Film Festival Roundup: Best & Worst Films at TIFF, Venice, and Telluride 2024

The winners

Venice prizes are awarded by a jury (this year led by actress Isabelle Huppert), while the Toronto award is voted on by festvial audiences. Nevertheless, history suggests the latter is actually the more significant honor, as the TIFF People's Choice Winner is all but guaranteed an Oscar Best Picture nomination.

TIFF People's Choice Award Winner
tbd The Life of Chuck

Drama/Fantasy/Sci-fi | USA | dir. Mike Flanagan

After Gerald's Game and Doctor Sleep, writer-director Mike Flanagan takes on a third Stephen King adaptation, but one with a distinctly different tone. Following the novella's structure, this life-affirming story of Charles Krantz (played by Tom Hiddleston and Jacob Tremblay, among others) is told in reverse (beginning with Act III) and narrated by Nick Offerman. The film begins in an apocalyptic world with a school teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and a nurse (Karen Gillan) wondering why they keep seeing "Thanks Chuck!" billboards everywhere. Then it transitions into the second act, which features Hiddleston and an elaborate dance number, and then to Chuck as a young man being raised by his grandparents (Mia Sara and Mark Hamill). Critics were split on the film's effectiveness, with C.J. Prince of The Film Stage finding this "shallow, offensive escapism" too sweet, adding, "There's a difference between sugar and high-fructose corn syrup." Writing for IGN, A.A. Dowd believes it's "less an adaptation, ultimately, than a glorified book on tape from a talented King superfan." But the film did have its strong defenders. In his review for Collider, Jason Gerber declares Flanagan's film a "stunner" and a "deeply heartfelt, glorious thing," and TheWrap's Chase Hutchinson thinks it's "one of the best modern Stephen King adaptations one could hope for," and for Flanagan, "his best film yet."

The Life of Chuck was a surprise selection for the People's Choice Award, beating out buzzy titles like Anora and Emilia Perez (which finished as the runners-up for the award) as well as higher-profile films like Saturday Night and The Room Next Door and likelier Oscar-ready films like The Brutalist and The Piano Lesson. Can Chuck parlay its win here into an Oscar best picture nomination, or will it be the first TIFF winner since 2011 not to do so?

More TIFF Awards
TIFF also hands out a pair of additional People's Choice honors. The People's Choice Midnight Madness Award, for the best film in that genre-heavy section of the festival, went to Coralie Fargeat's The Substance, a horror film starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley that debuted at Cannes earlier this year and received excellent reviews there. (It actually opens in theaters this week.) And the People's Choice Documentary Award went to The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, a rockumentary about the beloved Canadian band.

Venice Golden Lion (1st Place) Winner
tbd The Room Next Door

Drama | Spain | dir. Pedro Almodóvar
Opens in theaters on December 20

Pedro Almodóvar won the Golden Lion (top prize) at this year's Venice Film Festival for his first English-language feature, an adaptation of Sigrid Nunez's novel What Are You Going Through. Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton star as Ingrid and Martha, two estranged friends who reunite as Martha's life nears its end. For Vulture's Alison Willmore, it's an "alternately rapturous and ponderous meditation on mortality," and THR critic David Rooney claims that "without two such accomplished lead actors, it's doubtful this would work at all." But Time's Stephanie Zacharek declares, "If it's possible to make a joyful movie about death, Almodóvar has just done it." And in his review for The Daily Beast, Barry Levitt labels Room an "achingly tender movie" that is "often poetic and uplifting." Natalia Keogan of The AV Club believes it's "another wonderful entry among Almodóvar's filmography, even if it doesn 't rank among his strongest works." And Time Out's Kaleem Aftab writes, "This is Almodóvar's America and it's a delight."

Venice Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize (2nd Place) Winner
tbd Vermiglio

Drama | Italy/France/Belgium | dir. Maura Delpero

Italian writer-director Maura Delpero won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize (second place) at the Venice Film Festival for this portrait of a rural village in the Italian Alps, and specifically, the large Graziadei family led by patriarch Cesare (Tommaso Ragno). Set at the end of World War II, Delpero eventually narrows her sensitive gaze on the eldest daughter, Lucia (Martina Scrinzi), who falls for Pietro (Giuseppe De Domenico), a Sicilian soldier who deserted his company and is hiding in the village. In his review for Screen Daily, Boyd van Hoeij finds it "beautifully shot" and "both authentic and almost restrained to a fault." And The Film Verdict's Deborah Young wishes for a "more emotional and convincing ending" for this "sometimes amusing but rarely emotional" feature. However, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian declares Vermiglio a "movie which inhabits its own universe with ease and calm but also widens it to include the audience who are inducted into its mysteries." And Variety critic Jessica Kiang believes this "quietly breathtaking" film "unfolds from tiny tactile details of furnishings and fabrics and the hide of a dairy cow, into a momentous vision of everyday rural existence in the high Italian Alps."

