes of Mack (played as a kid by Kaylee Nicole Johnson and as a young adult by Charleen McClure). The nonlinear film is lushly visualized and evokes the weight of time and the significance of life moments big and small. I had the fortune of catching its Sundance debut, and a wordless scene between two characters lingers with me as one of the absolute best cinematic moments of the year. — Aisha Harris
Edited by Rose Friedman
Produced by Beth Novey
Streaming on Max: The 24 Absolute Best Movies to Watch
Why You Can Trust CNET
New Movie Releases This Week: What To See In Theaters
It’s not always easy to find out which movies are hitting theaters each week, especially as the ongoing Hollywood strikes have led to many release date changes. With awards season starting to heat up, there are more dramas and prestige productions in theaters for the next few months. Meanwhile October will bring a wealth of scary fare, while November and December should see family-friendly films and crowdpleasers for the holidays.
“Expend4bles,” the fourth installment in the “Expendables” franchise, comes out this week, with Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham reprising their roles and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Megan Fox joining the cast. Wes Anderson’s Roald Dahl adaptation of “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch, will have a limited theatrical release this week before its Netflix premiere the following week. Also releasing in select theaters before streaming on Apple TV+ is musical “Flora and Son,” with Eve Hewson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Next week, be on the lookout for science-fiction thriller “The Creator,” starring John David Washington and Gemma Chan.
Check back each week to find the latest releases in theaters, from big-budget wide releases to niche independent titles.
Wednesday, September 20
“Canary”
Oscilloscope (Wide)
“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”
Netflix (Limited)
Thursday, September 21
“Roots of Fire”
First Run (Limited)
“Shaky Shivers”
Fathom Events (Limited)
Friday, September 22
“It Lives Inside”
Neon (Limited)
“Dark Asset”
Saban Films (Limited)
“I Can”
Kappa Distribution (Limited)
“Uncharitable”
Abramorama (Limited)
“Reptile”
Netflix (Limited)
“Flora and Son”
Apple TV+ (Limited)
“Expend4bles”
Lionsgate (Wide)
“Barber”
Brainstorm Media (Limited)
“Condition of Return”
Stonecutter Media (Limited)
“Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms”
Well Go USA Entertainment (Limited)
“The Great Indian Family”
Yash Raj Films USA Inc.
“Man on the Run”
The Smoking Section/Evergreen Media (Limited)
A24 (Limited)
Saturday, September 23
“Howl’s Moving Castle”
Fathom Events (Limited)
Best Movies 2021 | Rotten Tomatoes
The Best Movies category awards the best-reviewed film regardless of their release, whether they went straight to streaming or swung onto the silver screen. Spider-Man: No Way Home became the mega-cultural event that would entice moviegoers back into theaters, and it lived up to the hype for critics, as well. It was a music-filled year with In the Heights, West Side Story, and Summer of Soul. On the heavy side, some big tomatoes for Pig and a career-best Nicolas Cage, Jane Campion’s first-in-11-years The Power of the Dog, and A Quiet Place Part II, everyone’s collective exhalation through horror. Meanwhile, Raya and the Last Dragon, The Mitchells vs the Machines, and Coda brought representative, progressive ingredients to family storytelling.
The order reflects Tomatometer scores (as of December 31, 2021) after adjustment from our ranking formula, which compensates for variation in the number of reviews when comparing movies or TV shows.
The Most Anticipated Movies Coming in 2021
(July 23)
Based on the graphic novel “Sandcastle” by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters, “Old” centers on a family on a tropical holiday. Things take a turn when they discover a secluded beach that causes them to age rapidly— reducing their entire lives into a single day. From thriller veteran director M. Night Shyamalan, it stars Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abbey Lee, Aaron Pierre, Alex Wolff, Embeth Davidtz, Eliza Scanlen, Emun Elliott, Kathleen Chalfant and Thomasin McKenzie.
