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 those 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 a confirmed festival premiere––most have wrapped production and will likely debut at some point in 2024. Be sure to check back for updates over the next twelve months (and beyond).
100. Play Dirty (Shane Black)
After the critical failure of The Predator, Shane Black returns to what he’s best at: irreverent crime capers. Bringing Donald E. Westlake’s famous criminal Parker to the big screen, the writer-director has chosen The Hunter––a text twice adapted, in 1967’s Point Blank and 1999’s Payback––as his source. While the inclusion of Mark Wahlberg as Parker might give one pause, the actor’s himself due for a renaissance after a decade of forgettable streaming films. Here’s hoping Black’s film taps into the manic energy that’s made Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys cult favorites. – Christian G.
99. Golden (Michel Gondry; May 9)
While MTV remains a burned-out husk of its former self, Michel Gondry is once again collaborating with chart-topping musicians. He and Pharell Williams, everyone’s favorite big hat-wearing hitmaker, team-up for Golden, coming to theaters in May from Universal. Williams told Empire it’s a “musical expedition” and coming-of-age story that celebrates Black life, culture, and joy based on his formative years in Virginia Beach. Set in 1977, Golden stars a who’s-who of Black talent––among them Hallie Bailey, Quinta Brunson, Janelle Monáe, and Da’vine Joy Randolph. The auteur and star have a curious amount in common. Both began their careers collaborating with chart-topping artists: Gondry directed music videos for Daft Punk, Björk, and Kylie Minogue; Williams worked with hit pop & hip-hop artists as one half of beat-making duo The Neptunes. Not to mention the Lego connection––Williams’s recent block-based biopic Piece by Piece and Gondry’s famous Fell in Love with a Girl video, which helped launch the White Stripes. Gondry’s ability to construct sophisticated worlds by raiding a grade-school arts and crafts closet and Williams’s unique voice make the pair an exciting collaborative prospect. – Kent W.
98. Warfare (Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza)
Alex Garland has teamed with military veteran Ray Mendoza for this spiritual companion to his divisive Civil War. Where that film frustrated some by subtracting concrete causes for the onscreen conflict to tell a more sobering tale of faltering journalistic ethics on the frontlines, test-screening reports suggest that the Charles Melton-led Warfare will do the same for battle, with the movie aiming to capture the confusion of war via one extended shoot-out. If the final act of Civil War is anything to go by, audiences will be left short of breath. – Alistair R.
97. In the Blink of an Eye (Andrew Stanton)
Following the immense financial failure of John Carter, it might be odd to consider the next live-action feature from Andrew Stanton to be anticipated––outside of perhaps viewing another train wreck. But here’s the thing: the man directed WALL*E, and he’s spent the last few years honing his live-action craft on some of today’s best shows (For All Mankind, Better Call Saul). Who among us doesn’t love a comeback story? – Brian R.
96. Growth (Armando Iannucci)
After a six-year absence from the big screen, Armando Iannucci is rumored to begin filming his next project in early 2025. Details are scant, but word has it Growth dramatizes a social-media company whose founder maneuvers their rapid growth as well as a leak of private user data. Iannucci is the parodist laureate of skewering Machiavallian buffoons, and––given his public distaste for the attention-thirsty owner of the languishing platform X––the social-media economy is a bountiful target for his signature wit. His most recent film, The Personal History of David Copperfield, was a departure from satiric fare of The Death of Stalin and In the Loop but displayed real vision in growth as a filmmaker; more people should have seen it. – Kent W.
95. Splitsville (Michael Covino)
It’s been five years since Michael Covino and Kyle Marvin expanded their single-take short into Cannes premiere The Climb. Relatively quiet in the meantime (Marvin most notably directed 80 for Brady in 2023), Splitsville has the pair reuniting properly, co-starring with Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, and Nicholas Braun in a relationship comedy that probes the misadventures of a divorce request and an open marriage. The Climb earnestly intermingled juvenile, bro-y humor with real drama, and with Splitsville’s throwback, Hall Pass-like premise updated for the modern era (i.e. open marriages), their follow-up could be bound for another Cannes, especially given NEON’s recent success at the festival. – Caleb H.
