The summer movie season has come and gone, and TIFF is now in the rearview. While we only have a little more than three months left in the year, we still have lots to look forward to coming out soon. I'm going away for a couple weeks so I don't know if I'll be able to get any reviews out, so I figured in the meantime I'll list the movies I'm most excited for for the rest of the year. These are listed in fairly rough order of excitement, I will also say now that there are movies I saw at TIFF already that won't be listed here, so movies like We Live in Time, The Piano Lesson, Heretic, and Nightbitch all would have appeared here but I've already seen them. Some of these also may not end up being released until 2025, but oh well what can you do? Without further adieu, let's get to it.
#20 Moana 2 - I wish I could put this higher as I love the first, but something just feels off with this one to me. I do appreciate that Disney is making this a theatrical release rather than a straight to Disney+ show or movie, but the fact that it was originally supposed to be a streaming series is suspect. That being said, I love the first so I'm hoping for the best with this one.
#19 Conclave - This is one I'm certainly looking forward to, but I kind of know what to expect which is lessening how excited I am. Edward Berger's last film All Quiet on the Western Front was a technical marvel that lacked that something special to stick with me. I have no doubts that Conclave is going to be very well made, I've heard great things so far, there's just something about it that seems like it will wind up being another film I like but don't love. I am very excited to see Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci's performances, I've heard nothing but good things about both.
#18 The Shrouds - On the flip side of Conclave we have The Shrouds, where I have heard a lot of mixed things on since it debuted at Cannes. That being said, it's directed by the great David Cronenberg who is one of my favourite filmmakers so even if this isn't near his best I consider it a must watch. This is the first film Cronenberg has made since his wife passed away, and I've heard that because of that it's perhaps his most personal. Suffice to say, I'm looking forward to this despite the word of mouth.
#17 Shelby Oaks - Like many others my age, Chris Stuckmann was one of my introductions to the world of film criticism. I followed his career as a critic on Youtube pretty closely and was very excited when he revealed he was switching paths into the director's chair. Youtuber turned filmmaker seems like a red flag, but Talk to Me proved that the transition could be made, and Stuckmann has the backing of Mike Flanagan as an executive producer which gives me a lot of faith. That, and the film was picked up by Neon for distribution, one of the more exciting distribution companies out there right now.
#16 Y2K - This is one I'm excited for just because it looks fun. There's nothing groundbreaking about it but I've heard good things and the trailer very much won me over. Sometimes I'm just excited for a good time and this looks like it will deliver.
#15 The Apprentice - It feels impossible not to be intrigued by this one. I have a strong feeling the controversy around it is vastly overhyping it, but I've heard strong things about the film and I enjoy the filmmaker's previous film Holy Spider. This looks to be a potentially fantastic performance from Sebastian Stan, and I'm maybe even more excited for Jeremy Strong here.
#14 Wicked - I don't know entirely how to feel about Wicked. On one hand it's a musical coming from wildly acclaimed source material, and the talent in front of and behind the camera speaks for itself. I'm beyond pumped to see Cynthia Erivo take on this role, but the trailers have just left me a bit underwhelmed. I get some chills but then I'm also turned off by the visuals in a lot of scenes. I'm still excited, and I hope this ends up being great, but the visuals and the fact that it's a part one hold it back a bit for me.
#13 A Complete Unknown - Truth be told, I'm not the biggest Bob Dylan fan. I keep trying to get into his music but for the most part something just doesn't click for me. That being said, I'm a big Timothee Chalamet fan, and director James Mangold is one of the best at this kind of movie. I'm not expecting anything groundbreaking, but I have no doubts that this will be a perfectly solid biopic with a great lead performance.
#12 Babygirl - This just seems like a movie right up my alley. Directed by Halina Reijn who previously made the terrific Bodies Bodies Bodies, this seems to be a business world film with an interesting power dynamic as a CEO played by Nicole Kidman starts an affair with a younger intern played by Harris Dickinson. I heard great things out of TIFF and films like this I find have an infectious tone I can't get enough of.
#11 A Different Man - Another exciting Sebastian Stan movie coming out soon. This premiered at Sundance and was on my radar due to Renate Reinsve's casting, and the word of mouth coming out of the festival was pretty fantastic. I've heard this is a fascinating dramedy and perhaps Stan's best work as an actor, so I'm extremely excited to check this one out.