New Movies Coming Out This Fall: Upcoming Release Schedule
Looking for a way to have a personal stake in the fall movies calendar? Consider signing up for our fun, free, wildly gamified Movies Fantasy League.
Around here, the Venice Film Festival marks the start of the fall movie season. Stars will glide in on gondolas and unveil some of this year’s most promising titles, including new movies from some of our favorite directors — Sofia Coppola (Priscilla), David Fincher (The Killer), Michael Mann (Ferrari), and Pablo Larraín (El Conde) among them. Most will hit U.S. theaters in the weeks and months to come alongside the likes of Killers of the Flower Moon, Dune 2, and Ridley Scott’s take on Napoleon. Strap in for awards season, in other words, though this fall is packing more than just statue bait. Did you know we’re now up to ten Saw movies? Ten! A24, meanwhile, has made its first musical: Dicks: The Musical, which until recently we’d been calling F**king Identical Twins. And Harmony Korine will surely bamboozle us all with Aggro Dr1ft, a film shot all in infrared(?) and at least partly preoccupied with demonic crime lords and swords(??). There’s too much weird and great and silly stuff coming to squeeze into one paragraph. So we’ll let Vulture’s esteemed movies writers guide you from here.
September
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
“A lot has happened since my big fat Greek wedding,” says Nia Vardalos in the trailer for the third installment in what is now officially a cinematic franchise. In this one, Vardalos and her clan head to Greece for a family reunion in honor of her late father, Gus, played by Michael Constantine, who died in 2021. John Corbett, a man who truly knows his lane, is back again as another much-beloved love interest of the early aughts. (In theaters September 8.) —Rachel Handler
A Haunting in Venice
Kenneth Branagh’s latest Hercule Poirot mystery adapts one of Agatha Christie’s lesser-known works, 1969’s Hallowe’en Party, and ports the action (a murder at a séance) from a small English village to Venice. Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey, and Branagh’s Belfast boys Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill are among the suspects — or, perhaps, the victims. (In theaters September 15.) —Nate Jones
Dumb Money
In this Big Short–esque, Craig Gillespie–directed financial biodrama — the highest-profile project in an onslaught of GameStop-related limited series, documentaries, TV movies, docuseries, and feature films headed to the screen — Paul Dano portrays Keith Gill, the securities broker who brought Wall Street to its knees in 2021. He grew an initial $53,000 investment into a $48 million fortune by relentlessly cheerleading junk stock from GameStop across social media and Reddit threads — inspiring a grassroots amateur-investor revolution that wrested power away from hedge-fund managers to stranglehold the options-trading market. Think: Moneyball for shitposting stonks bros. (In select theaters September 15 and wide release October 6.) —Chris Lee
The Creator
In this dystopian sci-fi thriller from Welsh Rogue One director Gareth Edwards, AI is the enemy. John David Washington plays an ex-special forces agent in a world of robots-versus-humans warfare tasked with a mission to assassinate the elusive mastermind behind advanced artificial-intelligence tech that could either obliterate mankind or finally enable lasting peace. Traveling into the “dark heart of AI-occupied territory,” however, David discovers the weapon he’s hunting is but a small child (or at least a cyborg in kid’s clothing), triggering some latent paternal instinct. From there, at least judging from its trailer, there are more tonal similarities to Children of Men than The Terminator. (In theaters September 29.) —C.L.
