100 films to look forward to in 2024 – part two

If yesterday’s first half wasn’t enough, good news: we’ve got a belated Christmas gift in the form of the second half of our 2024 preview. Movies, now more than ever! Let us know what you’re excited about by tweeting @lwlies.

51. The Outrun (Nora Fingscheidt)

German filmmaker Fingscheidt announced herself in impressive style with System Crasher, but her 2020 follow-up The Unforgivable was a bitter disappointment, so all bets are off with her next drama. We’re hoping for something special, and that might come in the form of Saoirse Ronan. She plays Rona, a recovering alcoholic who returns to her native Orkney after rehab, and reconnects with the farmland where she grew up. Paapa Essiedu and Stephen Dillane co-star in this drama based on Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir of the same name. With Steven McQueen’s Blitz on the horizon too, 2024 could be a big year for Ronan.  Hannah Strong

ETA: TBC via StudioCanal

52. Pussy Island (Zoë Kravitz)

A hot contender for the best film title of 2024 since Drive Away Dykes became Drive Away Dolls, Pussy Island is Kravitz’s directorial debut (she co-wrote the script with E.T. Feigenbaum). Her boyfriend Channing Tatum plays a tech mogul whom Naomi Ackie’s cocktail waitress Frida becomes obsessed with – resulting in a trip to his private island, where things begin to go wrong. Joining them are Simon Rex, Christian Slater, Geena Davis, Adria Arjona, Haley Joe Osment, Alia Shawkat and Kyle McLachlan, in what has to be one of the most exciting ensembles of the year. HS

53. The Shrouds (David Cronenberg)

Vincent Cassel portrays a grieving widower who devises a contraption allowing contact with the dead, Guy Pearce and Diane Kruger round out the supporting cast, but the big name here is that of writer-director David Cronenberg. After a nearly decade-long hiatus prior to Crimes of the Future, the godfather of body horror is striking while the iron is hot for his follow-up, a heartening sign that the eighty-year-old is really and truly back in action. They shot back in May, which should leave him plenty of time for a return to Competition at Cannes. Back in 2022, he was fully shut out of the awards categories, a grave injustice that the jury could very well get a chance to right with the latest experiment in Late Style from Canada’s proudest son. Charles Bramesco

54. Polaris (Lynne Ramsay)

Lynne Ramsay surprised everyone back in August when she announced that her next project – a reunion with Joaquin Phoenix after 2017’s You Were Never Really Here – had already wrapped shooting. We don’t know much else, apart from the fact his character is a photographer and this is Ramsay’s first original script since Ratcatcher. One blog suggests the film is about “A photographer who meets the devil in Alaska” and if that’s true we’d love to see it, but with so many rumours constantly swirling regarding Ramsay’s projects, it’s best to just wait and see what shakes loose. Probably at Cannes 2024. HS

55. Sasquatch Sunset (The Zellner Brothers)

It’s been six long years since The Zellner Brothers released a movie. At the end of 2023 they directed three episodes of the Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie television series The Curse, but it’s great to see them popping back up in the Sundance line-up with a suitably quirky project. Jesse Eisenberg plays a sasquatch in this film that documents “a year in the life of a singular family” – it’s unclear yet if Keough and co-stars Christophe Zajac-Denek and David Zellner will play sasquatches too, but according to Eisenberg, he doesn’t have any dialogue. “I grunt, but no lines,” he told Variety. HS

56. Mother Mary (David Lowery)

Progress on David Lowery’s pop-stardom melodrama continued apace through the strikes, as one of the earliest and most prominent productions to secure a waiver from the negotiating unions. So it won’t be a long wait for the hordes clamouring to get a look at Anne Hathaway as a prima donna songstress and Michaela Coel as the fashion designer with whom she cultivates a reportedly “complex” relationship. (Complex in a lesbian way? We shall see!) Throw in a supporting turn from rising talent Hunter Schafer along with original songs from Charli XCX and it-producer Jack Antonoff, and you’ve got the makings of a prefab phenomenon among the influencer class. As if the prospect of a new David Lowery movie wasn’t a draw unto itself. CB

