\n<\/p>\n
The leaves are falling, and at least one of the strikes looming over the film season has been resolved. From Wiseman to Wonka, Beyonc\u00e9 to Ferrari, here is a select list of the films you need to know about this winter. Release dates and platforms are subject to change.<\/em><\/p>\n DREAM SCENARIO<\/strong> An evolutionary biologist (Nicolas Cage) begins turning up in random people\u2019s dreams, an inexplicable phenomenon that first intrigues the dreamers, then freaks them out. Julianne Nicholson also stars. Kristoffer Borgli wrote, directed and edited. (Nov. 10 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n THE KILLER<\/strong> Michael Fassbender plays a hyper-punctilious hit man who is forever checking his pulse and who soothes his nerves by listening to the Smiths. But his careful plans are upended when a job goes awry. The film reunites the director David Fincher and the screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, who together gave us \u201cSeven\u201d (1995), and here adapt the graphic-novel series by Matz and Luc Jacamon. (Nov. 10 on Netflix)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n THE MARVELS<\/strong> Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) join forces to take down whoever is threatening the Marvel Cinematic Universe these days. Nia DaCosta (the 2021 \u201cCandyman\u201d remake) directed. (Nov. 10 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n ORLANDO, MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY<\/strong> In this nonfiction feature, the philosopher Paul B. Preciado uses Virginia Woolf\u2019s \u201cOrlando\u201d as a lens for exploring issues of gender identity, enlisting transgender and nonbinary people to play the character and reflect on their lives. (Nov. 10 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING<\/strong> The academic and activist Ibram X. Kendi\u2019s 2016 book, \u201cStamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,\u201d becomes a documentary film with commentary from Kendi and others, including Angela Davis and the poet Honor\u00e9e Fanonne Jeffers. Roger Ross Williams directed. (Nov. 10 in theaters, Nov. 20 on Netflix)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A STILL SMALL VOICE<\/strong> A nonfiction highlight at Sundance, this documentary from Luke Lorentzen (\u201cMidnight Family\u201d) follows a hospital chaplain during a residency as she discovers whether she has the fortitude for the job. (Nov. 10 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n YOUTH (SPRING)<\/strong> Known for documentaries with lengthy running times and an unobtrusive style, the acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing<\/a> (\u201cDead Souls\u201d) chronicles the lives of migrants toiling in the textile workshops of Zhili, China. (Nov. 10 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n THE LADY BIRD DIARIES<\/strong> The latest nonfiction feature from Dawn Porter (\u201cJohn Lewis: Good Trouble\u201d) draws on archival audio of the first lady Lady Bird Johnson and assesses the part she played in President Lyndon B. Johnson\u2019s administration. (Nov. 13 on Hulu)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER!<\/strong> Mary Lambert (the original \u201cPet Sematary\u201d) directed this holiday movie about a woman who tries to puncture her friend\u2019s carefully cultivated aura of good cheer. Heather Graham and Brandy star. (Nov. 16 on Netflix)<\/em><\/p>\n DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW<\/strong> Magic helps restore the Yuletide spirit for a social worker (Chris Bridges, a.k.a. Ludacris) and his 9-year-old (Madison Skye). Lil Rel Howery and Teyonah Parris also star; Tim Story directed. (Nov. 17 on Disney+)<\/em><\/p>\n THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHERE HITE<\/strong> Nicole Newnham (a director of \u201cCrip Camp\u201d) made this documentary on the work of Shere Hite<\/a>, who in 1976 published \u201cThe Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality,\u201d which advanced the then-radical notion that women could achieve sexual satisfaction without intercourse. (Nov. 17 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n FALLEN LEAVES<\/strong> The latest from the Finnish treasure Aki Kaurismaki won the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival; the award scanned as an affectionate third place. It\u2019s a love story \u2014 in an unusually bittersweet and low-key register \u2014 between lonesome members of the working class (Alma Poysti and Jussi Vatanen), and between Kaurismaki and cinema. (Nov. 17 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES<\/strong> Set before the events of the Jennifer Lawrence films, this screen installment from Suzanne Collins\u2019s books casts Tom Blyth as a teenage tyrant in the making and Rachel Zegler as the tribute he tries to prepare for the deadly games. Francis Lawrence returns to direct. (Nov. 17 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n MAXINE\u2019S BABY: THE TYLER PERRY STORY<\/strong> Normally, Perry projects begin with \u201cTyler Perry\u2019s\u201d this or that in their titles. But this biographical documentary bears his mother\u2019s name, and traces how Perry built his universe of film and TV shows. Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz directed. (Nov. 17 on Amazon Prime Video)<\/em><\/p>\n MAY DECEMBER<\/strong> Todd Haynes investigates what constitutes realistic acting \u2014 and what attracts viewers to tabloid sensationalism \u2014 in this drama, which casts Natalie Portman as a TV star shadowing her latest role\u2019s infamous real-life inspiration (Julianne Moore), a woman whose past is not dissimilar from Mary Kay Letourneau\u2019s<\/a>. With Charles Melton. (Nov. 17 in theaters, Dec. 1 on Netflix)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n NEXT GOAL WINS<\/strong> Smarting from a record-breaking loss<\/a>, American Samoa\u2019s soccer team braces for another try at the World Cup qualifying matches, this time with a new, curmudgeonly coach (Michael Fassbender). Taika Waititi directed. The team\u2019s story was also told in a documentary with the same title<\/a>. (Nov. 17 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n RUSTIN<\/strong> Colman Domingo plays the civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who was a principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington and whose legacy has received renewed attention. (In 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California granted him a posthumous pardon<\/a> for a 1953 conviction on a charge that had been used to criminalize homosexual activity.) George C. Wolfe directed. Chris Rock, Glynn Turman and Audra McDonald co-star. (Nov. 17 on Netflix)<\/em><\/p>\n SALTBURN<\/strong> The writer-director Emerald Fennell\u2019s first feature behind the camera since \u201cPromising Young Woman\u201d centers on a student at Oxford (Barry Keoghan) who becomes taken with the lifestyle of a classmate (Jacob Elordi) and accepts an invitation to his lavish home. (Nov. 17 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n THANKSGIVING<\/strong> Sixteen years is a long time from trailer to release. But the tongue-in-cheek coming attraction that Eli Roth made for the midpoint of \u201cGrindhouse\u201d (2007)<\/a> is now a feature film in its own right. Patrick Dempsey stars. (Nov. 17 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n TROLLS BAND TOGETHER<\/strong> The Troll universe expands again as Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake) seek out Branch\u2019s brothers, with whom he previously formed a boy band. Who knew the Trolls universe had one? (Nov. 17 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n LEO<\/strong> Adam Sandler lends his inimitable vocal stylings to a lizard in an elementary school classroom; it only has a year to live. Bill Burr and Cecily Strong also star. (Nov. 21 on Netflix)<\/em><\/p>\n THE BOY AND THE HERON<\/strong> Ten years after \u201cThe Wind Rises,\u201d<\/a> which had been billed as a final feature<\/a>, the master animator Hayao Miyazaki gives us this story of a boy who moves from Tokyo after his mother\u2019s death during World War II. An enigmatic tower that stands near his new home becomes a gateway to a parallel world \u2014 a quintessentially Miyazakian realm. (Nov. 22 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND<\/strong> Julia Roberts plays a misanthropic New Yorker who ropes her husband (Ethan Hawke) and children into an impromptu getaway on Long Island. But after strange things start to happen, and the family who owns the rental house (Mahershala Ali and Myha\u2019la play father and daughter) turns up, the atmosphere gets tense. Barack and Michelle Obama are among the executive producers. Sam Esmail directed. (Nov. 22 in theaters, Dec. 8 on Netflix)<\/em><\/p>\n MAESTRO<\/strong> In the director\u2019s chair again after \u201cA Star Is Born\u201d (2018), Bradley Cooper also stars as the legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, in a biopic that focuses in particular on his marriage. A top-billed Carey Mulligan plays the actress Felicia Montealegre Bernstein, his wife for nearly three decades until her death. (Nov. 22 in theaters, Dec. 20 on Netflix)<\/em><\/p>\n MENUS-PLAISIRS \u2014 LES TROISGROS<\/strong> The 93-year-old Frederick Wiseman has made more than 40 feature documentaries, but never one as culinarily tantalizing as this four-hour look at a three-star restaurant (per Michelin) in France. You\u2019ll see how the food is sourced, how dishes are devised, how patrons react and much more. (Nov. 22 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n NAPOLEON<\/strong> Stanley Kubrick\u2019s Bonaparte biography will, alas, always be one of cinema\u2019s great what-ifs. But we are getting Ridley Scott\u2019s