50 films to watch this awards season: 2023 edition

Following two awards seasons impacted by the pandemic, the presenting organisations for the US Academy Awards and the Bafta Film Awards will be banking on a return to more-familiar solidity with their 2023 editions.

The 2022 Oscars saw underdog indie CODA overtake more favoured competitors in the final stretch of campaigning, nabbing best picture. Meanwhile, the much-fancied The Power Of The Dog converted its 12 Oscar nominations into just one win (for director Jane Camp­ion). In other words, nothing is ever certain when it comes to major film awards.

In both 2021 and 2022, significant tweaks to Bafta voting procedures produced notably different sets of nominations for the US and British Academy Awards — but when it came to picking winners, selected by all voting members, the votes fell back into alignment in virtually all major categories, one notable exception in 2022 being actress (Joanna Scanlan at Bafta and Jessica Chastain at Oscar).

We are not suggesting that viewing should be limited to the following list of 50 choices — plus another 30 that we have added across  eye-catching performances (see below), British films and documentary (both published on Screen later this week) — but we hope that our selection will provide a welcome starting point, and help concentrate minds of voters, regardless of their country of residence or which awards scheme they vote in.

The Bafta and Oscar ceremonies next year are three weeks and two weeks earlier than in 2022, on February 19 and March 12 respectively, and the voting and nominating process has been compressed. Diligent voters able to attend screenings will be filling up their evenings, while also heading to the academy viewing portals to see what has already landed. Happy viewing. 

All Quiet On The Western Front
Dir. Edward Berger
Erich Maria Remarque’s 1928 novel about the First World War was hailed as the war film to end all war films when it won the best picture Oscar in 1930. Now Berger (Patrick Melrose) goes back to the German-­language source for Netflix, representing his native country at the Oscars. Newcomer Felix Kammerer leads as Paul, the teenage volunteer who joyfully dashes to the front only to spend the rest of his short life brutally fighting over mere metres of land. Berger spares the viewer little in this title that premiered at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and the result is a stylish, almost grotesquely beautiful film about one of the ugliest times in modern history.

All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
Dir. Laura Poitras
This documentary about the artist Nan Goldin and her fight to extricate the Sackler name from world art institutions won the Golden Lion at Venice for Poitras (Citizenfour). With a push from US distributor Neon, the film has potential to break out of the documentary category and into best picture. Goldin, always confrontational in her life and work, reveals more of herself as an artist but also as a former addict and sex worker, as she hounds the museums that took money from the Purdue Pharma-owning Sackler family — made on the pain of the devastating US opioid epidemic.

Argentina, 1985
Dir. Santiago Mitre
Ricardo Darin starred in The Secret In Their Eyes — a foreign-language film Oscar winner in 2010 — and will reach new international audiences here as Julio Strassera, the quietly determined chief prosecutor in the historic 1985 trial of Argentina’s military government. Argentina, 1985 debuted in Competition at Venice, winning two parallel awards, before picking up the audience award at San Sebastian — and Darin’s performance gives the film a chance of breaking out of international feature categories and into best actor selections. A limited US theatrical release for the Amazon Studios title in late September was followed by a Prime Video launch on October 21.

Armageddon Time
Dir. James Gray
Gray based this drama on his own experiences growing up in 1980s Queens, New York, examining the class and racial politics of the era through the lives of two childhood friends, one Jewish, the other Black. Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway and Anthony Hopkins star in support of young lead actor Banks Repeta. It could be Gray and Strong’s first Oscar or Bafta nomination, with the latter a robust contender for supporting actor prizes. After premiering at Cannes, Focus Features released in the US on October 28, with Universal Pictures distributing internationally.

Avatar: The Way Of Water
Dir. James Cameron
The 2010 Oscars saw Cameron’s Avatar, with nine nominations, lose to The Hurt Locker from the filmmaker’s ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow in best picture and director categories — instead settling for three craft wins. The $2.9bn global cinema box office helped heal the hurt. The belated follow­-up should once again figure in technical categories, and maybe more, at Oscar and Bafta. Audience appetite for Avatar: The Way Of Water was whetted by Disney’s September rerelease of Avatar, grossing $76m at press time. The global rollout for the new film begins on December 14. Oscar winner and seven-time nominee Kate Winslet joins the cast for this instalment.

