With the New Year upon us, it’s time for our annual tradition of looking at the cinematic horizon. Having highlighted 30 films we guarantee are worth seeing this year and films we hope get U.S. distribution, we now venture into the unknown. We dug deep to chart the 100 films we’re most looking forward to, from debuts to documentaries to the return of some of our most-beloved auteurs, along with a small batch of studio films worth giving attention.
Though the majority lack a set release—let alone confirmed festival premiere—most have wrapped production and will likely debut at some point in 2023. Be sure to check back for updates over the next twelve months (and beyond).
100. El Conde (Pablo Larraín)
Politicians are vampires in El Conde, from Jackie and Spencer director Pablo Larraín. While the plot, in which Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is revealed as a literal bloodsucker, takes extreme turns, the exquisitely composed visuals are from Ed Lachman, who worked with a newly designed monochrome camera to deliver the kind of velvety black-and-white cinematography that hasn’t been seen in years. – Daniel E.
99. Il sol dell’avvenire (Nanni Moretti)
Expect something alternately whimsical and analytical from Moretti’s latest, coming sooner than usual from a director who tends to take multi-year breaks between features. This one, translating literally into English as “The Sun of the Future,” will be an ensemble period piece taking place in Rome’s circus world between the 1950s and 1970s, with Italy’s post-neorealist film industry also playing into the story. Mathieu Amalric will drop in for a key role, not unlike John Turturro in 2015’s Mia Madre. – David K.
98. My Crime (François Ozon)
François Ozon is an extremely prolific yet infamously inconsistent filmmaker. While many of his recent works don’t exceed mediocrity, My Crime has an exciting premise and reunites him with Isabelle Huppert. Centered on a young actress dealing with the fallout of a producer’s murder in the 1930s, it has potential to be thrilling and culturally relevant in equal measure. – Logan K.
97. Firebrand (Karim Aïnouz)
Firebrand, the first English-language feature of underrated Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz, looks to be a mixture of a classical historical drama and nail-biting thriller. The film is about Katherine Parr (Alicia Vikander), the last wife of notorious ruler Henry VIII (Jude Law), and should hopefully retain the qualities that made Aïnouz’s last narrative feature Invisible Life so compelling. At the very least, Vikander is likely to deliver a furious, terrified lead performance. – Logan K.
96. 2073 (Asif Kapadia)
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Asif Kapadia returns with what appears to be his most ambitious feature yet. Billed as a documentary thriller set in a dystopia 50 years into the future, 2073 borrows inspiration from Chris Marker’s La Jetée, about a time traveler who attempts to save humanity after an apocalyptic World War III. The Oscar-winning director, primarily known for capturing intimate portraits of sports and entertainment icons—Amy Winehouse and Diego Maradona—has promised this to be an “epic about the state of the world.” For the first time, Kapadia will excavate something other than the past. – Jake K-S.
95. Infinity Pool (Brandon Cronenberg; Jan. 27)
Brandon Cronenberg’s previous film Possessor was a visceral, unsettling journey that took elements of his father’s visual sensibilities but channeled them toward something uniquely his own. Infinity Pool, his follow-up starring Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth, looks even darker, following a couple at an island resort who are faced with an unimaginable ethical quandary following a tragic accident. The trailer is deeply provocative and memorable; hopefully the film will deliver on its promise. – Logan K.
94. All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Raven Jackson)
Considering the last directorial debut he backed ended up being our favorite film of the last year, expectations are high for the Barry Jenkins-produced All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt. Raven Jackson’s first feature chronicles decades in the life of a Black woman in Mississippi. It’s set to premiere at Sundance this month, and they note “Jackson’s nontraditional narrative borrows from the language of memory. Shifts in time are prompted by movement and emotion—the feeling of mud between fingers or the release felt from being outside during a storm.” – Jordan R.
93. The Royal Hotel (Kitty Green)
You’d be hard-pressed to find a feature debut more bone-chilling and concentrated than writer-director Kitty Green’s 2019 #MeToo chamber drama The Assistant. Which makes her second film, The Royal Hotel, set in her home country of Australia and once again starring Julia Garner, all the more intriguing. Inspired by true events, Green’s social thriller centers on two backpacking friends who find themselves trapped in a dangerous situation when a group of locals begin crossing the line with their drunken behavior. With a cast that also includes Jessica Henwick and Hugo Weaving, Green’s sharp, perceptive, unnerving filmmaking promises another tightly wound psychological masterclass. – Jake K-S.
