From life stories (“A Complete Unknown,” “The Fire Inside”) to animated tales (“Moana 2,” “Mufasa”), these are the films we can’t wait to see this season. (Release dates are subject to change.)
NOVEMBER
EMILIA PÉREZ: Four actresses — Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz — shared a prize at Cannes for their performances in this unlikeliest of musicals, about the friendship between a Mexican cartel kingpin (Gascón) and a lawyer (Saldaña) hired to arrange the kingpin’s gender transition. Jacques Audiard directed. (Nov. 13; Netflix)
HOT FROSTY: Remember “Mannequin”? This sounds kind of like that, except instead of a mannequin coming to life, it’s a snowman (Dustin Milligan), and instead of Andrew McCarthy, it has Lacey Chabert. (Nov. 13; Netflix)
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT: This film from Payal Kapadia was the first Indian feature to compete at Cannes in 30 years; it won the Grand Jury Prize, effectively second place. It concerns two women (Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha) in Mumbai. One has a husband living abroad; the other is navigating an interfaith relationship that she strives to keep quiet. (Nov. 15; in theaters)
ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATE: The rocket man himself recalls how he soared to stardom in this documentary, shot during preparations for his 2022 shows at Dodger Stadium, purportedly his final North American concerts. (Nov. 15 in theaters, Dec. 13 on Disney+)
GHOST CAT ANZU: Anzu is a big, fluffy, animated talking cat whose antics give Garfield a run for his money in this anime favorite from the festival circuit. (Nov. 15; in theaters)
RED ONE: The world’s top tracker (Chris Evans) and the North Pole’s security chief (Dwayne Johnson) reluctantly team up to rescue Red One, aka Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons), from kidnappers. Lucy Liu also stars. (Nov. 15; in theaters)
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ALLEE WILLIS: Did you know the same songwriter had a hand in both the “Friends” theme song and Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September”? Allee Willis, that songwriter, who died in 2019, gets a tribute in this documentary. (Nov. 15; in theaters)
NIGHT IS NOT ETERNAL: Documentarian Nanfu Wang trails Rosa María Payá, a Cuban pro-democracy activist whose father, the dissident Oswaldo Payá, was killed by the Cuban government, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. (Nov. 19; Max)
THE MERRY GENTLEMEN: Instead of fruitcake, a bar and performance space puts beefcake on the Christmas menu. Britt Robertson stars as a woman who tries to save her parents’ business with a holiday male revue. (Nov. 20; Netflix)ARMOR: Sylvester Stallone plays the top muscle of a group trying to rob an armored truck on a bridge. Jason Patric plays one of the truck’s drivers. (Nov. 22; in theaters and on demand)
THE BLACK SEA: Crystal Moselle (“The Wolfpack”) and Derrick B. Harden directed this tale of a Brooklyn man (Harden) stranded in an Eastern European town. (Nov. 22; in theaters)
BREAD & ROSES: Three women fight to keep their rights and their dignity in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan in this documentary, which counts Jennifer Lawrence as a producer and Malala Yousafzai as an executive producer. (Nov. 22; in theaters and on Apple TV+)
ERNEST COLE: LOST AND FOUND: With his 1967 book, “House of Bondage,” South African photographer Ernest Cole drew international attention to images of apartheid. Raoul Peck directed this biographical documentary. (Nov. 22; in theaters)
FLOW: In the wake of a flood, a cat, a lemur, a bird, a dog and a capybara(!) board a boat for destinations unknown in this animated festival breakout, Latvia’s submission for the international-feature Oscar. (Nov. 22; in theaters)
GLADIATOR II: Ridley Scott’s belated sequel to “Gladiator” brings sharks and a rhino to the Colosseum — along with a new cast, including Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington. (Nov. 22; in theaters)