version of the life of the French military leader, with Joaquin Phoenix donning the bicorn<\/a>. Vanessa Kirby also stars. (Nov. 22 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n WISH<\/strong> Will Ariana DeBose belt out a hit as big as \u201cLet It Go\u201d? Disney\u2019s latest animated offering, advertising its affinities with \u201cFrozen,\u201d among other movies, casts the \u201cWest Side Story\u201d Oscar winner as a heroine who takes on a king with the help of a cosmic force and a goat. Alan Tudyk and Chris Pine lend their voices as well. (Nov. 22 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n AMERICAN SYMPHONY<\/strong> While the musician Jon Batiste is planning a symphony, his partner, the writer Suleika Jaouad, has a recurrence of cancer. Matthew Heineman (\u201cCartel Land\u201d) documented their experiences. (Jaouad had previously written for The New York Times about having cancer in her 20s.<\/a>) (Nov. 24 in theaters, Nov. 29 on Netflix)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD<\/strong> The director Anna Hints documents the lives of women sweating things out in an Estonian sauna. The movie won a directing prize at Sundance. (Nov. 24 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n THEY SHOT THE PIANO PLAYER<\/strong> Jeff Goldblum provides the voice of a journalist investigating the disappearance of a Brazilian pianist in this animated documentary. Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal directed. (Nov. 24 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n SOUTH TO BLACK POWER<\/strong> In his book \u201cThe Devil You Know,\u201d<\/a> the New York Times Opinion columnist Charles M. Blow argued that Black Americans should reverse-migrate to the South. This documentary, directed by Sam Pollard (\u201cMLK\/FBI\u201d) and Llewellyn M. Smith, explores that idea. (Nov. 28 on Max)<\/em><\/p>\n FAMILY SWITCH<\/strong> In the tradition of \u201cFreaky Friday\u201d and \u201cVice Versa,\u201d this movie casts Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms as parents in a family that gets scrambled in a body swap before a big day. McG directed. (Nov. 30 on Netflix)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n BAD PRESS<\/strong> In 2018, officials in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation repealed an act guaranteeing freedom of the press. This documentary concerns a reporter\u2019s efforts to fight back. (Dec. 1 in theaters and on demand)<\/em><\/p>\n CANDY CANE LANE<\/strong> A spell cast by an elf (Jillian Bell) causes Christmastime trouble for a man (Eddie Murphy) and his family. With Tracee Ellis Ross. Reginald Hudlin directed. (Dec. 1 on Amazon Prime Video)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n EILEEN<\/strong> A sophisticated new counselor at a Massachusetts prison (Anne Hathaway) piques the curiosity of a younger woman who works there (Thomasin McKenzie). William Oldroyd (\u201cLady Macbeth\u201d) directed this adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh\u2019s novel. (Dec. 1 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n IN WATER<\/strong> It\u2019s not uncommon for the prolific South Korean director Hong Sangsoo to turn out two films per year, with a high consistency of style and subject. The gimmick in this one is that, for most of the movie, the picture is out of focus. (Dec. 1 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n LA SYNDICALISTE<\/strong> Isabelle Huppert plays a whistleblower who reveals secrets about France\u2019s nuclear sector. But when she is sexually assaulted, the investigation calls into question her veracity. (Dec. 1 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONC\u00c9<\/strong> Last month, Taylor Swift conquered theaters with a cinematic document of her Eras Tour<\/a>. Now it\u2019s Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s turn, in a movie that goes behind the scenes of the artist\u2019s Renaissance World Tour, which ended Oct. 1. (Dec. 1 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n SHAYDA <\/strong>Zar Amir Ebrahimi plays a woman from Iran residing in a shelter in Australia who is desperate to prevent her estranged husband from taking their child back with him. Noora Niasari wrote and directed. (Dec. 1 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n SILENT NIGHT<\/strong> A father (Joel Kinnaman) seeks revenge for the Christmas Eve killing of his son. No, it\u2019s not another \u201cDeath Wish\u201d reboot \u2014 the director, in fact, is John Woo. (Dec. 1 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n THE SWEET EAST<\/strong> After getting away from an attack by a PizzaGate-style conspiracy theorist, a high schooler (Talia Ryder) has a series of outlandish adventures as she travels from place to place. Ayo Edebiri, Jeremy O. Harris and Simon Rex also star. The cinematographer Sean Price Williams directed from a script by the film critic