92. Fingernails (Christos Nikou)
From Greek director Christos Nikou (Apples), this unconventional, hypnotic-sounding science-fiction film has the potential to offer a tangible insight into modern relationships. Centered on a young woman (Jessie Buckley) who begins to question if her partner truly loves her, Fingernails follows her as she signs up for a mysterious organization that aims to find the root cause of romantic love, becoming drawn to its enigmatic leader (Riz Ahmed) in the process. – Logan K.
91. Eric Larue (Michael Shannon)
Michael Shannon’s directorial debut after two decades of being one of the most beloved character actors in modern Hollywood, Eric Larue is an adaptation of an acclaimed play of the same name. Centered on a mother whose son killed three classmates, it follows her as she tries seeking forgiveness from the parents of the dead, and eventually tries facing her imprisoned son. Comparisons to 2021’s Mass will be easy to make, and hopefully Shannon’s first effort behind the camera will contain as much power. – Logan K.
90. Flint Strong (Rachel Morrison)
“I’ll always be a cinematographer at heart,” Rachel Morrison said while working on her feature directing debut. This boxing biopic about Claressa “T-Rex” Shields training for the 2012 Olympics went through repeated upheavals: the cast changed, principal photography stopped after two days due to COVID, and one studio was dropped for another. But Morrison and producer Barry Jenkins ended up with the estimable Brian Tyree Henry to join lead Ryan Destiny. – Daniel E.
89. Wizards! (David Michôd)
David Michôd’s eclectic, underrated career has taken him across genres and time periods, with his latest film Wizards! sounding like the strangest project to date. Pairing an ultimate odd couple (comedian Pete Davidson and acclaimed German actor Franz Rogowski) as a pair of stoners caught up in a criminal conspiracy sounds so ridiculous that it might just be brilliant. Naomi Scott, Orlando Bloom, and Sean Harris rounding out the ensemble only increases anticipation. – Logan K.
88. The Sea Change (Kristin Scott Thomas)
One of our most celebrated actresses, Kristin Scott Thomas, steps behind the camera to adapt the 1959 novel The Sea Change by Elizabeth Jane Howard, with Scarlett Johansson as her lead. The film will follow travails of an unhappily married couple, Johansson playing the embittered, lonely wife struggling to cope with the death of her only child and a disintegrating marriage, which is given an attempted save with a trip to a Greek island. With her illustrious career, we’re eager to see the actor’s vision for this passion project. –Margaret R.
87. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (Kelly Fremon Craig; April 28)
Judy Blume’s perennial bildungsroman Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is finally receiving a cinematic adaptation from the director and producers behind the uproariously relatable coming-of-age film The Edge of Seventeen. Kelly Fremon Craig adapts this tale about a young girl’s trajectory of teenagehood involving puberty, friendships, first crushes, and questions of faith, with the returning creative minds of James L. Brooks and Richard Sakai (of The Simpsons fame) to assist. If all goes as planned it is certain to be as humorous and heartwarming as her previous feature. – Margaret R.
86. The Book of Solutions (Michel Gondry)
Michel Gondry is returning to feature filmmaking after seven long years for his newest picture, The Book of Solutions. Details on the undoubtedly autobiographical picture, while closely guarded, forecast a comedy about a director seeking to vanquish his creative demons. Gondry became a household name with his idiosyncratic direction in myriad music videos and his most critically acclaimed work, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The Book of Solutions is hopefully a return to form for the once-renowned auteur. – Margaret R.
85. Timestalker (Alice Lowe)
Alice Lowe, English-indie-actress-turned-maverick-horror-filmmaker, shocked audiences with her debut Prevenge in 2016 and is ready to take a chance on the fantasy genre with the follow-up Timestalkers. The film follows hapless heroine Agnes, who is unwittingly reincarnated every time she falls for the wrong man, going from the 1680s Western Scotland to the apocalyptic 22nd century. Timestalkers promises a grander adventure for Lowe; we can’t wait to see her play with an expanded bag of tricks. – Margaret R.