JOY: This film tells the story of how pioneers Robert Edwards (James Norton), Patrick Steptoe (Bill Nighy) and Jean Purdy (Thomasin McKenzie) completed the work that led to the birth of the first IVF baby in 1978. (Nov. 22; Netflix)
THE PIANO LESSON: Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington reprise the roles they played on Broadway — an uncle and his nephew in a family torn over the fate of a piano — in this adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer-winning play. Danielle Deadwyler joins them. Malcolm Washington (John David’s brother) directed. (Nov. 22; Netflix)
PORCELAIN WAR: A prizewinner at Sundance, this documentary follows the experiences of three artists during the war in Ukraine. (Nov. 22; in theaters)
SABBATH QUEEN: Over 20 years, Sandi DuBowski shot this portrait of Amichai Lau-Lavie, who went from artist and drag performer to rabbi, a job that generations of his ancestors had held. (Nov. 22; in theaters)
SPELLBOUND: When her parents are turned into monsters, Ellian (voiced by Rachel Zegler) has to save the day in this animated adventure. Vicky Jenson (“Shrek”) directed. Alan Menken and Glenn Slater did the songs. (Nov. 22; Netflix)
A TRAVELER’S NEEDS: After winning a major prize at Berlin this year, prolific director Hong Sang-soo drolly suggested that he didn’t know what the jury had seen in the film. It stars Isabelle Huppert as a woman in South Korea with a peculiar approach to teaching French. (Nov. 22; in theaters)
WICKED: Cynthia Erivo (as Elphaba) and Ariana Grande (as Glinda) try to defy the recent box-office gravity for musicals in this adaptation of the long-running Broadway smash, a “Wizard of Oz” origin story. Jon M. Chu directed what is planned as the first of two movies. (Nov. 22; in theaters)
WITCHES: Drawing on her own brush with a psychiatric ward after the birth of a child, director Elizabeth Sankey looks at the intersections of new motherhood and depictions of witchcraft throughout history. (Nov. 22; Mubi)
MARIA: Chilean director Pablo Larraín completes the loose trilogy that began with “Jackie” and “Spencer” with this biopic about the last days of Maria Callas, played by Angelina Jolie. (Nov. 27 in theaters, Dec. 11 on Netflix)
MOANA 2: There’s just no telling how far she’ll go. Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho) ventures a great distance in this sequel to the 2016 animated hit; Dwayne Johnson is back as well. Lin-Manuel Miranda didn’t do the songs, however; the music is by Abigail Barlow, Emily Bear, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina. (Nov. 27; in theaters)
OUR LITTLE SECRET: Lindsay Lohan and Ian Harding are exes who by coincidence end up dating siblings and must spend Christmas together. Kristin Chenoweth also stars. Stephen Herek directed. (Nov. 27; Netflix)
QUEER: Director Luca Guadagnino and screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes’ second feature this year, after “Challengers,” is an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novel. The movie stars Daniel Craig as the Burroughs stand-in Lee, a drug-addicted American in Mexico who begins a relationship with a younger man (Drew Starkey). (Nov. 27; in theaters)
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG: Mohammad Rasoulof attended the Cannes premiere of his film in May less than two weeks after announcing on Instagram that he had escaped Iran, where he had been sentenced to prison for his filmmaking. The movie is a drama about the political tensions in a family after the father is appointed an investigating judge. (Nov. 27; in theaters)
NUTCRACKERS: Ben Stiller plays an uncle who isn’t parentally inclined but abruptly becomes the guardian for his nephews. Linda Cardellini also stars. (Nov. 29; Hulu)
SEPTEMBER 5: A TV team covering the 1972 Summer Olympics shifts course when Israeli athletes are taken hostage. With John Magaro, Leonie Benesch and Peter Sarsgaard as ABC Sports chief Roone Arledge. (Nov. 29; in theaters)
DECEMBER
BREWSTER’S MILLIONS: CHRISTMAS: In a take on a premise that’s been used in movies since at least 1914 (Richard Pryor and Fatty Arbuckle headlined earlier versions), a woman can’t inherit a fortune until she helps others. China Anne McClain stars, alongside Pryor’s son Richard Jr. and daughter Rain. (Dec. 5; BET+)