Babylon
Dir. Damien Chazelle
Set for a December 23 wide release by Paramount Pictures, this latest from the Whiplash and La La Land director will be one of the last entrants to this year’s awards race. Set in 1920s Hollywood, during the transition from silent movies to talkies, the Chazelle-penned comedy-­drama boasts a starry cast led by Brad Pitt (playing a character moulded on actor and director John Gilbert) and Margot Robbie. La La Land won six Oscars — and briefly a seventh, after the most famous envelope mishap in the awards’ history.

The Banshees Of Inisherin
Dir. Martin McDonagh
McDonagh boasts four Bafta wins and four Oscar nominations — gaining his sole Academy Award win with short Six Shooter in 2006. He has reteamed with In Bruges duo Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell for a darkly comic observation of the doomed friendship between two men living in a remote part of Ireland. The feature premiered at Venice, where McDonagh won the best screenplay prize and Farrell won best actor. Barry Keoghan deserves attention for best supporting actor awards. Searchlight Pictures released in the US on October 21.

Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths
Dir. Alejandro G Inarritu
Now edited down from the original three-hour epic that premiered at Venice to decidedly mixed reviews, Inarritu’s very personal opus is centred around an expatriate Mexican filmmaker (Daniel Gimenez Cacho) who returns to his native country to accept a prestigious award. Tour-de-force lensing by Darius Khondji helps draw lines through the main character’s reveries in this expensive Spanish-language production from Netflix, which is Mexico’s submission to the international category.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Dir. Ryan Coogler
With seven Oscar nominations and three wins (for score, costume and production design), and a rare best picture nod, Coogler’s Black Panther is the Marvel film most recognised by the Academy Awards — and also no slouch at the box office, with $1.35bn worldwide. Star Chadwick Boseman died in 2020 — a tragic turn of events that does, however, ensure the sequel Wakanda Forever will take a fresh approach. Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira are among returning cast members, and Disney begins the global release on November 9.

Blonde
Dir. Andrew Dominik
Dominik’s Netflix title is among the most talked about of the season, dividing opinions both for what it does include and what it does not from the life of Marilyn Monroe. Ana de Armas depicts both the public and private personas of the great American star, and may appear in lead actress categories, while production design, costume, and hair and make-up departments combine to recreate in precise detail some of the most famous photographs and videos of Monroe. Filmed in 2019 following a lengthy development, Blonde debuted on Netflix on September 28 this year after a limited theatrical release.

Bones And All
Dir. Luca Guadagnino
Guadagnino reunites with A Bigger Splash and Suspiria writer and producer David Kajganich on this cannibal romance road movie, an adaptation of Camille DeAngelis’s 2015 novel. The film debuted in Venice’s Competition, with Guadagnino winning best director and Taylor Russell taking the Marcello Mastroianni best emerging performer prize for her role as unmoored youngster Maren. Also appearing are Timothée Chalamet and Michael Stuhlbarg from Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, which scored four Oscar nominations in 2018, winning best adapted screenplay. Bones And All hits cinemas on November 23, through MGM in the US, Vision Distribution in Italy and Warner Bros in most other key territories.

Causeway
Dir. Lila Neugebauer
Jennifer Lawrence’s production company Excellent Cadaver, which she launched in 2018 with producing partner Justine Polsky, makes its feature debut with this tale of a soldier (Lawrence) who returns to her New Orleans home after suffering a brain injury from an IED explosion in Afghanistan. Director Neugebauer likewise makes her feature debut with the indie drama, which may stand its best awards chance in supporting actor — Brian Tyree Henry as the auto mechanic who reveals his own buried hurt. A24 and Apple Original Films premiered Causeway at Toronto, and the film will premiere in select cinemas and globally on Apple TV+ from November 4.

Cha Cha Real Smooth
Dir. Cooper Raiff
Apple pounced on Sundance title CODA last year and went on to make history as the first streamer to take home the best picture Oscar. Hoping for similar successes is its latest Sundance acquisition (picked up for a pricey $15m) from Freshman Year (aka Shithouse) actor/writer/­director Raiff. This time round he stars as a hapless college graduate who strikes up a friendship with an older woman (Dakota Johnson, who also produces) and her autistic daughter (promising newcomer Vanessa Burghardt). As well as Sundance, where it won the audience award, Cha Cha Real Smooth screened at SXSW, Tribeca and Palm Springs.