Sideshow and Janus Films jointly picked up the North American rights to Vermiglio following its Venice win and will release the film in theaters this fall.

Best of the festivals

Below are additional titles generating the most positive buzz at this year's festivals. That's followed by a list of the remaining notable festival debuts, and then by a recap of this year's duds. Note that any films which previously debuted at other festivals (such as buzzy titles Anora and Emilia Perez) are excluded, though you can read about them in our Cannes and Sundance roundups. Also excluded are festival films that have already opened in theaters prior to the publication of this article—a group that includes Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

tbd Apocalypse in the Tropics

Documentary | Brazil/USA/Denmark | dir. Petra Costa and Moara Passoni

Petra Costa's sequel to her Oscar-nominated documentary The Edge of Democracy examines the influence of the Christian evangelical movement on Brazil's government, especially during the rise of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Writing for IndieWire, Guilherme Jacobs believes "depth is exchanged for ease of access," by Costa, resulting in "something made to gain admiration with those unfamiliar with the country." For The Film Verdict's Stephen Dalton, Costa "brings a fresh dimension to this still-raw story." Jonathan Romney of Screen Daily declares it an "important study," while THR critic Jordan Mintzer finds this "eye-opening exposé" to be "riveting" due to Costa's ability to "constantly shifts between the epic and the intimate, the macro and the micro."

tbd April

Drama | Italy/France/Georgia | dir. Dea Kulumbegashvili

Writer-director Dea Kulumbegashvili took home the Special Jury Prize at Venice for her follow-up to her award-winning debut feature Beginning. The director reunites with that film's lead actress, Ia Sukhitashvili, to tell the story of Nina, a respected OB-GYN who faces an investigation after she delivers a stillborn baby. Writing for Screen Daily, Wendy Ide warns that "April is a formidable, defiantly esoteric work. It demands considerable investment from the audience, but does repay it." For IndieWire critic David Ehrlich, it's a "remarkable and shudderingly unresolved" film full of "rugged poetry." And The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw believes the "high arthouse influences are still detectable, but Kulumbegashvili has mastered and absorbed them and has an evolving film-language of her own." Savina Petkova of The Film Stage agrees, declaring it a film "without any predecessors or useful comparison-companions, a truly singular example of a cinematic mystery" that "confirms Kulumbegashvili as an assured visionary unafraid to engage with ambivalence and radical opacity." Lastly, Variety critic Guy Lodge thinks it's "both a work of controlled formal rigor and unleashed, often overwhelming human feeling," making "good on the colossal promise of Kulumbegashvili's 2020 debut."

tbd Babygirl

Drama/Thriller | USA | dir. Halina Reijn
Opens in theaters on December 25

Writer-director Halina Reijn's follow-up to Bodies Bodies Bodies stars Nicole Kidman as Romy, a high-powered CEO who risks her career and family (Antonio Banderas plays her husband) when she begins an affair with Samuel, an intern played by Harris Dickinson. Kidman won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for an emotionally and physically vulnerable performance that THR's David Rooney describes as "spectacular" as she swings "from outrage to fear to ravenously lustful consent" in a film that is "sexy, dark and unpredictable, with a tone that mixes tension and caustic humor." Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair finds Babygirl "at once sly and loopy," but what "is decidedly clear, consistent, and declarative in the film is the force of seeing Kidman venture down yet another new avenue." Vulture critic Alison Willmore sees "not a tale of punishment, but an adventure into self-discovery that's unabashedly indulgent but always surprising." And in her review for The Film Stage, Savina Petkova praises Halina Reijn for "making a third feature that is as close to perfection as can be," because it "pays attention to sex. The mood, the boundaries, the mistakes, the ecstasy of it all feed into its melodramatic streaks. Most of all, Halina Reijn has inaugurated a new era of the erotic movie."