94. The Bride (Maggie Gyllenhaal; Sept. 26)
From Elena Ferrante to Mary Shelley via James Whale: Maggie Gyllenhaal, coming off The Lost Daughter, continues her immediately illustrious directing career with something even more so, this time putting Shelley’s deathless text (and 1935 film’s rough outline) in ‘30s Chicago with Jessie Buckley as the reanimated creature who lusts for romance and “ignites a radical social movement.” With Warner Bros, DP Lawrence Sher, and identical early Instagram marketing, Gyllenhaal seems to be tailing after Joker––not the worst example for a modern studio film. – David K.
93. Wake of Umbra (Carlos Reygadas)
There’s always much anticipation for when Reygadas, one of Mexico’s premier auteurs, will release his next film––it’s a rare occurrence. Over 25 years Reygadas has directed, on average, only one feature every five years. His next, Estela de sombra (Wake of Umbra), is expected to premiere in 2025, six years after his last. Word has it Reygadas is staying in his native Mexico, though some portions will also be filmed in Poland. – Soham G.
92. Sinners (Ryan Coogler; March 7)
Ford and Wayne, Scorsese and De Niro, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington… Coogler and (Michael B.) Jordan? There’s no question that the director-actor pairing is on a similar trajectory as some of the greats, but Sinners could be a good litmus test to see if the duo still has the same Fruitvale Station juice outside the reliable IP of their Rocky and Black Panther team-ups. Unlike his previous dramas, Sinners marks Coogler’s first real attempt at a thriller, which he’s set in the Jim Crow-era South and requires Jordan to play twin brothers who return home to find evil waiting for them. After a highly competitive bidding war, Warner Bros. won distribution rights, banking on another early March release to hit big like it did with last year’s Dune: Part Two. – Jake K-S.
91. Famous (Jody Hill)
Jody Hill’s primarily worked in television with Danny McBride (The Righteous Gemstones, Vice Principals, and Eastbound & Down), and the forthcoming Famous is only his fourth feature as director––the first since 2018’s The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter. After adapting Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines, screenwriter Chad Hodge returns to tackle Crouch’s 2010 novel Famous, which follows a man whose physical similarities to a celebrity draw him to Los Angeles. Zac Efron plays both the celebrity and lookalike, while Phoebe Dynevor (Fair Play), Nicholas Braun (Succession), and Cory Michael Smith (May December) co-star. A24’s boarded the project, which wrapped production in L.A. this past Monday. A Hollywood-set twinning thriller screams De Palma, or something closer to Hill’s 2009’s Observe and Report, which wasn’t afraid to get dark. Famous is undoubtedly one of the more intriguing wildcards on the 2025 calendar. – Caleb H.
90. Enzo (Robin Campillo)
With his latest feature Red Island released earlier this year, Robin Campillo also wrapped his next film Enzo. Inherited from Laurent Cantet, Campillo’s close friend who unexpectedly passed in April, the film is led by Eloy Pohu and Maksym Slivinskyi with support from Pierfrancesco Favino. Plot details are slim, but this drama has the makings of a moving love letter to a friend. Campillo’s latest went overlooked; hopefully that’s the not the case here. – Jordan R.
89. Roofman (Derek Cianfrance; Oct. 3)
In the early 2010s, writer-producer-director Derek Cianfrance was one of our most promising new filmmakers, Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines landing with a bang in a relatively short two-year span. Four years passed before his next project, The Light Between Oceans, released and quickly died out among 2016 award hopefuls, whatever its strengths. Since then, Cianfrance has directed a well-regarded miniseries and an NBA-Hennessy commercial. Needless to say his return to features is exciting, especially with this subject: Roofman tells the true story of a kooky gentle crook who briefly lived in a Toys-R-Us in North Carolina and serially robbed McDonalds by dropping through holes he drilled in the roof. The stacked cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Channing Tatum, Peter Dinklage, Lakeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Ben Mendelsohn, and Tony Revolori. – Luke H.