Close
Dir. Lukas Dhont
Dhont’s debut feature and Cannes Camera d’Or winner Girl was submitted by Belgium for the 2019 Oscars but did not make the international feature shortlist. The filmmaker stands a much stronger chance with Close — his depiction of an intense friendship between two 13-year-old boys, who then pull apart after their comfortable bond is misunderstood by classmates. Close shared this year’s Cannes grand prix (with Claire Denis’ Stars At Noon), going on to pick up multiple festival prizes including best film at Sydney Film Festival. A24 launched it in the US at Telluride in September, and had yet to confirm release plans at press time.

Corsage
Dir. Marie Kreutzer
Although selected for Un Certain Regard in Cannes rather than the main Competition, Corsage exited the festival with major momentum, helped along by Vicky Krieps’ best actress win for the sidebar. Fest­ival pit stops at New York and BFI London followed — winning best film in official competition at the latter. The 1870s-set film, which is Austria’s entry to the international feature Oscar, stars Krieps as Empress Elisabeth of Austria — a woman considered ahead of her time — seeking emancipation from her gilded cage. IFC Films releases in the US in late December.

Decision To Leave
Dir. Park Chan-wook
South Korea did not select Park’s The Handmaiden as its Oscar submission in 2017, but the film was eligible at the Baftas a year later — and won the award for film not in the English language. Decision To Leave, which premiered at Cannes, winning best director, tells the story of a detective (Park Hae-il) developing an unprofessional attachment to a woman (Tang Wei) suspected of being involved in the death of her husband. Tang was nominated for the Bafta rising star award in 2008. MUBI released the film in the US on October 14, and in the UK a week later.

Elvis
Dir. Baz Luhrmann
Portraying a musician has proved awards catnip lately — Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury and Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland both won at Oscar and Bafta — and could prove a winning formula once again for rising star Austin Butler. The Warner Bros release, which charts Elvis’s life under the watchful eye of manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), made its world premiere at Cannes and went on to gross $286m worldwide at press time. Luhrmann has not graced the Oscars race since 2002 with best picture nominee Moulin Rouge!, while four-time winner Catherine Martin has been a regular presence for costume and production design.

Emancipation
Dir. Antoine Fuqua
After the slap that was heard around the world, it was far from certain that Apple TV+ would launch this awards contender this year — starring Will Smith as a runaway slave forging through the swamps of Louisiana trying to escape the plantation owners that nearly killed him. However, in early October, Apple confirmed a December 2 cinema release date and December 9 on streaming. Fuqua directed Denzel Washington to an Oscar win in Training Day, but has never been nominated himself. Triple Oscar winner Robert Richardson serves as DoP. Smith is among the producers.

Empire Of Light
Dir. Sam Mendes
Mendes’s last film 1917 won three Oscars and seven Baftas, and grossed $385m at cinemas worldwide. He switches pace with this Searchlight-­backed ode to cinema set in an English south coastal town in the 1980s, even then long past its prime. Oscar and Bafta winner Olivia Colman plays the assistant manager of the local picture house, opposite Blue Story star (and 2020 Bafta rising star winner) Micheal Ward as a new recruit. Themes of racism and mental illness play out inside a struggling cinema lovingly recreated by Primetime Emmy-­winning production designer Mark Tildesley.

Everything, Everywhere All At Once
Dirs. Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
An unexpected hit, this multiverse-­style indie broke records at the box office as A24’s highest-grossing film of all time, when it surpassed the $100m mark worldwide following a launch in March at SXSW. Michelle Yeoh leads the cast as a woman struggling to keep her laundrette business, and relationships with her husband and daughter, afloat. Ke Huy Quan, returning to screens 20 years after retirement, could prove a threat in supporting actor, while the filmmaker/producer duo — aka the Daniels — should flourish in original screenplay and may break into director and best picture.