84. The Governesses (Joe Talbot)
A director with a clear-eyed visual sense and strong aesthetic, Joe Talbot showcased a distinctive flourish that fit right in with the A24 assembly line with his beautifully rendered debut The Last Black Man in San Francisco. For his second feature, he’ll be teaming with the indie giants again for The Governess, an adaptation of Anne Serre’s novel of the same name. The film has a wonderfully versatile and international cast featuring Worst Person in the World star Renate Reinsve, the badass Hoyeon Jung from Squid Game, and Lily-Rose Depp starring as governesses in a bohemian household that gets led on an erotic adventure. – Erik N.
83. Air Jordan (Ben Affleck)
Ben Affleck’s first directorial effort since the underrated Live by Night, the tentatively titled Air Jordan is a biopic about Nike’s attempts to sign Michael Jordan to one of the most lucrative sponsorship contracts in sports history. This is a premise that could swing either way in terms of quality, but in the hands of diehard basketball fan Affleck (who will be playing Phil Knight in the picture), this Matt Damon reunion could easily be an intensely compelling film about the machinations of sports business. – Logan K.
82. Eileen (William Oldroyd)
Before the long-gestating, Margot Robbie-produced take on My Year of Rest and Relaxation arrives, Ottessa Moshfegh’s sophomore 2015 novel gets the big screen treatment courtesy Lady Macbeth director William Oldroyd. As with his exceptional 2016 debut, this is another period character study where a young woman finds liberation within her life in the darkest of places––in this case, a young prison secretary’s (Thomasin McKenzie) relationship with a new staff member (Anne Hathaway) who entangles her in a shocking crime. – Alistair R.
81. Emilia Perez (Jacques Audiard)
Jacques Audiard’s brand of gritty melodrama typically sees him using familiar genre templates to give voices to those rarely at the center of the narrative. His second trip across the Atlantic following 2018’s The Sisters Brothers might be his most ambitious effort to date: a musical comedy that should succeed in subverting the inherent machismo of the crime genre. A comical tale of a cartel boss’s post-retirement gender transition might set alarm bells ringing, but due to the empathy Audiard always extends his subjects, it’s safe to assume this will be a warm-hearted treat. – Alistair R.
80. La Cocina (Alonso Ruizpalacios)
The English-language debut of Alonso Ruizpalacios, responsible for the sensational Güeros, La Cocina is a film about the hectic, intersecting lives of several New York kitchen workers. With the recent acclaim of films such as Boiling Point and television shows such as The Bear, there’s rarely been a better time for a restaurant drama to hit theaters, especially one starring beloved actor Rooney Mara in the lead role. – Logan K.
79. Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
Justine Triet is a very promising French filmmaker, her 2016 film In Bed with Victoria receiving substantial acclaim in France and several César nominations. Her previous film Sibyl unspooled in competition at Cannes, and the upcoming Anatomy of a Fall has been called a new direction. The procedural thriller is centered on a case surrounding a murdered husband, his suspected wife, and their son caught in the midst of a moral dilemma. It’ll be interesting to see how Triet adapts to this new genre and if it could lead to international breakthrough. – Logan K.
78. Holland, Michigan (Mimi Cave)
After her recent success playing Lucille Ball in Being The Ricardos, Nicole Kidman re-teams with Amazon Studios to star and produce in Mimi Cave’s second feature, Holland, Michigan. Based on Andrew Sodroski’s script, which topped Hollywood’s “Black List” in 2013, the thriller is set during the eponymous town’s Tulip Time Festival and chronicles a schoolteacher who suspects her husband is a serial killer. Cave broke out last year at Sundance with Fresh, a suspenseful debut about modern dating, and looks to continue the pace with a bona fide star and a self-described “Hitchcock bent.” – Jake K-S.
77. Butterfly Jam (Kantemir Balagov)
Director Kantemir Balagov was originally supposed to make his first foray into English-language productions with episodes of HBO’s The Last of Us, to which he ultimately didn’t stay attached. Instead the director of Beanpole has focused his attention on the Ari Aster-produced Butterfly Jam, a story about an unconventional father-son relationship amongst a New Jersey Kabardian immigrant community. Beanpole showed a remarkable balance between visceral texture and heartbreaking drama, and hopefully the young director’s next feature will be able to achieve something similar. – Logan K.
76. Together 99 (Lukas Moodysson)
A follow-up over 20 years in the making, Lukas Moodysson’s return to the world of his 1999 film Together—and his first feature in 10 years—has potential to be a deeply funny and melancholic examination of the passing of time. Moodysson’s ability to blend awkward humor and guttural emotional suffering has been sorely missed in contemporary European filmmaking. Here’s hoping this ranks up with his best works. – Logan K.