88. The Land of Nod (Kyle Edward Ball)
Kyle Edward Ball exploded onto the scene two years ago with his revolutionary horror film Skinamarink and it’s only natural a major studio like A24 would grab him up for a follow-up feature. Josh Safdie, along with Elijah Wood, Eli Bush, Ronnie Bronstein, will produce Ball’s next feature, Land of Nod, with A24 distributing. Plot details are being kept a secret, but the title is a reference to the place where Cain was exiled by God in the Book of Genesis, and perhaps the classic children’s poem by Robert Louis Stevenson about “the place we go when we fall asleep.” This already seems in-line with Ball’s interests, following a debut feature titled after a famous children’s song. – Soham G.
87. After (Oliver Laxe)
Nine years since his enigmatic and mythical Mimosas, director Olivier Laxe seems to be returning to the Moroccan desert with After MUBI’s description of the film is “a man searches for his missing daughter through the African desert,” while further details tell us the man is accompanied by his son and they come across a group of ravers along the way. Laxe’s films have always played around with time and myth, and the filmmaker states that he comes from a generation where “there is no need to differentiate between religion and faith and spirituality,” with creative work also being a religious gesture. – Soham G.
86. The Drama (Kristoffer Borgli)
Norwegian writer-director Kristoffer Borgli had found success in the surreal. With Sick of Myself, he explored fame, art, and narcissism. With Dream Scenario, he looked again at notoriety through the subconscious, through a normal person not seeking it. His newest will be The Drama, a romance starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, in collaboration again with A24. The logline reads, “A couple, in the days leading up to their wedding, faces a crisis when unexpected revelations derail what one of them thought they knew about the other.” It sounds twisty, odd, likely once again about a level of narcissism. Sounds like a Borgli movie. – Mike F.
85. Alpha (Julia Ducournau)
Following a Palme d’Or winner is always going to be an enticing proposition, especially when that honor concerns Julia Ducournau’s breathtaking gender excavation Titane. Plot details are still tightly under wraps for her next effort Alpha, though rumors tell us it concerns a teenager in the 1980s whose classmates start to outcast her as gossip spreads that she has an infectious disease, suggesting the body-horror territory of Titane and Raw. What we do know for sure is that the film will star the excellent duo of Golshifteh Farahani and Tahar Rahim, and that NEON has already picked up U.S. distribution rights, keeping them firmly in the Ducournau business. – Mitchell B.
84. Sacrifice (Romain Gavras)
If the novel filmmaking techniques of 2018’s The World Is Yours and 2022’s Athena didn’t draw you to Romain Gavras’s arresting work (see: the 12-minute opening shot of urban warfare in the latter on Netflix), maybe details for the French writer-director-producer’s English-language debut will. In search of a mystical artifact, an extremist group turns an A-list charity event into utter chaos. With performances from Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Evans, John Malkovich, Salma Hayek, Sam Richardson, Vincent Cassel, Jeremy O. Harris, and––in their live-action acting debuts, Yung Lean and Charli XCX––Sacrifice shows titillating promise, especially in the hands of Costa-Gavras’ son. – Luke H.
83. The Lost Bus (Paul Greengrass)
Since reshaping the action genre (for better and worse) in his signature shaky-cam aesthetic with The Bourne Supremacy, Greengrass has spent the majority of his career exploring real-life heroism in response to trauma––whether inside a plane (United 93), cargo ship (Captain Phillips), or major city (22 July). His next is another true story of harrowing survival, about a bus driver and school teacher who navigate a group of students through the 2018 California wildfire (the deadliest in state history) that killed 85 people. The movie, based on Lizzie Johnson’s 2021 book, leans on Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera to tag-team the rescue efforts. – Jake K-S
82. Hope (Na Hong-jin)
Ever since The Wailing terrorized Cannes in 2016, people are eager to see what’s next for Korean genre master Na Hong-jin. The wait, finally, seems over, with shooting wrapping in March. Hope is described as an alien-invasion thriller set in a remote harbor town, with a budget reported to be the highest in Korean history; Na claims it’s just the first part of a trilogy. The inclusion of Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender only furthers intrigue. – Frank Y.
