2023 was an excellent year for movie buffs, from the communal celebration that was Barbenheimer, to the dozens of acclaimed drama films that will be commemorated this awards season. Though 2024 just started, it already seems primed to continue the streak of excellent films, with highly-anticipated dramas finally making its debut after industry delays. Plus, with each new report about upcoming films from superstars including Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lady Gaga, Daisy Ridley, and Regina King, it's becoming clear: this will be the year of epic female performances. Read on for the drama films that need to be on your list this year.
'Origin'
Releases: January 19, 2024
Starring: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash-Betts, Emily Yancy, Finn Wittrock, Victoria Pedretti, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Isha Carlos Blaaker, Vera Farmiga, Audra Mcdonald, Connie Nielsen, Blair Underwood, Nick Offerman, and Myles Frost.
Ava DuVernay wrote and directed this fictional movie based on Isabel Wilkerson's 2022 non-fiction book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. The moving drama follows Wilkerson in the wake of several personal tragedies, as she travels the world researching the thesis that will become Caste.
Trailer: HERE
'Sometimes I Think About Dying'
Releases: January 26, 2024
Starring: Daisy Ridley, Dave Merheje, Parvesh Cheena, Marcia DeBonis, Meg Stalter, and Brittany O'Grady.
Fran, a socially-awkward office worker in a small coastal town, lives an isolated day-to-day life that's broken up by intrusive fantasies of what it would be like to die. When a new employee shows up in the office and attracts her interest, she wonders if she's really suited for living this way or if there's something else to life that she's been missing.
Trailer: HERE
'How to Have Sex'
Releases: February 2, 2024
Starring: Mia McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake, Samuel Bottomley, Shaun Thomas, Enva Lewis, and Laura Ambler.
Molly Manning Walker's directorial debut follows 16-year-old besties Tara (McKenna-Bruce), Skye (Peake), and Em (Lewis) as they go on a rite-of-passage holiday for what should be the best summer of their lives. In the middle of it all, Tara (the only virgin of the three) feels pressured to keep up with her more experienced friends.
Trailer: HERE
'The Promised Land'
Releases: February 2, 2024
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, and Simon Bennebjerg.
This Danish-historical drama stars Mikkelsen as a retired military captain who seeks to conquer the uninhabitable Danish heath in the name of the King. All that stands in his way is the merciless local ruler (Bennebjerg) who believes the land belongs to him. The two men become locked in a ruthless battle of revenge, in this 18th century tale.
Trailer: HERE
'Bob Marley: One Love'
Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, and James Norton.
Barbie star (and former Ken) Ben-Adir portrays the musical legend in this biopic, which covers Marley's life and celebrates his revolutionary music. (The icon's children Ziggy and Cedella and widow Rita Marley served as producers.)
Trailer: HERE
'Shirley'
Releases: March 22, 2024
Starring: Regina King, Lance Reddick, Terrence Howard, Lucas Hedges, Michael Cherrie, Brian Stokes Mitchell, André Holland, and Christina Jackson.
King made her welcome return to the big screen in John Ridley's biopic of Shirley Chisolm, the first Black female congressperson in the United States and the first Black woman to run for president. The film focuses on Chisolm's groundbreaking presidential campaign, with the help of exclusive behind-the-scenes details provided by the politician's estate, per Netflix.
Trailer: HERE
'La Chimera'
Releases: March 29, 2024
Starring: Josh O'Connor, Isabella Rossellini, and Alba Rohrwacher.
This Italian film directed by Alice Rohrwacher follows a group of eccentric tombaroli (“grave robbers”) in search of precious artifacts from the Etruscan era. They're led by Arthur (O'Connor), a British archaeologist who was recently released from prison, as he grieves the loss of his great love.
Trailer: HERE
'Housekeeping for Beginners'
Releases: April 5, 2024
Starring: Anamaria Marinca, Alina Serban, Samson Selim, Vladimir Tintor, Mia Mustafi, and Dżada Selim.
This loving dramedy follows an unconventional family living in North Macedonia. Social worker Dita (Marinca) never wanted to be a mother, but circumstances force her to raise her partner Sauda's (Serban) rebellious daughters Mia (Selim) and Vanesa (Mustafa). "As their individual wills clash, a heartwarming story unfolds about an unlikely family's struggle to stay together," per the film's description.
