It’s mid-September, the point in the film calendar where we put away childish things (superheroes, video game adaptations, tiny Day-Glo trolls) and get stuck into some proper blue chip cinema. The Venice, Telluride and Toronto film festivals – where studios hawk their glossiest, most Oscar-worthy wares – have all either wrapped up or are about to, which means we are starting to get a sense of which films will be in the running this awards season.
Of course two heavyweight contenders have already been released – Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer will surely be there or thereabouts when the Academy Award nominations are announced in January. And likely joining them will be Celine Song’s Past Lives (in UK cinemas now), which has been raved about ever since it premiered at Sundance in January.
Complicating things a little are the ongoing actors and writers strikes, with some films – notably Dune: Part Two – being bumped to 2024, but despite this there’s still a really juicy slate of contenders coming this autumn and winter. Here’s seven of The Guide’s most anticipated.
Anatomy of a Fall
The Oscars has become a bit more global-facing in recent years, with non-English language films regularly featuring in the best picture shortlist as well as best international film. Justine Triet’s courtroom drama, about a writer trying to prove her innocence after her husband is found dead in the Alps (above), looks the best placed to make the leap this year, having already won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
In cinemas 13 October in the US; 10 November in the UK; 25 January in Australia
Killers of the Flower Moon
Scorsese adapting one of the best nonfiction books of the century so far, and bringing DiCaprio and De Niro along for the ride? We could probably stop there, but just to entice you further, there’s the rave reviews the film received at Cannes, and – for those who found Oppenheimer a bit too slight – a hefty, get-your-money’s-worth 3hr 26m running time. Sure to be in the mix when awards season reaches its sharp end.
In cinemas worldwide 20 Oct
The Killer
Now this looks fun: David Fincher, returning to the clinical efficiency of his early years, with a taut thriller about a career hitman (Michael Fassbender) who finds himself on someone else’s kill list. It might just be a little too “genre” for Academy voters (Netflix not giving it a cinema release probably won’t help) but Fincher is well liked, and might get a best director nod. The trailer absolutely bangs.
Released on Netflix worldwide on 10 November
Maestro
With a prosthetic nose controversy having already burned itself out, Bradley Cooper’s Netflix-backed biopic of composer Leonard Bernstein can hopefully be judged for the work itself. And early signs look promising, with reviews out of Venice celebrating its luscious cinematography and Cooper’s eerily accurate Bernstein impersonation (above). Another Netflix release, this time in cinemas first.
Limited theatrical release from 22 November in the US and 24 November in the UK; streaming on Netflix worldwide from 20 December
Napoleon
Ridley Scott directs Joaquin Phoenix in a biopic of the Emperor of the First and Second French Empire-slash-subject of so, so many short jokes. This one, you suspect, could go either way: frankly, you can imagine a ripe turkey here, two-and-a-bit hours of Phoenix glowering away in his bicorn hat. But Scott can never be ruled out and has promised a four-and-a-half hour director’s cut to follow (and he has pretty decent form with those).
In cinemas 22 November in the US and UK; 23 November in Australia
Poor Things
Here comes Emma Stone, barreling past the other best actress frontrunners with a performance that very much goes for it in Yorgos Lanthimos’s adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s freaky fantasy comedy. Stone is an absolute hoot as Bella Baxter, a woman brought back to life by Willem Dafoe’s warped scientist … but there’s something a little off about her. The Lobster, Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Favourite and now this: Lanthimos is on quite the run.
In cinemas 8 December in the US; 12 January in the UK; 18 January in Australia
The Zone of Interest
Jonathan Glazer has not made a film since 2013’s Under the Skin, which would make The Zone of Interest an event regardless of its merits. But it seems it has those in spades too, with Cannes critics hailing its chilling, unblinking account of the family life of Auschwitz camp commandant Rudolf Höss. No UK release date just yet, but given the film is debuting in the States in December, it should hopefully arrive by February next year at the very latest.
In cinemas 8 December in the US; TBA in the UK and Australia
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