More anticipated films:
Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose (in theaters September 1), Perpetrator (streaming on Shudder September 1), The Good Mother (in theaters September 1), The Equalizer 3 (in theaters September 1), The Nun 2 (in theaters September 8), Sitting in Bars With Cake (streaming on Prime Video September 8), Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (in theaters September 8), Rotting in the Sun (in theaters September 8), Satanic Hispanics (in theaters September 14), Love at First Sight (streaming on Netflix September 15), A Million Miles Away (streaming on Prime Video September 15), El Conde (streaming on Netflix September 15), Outlaw Johnny Black (in theaters September 15), Elevator Game (streaming on Shudder September 15), The Inventor (in theaters September 15), The Saint of Second Chances (streaming on Netflix September 19), Expend4bles (in theaters September 22), Stop Making Sense (in theaters September 22), Cassandro (streaming on Prime Video September 22), Drive-Away Dolls (in theaters September 22), Barber (in theaters and on demand September 22), It Lives Inside (in theaters September 22), No One Will Save You (streaming on Hulu September 22), Spy Kids: Armageddon (streaming on Netflix September 22), Dicks: The Musical (in theaters September 29), The Kill Room (in theaters September 29), Saw X (in theaters September 29), She Came to Me (in theaters September 29), Flora and Son (streaming on Apple TV+ September 29), and Fair Play (in theaters September 29 and streaming October 13).
October
Killers of the Flower Moon
It already showed at Cannes to many hosannas and some controversy, and yet Martin Scorsese’s nearly four-hour adaptation of David Grann’s history about the Osage murders of the 1920s continues to be one of the most anticipated films of the year. That’s partly because it unites longtime Scorsese actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro onscreen in one of the director’s movies for the first time. The film itself is spectacular and complicated: It isn’t the true-crime mystery the book was, nor is it really a western or a gangster movie. Rather, it’s the story of a tragic, bizarre, heartbreaking marriage. And despite all the fine work by the bigger names in the cast, at the center of it all, carrying so much of the film’s emotional weight, is Lily Gladstone, who will surely be a major star by the time this year is over. (In theaters October 6.) —Bilge Ebiri
Anatomy of a Fall
When it premiered at Cannes, there was little doubt that Justine Triet’s existential procedural was headed for a big win; it wound up with the Palme d’Or. Can it break through with a broader audience when it opens in the U.S.? Bet on it: This impeccably acted tale of a German academic suspected of murder in France after her husband’s death from a mysterious fall isn’t just a thoughtful exploration of the nature of uncertainty and innocence — it’s also a riveting courtroom drama that often prompts mid-movie applause whenever it shows. And not just for the absolutely infectious cover of 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.” from the Hamburg-based Bacao Rhythm Steel Band that plays repeatedly throughout the movie. (In theaters October 13.) —B.E.
Priscilla
Sofia Coppola, the maestro of movies about women adjacent to power, turns to what looks like an ideal topic: Priscilla Presley’s relationship with Elvis Presley, which began when she was the painfully young age of 14. Coppola has cast the baby-faced Cailee Spaeny as her star (Jacob Elordi plays the King), and is drawing from Presley’s own 1985 memoir, with the results looking to be as troubling as they are dreamlike. (In theaters October 27.) —Alison Willmore
More anticipated films:
Strange Way of Life (in theaters October 4), Foe (in theaters October 6), Cat Person (in theaters October 6), The Burial (in select theaters October 6 and streaming on Prime Video October 13), Pet Sematary: Bloodlines (streaming on paramount+ October 6), Reptile (streaming on Netflix October 6), Totally Killer (streaming on Prime Video October 6), True Love (in theaters October 6), PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (in theaters October 13), The Exorcist: Believer (in theaters October 13), The Persian Version (in theaters October 13), Ordinary Angels (in theaters October 13), What Happens Later (in theaters October 13), The Delinquents (in theaters October 18), Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (in theaters October 19), Nyad (in theaters October 20), Radical (in theaters October 20), The Other Zoe (in theaters October 20), Underdoggs (in theaters October 20), Old Dads (streaming on Netflix October 20), Pigeon Tunnel (in theaters and streaming on Apple TV+ October 20), Full Circle (in theaters October 20), Four Daughters (in theaters October 27), Fingernails (in theaters October 27), Five Nights at Freddy’s (in theaters October 27), Sight (in theaters October 27), and Pain Hustlers (streaming on Netflix October 27)
November
Dune: Part Two
Remember how Denis Villeneuve’s Dune just kind of … ended? Well, good news: The plan all along had been to adapt only the first half of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic, and since that worked pretty well for everyone involved, Denis Co. are coming back to finish the job. Timothée Chalamet will become Muad’Dib by nature, and Zendaya will hopefully get more than a few lines. Plus Austin Butler, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, and Florence Pugh. (In theaters November 3.) —N.J.