75. The Palace (Roman Polanski)
Granted, this will never see an American release—more accurate to say we’re anticipating The.Palace.2023.1080p.BluRay.x264-EA.mkv.torrent. Roman Polanski’s ceaselessly expanding exile from film culture would be easier to take if his work also saw a precipitous drop, but Lucrecia Martel didn’t give An Officer and a Spy Venice’s Best Director prize for nothing, and reuniting with Jerzy Skolimowski some 60 years since Knife in the Water—with fellow EO scribe Ewa Piaskowska also aboard—for a comedy set in Switzerland’s stunning Gstaad Palace on New Year’s Eve 1999 should yield multitudes. (I can’t even look at the above still without giggling.) There’s hardly a wiser practitioner of the single-location project than Polanski, whose mastery of space has hit further rewards in an ongoing relationship with DP Paweł Edelman, but its throw-a-dart casting (Mickey Rourke, Fanny Ardant, and John Cleese in a seeming Fawlty Towers homage) suggests chaos of a highest order. – Nick N.
74. Music (Angela Schanelec)
The most acclaimed of the so-called “Berlin School” filmmakers alongside Christian Petzold, Schanelec will also be debuting a new feature this year, most likely at the Berlinale. Looking to be another gloss on classic literature after Chekhov in Afternoon and Shakespeare in I Was at Home, But…, Music appears to closely follow the plot of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, transposing its deathless tale of incest and self-punishment to a contemporary Greek and UK milieu. – David K.
73. La lune crevée (Philippe Garrel)
The later work of Philippe Garrel stands at a meeting point between evocative and sparse—films that will distill an entire relationship in how two people walk down the street, within 70 or 80 minutes a whole life delivered. Thus the wait for anything new might feel unbearably long; thus our great anticipation for La lune crevée. Early accounts suggest a story (“the romantic and tragic destiny of a family of puppeteer artists”) more expansive than his recent relationship dramas, and a family affair in tenses both present (starring roles for his progeny Louis Garrel, Esther Garrel, and Léna Garrel) and historic (Philippe’s late father Maurice Garrel was a puppeteer before becoming an actor). If another 72-minute black-and-white drama about his son or daughter feeling suicidal would do the trick, this marks more of a gear shift than most returning favorites on our list. It can’t come soon enough. – Nick N.
72. Monster (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
Hirokazu Kore-eda is one of the most-acclaimed filmmakers of the last 25 years, with an incredible batting average for a director of his proficiency. Details of his new film Monster are vague––all that’s known is that it was shot in Japan and is Kore-eda’s first in almost 30 years that he hasn’t written the screenplay for; the recent track record suggests audiences should be very excited. – Logan K.
71. Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass)
An intense story set in the world of bodybuilding, which is being described as a critique of the American Dream? It’s official: Rose Glass’ follow-up to her terrific 2019 effort Saint Maud is her answer to Michael Bay’s Pain and Gain. Kristen Stewart leads the cast of her latest psychological thriller as the over-protective lover of a bodybuilder who keeps pushing herself to harsher extremes. If Saint Maud is anything to go by, this looks like a recipe for some viscerally grueling body horror. – Alistair R.
70. Horizon: Part One (Kevin Costner)
Kevin Costner’s first film as director since 2000’s Open Range, Horizon is an extremely ambitious-sounding western about the formation of the American West. Costner has talked about his desire for it to be four films from four different perspectives, involving over 170 speaking parts. If he pulls it off, it will be a legendary Hollywood epic. But the ambition alone is tantalizing. While there’s no official word the first part may arrive this year, with production completed and a spring shoot for the second film in the series confirmed, there’s a chance we’ll see it. – Logan K.
69. The Old Oak (Ken Loach)
Just when you thought he was out, the British social realist kingpin reels himself back in; despite flirting with retirement, Ken Loach has continually returned to his passionately engaged and unrepentantly leftist filmmaking—the current venal state of UK politics would allow nothing less. Completing an informal trilogy set in the country’s ailing north-east, The Old Oak follows the tensions of a former mining community’s aging population, as the area becomes host to recently resettled Syrian refugees. – David K.