57. Coyote vs Acme (Dave Green)

This animation/live-action hybrid comedy has been in the news of late, owing to Warner Bros’ rather baffling decision to try and shelve the film and include it as a tax-off. After a lot of backlash from social media, the film’s team and other filmmakers, WB backpedalled and have been shopping the title to other studios – which seems pretty smart, given the buzz around screenwriter Samy Burch following her work on Todd Haynes’ May December. With an amusing premise (Wile E. Coyote attempts to sue Acme following years of frustration with their substandard products) and the star power of John Cena, we’re excited to see why on earth WB tried to keep this one in the vault. HS

58. Hedda (Nia DaCosta)

After being done dirty by Disney with The Marvels, we’re glad to see Nia DaCosta reteaming with Little Woods star Tessa Thompson for an adaptation of Ibsen’s 1812 play Hedda Gebla. Thompson will play the title role, the daughter of a general trapped in a marriage and house she has no interest in. No word yet on how DaCosta will put her spin on Ibsen’s work, which has been adapted various times for the big and small screen, but knowing DaCosta it will be something special. HS

59. Weapons (Zack Cregger)

Barbarian was one of 2022’s standout horror films, so plenty of people are awaiting Zack Cregger’s follow-up with bated breath. It’s unclear if Weapons has already started shooting, so we’re not sure if it’s wishful thinking to hope for a 2024 release date, but call us eternal optimists. Another horror, this one supposedly focuses on the disappearance of high school students in a small town, and has been compared to Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia (brave words). Two of the buzziest stars around are slated to lead: Pedro Pascal and Renate Reinsve. But given how busy they both seem at the moment, we wouldn’t be surprised if things change with Weapons and it ends up shifting to a 2025 release. HS

60. Winner (Susanne Fogel)

It’s unfortunate for Susanne Fogel that 2023 already had a great film about Reality Winner in from filmmaker/playwright Tina Satter, so she has a bit of an uphill battle here. So too does star Emilia Jones, as Sydney Sweeney already turned in a great performance as the NSA whistleblower who was prosecuted for exposing Russian interference in the 2016 election. This is a more starry biopic (the cast is filled out by Connie Britton, Zach Galifianakis, Kathryn Newton, and Danny Ramirez), and likely a more expansive one, as Satter focused purely on the experience of Reality’s arrest and interrogation. While Fogel’s last film, also a collaboration with Jones, was very poor, Winner’s story is interesting enough that perhaps there’s more to see here. HS

61. The Taste of Things (Tran Anh Hung)

We caught this one at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, and we can definitively say to you that you’re in for a treat. Juliette Binoche is on her most sparkling form in ages as a ruddy-cheeked country cook and gardener. Benoit Magimel is magnetic as the “Napoleon of gastronomy” who spends his days inventing menus, sampling dishes and making nosh for his “suite” of fellow foodies. It’s been a long while since French-Vietnamese filmmaker Tran Anh Hung has been on the scene, but with The Taste of Things, he’s back with delicious vengeance. DJ

ETA: 16 February via Picturehouse (UK)

62. La Retour (Mati Diop)

Mati Diop achieved critical acclaim and a Grand Prix at Cannes for her feature debut Atlantics, and now turns her eye to documentary (having made various shorts previously) for her next film. She will focus on the return of the royal treasures of Abomey from Paris to their country of origin, Benin, which occurred in 2022. Details are otherwise thin on the ground, but given Diop’s relationship with Cannes, it seems likely that if the film is finished, we might see it when the line-up drops in April. HS

63. Love Child (Todd Solondz)

I’ll concede that it’s unlikely Solondz will manage to shoot and edit his next film in time for a 2024 debut, but I’m just excited that the wheels are in motion for his first film since 2016’s Wiener-Dog. Originally set to star Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz, Elizabeth Olsen is now attached, and she’ll be playing the mother of precocious (and delusional) 11-year-old Junior, whom, after nearly killing his abusive father, persuades the handsome man living in the family’s guesthouse to pursue a relationship with his mother. But when the two fall in love, Junior becomes sick with jealousy, and plots to frame the man for his father’s murder. Sounds like business as usual for Solondz, if I’m honest. HS