The Killer
Michael Fassbender’s been off-screen since his last turn as Magneto in 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix; this fall, the toothy Irish actor is back in two plum roles. In addition to showing off his comedic side in Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, Fassbender’s taking the title role in David Fincher’s The Killer, adapted from the French graphic novel of the same name. Admittedly, the film world is not exactly short on stories about enigmatic assassins, but given the talent involved — the cast also includes Charles Parnell and Tilda Swinton — this seems like the kind of project that will be fueled by its sense of style and cool. (Streaming on Netflix November 10.) —A.W.
Thanksgiving
Based on the trailer for this outlandishly violent, ’70s-style slasher movie (which showcases a topless cheerleader doing the splits onto a carving knife), writer-director Eli Roth’s feature-length Turkey Day takeout will be an exercise in arterial splatter and downmarket production values — if not all-around bad taste. Expect cheesy kills and terrible puns (“This year there will be no leftovers!”), body reveals in the style of yesteryear schlock, and cheap jump scares with a wink. That is all to say: a deeply referential reimagining of down-and-dirty cinema from one of the most hated filmmakers in Hollywood. (In theaters November 17.) —C.L.
May December
Todd Haynes reunites with frequent collaborator Julianne Moore, who plays Gracie Atherton-Yoo, a Savannah housewife who once went to jail for having a sexual relationship with the 13-year-old boy who’s now her 23-years-younger husband (Charles Melton). Gracie’s efforts to smooth over the scandals of the past start to fail when an actress (Natalie Portman) who’s been cast to play Gracie in a movie arrives to shadow the couple, asking questions they aren’t entirely ready to answer. It’s Ingmar Bergman’s Persona by way of Mary Kay Letourneau. (In theaters November 17.) —A.W.
Next Goal Wins
Despite many others’ claims to doing so, Taika Waititi appears to be one of the few franchise directors actively pursuing a one-for-them, one-for-me strategy. He followed up Thor: Ragnarok with the Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit. Now he’s following up Thor: Love and Thunder with this based-on-fact comedy about Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), the down-on-his-luck former footballer who was hired to coach American Samoa’s moribund national soccer team in 2011. The film had its share of production delays, most notably when co-star Armie Hammer got canceled and his scenes were reshot with Will Arnett. That’s kind of funny already. (In theaters November 17.) —B.E.
Napoleon
Ridley Scott historical epics can be tedious or magnificent — sometimes both. But there’s also a reason why Stanley Kubrick spent the better part of three decades trying to make a Napoleon Bonaparte movie — it’s a story filled with heroism and lunacy and tragedy, with outsize emotions, elaborate betrayals, massive battles, and a cast of fascinating characters. And Scott might be the director best able to juggle all those elements today: Now 85, he has been in an unusually creative period in recent years, making confident, ambitious entertainment that still retains a sense of personality. Napoleon looks to be perhaps the most extravagant film of his career. (In theaters November 22.) —B.E.