68. All We Imagine as Light (Payal Kapadia)
Kapadia’s breakthrough A Night of Knowing Nothing was a poetic non-fiction in the Chris Marker vein, though the rising Indian filmmaker honed her chops on fiction shorts of a notably atmospheric and surreal bent. This looks to be maintained in her second feature, following the dual stories of two female roommates in Mumbai nursing secrets and, in the director’s words, becoming “free of the world they belong to through a collective dream.” – David K.
67. La Conversione (Marco Bellocchio)
Steven Spielberg’s rewarding late-career collaboration with the great playwright Tony Kushner finds an intriguing afterlife in Marco Bellocchio’s new project. Spielberg shelved a project entitled The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara with Oscar Isaac, about the abduction of a Jewish child who was forcibly converted to Catholicism in pre-unification papal Italy. Bellocchio’s film will be a richly rendered depiction of what was a cause célèbre in its era, in keeping with his past examinations of Italian history in work such as Vincere and The Traitor. – David K.
66. Club Zero (Jessica Hausner)
Jessica Hausner’s deadpan riff on the paranoid conspiracy thrillers of the ’70s, 2019’s Little Joe, was one of the most underappreciated sci-fi efforts in recent years. For her second English language feature, the Austrian director is returning to that genre with something even more uncomfortable, taking us deep into the inner workings of an elite school where a new teacher is indoctrinating her students into a cult of “extreme nutrition.” It suggests a genre throwback in the same vein of that previous effort, but on a much grander scale. – Alistair R.
65. Challengers (Luca Guadgnino)
Italian filmmaker Luca Guadgnino continues to embark on creating complex, messy love stories about fucked-up people. After working with Timothée Chalamet for a second time on the cannibal love story Bones and All, the director sets his sight on another Dune star. Set in the world of tennis, Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Conner get embroiled in a love triangle with queer undertones. All of which sounds right up the director’s alley; in new territory, it will be his first comedy. – Erik N.
64. Rebel Ridge (Jeremy Saulnier)
With Blue Ruin, Green Room, and Hold the Dark under his belt, it’s safe to say any new project from Jeremy Saulnier is going to have mouths salivating. His latest, Rebel Ridge, has been a while coming, with myriad production difficulties—among them COVID delays and original star John Boyega abandoning the project. Saulnier found an excellent replacement in The Underground Railroad’s Aaron Pierre to headline this high-velocity thriller about an ex-marine taking on a group of dirty cops. We’re ready for the bones to crunch. – Mitchell B.
63. L’Empire (Bruno Dumont)
After 2021’s France was shot in Paris, Bruno Dumont returns to his filmmaking hub of Northern France for his 11th feature, assembling an intriguing cast including Camille Cottin (Call My Agent!), Lyna Khoudri (The French Dispatch), and Anamaria Vartolomei (Happening). Fans of Dumont’s Li’l Quinquin miniseries will be thrilled to see inept inspectors Bernard Pruvost and Philippe Jore in there as well. Even by mid-career Dumont standards—which have given us aristocratic cannibals and airlifted bovine—the L’Empire logline still reads as fairly insane: “from the banal daily life of a fisherman’s village on the Opal Coast, emerges the epic parallel life of knights from interplanetary kingdoms…” Assuming it’s ready, look for it at Cannes this spring. – Caleb H.
62. École de l’air (Robin Campillo)
Robin Campillo’s BPM was one of the most acclaimed films of the 2010s, a masterpiece that flawlessly balanced the political causes and personal lives of the ACT UP movement. Ecole de l’air looks to be another immaculate, personal examination of a political climate, depicting the final years of the French occupation of Madagascar and struggles of a young boy living on an army base as he realizes the full extent of colonialism. Campillo’s critical portrayal of the French government in BPM breeds optimism this will be a scathing, heartbreaking indictment. – Logan K.
61. MMXX (Cristi Puiu)
Acclaimed Romanian auteur Cristi Puiu has been on a roll as of late, with his previous release Malmkrog being one of the best films of the last few years. His upcoming film MMXX, an exploration of four lost souls amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, looks to be playing into his unique strengths of existential rumination and sublimely dry comedy. – Logan K.