Nick Pinkerton. (Dec. 1 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n THE APOCALYPTIC IS THE MOTHER OF ALL CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY<\/strong> The experimental filmmaker Jim Finn examines the ideas of the apostle Paul using oddball cultural detritus, including board games and sponsored films. (Dec. 6 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n WAITRESS: THE MUSICAL <\/strong>Sara Bareilles plays the lead role in the movie version of the stage musical<\/a> for which she wrote the music and lyrics. The show was itself adapted from Adrienne Shelly\u2019s posthumously released 2007 film<\/a>. (Dec. 7 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n ANSELM<\/strong> Similarly to what he did in \u201cPina,\u201d his 2011 documentary tribute to the choreographer Pina Bausch<\/a>, Wim Wenders uses 3-D and high-resolution digital camerawork to give viewers a sense of the monumentality of Anselm Kiefer\u2019s art<\/a>. (Dec. 8 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n FAST CHARLIE<\/strong> Michael Fassbender\u2019s character in \u201cThe Killer\u201d isn\u2019t the only assassin with a problem this season. There\u2019s also the hit man in this movie (Pierce Brosnan), who has trouble proving that the headless person he has killed was the intended mark. James Caan, who died last year, plays the hit man\u2019s mentor. Phillip Noyce directed. (Dec. 8 in theaters and on demand)<\/em><\/p>\n MERRY LITTLE BATMAN <\/strong>Bruce Wayne\u2019s son has to become a mini-Batman to thwart what sound like \u201cHome Alone\u201d-style shenanigans in this animated feature. Luke Wilson is in the voice cast. (Dec. 8 on Amazon Prime Video)<\/em><\/p>\n ORIGIN<\/strong> Reviewing \u201cCaste: The Origins of Our Discontents,\u201d<\/a> the 2020 book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson, Dwight Garner of The New York Times called it \u201can instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far.\u201d With Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Wilkerson, Ava DuVernay dramatizes the period of the book\u2019s writing. (Dec. 8 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n POOR THINGS<\/strong> Yorgos Lanthimos combines the costume drama of \u201cThe Favourite\u201d with the social satire of \u201cDogtooth\u201d to follow the odyssey of Bella Baxter (a wildly dexterous Emma Stone), who, thanks to a Frankensteining by a mad-scientist father figure (Willem Dafoe), begins the movie as a grown woman with a child\u2019s brain. Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef also star. Based on the novel by Alasdair Gray, it won the top prize at this year\u2019s Venice Film Festival. (Dec. 8 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n TOTAL TRUST<\/strong> In this documentary, the director Jialing Zhang looks at the nature of the surveillance state in China. (Dec. 8 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n THE TASTE OF THINGS<\/strong> Tran Anh Hung won the directing prize at Cannes for a film that, along with Frederick Wiseman\u2019s \u201cMenus-Plaisirs \u2014 Les Troisgros,\u201d boasts the most mouthwatering display of cuisine in any movie this year. Inspired by the French novel known in English as \u201cThe Passionate Epicure,\u201d it concerns the relationship between that epicure (Beno\u00eet Magimel) and his longtime cook and companion (Juliette Binoche). (Dec. 13 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n CHRISTMAS RESCUE<\/strong> Kidnapping the bride from a wedding in an effort to win her love sounds like a horrifying thing to do, but maybe it works out for these two crazy kids in this movie? With Robin Givens, Raven Goodwin and Mario Van Peebles. (Dec. 14 on BET+)<\/em><\/p>\n AMERICAN FICTION<\/strong> Adapting a 2001 satirical novel<\/a> by Percival Everett, the TV writer and former Gawker editor Cord Jefferson<\/a> directed Jeffrey Wright as a Black author who, in frustration and jest, writes a book that plays into stereotypes \u2014 and suddenly finds the success that has eluded him. Erika Alexander plays a potential love interest; Sterling K. Brown and Issa Rae also star. <\/strong>It won the People\u2019s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. (Dec. 15 in theaters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET<\/strong> To counter the existential threat posed by exceptionally delicious chicken nuggets, Ginger, Rocky and their daughter break into a poultry-processing plant. Thandiwe Newton, Zachary Levi and Bella Ramsey provide some of the voices. (Dec. 15 on Netflix)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n THE FAMILY PLAN <\/strong>When his past catches up with him, a government assassin turned car salesman (Mark Wahlberg) tries to save his family while keeping his previous occupation secret. Michelle Monaghan also stars. (Dec. 15 on Apple TV+)<\/em><\/p>\nNovember<\/h2>\n
December<\/h2>\n