The Fabelmans
Dir. Steven Spielberg
Despite winning the best supporting actress Oscar and Bafta for Ariana DeBose, and seven Academy Awards nominations in total, Spielberg’s West Side Story at one point seemed destined for better — and the $76m global cinema box office was disappointing. Signs look more propitious for The Fabelmans, the director’s semi-­autobiographical coming-of-age tale, co-written with Tony Kushner, and produced by Spielberg, Kushner and Kristie Macosko Krieger. The Toronto people’s choice award win is viewed as a major augur of Oscars success, and both Michelle Williams and Paul Dano lead the charge for the film in the performance categories — respectively as lead actress and supporting actor. Universal begins with a limited release on November 11.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Dir. Rian Johnson
Johnson’s Knives Out proved a hit with audiences in 2019, and revitalised the whodunit murder mystery as an original-IP proposition, but few expected what happened next: Netflix paying a reported $469m for two sequels. The first of those, Glass Onion, emerged from TIFF with a reputation as a big-screen crowdpleaser — and it will get the chance to please those cinema crowds thanks to an innovative release strategy that has worn down plex-chain resistance to the streamer. As for awards, the team will be hoping to surpass Knives Out’s haul of a single nomination at Oscar and Bafta, both in adapted screenplay.

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande
Dir. Sophie Hyde
This Sundance title features two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson’s acclaimed performance as a widowed schoolteacher who hires a male escort (Screen Star of Tomorrow 2021 Daryl McCormack) to fulfil her overdue sexual desires. Searchlight Pictures successfully qualified the film for this year’s Oscars despite releasing digitally via Hulu, while in the UK Lionsgate’s theatrical release sets the film up for the Baftas — where its chances may be stronger. Thompson will be the big push, while other categories include UK comedian and writer Katy Brand for original screenplay.

The Good Nurse
Dir. Tobias Lindholm
A story about a real-life serial killer may not sound like obvious awards-bait, but do not count out this compelling drama starring Jessica Chastain as a mother of two, working nights at a New Jersey hospital, who begins to suspect her nice-guy new colleague (Eddie Redmayne) may be responsible for unexpected patient deaths. Writer Krysty Wilson-­Cairns, an Oscar nominee and Bafta winner for 1917, adapts from Charles Graeber’s non-fiction book. Director Lindholm’s Danish drama A War was Oscar-nominated in 2016. Netflix launched The Good Nurse at TIFF and released in cinemas and on streaming in October.

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
Dirs. Guillermo Del Toro, Mark Gustafson
The oft-filmed Carlo Collodi tale has benefited from two other recent notable versions: one from Matteo Garrone, picking up two Oscar nominations in 2021; the other by Robert Zemeckis, landing this year on Disney+. Now Del Toro, whose accolades include director and best picture Oscar wins in 2018 for The Shape Of Water, teams up with Gustafson for this stop-motion, fascist-Italy-set version, which world premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on Oct­ober 15. Backer Netflix launches on its platform on December 9.

Holy Spider
Dir. Ali Abbasi
Abbasi’s Cannes-premiering thriller about a real-life serial killer in turn-of-the-century Iran should make a stir for US distributor Utopia, touching hot-button issues at play right now. Tehran-born, Copenhagen-­based Abbasi (Border) shot Holy Spider in Jordan, recreating Iran’s holy city of Mashhad where a family man preys on what the local police refer to as “dirty whores”, strangling women with his bare hands. Playing an investigative journalist who has to first fight the morality police before she can even try to bring his crimes to light, Zar Amir Ebrahimi won the best actress prize at Cannes.

The Inspection
Dir. Elegance Bratton
Bratton won the truer than fiction award at the Independent Spirits in 2021 with his documentary Pier Kids. He spent 10 years homeless after being kicked out of his home aged 16 for being gay, and joined the Marines — experiences that have informed this self-penned debut fiction feature starring Jeremy Pope as a man who follows this trajectory. Support cast includes Gabrielle Union, Bokeem Woodbine and Raul Castillo. A24 produced the film, launched it at TIFF (with New York and BFI London film festivals following on), and releases in the US on November 18.

Living
Dir. Oliver Hermanus
South Africa-born, UK-resident Hermanus impressed with LGBTQ-themed indie dramas Beauty and Moffie, and now pivots to this 1950s London-set adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru (1952). Bill Nighy stars as the council bureaucrat who receives a diagnosis of terminal illness and embarks on a mission to give his remaining life meaning. Kazuo Ishiguro’s screenplay could receive attention, and Bafta voters especially may be exploring far and wide — including Aimee Lou Wood’s supporting performance. A rare film to play Sundance, Venice, Telluride and Toronto, Living releases in the UK via Lionsgate and in the US via Sony Pictures Classics.

