A mix of Coming Attractions and a movie list, this is a place to give thoughts on movies that have premiered at the Venice, Telluride, and Toronto film festivals. The purpose of this list is two-fold.
To keep track of all these movies, some of which might not get a wide or loud release and might not come out until early next year.
To highlight them, because some of these I didn’t know about when I did my earlier fall preview.
I’m trying to consolidate early buzz, early awards talk, and whether or not you should care. My sources are mainly Rolling Stone, Screendaily, Deadline, and The Guardian because these are ones I could access for free.
Poor Things
Who made it: Yorgos Lanthimos, of Dogtooth, The Lobster, and The Favourite fame
Who’s in it: Emma Stone, Wilem Dafoe, Jerrod Carmichael and many others.
What’s the buzz: Ecstatic. It currently has an 9.3/10 score on Rotten Tomatoes from a not insignificant 50 reviews. The Guardian also gave it 5 stars, and it won the Golden Lion (top prize) at Venice.
When can I see it: In theaters, hopefully pretty close to everywhere, starting on December 8.
Should I care: Well, even before all this buzz, I was pretty sure this would be one of the top films of the year. I have it as my most anticipated awards season movie. But with this early buzz, we need to take it seriously as an awards heavyweight. This is the kind of movie—with lots of people who have been significant in Hollywood for a while but don’t have a lot of awards hardware—that the academy loves. They would love to give Wilem Dafoe an Oscar, Emma Stone another one, or Lanthimos a statue after he didn’t win for The Favourite. There’s no clear best picture frontrunner as of now, so Poor Things could be very much in the mix.
Ferrari
Who made it: Michael Mann, he’s kind of a big deal (or was 20+ years ago)
Who’s in it: Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, a suddenly everywhere Shailene Woodley
What’s the buzz: Middling. It’s got a 6.2/10 on RT and got a 3/5 star review from The Guardian.
When can I see it: In theaters Christmas Day (ish)
Should I care: Yes, but it’s reasonable to lower expectations. This probably isn’t going to be one of the top films of the year as it seemed like it might be. Driver might still get awards buzz, but it’s a tough year for lead actor, and it doesn’t seem like his year. I don’t really care about cars, so I’m still mildly intrigued but not enthusiastic about this one.
Finally Dawn
Who made it: Saverio Costanzo
Who’s in it: A pretty brilliant cast of Wilem Dafoe, Rachel Sennott, and one of my favorite actors, Lily James
What’s the buzz: Divisive. The reviews are mixed, but The Guardian is high on it (4/5).
When can I see it: No on knows yet.
Should I care: I’ll see anything that Lily James is in, so I care. With a cast like that, I’d say you should care, but it’s an awards season longshot.
Hoard
Who made it: Luna Carmoon
Who’s in it: No one I’ve heard of.
What’s the buzz: Minimal, but positive. It doesn’t have as many reviews as some of the others, but The Guardian and Screen Daily both spoke highly of it.
When can I see it: I have no idea.
Should I care: I’m always excited by women filmmakers breaking out and leaving their mark! You should be, too. And this sounds like one such film.
Maestro
Who made it: Bradley Cooper
Who’s in it: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Maya Hawke
What’s the buzz: Middling. Solid. Reviews are good so far, without much attention paid to the prosthetics controversy.
When can I see it: November 22 in limited release (how limited?) and December 20th on Netflix.
Should I care: I think so. It promises to be a serious awards contender, and it sounds like a pretty good movie, based on early buzz. I love Carey Mulligan, so I’m excited to see her get another chance at Oscar glory after what I consider to be an egregious loss for Promising Young Woman. It will be interesting to see how this one comes together. It’s an awards-season wildcard.
The Killer
Who made it: David Fincher
Who’s in it: Michael Fassbender
What’s the buzz: Strong. Reviews have been good so far, the trailer has people excited, and The Guardian gave it 5/5.
When can I see it: Maybe (probably not) on Oct. 27th, before a worldwide Netflix release November 10.
Should I care: It looks like Fincher is back in territory that works for him (psychological thriller) and not whatever the hell Mank was. I’m still very mixed on the man’s work, enjoying The Social Network and Gone Girl and hating Zodiac with a fiery passion. I do think this one will be pretty good, but we’ll see just how good. Until further notice I’d say it’s a longshot for serious awards contention, but we’ll see.
The Beast
Who made it: Bertrand Bonello
Who’s in it: Léa Seydoux
What’s the buzz: Strong. Very solid. It’s currently 8.4/10 based on 21 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
When can I see it: Not for a while. The release date in France won’t be till February, and it’s likely to rollout other places even after that.
Should I care: It’s based on a novel by Henry James but also looks to include time travel. I’m more than a little intrigued.
Priscilla
Who made it: the GOAT Sofia Coppola (I say this slightly facetiously, but I seriously like or love all her movies)
Who’s in it: Jacob Elordi (finally getting away from Euphoria, thank God) and breakout star of the year Cailee Spaeny
What’s the buzz: Strong. There’s already a lot of praise for Spaeny and approval from the real-life people involved (Elvis’s estate obviously notwithstanding).
When can I see it: The trailer still says “Coming Soon,” but it looks like October 27 or November 3, depending on how wide it goes week one.
Should I care: YES! Last year’s Elvis was better than expected but it glossed over a lot of Elvis’s life in typical biopic fashion. It comes from A24, a studio having as good a year as Disney is having a bad year. And anything from Coppola is must watch.
