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| Clockwise from top left, from Sound Of Falling, Wuthering Heights, Chronology Of Water and Bride! Photo: MUBI, Warner Bros, BFI distribution, Warner Bros |
Everybody To Kenmure Street, premiering at Sundance and on release on March 13
As a Scottish-based website, you’ll forgive us for starting with some homegrown excitement. This documentary considers the Glasgow community’s response to a Home Office dawn raid in May 2021, as hundreds of residents joined a spontaneous protest to stop the deportation of their neighbours. We’re looking forward to this not only because of its local subject matter but also because it’s directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra, who previously made the fascinating documentary Nae Pasaran, which went on to win a BAFTA Scotland Best Feature award.
Hamnet, released on January 9
While our critics, this one included, have reservations about the latest film from Nomadland director Chloé Zhao, this tale of the grief of William and Agnes Shakespeare has already been snagging awards, including Oscar weather vane, Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice. There may be doubts about Paul Mescal’s casting but Jessie Buckley adds another notable performance to her CV as the indomitable Agnes and young star Jacobi Jupe also catches the eye.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, released on January 16
After 28 Years Later revitalised Danny Boyle’s zombie franchise, a follow-up, this time directed by Candyman filmmaker Nia DaCosta, and shot back-to-back with Boyle’s is hot on its heels. It starts immediately after the previous film after Britain has been ravaged by the Rage Virus. Spike (Alfie Wiliams) has been inducted into the cult led by Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell). Meanwhile Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) embarks on a new relationship that could have devastating results.
The Voice Of Hind Rajab, released on January 16
The Man Who Sold His Skin director Kaouther Ben Hania uses real-life recorded phone conversations between five-year-old Hind – with the consent of her mother – and the emergency volunteers who were trying to reach the car she was trapped in, under IDF fire. The result is a powerful drama that brings home both the immediate tragedy of the situation and the trauma experienced by those trying to help without sensationalising the material.
Nouvelle Vague, released on January 30
It might seem a bit early in the year to say going to see Richard Linklater’s film could be the most fun you have in a cinema this year, but it’s going to take some beating. You don’t need to have seen Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless to enjoy this chronicle of the making of it, but there’s no doubt you’ll get an extra kick out of proceedings if you have. Guillaume Marbeck, Aubry Dullin and Zoey Deutch are all perfectly cast as Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg as Linklater tunes in to the French director’s radical approach to filmmaking. Shot with verve, this is a black and white treat.
Is This Thing On?, released on January 30
It seems slightly unlikely that Bradley Cooper’s follow-up to A Star Is Born and Maestro should be a film loosely based on the career of British stand-up John Bishop, but here we are. Will Arnett stars as the comic trying to juggle his career and his marriage, with Laura Dern in support.
Twinless, released on February 6
To say too much about Twinless before you see it would be to spoil what is a slippery, darkly comic delight. The set-up surrounds Roman (Dylan O’Brien), who has just lost his twin, and who meets the similarly bereaved Dennis (played by the writer/director James Sweeney) at a victim support group. What starts out in bromance territory spins into something else when we’re given a fresh perspective on what is going on. Cleverly structured and very funny.
The Chronology Of Water, released on February 6
There’s no doubting the ambition at work from Kristen Stewart in her directorial debut. She takes on Lidia Yuknavitch's unconventional memoir charting her abuse, addictions and emergence as a writer. It’s a freewheeling and emotionally raw ride anchored in a career-best performance from Imogen Poots, who carries us with Lidia’s turbulent life thanks to a seemingly limitless well of kinetic energy.
My Father’s Shadow, released on February 6
Akinola Davies’ impressive debut is an immersive coming-of-age tale that sees two young brothers who go on a journey of adventure with their father (Sope Dirisu) to Lagos during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis. Davies has a keen eye for the interaction between parent and children, as well as siblings and gets terrific performances from his young stars, real-life brothers Chibuike Marvelous Egbo and Godwin Egbo.
Wuthering Heights, released on February 13
If one thing can be said about Emerald Fennell’s films it’s that they get people talking. After revenge drama Promising Young Woman and psychological thriller Saltburn, she’s got Emily Brontë’s gothic novel in her sights. The trailer alone caused an online stir when it was released, with many suggesting Margot Robbie is an age away from the teenage Cathy. The film features Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Adolescence breakout star Owen Cooper in a supporting role.
The President’s Cake, released on February 13
When a little Iraqi girl is tasked by her schoolteacher with providing the ingredients for a cake to celebrate the birthday of dictator Saddam Hussein, she heads to the city with her grandmother to try to secure them. Writer/director Hasan Hadi takes us on an city odyssey with Lamia (Banin Ahmad Nayef), her trusty pet cockerel Hindi, and her school pal Saeed (Sajad Mohamad Qasem) as they try to acquire the necessary ingredients. Talking to us about the film, Hadi told us: “I think our sound designer had a track called ‘Hindi’s dialogue’, because for him, he was speaking too. We felt Hindi was an Oscar-worthy performer.” After watching the film, it’s hard to disagree.
The Secret Agent, released on February 20
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Oscar shortlisted feature has been on a globe-trotting tour of the festival circuit this year – and with good reason. It stars Wagner Moura as a widower trying to pick up his son and flee the turbulent regime. A political thriller packed full of unusual characters, including a Janus cat, its excesses are part of its charm. It also features Udo Kier in one of his final roles before his death last November.
The Bride!, released on March 6
The Frankenstein story gets another run over the jumps, this time transported to the criminal underbelly of 1930s Chicago. Jessie Buckley plays the bride, a murder victim who is reanimated with the aim of becoming a mate for Christian Bale’s monster. The Doctor this time has been gender swapped with Annette Bening taking on the role. Maggie Gyllenhaal's Second film as a writer/director after The Lost Daughter, which also co-starred Buckley, promises to be a treat. Her brother Jake Gyllenhaal and husband Peter Sarsgaard also feature in support.
Sound Of Falling, released on March 6
Those who like slow-burn, arthouse fare shouldn’t miss this cracker from Germany, which allows the lives of four women in four different eras to flow over one another in unexpected ways. Mascha Schilinski roves forwards and backwards through time finding connections between these female experiences that offer commentary on resistance in the face of the enduring power of the patriarchy.
Dead Man’s Wire, released on March 20
Gus Van Sant recreates the 1970s with precision in this thriller based on the true story of a man so disgruntled that he took the adult son of a mortgage firm hostage. Tony Kiritsis used the deadly contraption of the film’s title to do it, which was just part of how he became a minor celebrity as a result. The all-star cast includes Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery and, in a move that is surely to underline its Dog Day Afternoon similarities, Al Pacino as the company’s ruthless boss and less than loving father.