THE END: Documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer turns to fiction filmmaking — with a musical, no less, for which he wrote the lyrics. Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon and George MacKay play members of a privileged family that has survived an apocalypse in a bunker. Moses Ingram also stars. The music is by Joshua Schmidt. (Dec. 6; in theaters)
GET AWAY: Nick Frost (“Hot Fuzz”) stars in and wrote this tongue-in-cheek horror film, in which a family does its best to ignore the “Wicker Man”-style proceedings on their Swedish island vacation. (Dec. 6; in theaters)
HARD TRUTHS: Nearly 30 years after “Secrets & Lies,” Mike Leigh reunites with Marianne Jean-Baptiste, a star of that film. Here, she plays Pansy, a woman with an almost unrelenting streak of anger and hostility. Her sister (Michele Austin) wonders why she can’t enjoy life, a question that hangs over the film. (Dec. 6; in theaters)
LAKE GEORGE: A would-be hit man (Shea Whigham) goes into (crime) business with his ostensible target (Carrie Coon). (Dec. 6; in theaters and on demand)
MARY: Yes, that Mary. Noa Cohen plays the mother of Christ; Anthony Hopkins plays King Herod. D.J. Caruso directed. (Dec. 6; Netflix)
NIGHTBITCH: Amy Adams is a mother who gets in touch with newly discovered canine instincts in this adaptation of the novel by Rachel Yoder. Scoot McNairy and Jessica Harper co-star; Marielle Heller directed. (Dec. 6; in theaters)
OH, CANADA: It’s Paul Schrader’s second time working with Richard Gere, the star of his “American Gigolo,” and his second time adapting a novel by Russell Banks, after “Affliction.” Gere plays a dying documentarian taking stock of his life, which included leaving his family for Canada, ostensibly to avoid service in Vietnam. Jacob Elordi and Uma Thurman also star. (Dec. 6; in theaters)
THE RETURN: To fully embody Odysseus, Ralph Fiennes spent 10 years sailing the Mediterranean, evading Sirens and tricking a real-life Cyclops. Well, no, but this film concerns Mr. O’s long-delayed return to Penelope (Juliette Binoche). Uberto Pasolini directed. (Dec. 6; in theaters)
THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT: Kerry Washington plays Maj. Charity Adams, who during World War II became the first Black commanding officer in the Women’s Army Corps to be deployed to an active war site. Tyler Perry wrote and directed this historical drama, which features Oprah Winfrey. (Dec. 6 in theaters, Dec. 20 on Netflix)
UNSTOPPABLE: Longtime editor William Goldenberg turns to directing with this biopic of champion NCAA wrestler Anthony Robles, who was born without a right leg. Jharrel Jerome, Bobby Cannavale and Michael Peña star. (Dec. 6 in theaters, Jan. 16 on Amazon Prime Video)
Y2K: Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler and — in his second role of the year, after “I Saw the TV Glow” — Limp Bizkit’s frontman, Fred Durst, star in this throwback comedy, set on the last night of 1999, when all our computers reset to 1900, and we went feral. Directed by Kyle Mooney, formerly of “Saturday Night Live.” (Dec. 6; in theaters)
KRAVEN THE HUNTER: Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays the titular Spider-Man nemesis in this origin story, the latest installment in Marvel’s ever-expanding web of Spidey sagas. Russell Crowe plays Kraven’s dad. Ariana DeBose also stars. (Dec. 13; in theaters)
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM’: Peter Jackson returns to Tolkien land — but strictly as executive producer. This animated feature is set more than a century before the other “Lord of the Rings” films at the fortress not yet known as Helm’s Deep. (Dec. 13; in theaters)
NICKEL BOYS: RaMell Ross took an unusual approach to adapting Colson Whitehead’s 2019 novel: He filmed most of the movie in point-of-view shots. Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson play teenagers who become friends at a vicious
reform school in Florida in the 1960s. (Dec. 13; in theaters)