81. The Twilight World (Werner Herzog)
Werner Herzog recently turned 82 and is still finding new creative paths. It was recently revealed that the German director is working on his first animated feature, The Twilight World, based on his 2021 novel of the same name. Telling the true story of Hiroo Onoda, a World War II Japanese intelligence officer who refused to surrender and continued to fight a personal, fictitious war in the jungles of the Philippines for 30 years, the story was also adapted in live-action form recently with Arthur Harari’s Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle. “Part fictionalized history, part drama and part dream log, The Twilight World is a meditation on the nature of reality, the illusion of time, and the conflict between the external world and our inner lives,” reads the description of Herzog’s take. – Jordan R.
80. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Rian Johnson)
Rian Johnson is an unlikely candidate for one of the most divisive mainstream directors working today. His scripts seek to reward the kind of attention that most cinephiles love to pay; his direction is playful and dynamic in ways most greenscreen shooting can’t manage. But something about him rubs certain people the wrong way. That’s exciting. Even as someone who wasn’t over-the-moon on Glass Onion, I’m looking forward to another stacked cast of established and rising stars getting an acting workout. I’ll be signing up for Johnson’s work early and excitedly for the foreseeable future. – Brian R.
79. The Woman in the Yard and Cliffhanger (Jaume Collet-Serra; March 28 and TBD)
Perhaps the greatest gift of 2024’s holiday season was the return of Jaume Collet-Serra to ’90s-programmer mode with his adrenaline-pumping Carry-On, already being hailed as a new Christmas crime classic (by me at least). Not one to rest on his laurels, Collet-Serra has another picture already in the can and set for March. Little is known of The Woman in the Yard beyond a cryptic tagline about a woman in black appearing on a family’s front lawn, but we do know that the picture sees the director back in the horror territory of House of Wax, Orphan, and The Shallows. And it reunites him with Carry-On’s reliable Danielle Deadwyler. Also potentially dropping in 2025 is Cliffhanger, a remake of the high (altitude) concept Sylvester Stallone ’90s action romp, this time starring Lily James, Pierce Brosnan, and––in an absolutely wonderful surprise––Franz Rogowski. – Mitchell B.
78. Fuxi (Qiu Jiongjiong)
Qiu Jiongjiong’s A New Old Play was his Platform––an extraordinary three-hour chronicle of Chinese history and politics bolstered by meditative temporality, wry humor, and gorgeously misty Brechtian staging. Fuxi looks to expand that opus further. Divided into four parts, each section representing both a festivity and specific state between life and death, Fuxi uses food as a throughline to explore myth and mortality. Lee Kang-sheng, Lee Hong-chi, and Annie Chen star. – Blake S.
77. The Naked Gun (Akiva Schaffer; Aug. 1)
If anybody can modernize the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker formula without losing any of its delirious silliness, it’s Lonely Island alum Akiva Schaffer. Whether his return to straightforward genre parody nearly a decade after Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping will be a lampooning of the grittier cop movies now in vogue is yet to be seen. But with Liam Neeson getting a rare, welcome chance to show off his deadpan comic skills in something beyond a sitcom cameo as the son of Leslie Nielsen’s Frank Drebin, there will be plenty to enjoy no matter what Schaffer does with the formula. – Alistair R.