tbd The Brutalist

Drama | UK | dir. Brady Corbet

Brady Corbet won the Venice Film Festival's Silver Lion for Best Director for his third feature (following The Childhood of a Leader and Vox Lux), a three-hour-plus epic (with intermission) chronicling the post-WWII life of architect László Tóth (Adrien Brody). Tóth's life, and that of his wife (Felicity Jones), is forever altered when he begins to work for a wealthy client (Guy Pearce) and his son (Joe Alwyn). Written with his partner, filmmaker Mona Fastvold (The World to Come), and shot on 70mm, The Brutalist is "cinema as monument – but also teeming human enterprise," according to The Telegraph's Robbie Collin, who believes Brody is "tremendous." Writing for The Daily Beast, Barry Levitt echoes those thoughts, "This film is monumental. It's thrilling and emotional, quiet and observant, loud and furious." And The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw declares it an "amazing and engrossing epic" with "thrilling directness and storytelling force, a movie that fills its widescreen and three-and-a half-hour running time with absolute certainty and ease, as well as glorious amplitude, clarity and even simplicity." Time Out critic Phil de Semlyen believes it's "a major work of art that asks something from its audience but gives back in spades," and in his review for Rolling Stone, David Fear writes, "If it's not a new Great American Masterpiece™, the kind that takes advantage of what the medium has to offer, it's as close to one as we're likely to get in 2024."

A24 picked up North American rights to the film (for nearly $10 million) following its Venice premiere but has not yet announced a release date.

tbd Conclave

Drama/Thriller | USA/UK | dir. Edward Berger
Opens in theaters on November 1

Director Edward Berger's follow-up to his award-winning adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front is a drama set almost entirely inside the Vatican. Adapted by Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) from the novel by Robert Harris, the twist-filled story stars Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence, the man picked to oversee the selection of a new Pope. The cardinals vying for the job include John Lithgow's Tremblay, Stanley Tucci's Bellini, Lucian Msamati's Adeyemi, and Sergio Castellitto's Tedesco. Isabella Rossellini plays a nun with knowledge and a a part to play in the proceedings. EW's Maureen Lee Lenker believes Conclave to be an "impeccably crafted thriller," and Variety critic Peter Debruge thinks it is "one of those rare films that respects the audience's attention, even as it sneaks a few tricks behind their backs." IndieWire's David Ehrlich is a little less enthusiastic, finding it "very silly but wonderfully staged" and "never dull," while admitting it's "far too entertaining to dismiss in a puff of white smoke, even if the film might be a bit too convinced of its own dramatic import." Writing for The A.V. Club, Tomris Laffly declares it a "gradually swelling, deeply intellectual, and unexpectedly fun political thriller" that is "among the very best films of the year."

tbd Familiar Touch

Drama | USA | dir. Sarah Friedland

Sarah Friedland won Best Director in the Horizon section of the Venice Film Festival and the Luigi de Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Feature for this portrait of an elderly woman (Horizon Best Actress winner Kathleen Chalfant) transitioning to assisted living and dealing with new relationships along with an ever-shifting memory and sense of self. Screen Daily's Wendy Ide sees a "profound tenderness" and "rare empathy" in this "small but powerful picture," and Vulture critic Alison Willmore finds the "delicacy" of Chalfant's performance to be "astounding." Rory O'Connor of The Film Stage believes it's a "wonderfully gentle piece of filmmaking," and Variety's Guy Lodge finds this "straightforwardly structured character study, humane but not sentimental" and "as sharp as it is soft, conveys both the terror of losing the life you recognize, and the intermittent, fragmented joy of finding it again."

tbd The Fire Inside

Comedy/Drama | USA | dir. Rachel Morrison
Opens in theaters on December 25

Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison (Mudbound) makes her feature directing debut with the true story of Claressa Shields (Ryan Destiny), a high school junior from Flint, Michigan who, with the help of her coach, Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry), becomes the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing. Written by Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), "It's a solid debut for Morrison and a star-making turn for Destiny with a message for girls and boys to know their worth and never settle," according to Jared Mubarak of The Film Stage. At IndieWire, critic Kate Erbland believes the "choice to focus far beyond the genre-friendly rise of a star is refreshing," and Screen Rant's Mae Abdulbaki declares The Fire Inside a "moving biopic that is full of humanity and depth."

tbd Friendship

Comedy | USA | dir. Andrew DeYoung

TV comedy (PEN15, Our Flag Means Death) director Andrew DeYoung's debut feature is "frequently hilarious," according to IndieWire critic David Ehrlich, as it "stretches its star's comic schtick to multiplex dimensions in a movie that feels very much like a feature-length I Think You Should Leave sketch." That star is Tim Robinson, who plays suburban dad Craig Waterman (Kate Mara plays his wife) who becomes obsessed with pursuing a friendship with his new neighbor, local weatherman Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd). For THR's Michael Rechtshaffen, it's a "gleefully discomfiting portrait of male bonding that delivers some of the year's biggest laughs," and Christopher Schobert of The Film Stage claims it's a "hysterically funny, pitch-black comedy." The Daily Beast's Nick Schager declares it the "funniest movie of the year," and Ross Bonaime of Collider believes it's "ready to become the next great cult comedy hit."