64. Sisters (Ariane Labed)

After working with filmmakers including Joanna Hogg, Peter Strickland and her husband Yorgos Lanthimos, the excellent Ariane Labed is getting behind the camera for this adaptation of Daisy Johnson’s bestselling novel. Teenage sisters July and September move from Oxford to Yorkshire with their mentally ill mother, coming to reside in a dilapidated house on the North York Moors. Given the fractured perspective of the novel and its eerie energy, we’re excited to see what Labed has cooked up. HS

65. Bring Them Down (Christopher Andrews)

Two of Hollywood’s hottest young stars – Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbott – ended up in this Irish thriller after Paul Mescal and Tom Burke dropped out. Abbott plays Michael, the last son of a shepherding family, who lives with his ailing father, Ray (Irish legend Colm Meaney). Burdened by a terrible secret, Michael has isolated himself from the world. When a conflict with rival farmer Gary (Paul Ready) and his son Jack (Keoghan) escalates, Michael is drawn into a devastating chain of events, forcing him to confront the horrors of his past and leaving both families permanently altered. Sounds bleak. I’m in! HS

66. Maria (Pablo Larraín)

Angelina Jolie makes a welcome return to acting after taking a few years to be with her family, and given Larraín’s track record with Jackie and Spencer, we could be in for the performance of a lifetime. She will play American-born Greek soprano Maria Callas, widely regarded as one of the most influential opera singers of the 20th century, who passed away in 1977 aged just 53. Given Callas’ reputation as a diva, this is a chance for Jolie to do something special – while it’s categorically far too early to even think of mentioning the Oscars, it’s the sort of role that a lot of actresses would trip over themselves for. HS

67. La tour de glace (Lucile Hadžihalilović)

It feels terribly dismissive to refer to French filmmaker Lucile Hadžihalilović as a high priestess of weird, but if you look at her films previous films, Earwig and Evolution, she most definitely fits that bill. But weird is underselling it: she creates ambient, tactile fairy tales with an interest in the corporeal, and we love her even when the works themselves don’t entirely connect. She reconnects with Marion Cotillard (who started in her debut, Innocence) for this new film which has been billed as one of her most approachable yet. The logline sounds incredible: a kid flees from her mountain orphanage to Paris where she holes up in a film studio where they’re shooting The Snow Queen. DJ

68. On Swift Horses (Daniel Minahan)

Television veteran Daniel Minahan directs Bryce Kass’s script, adapted from Shannon Pufahl’s 2019 novel about Muriel and Lee, a newlywed couple whose idyllic life together in 1950s America is interrupted by the arrival of Lee’s younger brother Julius, who has a gambling problem and a secret. Muriel finds herself swept up in Julius’s orbit, discovering a passion for betting on horses, even as he disappears to Las Vegas and falls for a blackjack dealer. Daisy Edgar Jones and Will Poulter play the newlyweds, with Jacob Elordi as Julius and Diego Calva as his lover Henry. HS

69. Trap (M Night Shyamalan) 

A new M Night movie has become an annual treat – one we hope continues for a long time to come. He’s described Trap as “a psychological thriller set at a concert” and Josh Harnett (enjoying a post-Oppenheimer renaissance) is slated to star. We don’t know much else, but notably this is the first film in M Night’s new deal with Warner Bros, after parting ways with his long-time studio partner Universal. HS

ETA: 2 August via Warner Bros

70. Surfer (Lorcan Finnegan)

Here’s a predictably Nicolas Cage-esque logline for a new Nicolas Cage film: A man returns to his native Australia after many years in the US intending to buy back his family’s beachfront property, only to find himself in a violent conflict with the young surfers who have taken up residence there. But the old-timer isn’t backing down easily. If Lorcan Finnegan’s previous film, Vivarium, is anything to go on, things will probably get real weird real quick with this one. HS

71. Handling the Undead (Thea Hvistendahl)

The Worst Person in the World breakout star Renate Reinsve reunites with her co-star Anders Danielsen Lie in Thea Hvistendahl’s adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel (he also wrote Let the Right One In, which is, er, a wild read if you’ve only ever seen the film). Set at the height of an Oslo summer, the newly dead return to life, leaving three families to grapple with the consequences of this strange phenomenon. HS

