The fall festival season is upon us. I’ve narrowed down the hundreds upon hundreds of films that will likely screen in September (and October) at Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York to the bare essentials. The result is 30 movies that show great promise, from esteemed filmmaker like Inarritu, Baumbach, Spielberg, Field, Aronofsky, Dominik, Schrader, McDonagh, Guadagnino, and Panahi. Of note: This list will likely get updated when Telluride and Toronto announce. I don’t think there are many big missing titles, but we welcome surprises.
1) “Bardo” (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) — Venice, Telluride
“Bardo” is a Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s semi-autobiographical film that will likely, and unfairly, be compared to “Roma.” It’s “a work of personal bravado” as someone put it to me over the weekend. This could wind up being the BIG movie of the fall festival season. Not much is known about the film, only that it will dissect contemporary issues of the world via the lenses of Inarritu’s home country of Mexico. This is the Mexican director’s first film since 2015’s “The Revenant.”
2) “White Noise” (Noah Baumbach) — Venice, NYFF
Is it ready? Is it not ready? IT’S READY! Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise” is said to be his most ambitious film to date. A 100+ million adaptation of Don DeLillo’s unfilmable novel. Twitter is already ranting about it — is Adam Driver playing a Nazi? Is it a white supremacist film? Just ignore that chatter. Driver plays a Hitler scholar who freewheelingly quotes the Fuhrer at gatherings, Greta Gerwig plays his wife. The film is said to be filled with long takes. A source tells me it’s a maddening vision of the world. You just know this is going to be great.
3) “The Fablemans” (Steven Spielberg) — Toronto
If you want to catch the first screening of Steven Spielberg’s “The Fablemans” then you’ll have to travel to Toronto in September to do so. The film will have Spielberg recounting his childhood in Arizona, including his sneaking into studio lots to meet his idols (the rumor is that David Lynch will be playing an eye-patched John Ford). Michelle Williams and Paul Dano will be playing Spielberg’s parents. Seth Rogan will play the Uncle.
4) “TÁR” (Todd Field) — Venice, Telluride, NYFF
Todd Field’s first film in over 16 years is said to have buzz “reaching operatic levels.” The recently-released teaser sure whet our appetites. This intellectual drama stars Cate Blanchett and tells the story of world-renowned Musician Lydia Tár, who is days away from recording the symphony that will take her to the very heights of her already formidable career. It could be one of very few movies this year to go to Telluride, Toronto, Venice and New York.
5) “The Whale” (Darren Aronofsky) — Venice, Toronto
Darren Aronofsky’s latest stars Brendan Fraser as a 600-hundred-pound recluse hiding away from the world and slowly eating himself to death. Talk about an insane concept. The film is based on Samuel D. Hunter’s divisive play. Fraser is said to be Oscar-worthy. Aronofsky is coming off the polarizing hysteria of his last film, 2017’s “mother!” It’ll have a big splashy world premiere at Venice and then will likely go on to screen at the other top fests.
6) “Blonde” (Andrew Dominik) — Venice
After a year’s delay, Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe biopic is ready. A near three hour dissection of the Norma Jean myth that will surely anger some, but, hopefully, exhilarate others. Ana De Armas stars as the tragic actress. There have are already been complaints about her “weak accent” in the trailer. Know what? Trust Dominik. Here’s a filmmaker, a major talent, ready to swing for the fences. Rated NC-17, with a rumoured battle for final cut with Netflix, “Blonde” should be seen as nothing short of a fall movie event.
7) “The Son” (Florian Zeller) — Venice, Toronto
Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern star in Florian Zeller’s sophomore effort. After his triumphant Oscar-winning “The Father,” Zeller adapts his own acclaimed stage play which follows a family as it falls apart and tries to come back together. The filmmaker also has a stage play called “The Mother.” Who wants to bet that’ll be his next feature film? A sort of Bergman-esque spiritual trilogy is taking shape here. Venice quickly snatched this one up for its World Premiere.
8) “Women Talking” (Sarah Polley) — Toronto, Telluride, NYFF
Who will snatch up the world premiere of Polley’s much-anticipated #MeToo film? Last we heard, Toronto, Venice and Telluride were all trying to lure Polley. “Women Talking” has an incredible cast that includes Frances McDormand, Claire Foy, Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, and Ben Whishaw. The film centers on an isolated Mennonite religious colony in Bolivia as the women struggle with their faith in God after a string of sexual assaults committed by the colony’s men.
9) “The Master Gardener” (Paul Schrader) — Venice, NYFF
Paul Schrader’s upcoming crime thriller stars Joel Edgerton as the gardener of an American estate who is forced to confront his dark past. He panders to his employer, a wealthy widow (Sigourney Weaver). When she demands that he take on her wayward and troubled great niece, dark secrets from a buried violent past start to get unlocked.” Will “The Master Gardener” complete Schrader’s Bresson trilogy? An early reaction seems to indicate that to be the case.