WALLACE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL’: Wallace and Gromit — the beloved inventor and his pooch — are back. So is Feathers McGraw, the penguin who wears a fake rooster’s comb. Diabolical! (Dec. 18 in theaters, Jan. 3 on Netflix)
THE BRUTALIST: Running a brisk 3-1/2 hours (including intermission), and shot in VistaVision, Brady Corbet’s epic follows the travails of a Hungarian Jewish architect (Adrien Brody) who arrives in the United States in 1947 and receives the commission of a lifetime from a mercurial industrialist (Guy Pearce). With Felicity Jones. (Dec. 20; in theaters)
MUFASA: THE LION KING: Why would Barry Jenkins, the director of “Moonlight” and “If Beale Street Could Talk,” want to make a prequel to “The Lion King”? “I just really wanted to do something different,” he told The New York Times this year, “and this was the most different thing I could do.” The movie, which uses photorealistic animation, tells the story of how the orphan Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) came to be king. Blue Ivy Carter and Kelvin Harrison Jr. also star. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the songs. (Dec. 20; in theaters)
THE ROOM NEXT DOOR: Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature stars Julianne Moore as an author who reunites with a friend (Tilda Swinton) who is dying of cancer. The film won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. (Dec. 20; in theaters)
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3: Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik was the highlight of the first movie, but he didn’t have to share screen time with Keanu Reeves, playing Shadow the Hedgehog. Such typecasting. (Dec. 20; in theaters)
BABYGIRL: Dear Ethicist: I am the chief executive of a successful tech company. I can’t give you my name, but let’s just say I’m played by Nicole Kidman, in a performance that earned an award at the Venice Film Festival and that the Times’ Kyle Buchanan said “reestablished her as one of our most fearless actresses.” Recently, I began an S&M affair with an intern played by Harris Dickinson. What do I tell my husband, played by Antonio Banderas? (Dec. 25; in theaters)
BETTER MAN: Because singer Robbie Williams always felt like a performing monkey, as the Times wrote in August, he is played in this biopic by a CGI chimp. Michael Gracey (“The Greatest Showman”) directed. (Dec. 25; in theaters)
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN: Can Timothée Chalamet nail Bob Dylan’s voice? He already has the hair. James Mangold directed this biopic, which also stars Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro (as Joan Baez) and Edward Norton (as Pete Seeger). (Dec. 25; in theaters)
THE FIRE INSIDE: Barry Jenkins wrote the screenplay for this biopic about boxer Claressa Shields, played by Ryan Destiny. Brian Tyree Henry also stars. Cinematographer Rachel Morrison directed. (Dec. 25; in theaters)
LOS FRIKIS: This life-based drama revolves around members of a punk subculture in Cuba in the early 1990s who sought to deliberately infect themselves with HIV to obtain admittance to a state sanitarium. Adrià Arjona, Héctor Medina and Eros de la Puente star. (Dec. 25; in theaters)
NOSFERATU: Can you revive something that’s undead? Robert Eggers updates the vampire lineage that gave us at least two great films, F.W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu” (1922) and Werner Herzog’s “Nosferatu the Vampyre” (1979). Bill Skarsgard embodies the bloodsucker. Willem Dafoe, who played Murnau’s star, Max Schreck, in “Shadow of the Vampire,” here shifts to a professorial role. (Dec. 25; in theaters)
VERMIGLIO: During World War II, the arrival of a deserter upends the life of a family in an Alpine village. Maura Delpero’s drama won the Grand Jury Prize (second place) at Venice. (Dec. 25; in theaters)
SANTOSH: Newly widowed, the title character assumes her husband’s duties as a police officer and winds up investigating the murder of a girl from a low caste. Sandhya Suri wrote and directed this feature, which, despite the Indian setting, is the British entry for the international-feature Oscar. (Dec. 27; in theaters)