tbd Hard Truths

Comedy/Drama | UK/Spain | dir. Mike Leigh

After two large-scale historical dramas Mr. Turner and Peterloo, writer-director Mike Leigh reunites with Marianne Jean-Baptiste, the star of his 1996 Palme d'Or winner Secrets & Lies, for this contemporary character study of Pansy, a caustic woman unable to find the happiness in life that comes so easily to her younger sister (Michele Austin). "Thanks to a stunning lead performance from Jean-Baptiste and an ending that doesn't take the easy way out, it is a must-watch," according to Screen Rant's Patrice Witherspoon. Writing for THR, Jon Frosch thinks Leigh "gets glorious performances from his lead actresses" in a film with "his trademark generosity, alongside his willingness to show people at their wince-inducing worst." Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson declares Jean-Baptiste's performance "dazzingly complex, bracing work," and in her review for the BBC, Caryn James praises Leigh's "brilliant new film" and Jean-Baptiste's "fierce and deeply-felt performance" that's "sure to be one of the best" of the year.

Bleecker Street will release the film in North American theaters in January (exact date tbd), likely following an awards-qualifying one-week run this fall.

tbd I'm Still Here

Drama | Brazil/France | dir. Walter Salles

Walter Salles (Central Station, The Motorcycle Diaries, On the Road) returns to his native Brazil to tell a very personal story based on the memoir of Marcelo Rubens Paiva, whom Salles knew as a young boy. Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega won Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival for their adaptation of Paiva's memoir which details his family's struggles during the years Brazil was controlled by a military dictatorship. The film focuses on Eunice Paiva (Fernanda Torres), Marcelo's mother, who had to keep the family together after the disappearance of his father, Rubens (Selton Mello). Savina Petkova of The Film Stage believes "Torres is stellar," but "Salles has somehow failed to find the right cinematic framework for this biopic storytelling. The film feels uncalibrated, but not in the free-flowing, depth-exploring, liberated kind of way." For The Guardian's Xan Brooks, it's a "sombre, heartfelt drama" but also an "imperfect, hobbled film." But THR critic David Rooney finds it "shattering," and a "gripping, profoundly touching film with a deep well of pathos" and "one of Salles' best." In her review for Variety, Jessica Kiang agrees, "Salles' deeply invested filmmaking is remarkable in its grace and naturalism," finding the film "classical in form but radical in empathy." Writing for Screen Daily, Wendy Ide adds, "Walter Salles' superb factually-based film ... is an an engrossing, affecting tribute to a formidable woman and her family."

Though rights to the film were sold (to Sony Pictures Classics) at Cannes in May, the film did not screen there but instead debuted in Venice. Sony has not yet announced a theatrical release date.

tbd Nickel Boys

Drama | USA | dir. RaMell Ross
Opens in theaters on October 25

Hale County This Morning, This Evening filmmaker RaMell Ross makes his narrative feature debut with this adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer-winning novel from 2019. In Nickel Boys, Elwood Curtis is sent to the Nickel Academy, a brutal reformatory school (based on Florida's Dozier School for Boys), where he forms an alliance with a Turner, a boy who has seen it all. Ross takes a daring formal risk by shooting the film from the perspective of the characters. It's a gamble that worked for most critics, but not for Variety's Peter Debruge, who admits Ross "finds fresh colors in such a rigidly codified genre, turning a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel into a minimalist tone poem," but it eventually "unravels as its multiple perspectives and timelines blur, getting lost in digressions." Writing for The AV Club, Tomris Laffly is more positive, finding the film "groundbreaking ... poetic and visionary," one that "fiercely wears its heart and artistic intentions on its sleeve." And THR's Lovia Gyarke believes it's an "arresting narrative debut" in which "Ross takes a risk and it pays off." For IndieWire critic David Ehrlich, Nickel Boys is a "rare testament to the transformative potential of cinematic adaptation (Ross co-wrote the script with Joslyn Barnes), and a staggeringly beautiful reminder that America's most enduring narratives are only subject to change when people are invited to look at them in a different light."