59 & 60. Poor Things and AND (Yorgos Lanthimos)
With his off-kilter, violent, darkly comic vision, Yorgos Lanthimos is attracting some of Hollywood’s biggest names. His newest projects are no different. First up, Poor Things features a dynamite ensemble led by Emma Stone as a Victorian-era woman bought back to life by an eccentric scientist. It’s a Frankenstein-like love story that sounds right up Lanthimos’ alley with a cast rounded out by Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, and Christopher Abbott. Poor Things was rumored to be a 2022 release but is now slated for 2023. His other feature AND began filming in New Orleans this past October, reteaming him with Emma Stone and bringing along Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley, and Joe Alwyn for the ride. Plot details are under wraps. – Erik N.
58. Tropical Gothic (Isabel Sandoval)
After her impressive previous feature, Lingua Franca, Isabel Sandoval is mounting her follow-up. Tropical Gothic pays homage to her Filipina roots as a fable taking place in the 16th-century Philippines, and is about the haunting of a Spanish conquistador by a Native Priestess in a concentrated effort to make him return to his native land. This ghostly tale about the inhumanity of colonialism looks to be a major step up in scope for the director, and we look forward to seeing it come to fruition. – Margaret R.
57. Nightbitch (Marielle Helller)
The latest from Marielle Heller has already become a minor Internet punchline based on title alone, although a cursory glance at the source material suggests this will offer more food for thought than you’d expect from the canine metamorphosis logline. Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel of the same name was written out of her own frustrations as a new mother, and how effective parenthood requires an all-but-impossible evolution. Heller seems a perfect match for this off-kilter character study, while we remain hopeful it will also give Amy Adams her most effective showcase in several years. – Alistair R.
56. Cobweb (Kim Jee-woon)
Like many Korean directors who broke onto the scene out of the Korean New Wave in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Kim Jee-woon had his shot to make a successful crossover with American audiences in 2013 with The Last Stand. While not living up to those expectations, the years since his 2010 hit I Saw The Devil have been relatively quiet. His next film, Cobweb, sounds like a welcome return to form. The story centers around an obsessive director who wants to recut a film he made in the 70s to perfect the ending. With the versatile Song Kang-ho at the center, it sounds set up to be a home run. – Erik N.
55. You Hurt My Feelings (Nicole Holofcener)
Nicole Holofcener’s first film since her overlooked The Land of Steady Habits, You Hurt My Feelings suggests another exploration of the delicate nature of romantic relationships. Centered on a novelist whose marriage starts to suffer when she finds out that her husband has lied about liking her writing, it should be another example of Holofcener’s capacity to wring out tension and heartbreak from seemingly mundane social situations. – Logan K.
54. True Love (Gareth Edwards; Oct. 6)
Seven years after Rogue One, Gareth Edwards is finally returning with the secretive True Love. While the plot around the mysterious high-concept sci-fi film has been kept under wraps, its top-notch cast includes John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ralph Ineson, Allison Janney, and Ken Watanabe. Expect more to be revealed when promotion likely gears up this summer. – Erik N.
53. Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World (Radu Jude)
Radu Jude has forged a reputation for himself as a bold, uncompromising filmmaker, willing to provoke with explicitly sexual, political, and just plain vulgar material. Coming off of his biggest critical success to date, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, his latest feature should be another provocative addition to an impressive catalog. Part-road movie, part-making-of-a-corporate-video, it explores the relationships between individuals and multinational companies, and it would be a surprise if this didn’t incite a wild series of conversations upon its release. – Logan K.
52. The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin)
In November, an image of a high-flying Zac Efron showed even A24 is susceptible to the “actor gets ripped for a movie role” publicity play. Sean Durkin’s biographical film will examine the Von Erich family, who dominated professional wrestling for decades but suffered from what became deemed the “Von Erich curse.” Efron stars as Kevin Von Erich, while two rising stars with breakout 2022s: Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) and Harris Dickinson (Triangle of Sadness) fill out two of his brothers. A near decade went between Durkin’s debut feature Martha Marcy May Marlene and 2020’s The Nest, so it’s good to see him set up this new project more quickly. Curiously, there is not a cinematographer announced just yet, but as The Nest was lensed on 35mm it’s worth keeping an eye on the format. – Caleb H.
51. Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve; Nov. 3)
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One was a critical and commercial success, winning multiple Oscars and creating widespread anticipation for the second part. The action, emotional turmoil, and moral decay of protagonist Paul Atreides will be amplified in this entry, as Frank Herbert’s original Dune novel leaves most of its greatest moments for the second section. Considering the acclaim Villeneuve had with his first part, it’s hard to imagine a world where this isn’t an even greater success. – Logan K.