A Man Called Otto
Dir. Marc Forster
Hannes Holm’s Swedish comedy-drama A Man Called Ove picked up two Oscar nominations in 2017 — for best foreign-language film, and hair and make-up. This US remake stars Tom Hanks as the curmudgeonly widower who forms an unlikely friendship with the family that moves in next door. Director Forster’s Finding Neverland picked up seven Oscar nominations (winning for score), but he himself has never been nominated (he has Bafta nods for The Kite Runner and Finding Neverland). Screenwriter David Magee picked up UK and US Academy nominations for Finding Neverland and Life Of Pi. Unseen at press time, Sony begins the US platform run on December 25, expanding in January.

Moonage Daydream
Dir. Brett Morgen
This fluorescent journey through the music of rock icon David Bowie debuted as a Midnight screening at Cannes this year. US distributor Neon, which released the film on September 16, has pedigree for drawing both cinema crowds and navigating the awards run; while Universal has launched the film in international territories, with a worldwide total of $10.7m at time of writing. As well as featuring in documentary categories, Moonage Daydream should garner attention for its technical aspects, especially in sound. Morgen’s previous music documentary Cobain: Montage Of Heck was a seven-time Primetime Emmy nominee.

My Father’s Dragon
Dir. Nora Twomey
One of several titles Netflix has contending for the animated feature Oscar and Bafta, this adaptation of the 1948 Ruth Stiles Gannett children’s book comes from Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon — the animation house behind Oscar-nominated films The Secret Of Kells, Song Of The Sea, The Breadwinner and Wolfwalkers. The timely story plays out on an island imperilled by rising sea levels, and tells the story of a boy (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) searching for a dragon. Twomey (The Breadwinner) directs, while the screenplay is adapted by Meg LeFauve — Oscar-nominated as part of the writing team on Pixar’s Inside Out.

No Bears
Dir. Jafar Panahi
Writer/director Panahi is currently behind bars in Iran serving a reactivated sentence for alleged dissent, so it is hardly surprising this acclaimed Venice Film Festival special jury prizewinner was not selected by Iran for the international feature Oscar. But US distributors Sideshow and Janus are pushing the film for director, and Picturehouse Entertainment is mounting a Bafta campaign in the UK. No Bears uses a film-within-a-film device, and features Panahi as a filmmaker directing his latest work remotely from an Iranian village.

Nope
Dir. Jordan Peele
Peele took the original screenplay Oscar for Get Out in 2018, the first time a Black screenwriter won the prize. His follow-up Us did not make a splash at awards season. Here, he reunites with Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya — winner of the supporting actor Oscar for Judas And The Black Messiah in 2021. Nope swirls together elements of western and sci-fi, and follows a grieving brother and sister (Keke Palmer) grappling for proof of alien life at their family ranch. Universal released globally in the summer, delivering $171m worldwide at press time.

The Quiet Girl
Dir. Colm Bairead
Irish director-producer duo — and husband-and-wife — Bairead and Cleona Ni Chrualaoi’s feature debut The Quiet Girl first struck a chord at Berlin, where it clinched the grand prize in the Generation Kplus strand. A lengthy festival run followed, including Dublin, Taipei, Helsinki and Busan. The drama is based on Claire Keegan’s novella Foster, about a neglected young girl’s life-changing summer. It is the first Irish-language title to win best film at the Irish Film & Television Academy Awards, and is a strong contender in the best international feature race at the Oscars. Neon’s Super releases in the US.

Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical
Dir. Matthew Warchus
Warchus has regrouped his Matilda stage musical team of writer Dennis Kelly and composer Tim Minchin for a Working Title-produced screen adaptation, released by Sony in the UK and Ireland on November 25 and Netflix for the rest of the world from December 25, following its BFI London Film Festival world premiere. Boasting a cast of UK talent including Bafta and Oscar winner Emma Thompson as head teacher Miss Trunchbull, Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough as Mat­ilda’s self-involved parents, and Irish newcomer Alisha Weir in the title role, it could be that rare family film to strike a chord with awards voters, especially at Bafta.

RRR
Dir. SS Rajamouli
Despite not being selected as India’s submission to the best international feature Oscar, RRR is one of the must-see films of any season. Breaking records at every turn (the second-biggest ever budget for an Indian film, the biggest first-day box office, etc), this bombastic big-screen spectacle is a fictionalised account of two real-life revolutionaries fighting against the British Raj and Nizam of Hyderabad in 1920s India. The film stars Ram Charan and NT Rama Rao Jr, while writer/director Rajamuli (Baahubali) pulls out all the stops in a riotously entertaining film that has been hailed in all markets, not just at home.