Trailer: HERE
'Scoop'
Releases: April 5, 2024
Starring: Rufus Sewell, Keeley Hawes, Billie Piper, Gillian Anderson, and Romola Garai.
In 2019, the U.K.'s Prince Andrew sat down for a televised interview with BBC's Newsnight, where he spoke on his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for the first time. This Netflix film depicts the lead-up to the infamous appearance, following the daring female journalists who made it happen.
Trailer: HERE
'Challengers'
Releases: April 26, 2024
Starring: Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor.
Zendaya plays Tashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach for her husband Art (Faist), in this dramedy from Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino. After Art ends up on a losing streak, he is forced to play against his childhood best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend (O’Connor), rekindling a tense love triangle.
Trailer: HERE
'Back to Black'
Releases: May 10, 2024
Starring: Marisa Abela, Jack O'Connell, Eddie Marsan, Juliet Cowan, and Lesley Manville.
Industry star Abela will play Winehouse in this biopic about the "Rehab" singer's early career as a North London jazz musician and her intense rise to fame throughout the 2000s.
Trailer: HERE
'The Bikeriders'
Releases: June 21, 2024
Starring: Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Tom Hardy.
This crime drama follows the rise and fall of a midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals MC, over the course of a decade, as it "evolves from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group's way of life," per the film's description. The saga's shown through the eyes of the long-suffering wife (Comer) of one of the members (Butler), who embodies the club's original ethos.
Trailer: HERE
'Kinds of Kindness'
Releases: June 21, 2024
Starring: Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Jesse Plemons, Hong Chau, Hunter Schafer, and Mamoudou Athie.
Less than a year after Poor Things took home several Oscars, director Yorgos Lanthimos and star Emma Stone are back with their third collaboration. Per the official description, the new film is "a triptych fable, following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader."
Trailer: HERE
'Janet Planet'
Releases: June 21, 2024
Starring: Julianne Nicholson, Zoe Ziegler, Elias Koteas, Will Patton, and Sophie Okonedo
This imaginative indie flick centers on the shifting relationship between 11-year-old Lacy and her mother Janet, during the summer of 1991 in Western Massachusetts. Per the official description, "As the months pass, three visitors enter their orbit, all captivated by Janet and her spellbinding nature. In her solitary moments, Lacy inhabits an inner world so extraordinarily detailed that it begins to seep into the outside world."
Trailer: HERE
'Sing Sing'
Releases: July 12, 2024
Starring: Colman Domingo, Paul Raci, Clarence Maclin, and Sean San José.
This emotional drama—which is based on a real-life rehabilitation program in the titular New York penitentiary and features formerly-incarcerated actors—follows prison theater troupe as they stage their latest production while their, John “Divine G” Whitfield (Domingo), is seeking parole.
Trailer: HERE
'It Ends With Us'
Releases: August 9, 2024
Starring: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Brandon Sklenar, and Hasan Minhaj.
All of the discourse about its marketing aside, It Ends With Us is a gripping adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, which includes depictions of domestic abuse. Lily Blossom Bloom thinks that she's found a happily ever after with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid, but when his jealousy over her high school sweetheart evolves into emotional and physical abuse, Lily has to grapple with her lifelong trauma and how to move forward.
Trailer: HERE
'His Three Daughters'
Releases: September 6, 2024
Starring: Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, and Natasha Lyonne.
This tense family dramedy follows the titular sisters, who reunite during their ailing father's final days. Per Netflix, "As they wait at his bedside, old resentments rise to the surface, and the sisters’ relationships face new strains. Will their father’s imminent death bring them closer together — or push them apart for good?"
Trailer: HERE
'Omni Loop'
Releases: September 20, 2024
Starring: Mary-Louise Parker, Ayo Edebiri, Carlos Jacott, Harris Yulin, Hannah Pearl Utt, Chris Witaske, and Steven Maier.
Parker and Edebiri lead this thoughtful dramedy with a sci-fi twist. Here's the film's official synopsis: "A quantum physicist (Parker) finds herself stuck in a time loop, with a black hole growing in her chest and only a week to live. When she meets a gifted student (Edebiri), they team up to save her life — and to unlock the mysteries of time travel.”
