10 ‘Focker-in-Law’ (Nov. 25)
Atsushi Nishijima
Yes, those Fockers are back! Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro’s best-frenemies franchise returns, once again proving that when you pair social awkwardness with old-school hypermasculine intimidation, the result is comedy gold. (At least, y’know, gold-ish.) This time, Ariana Grande is joining the family, with everyone coming together to celebrate the engagement of her character and Greg Focker’s kid, Henry (Skyler Gisondo). The fact that she’s a former FBI hostage negotiator who thinks Henry’s parents infantilize him is bad news for Dad, and great news for his ex-CIA father-in-law slash longtime tormentor. Teri Polo reprises her role as Mother Focker; regulars Owen Wilson and Blythe Danner are back as well; and Beanie Feldstein joins the crew as Henry’s sister.
9 ‘Behemoth!’ (Dec. 4)
Searchlight Pictures
Just because you’re a gifted musician doesn’t mean you have your shit together — professional cellist Alex Serian (Pedro Pascal) would be the first to tell you that. A former child prodigy who’s played a high-profile gig with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for years, Serian decides to return to his hometown of Los Angeles after an affair blows up in his face. Film-score gigs beckon, but he’s still got to deal with a rough family legacy and his own demons. Writer-director Tony Gilroy may be best known for creating Andor, but his debut feature Michael Clayton proved he’s expert at character-driven storytelling right from the jump — and this premise sounds like the perfect vehicle for what he does best. Olivia Wilde, Will Arnett, Eva Victor, Hank Azaria, and Matthew Lillard contribute actorly harmonies and counter-melodies.
8 ’14th’ (Dec. 4)
Netflix
Added to the U.S. Constitution in 1868, the 14th amendment guarantees that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Perhaps you’ve noticed that this specific section in one of our nation’s foundational documents has become a hotly contested topic among people who value human rights vs. those in our government who most certainly do not. Much like she did with her previous documentary, 13th (which examined the connections between the amendment to abolish slavery and the modern prison-industrial complex), Ava DuVernay dives into the particulars of what this statute means in today’s context, how’s it’s been used and abused by various factions, and the way those 28 aforementioned words have defined who is and isn’t considered to be an American.
7 ‘Tender Loving Care’ (Dec. 4)
Bleecker Street Film
A new Mike Leigh film is always a big deal for movie lovers — and his new film, following a social worker (Widow’s Bay‘s Kate O’Flynn) who moves in with an old childhood friend (Alice Bailey Johnson) after a bad breakup, is laced with a bit of bittersweetness. The British director behind such stone-cold classics as Life Is Sweet, Naked, Topsy-Turvy, Vera Drake, Happy-Go-Lucky, and Hard Truths, to name just a handful, has hinted that this may be his last project. If so, it sounds like he’ll go out making the kind of brilliantly observed, actor-friendly, humanistic drama that’s made him an invaluable part of cinema history.
6 ‘The Debut’ (Dec. 11)
A24
We were curious as to how Jesse Eisenberg would follow up his Oscar-winning dramedy A Real Pain. The answer: a tale of a frustrated housewife (Julianne Moore) who auditions for a musical. She then begins to butt heads with the production’s diva-like director (Paul Giamatti), who’s “basically the biggest name in New Jersey community theater!” Maybe he sees great potential in this amateur thespian, however. Maybe this whole experience will be the best thing ever to happen to her. Maybe you’ll laugh, cry, and slightly wince at some of the more cringe-comic moments. Also starring Eisenberg, Bernadette Peters, Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu, and Better Call Saul‘s Patrick Fabian.
5 ‘Clarissa’ (Dec. 11)
NEON
Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda, The Wheel of Time, Slow Horses) stars in this adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, in which the title character is rushing around to prepare a lavish dinner party in her Lagos home. Alas, she pines for her youth, when she was in love with a poet and she still felt she had choices as to which way her life might go. The word out of Cannes was particularly strong on this one, and given that we’re big fans of sibling filmmakers Arie and Chuko Esiri’s debut This Is My Desire, we’re very curious to check out their take on this literary totem. Ayo Edibiri, David Oyelowo, and Nikki Amuka-Bird co-star.
4 ‘Ink’ (Dec. 11)
Netflix
Danny Boyle rewinds back to the late 1960s for a seminal meeting between British newspaper editor Larry Lamb (Sinners‘ Jack O’Connell) and Australian tycoon Rupert Murdoch (Guy Pearce). Murdoch has just bought The Sun, the runt of Fleet Street; he wants Lamb to turn it into a first-rate tabloid by making the news it covers more sensationalistic. They end up accomplishing their goal far, far too well. The Trainspotting director and screenwriter Jack Graham (adapting his play of the same name) aren’t saying that this is the moment that Western Civilization begins to collapse into the sociopolitical shitshow we’re dealing with today. But they’re not not saying it, either.
3 ‘Ray Gunn’ (Dec. 18)
Skydance Animation/Netflix
Pixar OG (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) and all-around modern animation godhead (The Simpsons, The Iron Giant) Brad Bird concocts a futuristic sci-fi cartoon about a gumshoe named Ray Gunn (voiced by Sam Rockwell) who walks the means streets of a 1930s-style planet filled with dames, swells, aliens, and robots. He takes a case involving a huge star named Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson) and, well, let’s just say that much like the private detectives of yore, our man gets in way over his head. Tom Waits and John Ratzenberger lend their pipes to the project as well.
2 ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ (Dec. 18)
Marvel
Marvel Studios is gearing up its next big crossover-event all-star superhero epic, which promises not only to bring back a lot of favorites — Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Robert Downey Jr. except now he’s Doctor Doom — but also to finally, fully integrate a lot of IP (the X-Men, the Fantastic Four) into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even the ridiculously long reveal of the cast list was treated like a major event. Details are scarce regarding the plot, but we know this is designed to help kick the next “phase” of the MCU into full gear. If we had to hazard a guess, it will likely involve Doom fucking some shit up big-time, and every living, dead, formerly dead, and alt-timeline superhero trying to stop him, lest the universe be in fatal peril, etc. Let’s see how close these predictions are come December.
1 ‘Dune: Part Three’ (Dec. 18)
Warner Bros.
And, we’re back! Denis Villeneuve will finish what he started back in 2021 with this final chapter of his sci-fi epic, which will follow Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he gets a little spice-drunk with power, what with him being the new emperor and all. This chapter draws heavily from Dune Messiah, Frank Herbert’s second book in the series, which revolves around a religious jihad that helps Paul maintain his reign yet spirals out of his control — so brace yourself for both a lot of spectacle and even more reel-to-real commentary about the world outside the theater. Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Florence Pugh, Jason Momoa, and Anya Taylor-Joy reprise their roles from the earlier films; Robert Pattinson joins the cast and rocks a creepy blond dye job as a shape-shifting bad guy.
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