Saint Omer
Dir. Alice Diop
France struck out with its Oscar submission last year — Julia Ducournau’s provocative Titane did not even make the 15-film shortlist for international feature. A revamped selection committee has picked this debut fiction feature from documentarian Diop, who draws on real events for her story, and scooped the grand jury prize Silver Lion at Venice. Kayije Kagame stars as an academic captivated by the trial of a woman (Guslagie Malanda) who admits to killing her own child. Named for the French town where the trial takes place, Saint Omer will be released in the US by Neon’s boutique label Super.

The Sea Beast
Dir. Chris Williams
Launched to a fair amount of acclaim at Annecy, this sea adventure is one of Netflix’s many animation contenders, which also include films listed here from Guillermo Del Toro and Cartoon Saloon, plus Henry Selick’s Wendell & Wild, which boasts Jordan Peele as producer, co-writer and voice cast member. The Sea Beast sees a young girl stow away on the ship of a legendary sea-monster hunter. Williams has directing or co-directing credits on Walt Disney Animations’ Bolt, Big Hero 6 and Moana — all of which were nominated for the animated feature Oscar, with Big Hero 6 winning in 2015.

She Said
Dir. Maria Schrader
Launched at New York Film Festival on Oct­ober 13 and then at BFI London the next day, this Annapurna Pictures and Plan B Entertainment co-production is based on the book by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey — The New York Times journalists who exposed Harvey Weinstein’s history of abuse and sexual misconduct against women. Bafta winner and two-time Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan stars alongside Zoe Kazan as Twohey and Kantor respectively, while Germany’s Schrader (I’m Your Man) directs from a screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (Disobedience). Universal Pictures begins its release on November 18.

The Son
Dir. Florian Zeller
French writer/director Zeller adapted his own stage play The Father with fellow writer Chris­topher Hampton, and the resulting film won them best adapted screenplay and Anthony Hopkins best actor at the 2021 Oscars. Two years later, the same team brings us The Son — likewise adapted from Zeller’s stage play and with characters not related to The Father (although Hopkins has a supporting role). Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern star as the divorced parents of a depressed teenage boy (Zen McGrath), with Vanessa Kirby as the son’s new stepmother. The Son launched at Venice, segued to Toronto, and the film begins its US-wide rollout via Sony Pictures Classics from December 16 after a LA and New York release on November 25.

TÁR
Dir. Todd Field
For his third film, releasing through Focus, writer/director Field (Little Children) has crafted an exceptional character for his lead actress, two‑time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett. An intelligent interrogation of the privilege and freedoms given to those that society reveres as great artists, the drama stars Blanchett as Lydia Tár, a celebrated conductor based in Berlin and about to stage a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No 5. We follow her every move through a rarefied world run by her devoted assistant (Noémie Merlant) and wife (Nina Hoss) as she blurs too many lines between the personal and professional in a medium that encourages no separation.

Till
Dir. Chinonye Chukwu
Chukwu directed Alfre Woodard to a best actress Bafta nomination in Clemency, and now presents this historical drama about Emmett Till, the Chicago teen who was abducted, tortured and lynched while visiting relatives in Mississippi, accused of offending a white woman. Danielle Deadwyler (The Harder They Fall) stars as Mamie Till-Mobley — who turns reluctant activist, seeking justice for her son. With Barbara Broccoli and Whoopi Goldberg among the producer roster, Till launched at New York Film Festival on October 1, and released two weeks later in North America via United Artists Releasing.

Top Gun: Maverick
Dir. Joseph Kosinski
The long-awaited sequel to the 1986 fighter pilot action film has firmly cemented itself as a standalone hit. After a world premiere at Cannes, the Paramount phenomenon has climbed its way up the world’s highest-grossing films of all time, where it currently sits at number 11 with $1.48bn. The original Top Gun scored four nominations at the 1987 Oscars, winning for best song, and Maverick will likely have its best shot in technical categories such as sound and visual effects — but do not count it out in best picture for producers including Tom Cruise and David Ellison.