#10 The Outrun - Saoirse Ronan is one of my favourite actors working today, and after a bit of time out of the spotlight she's back with two movies this fall. This is another that premiered at Sundance and is being released shortly, and from what I've heard this has the potential to score Saoirse another Oscar nomination on her already stacked resume. The word of mouth suggests the film as a whole might not be overly noteworthy, but that Ronan's performance is among the year's best.
#9 Terrifier 3 - This is where the horror fan in me starts to shine through. I kinda love that this franchise exists, the first Terrifier is a short and schlocky gore fest that had no business getting a follow up, but thanks to how iconic Art the Clown is already we now have a third film coming out. Terrifier 2 is one of the wildest horror movies I've seen in recent years, with some of the nastiest gore out there and an over the top story that nearly doubles the original's runtime. The Christmas setting for this latest effort seems like a super fun place to take the character, so I'm ready for another nasty good time.
#8 A Real Pain - Yet another Sundance movie I'm eager to finally get the chance to see. Of all the films that premiered this is the one I think I saw the most universal praise for, largely for Kieran Culkin's performance. My girlfriend and I have been watching Succession the past couple months, so I'm very excited to see him on the big screen, and everything I've seen from the film so far looks fantastic.
#7 Smile 2 - I thought the first Smile movie looked terrible, it was giving Truth or Dare flashbacks which may just be the worst horror movie I've seen. It got good word of mouth though so I gave it a shot and was treated to one of the best surprises in recent years, I really loved it. Now, director Parker Finn is bringing the concept to a pop star, upping the stakes and ante into something that looks like it could be stylistically very cool. Naomi Scott looks great in the lead role, I loved the trailer, I'm obsessed with the posters, I can not wait for this one.
#6 Blitz - As stated prior, I'm a huge Saoirse Ronan fan. I'm also a pretty big Steve McQueen fan, and Blitz is his first feature in over five years (unless you count the Small Axe anthology). I've stayed away from the trailer thus far so I know barely anything other than the fact that it takes place in World War II, but I believe McQueen is one of the best director's working today, and him paired with Ronan seems like it could be a fantastic combination.
#5 The Brutalist - Of all the fall festival movies, The Brutalist has to have made the most noise. Directed by Brady Corbet who also made Vox Lux and starred in one of my childhood favourites Thunderbirds, I've seen this described as a Godfather-esque American dream story. It's over three hours long but everyone I know that has seen it has said it's a true epic, and apparently it hosts the best performance of Adrien Brody's career. I can't wait to see this one.
#4 Gladiator 2 - In recent years Ridley Scott has been pretty hit or miss, but I don't care. The Last Duel showed that he still has the juice in creating historical epics, so I have all the faith in the world that he'll succeed in following up his 2000 classic. It also helps that Paul Mescal, one of my favourites, is in the leading role and looking terrific from the trailer. Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington also appear, and Denzel rarely picks a bad role so I'm pumped to see him here. I love the original, and the trailer has boats inside the colosseum, this thing looks too cool.
#3 Saturday Night - Another movie that is just very much up my alley. I love Jason Reitman as a filmmaker, and this looks to have such a fun frantic energy to it that I think I'm going to just eat up. I've heard great things out of TIFF, and this may just have the most stacked cast of the year. I'm not a die hard SNL guy by any means, but this just looks like a blast.
#2 Anora - Ever since May it has felt like Anora is the talk of the town. I have heard nothing but amazing things about it, winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes and continuing to wow people at each festival it has a appeared at. I've enjoyed everything I've seen from Sean Baker, but none of his work has fully connected with me and I reckon this will be the one to change that. I've heard Mikey Madison is outstanding, I've heard it compared to Uncut Gems, I've just heard nothing but the best so I am eagerly awaiting my viewing of it.
#1 Nosferatu - I'm so excited for all of these movies, but one of the last ones of the year has to be the one I'm itching the most to see. I adored The Witch, I loved The Lighthouse, and while it wasn't perfect I still really liked The Northman, and now Robert Eggers takes on what may just be his opus in this remake of Nosferatu. This simply looks astounding, taking everything we've loved about his previous work and putting it into this dark gothic tale. The original 1922 film is already amazing, but with Eggers at the helm this could somehow be even better. We often roll our eyes when someone decides to remake a classic, but I've heard no complaints about this one which I think goes to show just how excited people are for this take. Based on what I've seen in the trailers and my faith in Eggers behind the camera, this could just end up being one of the year's best.
So those are the twenty movies I'm most excited for that are yet to release, let me know if there's anything I missed!
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