72. Oh Canada (Paul Schrader)

Schrader reunites with American Gigolo star Richard Gere for this adaptation of Russell Banks’ novel – the first to be written and directed by Schrader since 1997’s Affliction. The story centres on “Canadian-American leftist documentary filmmaker” Leonard Fife, who dodged the Vietnam draft. Some years later, he decides to give a tell-all deathbed interview to his former protegee, Malcolm, played by Jacob Elordi – but the revelations to come will have massive ramifications for those around him. Schrader’s been on a roll since First Reformed, and given the American Gigolo spin-off TV series made without him crashed and burned, the reunion between him and Gere seems all the more exciting. HS

73. Io Capitano (Matteo Garrone)

Matteo Garrone tackles the topic of emigration from Africa to Europe in his new drama, based on accounts from Kouassi Pli Adama Mamadou, Arnaud Zohin, Amara Fofana, Brhane Tareke, and Siaka Doumbia. In the film, two young Senegalese cousins journey from Dakar to Europe, encountering the dangers of the desert and ocean as well as the horrors of Libyan refugee camps. HS

ETA: 8 March via Altitude

74. The Last Planet (Terrence Malick)

Listen – we mentioned Malick’s Jesus biopic in 2022 and 2023, and I will keep putting this film on our annual preview lists until it turns up. What do we know so far? Well, the title has changed from The Way of the Wind, Hungarian actor Géza Röhrig is playing the big JC himself, and Mark Rylance mentioned he’s playing various versions of Satan. All of Jesus’s disciples are expected to feature, including Matthias Schoenarts as Saint Peter and Aiden Turner as Saint Andrew. Ben Kingsley, Douglas Booth and Franz Rogowski are on the rumoured cast list too, but it’s important to remember anyone can end up missing the final cut when it comes to Malick. Just as long as he didn’t can this guy. HS

75. Green Border (Agnieszka Holland) 

The title of Agnieszka Holland’s film refers to the forests between Belarus and Poland, where refugees from the Middle East and Africa are caught up in a crisis caused by triggered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Attempting to provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda that promises easy passage to the EU – in the process, the lives of an activist, a border guard and a family of refugees intertwine. Holland’s film, shot in stark black and white, received rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival, even if it’s likely to be a harrowing watch. HS

ETA: 8 March via Modern Films

76. The Beast (Bertrand Bonello) 

The cerebral stalwart of the arthouse tapped stars Léa Seydoux and George MacKay to play lovers dipping in and out of each other’s lives over one hundred and thirty years, from the early twentieth century into the nearby future, where an experimental procedure can remove all emotions. Loosely (very loosely) inspired by Henry James’ The Beast in the Jungle, this one got a mixed reception on the autumn festival circuit, but Team LWLies are firmly on board and looking forward to arguing down the pub about this film for many months to come. HS

ETA: 19 April via Vertigo

77. Blitz (Steve McQueen)

The remarkable multi-disciplinary artist Steve McQueen has had a busy six years since his last standalone narrative feature, creating the Small Axe series, the Grenfell installation, plus the documentary Occupied City based on his wife Bianca Stigter’s non-fiction book about Amsterdam under Nazi occupation. Blitz marks his return to the more conventional filmmaking world, with Apple TV+ picking up his original drama about London during the WWII Blitz. Saoirse Ronan is reportedly playing the lead, but the rumoured supporting cast is pretty stacked too, with Harris Dickinson, Stephen Graham, Paul Weller, Hayley Squires, Kathy Burke and Benjamin Clementine all in the mix. McQueen never misses, so this is one of the biggest titles of the year. HS

78. Alien: Romulus (Fede Alvarez) 

Fede Alvarez takes on his third franchise reboot after Evil Dead and The Girl in the Spider’s Web, this time with a standalone story set in the Alien universe between the events of Alien and Aliens. It’s some six years since the last attempt to revitalise the Alien franchise fizzled out with Alien: Covenant, but now with a Noah Hawley television series in development and the success of Hulu’s Predator prequel Prey, it seems like a concerted effort is being made to bring the xenomorphs back. Priscilla breakout Cailee Spaeny stars, with Isabela Merced, David Jonsson and Archie Renaux joining her. HS