Triangle Of Sadness
Dir. Ruben Ostlund
Two Palme d’Ors from two Cannes Competition entries is a strong ratio for Swedish director Ostlund, who received a Bafta nomination for Force Majeure and an Oscar nod for The Square in the best international feature categories. Triangle Of Sadness began its US rollout from October 7 through Neon; Curzon is releasing in the UK and Ireland from October 28, with a guaranteed theatrical window until early December. Having worked with compatriots Lav Diaz and Erik Matti, Filipina actress Dolly De Leon has received plaudits for her supporting role as a toilet cleaner who turns the social tables following the crash of a luxury yacht. Castmate Charlbi Dean’s sudden death aged just 32 in August was untimely and tragic.

Turning Red
Dir. Domee Shi
Shi’s feature directing debut deserved a better fate than to be shunted onto Disney+ in most markets — and the studio has qualified it for both Oscar and Bafta via niche theatrical release in the US and UK. The critically acclaimed Pixar film draws on Shi’s heritage as a Chinese-born girl who grew up in Canada. Set in Toronto in 2002, the story follows a Chinese-Canadian teen girl dealing with a hereditary curse that transforms her at inconvenient moments into a giant red panda. Pixar has won the animated feature Oscar 11 times, most recently in 2021 with Soul.

The Whale
Dir. Darren Aronofsky
This year’s most pronounced comeback is Brendan Fraser, the US-Canadian actor who disappeared from prominence after his late ’90s-early ’00s heyday. He is back as Charlie, a morbidly obese man trying to right wrongs in his life before it is too late, including with daughter Ellie (Stranger Things alumna Sadie Sink). Samuel D Hunter has adapted his own play for screen, with A24 producing the film and releasing in the US in December. Aronofsky’s greatest awards acclaim to date was for Black Swan, which received five Oscar nominations including best director in 2011 — and winning best actress for Natalie Portman.

White Noise
Dir. Noah Baumbach
With Netflix affording his biggest budget yet at a reported $80m, Baumbach has splashed the cash on adapting Don DeLillo’s US modern classic, which has worn the ‘unfilm­able novel’ tag. Adam Driver plays Jack Gladney, a Hitler studies professor trying to guide his family through a mysterious airborne toxic event. Marriage Story was Baumbach’s biggest success to date on the awards circuit, with the film scoring six Oscar nominations and five at Bafta — winning both for supporting actress Laura Dern. For all the scale has increased, it is the idiosyncratic speech in the White Noise script that will attract the most attention.

The Woman King
Dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood
Maria Bello originated the story after visiting Benin in 2015, learning about the all-female warrior unit that defended the west African kingdom of Dahomey. Four-time Oscar nominee Viola Davis (who won for Fences) stars as the fearsome leader of the Agojie, while South Africa’s Thuso Mbedu (The Underground Railroad) leads the charge in supporting actress as the unit’s rookie recruit. Sony’s TriStar Pictures had grossed $60m in North America at press time for the 1823-set crowd-pleaser, which is the fifth feature for Prince-Bythewood — an Independent Spirit winner in 2001 with Love & Basketball.

Women Talking
Dir. Sarah Polley
Canadian actress-turned-­filmmaker Polley was Oscar-nominated in 2008 for the Away From Her adapted screenplay. Her latest self-penned drama, adapted from Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel, should figure in multiple categories — and could dominate supporting actress (notably with Jessie Buckley and Claire Foy) or else risk seeing the performances pull votes in different directions. Telluride, Toronto, New York and London provided a powerful run of festival launches for this tale of women in an isolated religious community who must decide whether to continue to accept abuse from the men — or fight or flee. Plan B’s Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner produce alongside Frances McDormand, and United Artists releases on December 2.

The Wonder
Dir. Sebastian Lelio
In 2016, Room — adapted from Emma Donoghue’s novel — picked up four Oscar nominations, winning for leading actress Brie Larson. The Wonder could blaze a similar trail, this time adapted jointly by Donoghue, Alice Birch (Lady Macbeth) and director Lelio (A Fantastic Woman). Among the cast, Florence Pugh leads the charge as the English nurse who visits a small Irish community in 1862, where she is tasked with investigating an 11-year-old girl (Kila Lord Cassidy) who claims to have stopped eating, surviving on “manna from heaven”. Netflix launched the film at Telluride, then Toronto, and adds to its platform on November 16.

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