Trailer: HERE
'Lee'
Releases: September 27, 2024
Starring: Kate Winslet, Josh O’Connor, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgård, Marion Cotillard.
This biopic chronicles a "pivotal decade" in the life of Lee Miller (Kate Winslet), the famed photojournalist and war correspondent whose "ingular talent and unbridled tenacity resulted in some of the 20th century's most indelible images of war, including an iconic photo of Miller herself, posing defiantly in Hitler's private bathtub," per the film's description.
Trailer: HERE
'Rez Ball'
Releases: September 27, 2024
Starring: Jessica Matten, Julia Jones, Amber Midthunder, Kiowa Gordon, Dallas Goldtooth, Cody Lightning, Ernest Tsosie, Kusem Goodwind, and Kauchani Bratt.
LeBron James and Reservation Dogs co-creator Sterlin Harjo teamed up for this sports drama about the Chuska Warriors, a high-school basketball team based in Chuska, New Mexico, that's rooted in Native American heritage. Per the official description, "After the loss of their star player, the team must unite like never before to keep their dreams of a state championship alive."
Trailer: HERE
'Joker: Folie à Deux'
Releases: October 4, 2024
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Zazie Beetz, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, and Harry Lawtey.
The sequel to Todd Phillip's harrowing 2019 movie will introduce another legendary baddie, as Gaga steps into the role of Harley Quinn. If Gaga isn't enough, Folie à Deux will also be a musical?! This trailer cannot come out fast enough.
Trailer: HERE
'Anora'
Releases: October 18, 2024
Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eidelstein, Yuriy Borisov, Karren Karagulian, and Vache Tovmasyan.
This Palme d’Or winner from Sean Baker stars Mikey Madison as Ani, a stripper who grew up in the Russian NYC enclave of Brighton Beach. One night at her club, she starts a romance with Vanya (Eidelstein), the son of a Russian oligarch facing deportation. When he asks Ani to marry him, the Cinderella story is threatened when Vanya's family travels to New York.
Trailer: HERE
'A Real Pain'
Releases: November 1, 2024
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Jennifer Grey, Will Sharpe, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, and Daniel Oreskes.
Eisenberg serves as writer, director, and star for this dramedy film starring himself and Culkin as cousins with very different personalities who reunite for a trip to Poland, gifted to them by their recently-deceased grandmother. As the neurotic Dave (Eisenberg) and outgoing Benji (Culkin) tour Holocaust memorials and cemeteries, they grapple with both their family's dark history and their own estrangement.
Trailer: HERE
'The Piano Lesson'
Releases: November 22, 2024
Starring: John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler, Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Fisher, Corey Hawkins, and Michael Potts.
After the success 2021's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, it seems Netflix and Denzel Washington are committed to bringing every play from August Wilson's Century Cycle to the big screen. For The Piano Lesson, Washington's son John David and Till star Deadwyler will play two siblings battling over whether to sell or keep their family’s precious heirloom of a piano.
Trailer: HERE
'Mufasa: The Lion King'
Releases: December 20, 2024
Starring: Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, and John Kani.
Disney's live-action (a.k.a mostly computer-generated) Lion King is getting a prequel film, directed by Oscar winner Barry Jenkins. The story of young Mufasa (Pierre) and young Scar (Harrison) will be narrated by Rafiki, as he tells Kiara—daughter of Simba and Nala—the story of her grandfather. (Of course, with Timon and Pumbaa offering color commentary.)
Trailer: HERE
'The Fire Inside'
Releases: December 25, 2024
Starring: Ryan Destiny, Oluniké Adeliyi, and Brian Tyree Henry.
This sports drama based on the real-life boxer Claressa "T-Rex" Shields boasts an impressive filmmaking team, with Moonlight's Barry Jenkins serving as screenwriter and Black Panther cinematographer Rachel Morrison making her directorial debut. Destiny will portray Shields, a Flint, Michigan, native who at 2012 London Olympics made history as the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.
Trailer: TBA
'Mother Mary'
Releases: TBA
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, Kaia Gerber, Jessica Brown-Findlay, and Sian Clifford.
An A24 "epic pop melodrama" about a fictional musician (Hathaway) and her relationship with an iconic fashion designer (Coel), featuring original music by Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX. Inject it into my veins!
Trailer: TBA