ETA: 16 August via Disney

79. In the Hands of Dante (Julian Schnabel)

Schnabel has been working on an adaptation of Nick Tosches’ novel for over a decade – initially Johnny Depp was slated to star, but in a huge win for me personally, Oscar Isaac took over the dual role in 2022 when the film finally went into production (he worked with Schnabel on At Eternity’s Gate, playing the painter Paul Gauguin). The plot of the novel is a bit bizarre, combining the story of a fictionalised version of Tosches as he investigates a potential original copy of the Divine Comedy with an account of Dante Alighieri attempting to finish said work. Jason Momoa, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, Louis Cancelmi and John Malkovich co-star, with Schnabel’s longtime friend (and the film’s producer) Martin Scorsese also making a cameo. HS

80. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)

A new film from Italy’s Alice Rohrwacher is always a cause for excitement, ever since she crash-landed into the 2018 Cannes competition (and Bong Joon-ho’s list of all-time favourite films!) with Happy as Lazzaro. La Chimera is the meandering, gorgeously photographed story of an English, linen-suited diviner (Josh O’Connor) who has the mystical ability to uncover tombs filled with treasures from antiquity. The film offers a chronicle of this fascinating subculture, while also weaving in a tale of obsessive love that transcends the bounds of time. David Jenkins

ETA: TBC via Curzon (UK)

81. The Brutalist (Brady Corbet)

Another film we’ve been waiting years for – will 2024 be the one? With his directing debut Childhood of a Leader, Brady Corbet tracked the ascendance of fascism in Europe, while his follow-up Vox Lux theorised about the sources and influence of American terrorism. His third film synthesises his transatlantic interests, its subject an immigrant couple (Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones) who come to America to flee the rubble of World War II. They pursue the ideal of an architectural masterpiece with the help of a mysterious benefactor (Guy Pearce), an “epic saga” sprawling out over thirty years and told in a combination of English, Yiddish, Hungarian, and Italian. Add to the cast Joe Alwyn, Isaach de Bankolé, Emma Laird, and Alessandro Nivola along with Vox Lux stars Raffey Cassidy and Stacy Martin, and a prestigious festival berth is all but assured. CB

82. Father Mother Sister Brother (Jim Jarmusch)

Cate Blanchett reteams with Jim Jarmusch after last working together on Coffee and Cigarettes all the way back in 2003. Reportedly shooting is split between New Jersey and Paris, but we don’t know much more beyond Jarmusch describing it as ​​”a funny, sad film”. Yeah, that sure sounds like a Jarmusch picture. Anyway, whatever it ends up being, it sounds very different to his 2019 offbeat zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die, which got something of a lukewarm reception back at Cannes. HS

83. Hit Man (Richard Linklater)

The surprise hit of the Venice Film Festival, Richard Linklater co-wrote this black comedy with Glen Powell, who stars as Gary Johnson, a mild-mannered psychology professor who moonlights as a wiretapper for the New Orleans PD. When a colleague is suspended he begins working undercover to entrap people trying to hire a hitman – a line of work that he quickly gets a little too attached to. Netflix snapped this comedy up for $20 million after its rapturous Venice reception, and it has the potential to make a killing with the date night crowd (if it gets a cinema release). HS

ETA: TBC via Netflix

84. Emmanuelle (Audrey Diwan)

A suitable follow-up to her 2021 Golden Lion winner Happening, Audrey Diwan’s next drama is a new take on Emmanuelle Arsan’s classic erotic story about a young woman’s sexual voyage of self-discovery. From a script developed by Diwan and Rebecca Zlotowski, Noemie Merlant will play the lead role after Lea Seydoux dropped out, and the film will be Diwan’s English language debut. No word yet on how close the film will hue to the original narrative, but given Emmanuelle’s storied (and often lurid) on-screen history, it’s exciting to think how a female filmmaker might shake things up. HS

