42. A Complete Unknown
Directed by James Mangold
December 25
Timothée Chalamet takes on the iconic Bob Dylan in this biopic that centers on his early years as a 19-year-old Minnesota musician breaking into the New York music scene. Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, and Boyd Holbrook also star in the film from James Mangold, who has had previous success in this genre with Walk the Line. The first trailer teased Chalamet’s transformation and revealed the actor singing some of Dylan’s iconic songs. Mangold promises that Chalamet does the musician justice, adding that there’s much more to come: “It’s going to be impossible for people in trailers or teasers or photos to see, but the way he grows this character is a real act of acting brilliance in my opinion,” he told Rolling Stone. —R.F.
43. Hard Truths
Directed by Mike Leigh
Release TBD
Beloved British director Mike Leigh reunites with the star of Secrets & Lies, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, to tell the story of Pansy—a working-class Londoner struggling with emotional and physical health problems that have left her miserable and debilitatingly angry. Michele Austin, another past Leigh collaborator, stars as Pansy’s softer sister, who does her best to bring Pansy back to the world of the living. The small, London-set film will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Leigh is receiving the tribute award, and follow that with a run at New York Film Festival. Hard Truths, which is already earning Oscar buzz for Jean-Baptiste’s fearless performance, is expected to make a qualifying run in December. —C.M.
44. The Room Next Door
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Release TBD
Spain’s premier film director has only made two short films in the English language, most recently 2023’s gay-cowboy short, Strange Way of Life. We’re dying to see what he does at feature length, especially when the cast includes Tilda Swinton as a war correspondent and Julianne Moore as her partner. On paper, this sounds distinctly more Almodóvarian than the Old West. We’ll know a whole lot more about the film once it premieres in Venice over Labor Day weekend. —R.L.
45. Bird
Directed by Andrea Arnold
Release TBD
Andrea Arnold’s big-hearted, soundtrack-heavy approach to stories of people living on society’s edges makes for another deeply affecting film in Bird, which earned strong reviews out of its Cannes Film Festival bow. Starring Barry Keoghan as a single father struggling to hold everything together, and Franz Rogowski as a mysterious figure that enters his daughter’s life, the movie builds to a striking emotional twist that lands, as Richard Lawson writes in his review, as “something odd and affecting.” Emphasis on both of those adjectives. —D.C.
46. Unstoppable
Directed by William Goldenberg
Release TBD
Based on the true story of Anthony Robles, Unstoppable traces one young man’s tireless efforts to become a champion wrestler, despite being born without his right leg. Jharrel Jerome, who won an Emmy for Netflix’s miniseries When They See Us, stars as Robles, and spent months preparing his body to play the role after he met Robles in person. “Before you even meet him, you can see the confidence and the fight that he has in him—just on YouTube looking at his wrestling videos, just watching his interviews,” he told Vanity Fair. “And then when you meet him, you see that light and you have no choice but to go, ‘I want to tell your story.’” Produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, Unstoppable also stars Jennifer Lopez as Robles’ mom, and reveals Robles’ difficult family life, along with his challenges on the mat. —R.F.
47. The Piano Lesson
Directed by Malcolm Washington
Release TBD
Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize–winning August Wilson play, The Piano Lesson marks the feature directorial debut of Malcolm Washington, Denzel Washington’s youngest son. It’s a family affair, as The Piano Lesson also stars Malcolm’s elder brother, John David Washington, as Boy Willie—a sharecropper who travels to Pittsburgh, planning to sell his family’s piano in order to secure land. In the Netflix film, Washington reprises the role he played in the 2022 Broadway revival of The Piano Lesson alongside former casemates including Michael Potts, Ray Fisher, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Till’s Danielle Deadwyler joining the ensemble as Boy Willie’s headstrong sister Berniece. The Piano Lesson will play at the Toronto International Film Festival before going wide later this year. —C.M.