Evil Does Not Exist
Who made it: Ryu Hamaguchi (he made Drive My Car)
Who’s in it: Korean actors I probably ought to know better
What’s the buzz: Solid. It doesn’t seem like people are calling it as good as Drive My Car, but everyone seems sufficiently satisfied by it. It’s over an hour shorter than DMC, so that’s something.
When can I see it: Unknown. Probably end of this year/January, if they want an awards push.
Should I care: Drive My Car is amazing, so whatever the follow-up is to that is worth checking out. I’m plenty intrigued.
Hit Man
Who made it: Richard Linklater
Who’s in it: Glen Powell
What’s the buzz: Really strong, 8.6/10 average on RT from 50 reviews
When can I see it: Netflix hasn’t set a date yet, but definitely this fall.
Should I care: Yes! Glen Powell is great, and it sounds like this is Linklater’s best since Boyhood. Reviews so far are that this is very much one of the year’s best and more fun movies.
American Fiction
Who made it: Cord Jefferson
Who’s in it: Jeffrey Wright
What’s the buzz: Very solid, especially for Wright’s performance.
When can I see it: December 15th and or December 22nd.
Should I care: Probably! It sounds like a witty slice of satire, and was a real crowd pleasure at TIFF. It might be the rare chance for Wright to shine in a lead role, which would be cool just on its own.
The Boy and the Heron
(I’m still mad it’s not called How Do You Live? here as it in Japan)
Who made it: Hayao Miyazaki
Who’s in it: Probably great voice actors
What’s the buzz: Very strong, as expected.
When can I see it: Probably this fall? It’s been out in Japan since July.
Should I care: Yes you should. This film took Miyazaki about 10 years to make, and he’s getting old. It could well be the final statement from the animation legend, and all early signs are that this is quite the note to go out on.
His Three Daughters
Who made it: Azazel Jacobs
Who’s in it: Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Carrie Coon
What’s the buzz: Strong, Rolling Stone called it easily the best single film at TIFF.
When can I see it: Unknown, probably December or January.
Should I care: I think so. That’s a hell of a cast that hasn’t always gotten their chance to shine in the spotlight. It’s a crowded field for actor Oscar glory this year, but you could see a performance here make some noise perhaps. Either way, it sounds like a very good movie, and I’m in.
Perfect Days
Who made it: Wim Wenders, who does seem an odd choice for this movie
Who’s in it: Koji Yakusho of Tampopo and Cure film (25+ years ago, but still)
What’s the buzz: Pretty good, or at least better than the last few Wenders directorial narrative features.
When can I see it: December or January? Right now Wikipedia doesn’t list a US release
Should I care: It’s up to you. It doesn’t seem like a major film of the fall, but Wenders has made some really good films (Paris, Texas). This feels like the kind of thing that will hit Criterion or Mubi in February-ish, and then watch it then.
Wicked Little Letters
Who made it: Thea Sharrock, a long time British stage director who has recently dabbled in film, though this seems her most major work to date
Who’s in it: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley
What’s the buzz: Mixed, but with that cast, who cares!
When can I see it: February or March, probably
Should I care: Colman means awards buzz is always possible, but this seems like a longshot, especially given the release date. But Buckley and Colman make anything and everything worth watching, so I’m sold on it from them alone.
Woman of the Hour
Who made it: Anna Kendrick
Who’s in it: Kendrick, Tony Hale
What’s the buzz: This was one of the breakout hits of TIFF, without question
When can I see it: This fall probably. Netflix has US distribution, and it seems like the kind of thing that warrants at least a bit of an awards push.
Should I care: Yes! It sounds like a crowd-pleasing delight, a la Knives Out. Plus it’s always fun to see actors turn director.
Everything so far was notable at Venice or Toronto.
Here are some quick hits from Telluride.
All Us Strangers
starring Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, definitely garnered solid attention, but it probably won’t release till next year. More on this one a few months from now, I’d bet.
The Bikeriders
seem to have gotten off to a good start, and the trailer looks decent. Jodie Comer and Austin Butler make this one intriguing, but unlikely an awards player.
The Holdovers
was a big hit with Telluride audiences. It remains one of my most anticipated films of the fall, and I would caution you against sleeping on Paul Giamatti for lead actor.
Nyad
is one I’m not particularly excited about, but Annette Bening has been getting solid buzz from it. It will land on Netflix sometime soon.
Rustin
is another one from Netflix, and has Colman Domingo receiving a lot of early awards season attention. He’s also in The Color Purple, and Jeffrey Wright is also in this movie, so those two journeyman actors often pushed out of the spotlight are poised for a big fall.
Saltburn
Bad early buzz on it honestly makes me even more excited about it.
Wildcat
Finally, we have the Ethan Hawke-directed movie starring daughter Maya about American literary great Flannery O’Connor. It’s far from a “notable” movie, but I love O’Connor and the Hawke family and am excited all the same.
So there you have it, 20 or so movies to have on your radar now that the biggest festivals have come and gone. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and it’s in full effect. Right now you can watch Cassandro on Amazon Prime and Fair Play in theaters. Fair Play will hit Netflix next Friday (probably only a couple days after you’re reading this), and a few Wes Anderson shorts are already available there. This Friday you can also catch Passages on Mubi, where Rotting in the Sun is already available. In short, from now to the end of the year, there will be a LOT of very good movies, and I can’t wait.