85. Imaginary (Jeff Wardlow) 

We’ve had evil dolls, evil puppets, evil restaurant animatronics, evil dolls that also have AI, and finally, Blumhouse are brave enough to bring us…evil teddy bears. DeWanda Wise plays Jessica, a mother who must face off against a sinister stuffed bear (named Chauncey) who is terrorising her young stepdaughter Alice. Turns out the bear is actually an imaginary friend from Jessica’s childhood – and guess what? He’s not very happy about being left in the basement for years. Does this look ridiculous? Yes. Am I still going to see it? You bet. HS

ETA: 8 March via Lionsgate

86. The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed (Joanna Arnow)

A standout from Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight sidebar in 2023, this offbeat indie about a young woman’s strained relationship with both BDSM and her parents (though not at the same time) features a brief cameo from LWLies own Charles Bramesco and his betrothed Maddie Whittle. That alone should be enough of a reason to see it, but if you need more convincing, Arnow’s wickedly funny film is a charming, often sweet story of the search for connection in a disconnected world. It’s got a US distribution deal for this spring, and I very much hope a UK one follows soon. HS

87. Anora (Sean Baker)

Sean Baker heads to NYC for his eighth feature, which was shot in Brooklyn – a first for the lo-fi filmmaker. After the positive response to Red Rocket and The Florida Project, it’s likely that Baker will get another prime festival spot for this one, billed as a comedy about a sex worker and starring Mikey Madison (who had a supporting role as a Manson Girl in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood), Mark Eydelshteyn, Yuriy Borisov, Karren Karagulian and Vache Tovmasyan. HS

88. Death of a Unicorn (Alex Scharfman)

Alex Scarfman is best known as a producer, but he makes his feature debut with this black comedy, starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega as a father and daughter who accidentally hit a unicorn with their car while en route to a work retreat. Rudd’s billionaire boss – played by Richard E Grant – immediately sees an opportunity to exploit the dead mythical creature’s remains for profit, but things quickly start to go awry. Great premise, great cast, but even more exciting: John Carpenter is doing the score! HS

89. Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (Radu Jude) 

If most film comedy could be classed as weak domestic mass-marketed beer, then Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World is max-strength gut-rot that will leave your head throbbing for days to come. A corporate satire of sorts about the making of a safety video, this foul-mouthed odyssey into Romania’s self-lacerating heart of darkness – replete with Andrew Tate Insta filters – has to be seen to be believed. DJ

ETA: 8 March via Sovereign (UK)

90. Cuckoo (Tilman Singer)

Tilman Singer’s sophomore film wrapped in 2022, so we’re not sure why it hasn’t made an appearance yet (could it be due to rumoured animated sequences?) but we’re still excited to see it at Berlinale 2024. Hunter Schaffer plays Gretch, a 17-year-old who has moved to an alpine resort following the death of her mother. Pursued by a mysterious woman, Gretchen finds herself at the heart of a conspiracy that threatens both herself and her sister. As well as Schaffer, Jessica Henwick, Dan Stevens and Astrid Bergès-Frisbey star. HS

91. Hoard (Luna Carmoon) 

We’re very excited to catch Luna Carmoon’s buzzy, surreal psychodrama Hoard following the plaudits it received from its initial festival run. Word on the street that the film signals the arrival of a bold and brassy new voice on the British film scene, one that holds little truck for the timeworn traditions of conventional storytelling in this country. DJ

ETA: 10 May via Vertigo (UK)

92. The Idea of You (Michael Showalter)

A movie can come from anywhere — for example, an adult woman’s fanfiction about taking her teenage daughter to a One Direction August Moon concert only to so enchant singer Harry Styles Hayes Campbell that they tumble into a May-December romance speculated by readers to be inspired by a certain pop star. Robinne Lee’s markedly Fifty Shades of Grey-ish novel comes to the screen courtesy of journeyman director Michael Showalter, with the cougar protagonist played by Anne Hathaway opposite Nicholas Glitzine, who’s been making a name for himself with roles in Bottoms and Red, White and Royal Blue. Wish fulfilment is a powerful motivator, so who knows, maybe we’ll have another left-field phenomenon from humble origins on our hands. CB