76. Wildwood (Travis Knight)
If you know me, you can predict that my reason for anticipating this film is summed up in one word: Laika. Anything the Portland-based studio makes is a lovingly handcrafted work of art, whatever the potential narrative faults. As they are seemingly singlehandedly keeping American stop-motion animation alive, I’ll support everything they make. The images and teaser they’ve released for Wildwood promise an eerily gorgeous and portentous tale, and given how every single one of their films threatens to be their last, I can’t help rooting for this perpetual underdog. – Brian R.
75. I Want Your Sex (Gregg Araki)
Gregg Araki is back, and he’s on a mission. Bemoaning the well-documented fact that Gen Z simply aren’t’ “doing it,” Araki has prepared the perfect potion, revitalizing that most uncontroversial of genres: the age-gap erotic thriller. He’s assembled an eclectic cast: Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Margaret Cho, Johnny Knoxville, and––surely ensuring box office success––Charli XCX. The New Queer Cinema icon reemerges into a fresh wave of queer filmmaking and cultural moment ready to receive him. (Is Gregg Araki brat?) Let the love feast recommence. – Blake S.
74. Ariel (Lois Patiño)
Matías Piñeiro took a break from Shakespeare with this year’s grammar-exploding You Burn Me, but Samsara director Lois Patiño isn’t done with the Bard just yet. Expanding ideas seeded in the duo’s 2021 short Sycorax, Patiño returns to the island of The Tempest with this new feature initially conceptualized by the pair. Patiño’s first fiction work, Ariel brings together a large cast of actors both professional and amateur to portray themselves and Shakespeare’s players as they roam the reality-blurring greenery of the Azores islands. – Blake S.
73. Ancestral Visions of the Future (Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese)
Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection follow-up Ancestral Visions of the Future is described as being “a deeply personal exploration of identity, childhood, and death,” continuing a running theme in Mosese’s work of wrestling with his childhood in Lesotho and his exile to Germany. The film was pitched by Mosese as an “allegorical essay” and presented at Venice Production Bridge’s Final Cut program. Motherly and grandmotherly figures have always been a large part of Mosese’s films, and he says Ancestral Visions is inspired by a mother who helped him survive his difficult childhood. – Soham G.
72. Caught Stealing (Darren Aronofsky)
To my generation, Aronofsky is a rite of passage. Requiem for a Dream was a gate you had to pass through, and how you’ve reacted to everything since either confirmed him as a bold, rebellious voice or stunning hack. I remain on the former track. I appreciate the lack of concern for how his work will be received; I also love that, film to film, it’s become harder to predict what kind of work he’ll fashion. Will the Austin Butler-led Caught Stealing, about a baseball star falling into the criminal underworld, be more Black Swan or The Whale or––God willing––Noah? Who can say. I’ll be there on day one to find out. – Brian R.
71. Anemone (Ronan Day-Lewis)
No one really knows what to expect from Ronan Day-Lewis’s feature debut. But, as of right now, no one cares when it means the return of his dad, Daniel Day-Lewis. Starring in and making his own screenwriting debut with the project, Day-Lewis Sr. has been true to his retirement since 2017’s Phantom Thread. But, as has happened more than once, he’s been lured back to the silver screen. The film is said to explore complex relationships and generational conflicts across fathers, sons, and brothers. Thus, between the two, we can be sure to walk in a truly well-worn shoe. If Ronan possesses even a fifth of his father’s creative spark, it should prove worthwhile. – Luke H.
70. Silent Friend (Ildikó Enyedi)
The Golden Bear-winning Ildikó Enyedi’s new project is a century-spanning film told from the perspective of a majestic tree. It’s chaptered into three stories set in three different eras: 1908, 1972, and 2020. If this premise doesn’t interest you enough, the fact that this will be Tony Leung’s first-ever European production alone should put it on any cinephile’s watchlist. Léa Seydoux will also reunite with Enyedi after their collaboration in The Story of My Wife. – Frank Y.
69. Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos; Nov. 7)
Though the immense success of Poor Things was followed by relative disappointment with Kinds of Kindness, Yorgos Lanthimos continues his one-per-year streak with Emma Stone. The Greek filmmaker’s now dipping into science fiction with Bugonia, a remake of a 2003 South Korean comedy. Again pairing Stone with Plemons, Lanthimos’ foray will likely be niche and absurd, to judge from an initial description: “Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.” With it not arriving until November, we’d expect this to show up on the fall-festival circuit. – Mike F.
68. Romería (Carla Simon)
Following her Golden Bear win for Alcarras in 2022, Carla Simon returns with her most personal effort to date, confronting the same traumatic family history that informed her debut Summer 1993. Romería follows a young woman, loosely modeled after the director, whose search for the family of her biological father ends in trauma when they prove reluctant to address his addiction issues or death from AIDS. Unable to find out more about her father, who died when she was young, she tries constructing her own narrative from the incoherent accounts given by emotionally distant family members. Expect a low-key stunner. – Alistair R.
67. Hamnet (Chloé Zhao)
Author Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet couldn’t stop winning awards after it came out in 2020. A historical fiction retelling of what happens to William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, after the death of their 11-year-old son, the novel is being adapted by Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao, back from the depths of Marvel. Hamnet stars Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley––an acting duo primed for awards, prestige, and critical recognition––as the Shakespeares. It should be a return to independent form for Zhao, especially with the presence of DP Łukasz Żal, who last shot The Zone of Interest and I’m Thinking of Ending Things. – Mike F.
66. Joni Mitchell Biopic (Cameron Crowe)
From the late ’80s to early 2000s, writer-producer-director Cameron Crowe cranked out peculiar classics across genres: Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Singles, Vanilla Sky. But fiction hasn’t been his friend since 2005, when he released the difficult-to-endure Elizabethtown and, over the next decade, followed with meme-worthy We Bought a Zoo and star-studded dud Aloha. Another decade hence, he’s returning to (semi-)fiction with a Joni Mitchell biopic which he developed closely with both the icon and those who know her best. Touting the organic wonder of Mitchell’s life story and an anti-Hollywood degree of accuracy and realism, Crowe has said it’ll be more unique than the typical factory-made music biopic and he hopes it’s in theaters by this time next year. – Luke H.
65. The Wedding Banquet (Andrew Ahn)
With The Wedding Banquet, Andrew Ahn is remaking a beloved film, bringing Ang Lee’s 1993 Taiwanese romantic comedy into present day. Teaming with original screenwriter James Schamus, Ahn––often empathetic in his view of the humanity and warmth he’s putting onscreen––has created another queer film, this time set for a Sundance premiere. The plot surrounds “Wai-Tung, a gay Taiwanese-American, who agrees to marry Wei-Wei for a green card. When their parents visit for the wedding, Wai-Tung’s homosexuality is revealed, leading to eventual acceptance.” Ahn’s cast includes Lily Gladstone, Joan Chen, and Youn Yuh-jung, an ensemble known for that same empathy. It’s also an opportunity for Bowen Yang in a dramatic role. – Mike F.
64. Orphan (László Nemes)
In recent years, few filmmakers have proven as enigmatic as Hungary’s László Nemes, whose first two features––Son of Saul and Sunset––couldn’t have landed on a less-discerning American distribution system. Where Son of Saul collected an Oscar for its dogged genius in literally following concentration camp prisoners at their back as they devise an escape amidst dehumanizing work, Sunset disappeared as soon as it appeared in whatever select cities it did, despite equal (if not greater) cinematic strength. Both films have a sense of displaced mystery that strings the viewer along for a riveting, class-dividing experience, if one can stand the ghost of closure that taunts them in the aftermath. His first since 2019, Orphan falls in similar thematic territory, chronicling the socio-political scene in Budapest a year after the 1956 anti-Communist uprising through the eyes of a Jewish boy who still expects his father to return from the concentration camps. – Luke H.