10) “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Martin McDonagh) — Venice, Toronto
After a brief stint in serious drama with “Three Billboards in Ebbing Missouri,” Martin McDonagh returns to his dark comedy roots with ‘Banshees.’ The film reunites McDonagh with his “In Bruges” stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. Both actors play friends who live on a remote Irish isle and whose relationship is turned upside down after one of them abruptly ends the friendship, which results in “alarming circumstances for both.”
11) “Bones and All” (Luca Gudagnino) — Venice, Telluride, NYFF
If you remember, Guadagnino’s last film was the polarizing “Suspiria.” It was a major change of pace for the Italian filmmaker who made a career out of summery, romantic and Italian-set films — “Suspiria” was a straight-up surrealist horror film. “Bones and All” seems to be a continuity of Guadagnino trying to distance himself from his earlier films as it blends the road movie genre with … cannibalism?
12) “Empire of Light” (Sam Mendes) — Toronto, Telluride
With director Sam Mendes you just never know what you’re going to get. The British filmmaker does tend to hit the mark, more so than not (“American Beauty,” “Skyfall,” “Road to Perdition,” “1917”). He’s also had his fair share of duds (“Spectre,” “Jarhead,” “Away We Go”). Something tells me “Empire of Light” will belong in the former category. Starring Olivia Colman and Colin Firth, the film is said to be a love story set in an English coastal cinema during the 1980s.
13) “She Said” (Maria Schrader) — NYFF
Maria Schrader’s “She Said” test-screened in the east coast last month to a few favourable reactions. The film is based on the book by Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, the reporting duo who exposed Weinstein in the New York Times, this created a domino effect and kickstarted the #MeToo movement. Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan portray Twohey and Kantor, respectively. Will it be an enlightening film or one that feels like total Hollywood hypocrisy?
14) “The Good Nurse” (Tobias Lindholm) — Toronto
We’ve heard very good things about this one. Eddie Redmayne stars alongside Jessica Chastain in the upcoming Netflix-distributed film. A sure bet premiere for TIFF. And don’t let the title mislead you, this is the story of real-life criminal Charlie Cullen (Redmayne), the “good” nurse of the title. Cullen, was actually known as the “Angel of Death,” and regarded as one of the most prolific serial killers in history, responsible for the deaths of almost 300 of his patients. Chastain plays Cullen’s co-worker at the hospital, and fellow nurse who started to suspect Cullen’s nefarious ways.
15) “The Wonder” (Sebastián Lelio) — Toronto, Telluride
A tale of two strangers who transform each other’s lives. Fronted by the ever-brilliant Florence Pugh and Niamh Algar, Lelio’s mysterious thriller pits love against evil. Ciarán Hinds, an Oscar nominee for “Belfast,” and Toby Jones also star. Lelio, an underrated filmmaker, is coming off a successful arthouse venture remaking his “Gloria” with Julianne Moore in 2019, it’ll be great to see him back making original stories again.
16) “Till” (Chinonye Chukwu) — NYFF
Buzz is growing for this racially-charged biopic, which is so far the only New York Film Festival premiere on this list. It tackles Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler), an American educator and activist who pursued justice after the 1955 lynching of her 14-year-old son Emmett Till (Jalyn Hall). Test-screenings have also gone very well, with the word “intense” having been uttered a few times. Chukwu wrote and directed the Sundance-winning “Clemency” and although I wasn’t a fan of the film itself, it was exceptionally well-shot by her.
17) “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” (Peter Farrelly) — Toronto
Peter Farrelly is set to world premiere his latest at TIFF. If you remember, the filmmaker’s “Green Book” also had its debut in Toronto, and that film went on to win the Best Picture Oscar. “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” is set in 1967, and revolves around a man leaving New York for Vietnam to bring beer to his childhood buddies in the Army while they are fighting the war. The film stars Russell Crowe, Zac Efron, and (gulp) Bill Murray.
18) “Don’t Worry Darling” (Olivia Wilde) — Venice
Olivia Wilde is clearly going for a social commentary here. With a “Stepford Wives” vibe added for good measure. The “Booksmart” filmmaker raised more than a few eyebrows at CinemaCon by comparing her film to “Inception”, “The Matrix” and “The Truman Show.” Talk about raising expectations. However, if you’ve read the screenplay, which has been on the famous Hollywood blacklist for a few years now, then you “get” why Wilde would compare “Don’t Worry Darling” to those films.
19) “BROS” (Nicholas Stoller) — Toronto
Nicolas Stoller’s “BROS” will be a TIFF world premiere. Word-of-Mouth for this comedy, produced by Judd Apatow, has been exceptional. The film follows two men, with commitment problems, taking a crack at serious relationships. I’m being told an Oscar screenplay nod is not out of the realm of possibilities when it comes to this film.