ETA: TBA via Amazon

93. We Live In Time (John Crowley)

Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh were papped plenty on the London set of Brooklyn director John Crowley’s new romance, and given the collective star power of these bright young things, we’re expecting something special. Crowley’s adaptation of The Goldfinch was a bit of a letdown, but we’re not holding that against him. While there’s no sign of further plot details at the moment, suffice to say we’ll always be seated for Garfield and Pugh. HS

94. The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)

Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley play mother and daughter in Coralie Fargeat’s follow-up to her 2018 thriller Revenge, which is rumoured to be a body horror. It was also supposed to star Ray Liotta, but unfortunately, he passed away before filming could finish, and was replaced by Dennis Quaid. There hasn’t been much said about this one since the summer of 2022 when Qualley confirmed she was still working on the film, but if it has indeed wrapped production since then, perhaps a 2024 premiere is on the cards. HS

95. Between the Temples (Nathan Silver)

Jason Schwartzman had an excellent 2023 with his turn in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, so we’re looking forward to seeing him again in this “anxious comedy” alongside Carol Kane. He plays a cantor locked in a crisis of faith, who discovers his new adult Bat Mitzvah student is none other than his former eighth-grade teacher. More good news: Triangle of Sadness breakout Dolly De Leon co-stars and the film was shot by New York lo-fi’s favourite cinematographer, Sean Price Williams. HS

96. A Real Pain (Jesse Eisenberg)

To honour their beloved Jewish grandmother and learn more about their heritage, David and Benji set off on a tour of Poland – but the cousins couldn’t be more different, and against the backdrop of their shared family history, old tensions begin to flare. Although Jesse Eisenberg’s filmmaking debut When You Finish Saving the World was a disappointment, there’s enough here to warrant a look – not least the fact that Eisenberg’s co-star is the always-excellent Kieran Culkin. HS

97. Greedy People (Potsy Ponciroli)

The residents of a small island town are rocked by a sensational murder and the subsequent discovery of a large sum of money in Potsy Ponciroli’s black comedy, which boasts the stacked casts of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lily James, Himesh Patel, Tim Blake Nelson, Uzo Aduba and Simon Rex. Ponciroli’s previous film Old Henry, which also starred Tim Blake Nelson, received favourable reviews – this one is being likened to Fargo and the television series Better Call Saul. HS

98. MaXXXine (Ti West)

The third film in a Mia Goth trilogy also containing X and Pearl, Ti West sets his sights on the lurid world of 1980s Hollywood as Maxine – the only survivor of the farmhouse massacre in X – pursues her dream of becoming an actress. But it seems that bodies stack up wherever Maxine goes, and there’s a serial killer in Los Angeles who’s just dying to meet her. Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito and Elizabeth Debecki play various film industry figures, while Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan are the long arm of the law. X and Pearl have a strong contingent of fans, so we’re expecting some sort of buzzy festival premiere for the final instalment. HS

99. Ash (Flying Lotus)

Musician and artist Flying Lotus makes his second feature in Ash, which focuses on a woman played by Eiza González, who wakes up on a planet and finds the crew of her space station have been viciously killed. A man – played by Aaron Paul – arrives to rescue her, but his appearance sparks more questions than answers. We’ll likely get a Flying Lotus score too, and given the artist’s wild imagination, this probably won’t be your standard sci-fi thriller. HS

100. Freaky Tales (Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck)

In the years since they directed Captain Marvel, director duo Boden and Fleck have spent a little time in television, directing episodes of Mrs. America and the upcoming Spielberg and Hanks-produced WW2 miniseries Masters of the Air. They return to filmmaking with something that errs closer to the indies of their pre-Marvel career, reuniting with Ben Mendelsohn after Mississippi Grind and Captain Marvel, and working with Dominique Thorne, Ji-young Yoo and Angus Cloud, who sadly passed away in 2023. Comprised of our interconnected stories set in 1980s Oakland, the Sundance logline outlines “Teen punks defend their turf against Nazi skinheads, a rap duo battles for hip-hop immortality, a weary henchman gets a shot at redemption, and an NBA All-Star settles the score.” HS

Published 1 Jan 2024

Tags: Films Coming Out 2024 New Films 2024