More anticipated films:
American Fiction (in theaters November 3), Nyad (streaming on Netflix November 3), Fingernails (streaming on Apple TV+ November 3), Quiz Lady (streaming on Hulu November 3), Rustin (in theaters November 3), The Holdovers (in theaters November 10), The Marvels (in theaters November 10), Dream Scenario (in theaters November 10), Marmalade (in theaters November 10), Best. Christmas. Ever! (streaming on Netflix November 16), The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (in theaters November 17), Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain (streaming on Peacock November 17), Trolls Band Together (in theaters November 17), May December (in theaters November 17), Leo (streaming on Netflix November 21), Maestro (in theaters November 22), Saltburn (in theaters November 24), and Wish (in theaters November 22)
December
Poor Things
In Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest, an adaptation of Alisdair Gray’s 1992 novel, Emma Stone is back and ultra-bizarre as Bella Baxter, a Victorian woman who drowns and is then brought back to life by Willem Dafoe’s Dr. Godwin Baxter, a “brilliant and unorthodox scientist.” Bella is, in her new and undead state, wonky — her “brain and body are not quite synchronized,” which means she does things like punch strangers in the face and run off with Mark Ruffalo on a “whirlwind adventure” across the world. Expect a lot of the Lanthimos classics: fish-eye lenses, choreographed dance sequences, Emma Stone going the hell off, deadpan line delivery, displays of ravenous horniness, and people dramatically slapping one another. (In theaters December 8.) —R.H.
Anyone But You
Glenn Powell and Sydney Sweeney have such crackling chemistry that their efforts to promote this Will Gluck rom com — the flirty CinemaCon appearance! the video of Sweeney falling off a sofa into Powell’s arms! — got the internet convinced the pair were an IRL item. We’ll see if that connection translates to the screen, where the two will play former nemeses who pretend to be in a relationship while at a friend’s wedding. (In theaters December 15.) —A.W.
Wonka
Timothee Chalamet portrays the eccentric Everlasting Gobstopper inventor in this prequel to 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Unlike Gene Wilder’s take on the character (a guy all too accepting of child dismemberment and blueberrification), Chalamet leans into whimsy, adding youthful mischief to Wonka’s madcap bombast while standing up to haters in the “Chocolate Cartel.” There are supposedly seven musical numbers although none of that song and dance has appeared in a trailer to date. Did we mention Hugh Grant plays an Oompa Loompa? (In theaters December 15.) —C.L.
Ferrari
Michael Mann has been trying to make this film about the legendary race car manufacturer Enzo Ferrari for decades now; the script dates back to the days of Last of the Mohicans and Heat. Adam Driver plays the lead role, and Penelope Cruz plays his wife Laura. The film is not a typical biopic, taking place during one pivotal and dramatic season in the auto maker’s fortunes. And given that it’s Mann, it’s a fair bet to say that the emotional, intimate components of the protagonists’ lives will be given as much weight as the car racing. (In theaters December 25.) —B.E.
More anticipated films:
Godzilla Minus One (in theaters December 1), Eileen (in theaters December 1), The Bikeriders (in theaters December 1), Magazine Dreams (in theaters December 8), Leave the World Behind (streaming on Netflix December 8), The Zone of Interest (in theaters December 8), Raging Grace (in theaters December 8), Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (in theaters December 15), Maestro (streaming on Netflix December 20), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (in theaters December 20), Migration (in theaters December 22), Strangers (in theaters December 22), The Iron Claw (in theaters December 22), Rebel Moon (streaming on Netflix December 22), The Color Purple (in theaters December 25), The Boys in the Boat (in theaters December 25), Occupied City (in theaters December 25), and Praise This (in theaters December 31)
Even more anticipated films that could (or should or might) come out this fall:
The Boy and the Heron
Hayao Miyazaki retired from filmmaking after The Wind Rises in 2013, but there’s no keeping a grouchy workaholic genius down. Just a few years after that, the animation legend unretired to start work on what would eventually be called The Boy and the Heron. Like The Wind Rises, this new film is set during World War II, this time focusing on a 12-year-old boy who, while grieving the death of his mother and struggling to adjust to a new home, finds his way to a magical dimension. —A.W.
Plus: Aggro Dr1ft, The Curse, The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar, The Archies, Hit Man, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, Origin, Evil Does Not Exist, Finestkind, and The Sweet East
-
10 Video Games We Can’t Wait to Play This Fall
-
24 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Fall
-
29 Plays and Musicals We Can’t Wait to See This Fall