20) “No Bears” (Jafar Panahi) — Venice, Toronto, NYFF
Recently incarcerated Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has a new film that’s set to premiere at Venice in September. The film follows two parallel love stories in which the partners are thwarted by hidden, inevitable obstacles, the force of superstition, and the mechanics of power. That’s all we know about “No Bears”, but Panahi’s impressive filmography is more than enough to get us very excited about this latest film.
21) “The Eternal Daughter” (Joanna Hogg) — Venice, Toronto, NYFF
British filmmaker Joanna Hogg follows-up her two critically acclaimed ‘Souvenir’ movies with the A24-produced “The Eternal Daughter.” Once again reuniting with Tilda Swinton and A24, this latest film is said to be a ghost story — shot in secret during lockdown — and produced by Martin Scorsese. Following a middle-aged daughter and her elderly mother who must confront long-buried secrets of their past, this one is sure to be a true original.
22) “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Rian Johnson) — Toronto
It was announced that Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” will have its world premiere at TIFF in September. The first installement, released in 2019, was quite entertaining and Johnson proved again to be a wonderful mainstream filmmaker. In the sequel, Daniel Craig’s Detective Benoit Blanc returns and travels to Greece to take on a new case with a variety of suspects. The cast is great, safe for Craig, it includes Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn and a buzzy performance from Janelle Monáe.
23) “Dead For A Dollar” (Walter Hill) — Venice
80-year-old Walter Hill, one of the most underrated directors of his generation, is back with a solid lineup of actors that include Christophe Waltz, Willem Dafoe, and Rachel Brosnahan. Set in 1897, in New Mexico Territory, Chihuahua, the story has a bounty hunter hired to find the politically progressive wife of a businessman, who is allegedly being held for ransom in Mexico by Elijah Jones, an African American army deserter.
24) “Athena” (Roman Gavras) — Venice
Many are already positioning Roman Gavras’ “Athena” as a potential Best International Film nominee for next year’s Oscar race. Heralding from France, why didn’t it go to Cannes then? Quite simply, because it’s Netflix movie. Bound to be compared to “La Haine,” Gavras film tackles a youngest brother’s tragic death and his two siblings’ vow for revenge as their lives get thrown into chaos.
25) “All The Beauty and the Bloodshed” (Laura Poitras) — Venice, NYFF, Toronto
Laura Poitras will debut “All The Beauty and the Bloodshed”at the fall fests. The film is said to tackle the American opioid epidemic via the eyes of “photographer Nan Goldin’s battle against the notorious big-pharma Sackler family.” The film is Poitras’ first feature since 2016’s “Risk.” It will be in competition at Venice, a rarity for a job-fiction film.
26) “Eileen” (William Oldroyd)
Watch out for William Oldroyd’s “Eileen.” The film stars Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie and is said to revolve around “a woman’s friendship with a new co-worker at the prison facility where she works. Then things takes a sinister turn.” I was won over with Oldroyd’s debut feature, 2017’s “Lady Macbeth,” so much so that I decided to interview him during that fall’s TIFF.
27) “Wendell & Wild” (Henry Selick) — Toronto
Two scheming demon brothers, Wendell and Wild, must face their arch-nemesis, the demon-dusting nun Sister Helly, and her two acolytes, the goth teens Kat and Raul. Selick’s “Wendell & Wild” could maybe build up an overdue Oscar narrative for the maestro. This is an American stop-motion animated dark-fantasy comedy-horror film, based on a script by Selick and Jordan Peele.
28) “The Inspection” (Elegance Bratton) — Toronto, NYFF
The New York Film Festival has selected Elegance Bratton‘s “The Inspection” as the closing night film of its upcoming 60th edition. Bratton is primarily known for non-fiction, especially the documentary “Pier Kids”, and the Viceland series “My House.” This is his first narrative feature, and is based on Bratton’s own experiences as a gay man in Marine Corps basic training after a decade living on the streets.
29) “Saint Omer” (Alice Diop) — Venice, Toronto, NYFF
Going to TIFF, NYFF and Venice is Alice Diop’s much-anticipated fiction debut “Saint Omer.” Hailing from France, Diop tells the story of Rama, a novelist who attends the trial of Laurence Coly at the Saint-Omer Criminal Court. Rama uses Laurence’s story to write a modern-day adaptation of the ancient myth of Medea, but things don’t go as expected.
30) “Un Couple” (Frederick Wiseman) — NYFF, Venice, Toronto
Known for his lengthy 3+ hour documentaries, the legendary Frederick Wiseman is back in fiction, directing an 64-minute movie about a long term relationship between a man and a woman. The man is Leo Tolstoy. The woman is his wife, Sophia. They were married for 36 years, had 13 children nine of whom survived. Each kept a diary. Contribute Hire me
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