63. Faces of Death (Daniel Goldhaber)
Curiously still without a distributor (despite nearly a year’s worth of glowing test-screening reactions), Daniel Goldhaber’s bold meta-reimagining of the notorious video nasty sounds like it has crossover potential. Taking the Blair Witch II: Book Of Shadows route, Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira stars as an online content moderator who stumbles upon videos appearing to reenact the most infamous deaths from the Faces of Death franchise. It suggests a deadlier spiritual companion piece to Goldhaber’s excellent Cam, and with a buzzy supporting cast including Stranger Things’ Dacre Montgomery and Charli XCX, it sounds irresistible. Someone snap the rights up, please. – Alistair R.
62. Lucca Mortis (Peter Greenaway)
After Mike Leigh’s deserved late-career love this year, Peter Greenaway––his compatriot in country and being quite personally intimidating––is also due for a comeback, here with something less ornate and more down-to-earth than his usual work. Dustin Hoffman––who’s starting to get major roles for the first time in, well, some time––plays a writer contemplating death and making one last trip to his ancestral home of Lucca, Italy. – David K.
61. Ann Lee (Mona Fastvold)
After Mona Fastvold co-wrote The Brutalist with her partner and collaborator Brady Corbet, the duo teamed on another project that’s already wrapped production. Fastvold has directed the musical Ann Lee, which stars Amanda Seyfried, Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Christopher Abbott, Tim Blake Nelson, Stacy Martin, Matthew Beard, Scott Handy, Viola Prettejohn, David Cale, and Jamie Bogyo. With a score from Brutalist composer Daniel Blumberg, the “epic fable” follows the “founding leader of the Shaker Movement, who was proclaimed by her followers as the female Christ and went on to build one of the largest utopian societies in American history.” Marking her first feature since The World to Come, we look forward to seeing how Fastvold incorporates musical elements into this historical tale. – Jordan R.
60. The Fishing Place (Rob Tregenza; Feb. 6)
Film culture is finally catching up with Rob Tregenza. Just two years since a career-spanning MoMA retrospective, the director’s made his first feature in nearly a decade, which he told me combines a World War II tale with elaborate filming styles (read: lots of cranes) and a unique structure to recall his terrific debut Talking to Strangers. I can’t imagine many returns will be more welcome in 2025. – Nick N.
59. Young Mothers (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
Known for holding an uncomfortable mirror up to Europe and particularly their native Belgium, two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are following up the provocative Tori and Lokita. Young Mothers (which we’ve also seen as titled The Young Mother’s Home; I’m sure a Cannes lineup announcement will confirm) promises another stirring work of social realism. Set in a shelter for young mothers, it follows five women who developed under difficult circumstances and struggle to build a better life for themselves and their children. The Dardennes are best-known for creating morally complex portraits of outsiders contending with the snowballing consequences of choices made within inherently oppressive systems. Young Mothers will hopefully provide another profound, critical, timely commentary on how society treats young women in such positions. – John F.
58. Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro)
Among the few pros in this era of sequels, reboots, and reimaginings is the occasional landing of a dream project in the lap of a living legend, a director who’s earned enough stripes to cause a stir of anticipation through their specific brand of reimagining. Like Robert Eggers with Nosferatu, Guillermo del Toro––King of Big Budget Gothic Horror-Romance––is undoubtedly in the top three, if not one, directors the horror fanbase would dream cast to adapt the timeless Mary Shelley tale. With Oscar Isaac onboard as Dr. Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi playing The Monster, and tonally perfect castings in Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz, IP hype is actually warranted this time. – Luke H.
57. Une affaire (Arnaud Desplechin)
While it’s a shame that Arnaud Desplechin hasn’t yet launched his feature starring Léa Seydoux, Jason Schwartzman, John Turturro, and Golshifteh Farahani, anything from one of France’s greatest exports is welcome––especially at a time when his films (God knows why) have become anathema to American festivals and distributors. It’s only stated that Une affaire concerns “a story of impossible love through the career of virtuoso pianist Mathias,” with François Civil, Charlotte Rampling, Hippolyte Girardot, and Nadia Tereszkiewicz leading its cast. I need little else, save some opportunity to actually see the thing. – Nick N.
56. BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (Khalil Joseph)
Exhibition-turned-feature, BLKNWS actually began as a series of satirical shorts that criticized the corporate-media complex by imagining a cable newscast run by Black people from the Black perspective. It eventually turned into an immersive exhibit, evolved once again into a 47-minute short, and will soon be Khalil Joseph’s feature debut. Drawing on the concept of Black Fugitivity––a liberation philosophy that posits a necessary break from oppressive systems as the only way to move society beyond them––and building on the work of critical race theorists like Stefano Harney and Fred Moten, Joseph’s ever-evolving work has only become more intriguing as it takes on new forms. With a Sundance premiere coming soon, it could make waves. – Luke H.
55. Yes! (Nadav Lapid)
After excoriating Israeli nationalism and the silent complicity of the country’s arts institutions in his scorched-Earth 2021 Cannes Jury Prize winner Ahed’s Knee, Nadav Lapid took the one logical next step: remake the Jim Carrey comedy Yes Man. Okay, maybe not officially, but Lapid’s long-awaited sixth effort does follow a character who decides to say yes to everything asked of him. I suspect the similarities with Peyton Reed’s forgotten studio comedy end there, unless there’s a sequence in which the main character saves somebody from suicide with a karaoke rendition of Third Eye Blind’s “Jumper.” – Alistair R.
54. The Actor (Duke Johnson)
Writer, director, and stop-motion-animator Duke Johnson has been quiet since his directorial debut alongside Charlie Kaufman with Anomalisa. The Actor––Johnson’s NEON-backed live-action debut that follows an amnesiac actor (Andre Holland) in 1950s New York trying to figure out who he is––has been in post-production since early 2023, mounting Malickian levels of consideration that hopefully point to the extreme difficulty in making brilliant, new ideas work (as opposed to constantly reworking ideas that only seemed brilliant). If Johnson’s bizarre brand of storytelling translates to live-action, this should be one of 2025’s more fascinating projects. – Luke H.
53. Vie Privée (Rebecca Zlotowski)
The French filmmaker has yet to make a name for herself stateside, but writer-director Rebecca Zlotwoski is a bit of a maverick on the international scene. Her most recent, Other People’s Children, debuted to critical acclaim at Venice in 2022 and marked one of Virginie Efira’s finest performances in the past five years (which is saying a lot). Her newest stars a French-speaking Jodie Foster as a psychiatrist compelled to investigate the death of a patient she believes to have been murdered, plus a deep roster of French veterans, among them Mathieu Amalric and Efira. It could be exciting new territory for both Foster and Zlotowski. – Luke H.
52. Honey Don’t! (Ethan Coen)
A pity The Film Stage didn’t run a Funniest Films of the Year list––Drive-Away Dolls had a genuine chance of being recovered and remembered after its quiet early-year release. I recall about five huge, uplifting belly laughs, revealing Ethan Coen’s key strengths in light of his brother’s dour Macbeth adaptation. He and his partner Tricia Cooke have alighted on timely casting with Margaret Qualley as a queer P.I. investigating a cult run by Chris Evans. – David K.
51. Untitled Noah Baumbach Film
When it comes to reliability in Hollywood, Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig have ascended to another plane. Gerwig is relatively removed from acting these days, but her writing-directing efforts have blown open studio-addled and cinephile brains alike. Baumbach might not reach as far as Gerwig in commercial viability, but he remains an ever-burgeoning writer-director, elevating his game from film to film and never delivering less than his best. With Gerwig’s acting support in his newest––alongside turns from Adam Sandler (with whom he collaborated wonderfully in The Meyerowitz Stories), Laura Dern, George Clooney, Riley Keough, Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Stacy Keach, Eve Hewson, Jim Broadbent, and Alba Rohrwacher––the Netflix coming-of-age dramedy is perched for global attention. – Luke H.
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