tbd Pavements

Documentary/Music/Drama/Comedy | USA | dir. Alex Ross Perry

The plural in the title is purposeful for director Alex Ross Perry's meta-movie about the iconic 1990s indie band Pavement. Perry (Her Smell, Golden Exits) has concocted a hybrid of documentary, scripted narrative, stage musical, truth and legend. Along with using archival interviews and performances, Perry sets out to make a Hollywood biopic of the band entitled Range Life with Joe Keery from Stranger Things going method to nail his performance as Stephen Malkmus (Nat Wolff, Griffin Newman, Logan Miller and Fred Hechinger play the rest of the band). He also chronicles the opening of a fake Pavement Museum (he curated himself), and the creation of the jukebox musical stage show Slanted! Enchanted! starring Zoe Lister-Jones and Kathryn Gallagher (also not a real thing, but now we can dream). As The Playlist's Marshall Shaffer says, "There are meta-movies, and then there's Alex Ross Perry's Pavements." Screen Daily critic Jonathan Romney believes the "goofy, sweetly cerebral charm of a subtly strange band is captured in this ingenious tribute," and NME's Matthew Turner declares the film a "thrillingly creative music documentary that serves as a loving tribute to the band." For Adam Solomons of IndieWire it's an "important documentary. It's a reminder that the fourth (and fifth and sixth) wall can be smashed, that the rock doc can be reinvented. And that when the message is meta for meta's sake, why not make the medium that way, too?"

Utopia picked up the film at Venice and will give the doc a theatrical release on a yet-to-be-named date.

tbd Queer

Drama | Italy/USA | dir. Luca Guadagnino

Director Luca Guadagnino reunites with his Challengers screenwriter, Justin Kuritzkes, for this adaptation of William S. Burroughs' semi-autobiographical novel starring Daniel Craig as William Lee, an American expat living in Mexico City who becomes obsessed with Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey),a young man recently discharged from the Navy, and finding a mythical drug called yage. For Screen Daily's Fionnuala Halligan, the film "excels" in the "push-and-pull of the relationship between Lee and Allerton" but has "all the provocation but none of the haunting power that" David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch still has. According to Stephen Dalton of The Film Verdict, this "unfinished symphony of romantic longing, obsession and addiction boasts fine performances and superlative visual flourishes that help excuse its thin, disjointed narrative." Writing for IGN, Siddhant Adlakha admits that "It doesn't always work ... But when it finds that purpose, it makes a powerful emotional impression: Visually splendid, emotionally arresting, and features some of the finest filmmaking of Guadagnino's already-accomplished career." Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson finds it "offbeat, abstract, erratic in mood and tempo—befitting an adaptation of Burroughs's work" and a "riot of style and technique." And The Telegraph's Robbie Collin believes "Craig is sensational," in what is Guadagnino's "most pristine and plangent work yet."

Queer was picked up by A24 just prior to its Venice debut, but the distributor has not yet announced a release date. Given the Oscar buzz surrounding Craig's performance, it should get a release before year's end.

tbd Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band

Documentary/Music | USA | dir. Thom Zimny
Streams on Hulu and Disney+ beginning October 25

Bruce Springsteen documentarian Thom Zimny (Western Stars ) is back with another look at the Boss, this time as he and the E Street Band get ready to embark on their 2023 (and still going) tour, their first in six years. For confessed Springsteen fan and IndieWire critic Kate Erbland, "The best Springsteen songs sound as if they've pulled directly from his diary, and while this Road Diary might have a bit more polish and gloss, it's more than worth the read and the ride." Johnny Oleksinski of New York Post believes it's an "enlightening behind-the-scenes glimpse at the E Street Band's current tour" that "lets viewers uniquely into Springsteen's creative process." And The Wrap's Steve Pond adds, "Road Diary takes a Springsteen concert as a template of sorts, which means it mixes joy and dread and love and regret and exuberance and silliness and seriousness; it's intoxicating and it's sobering, and it rocks like hell but confronts what's been lost during Springsteen's 74 years on the planet."

tbd September 5

Drama | Germany | dir. Tim Fehlbaum

Writer-director Tim Fehlbaum's follow-up to The Colony chronicles how the ABC Sports broadcasting team covering the 1972 Munich Olympics went live to cover the Palestinian terrorist attack on the Israeli Olympic team that resulted in the death of 11 Israelis. Peter Sarsgaard plays Roone Arledge, the executive in charge of the broadcast; Ben Chaplin is Marvin Bader, the head of operations; John Magaro is producer Geoffrey Mason; and Leonie Benesch (The Teachers' Lounge) plays a local German translator. IndieWire's Ryan Lattanzio believes September 5 "works most powerfully as a behind-closed-doors, single-room thriller," while Gregory Ellwood of The Playlist finds it "captivating on multiple levels and, frankly, a surprising success considering Fehlbaum's previous work." In his review for The Daily Beast, Barry Levitt claims it's a "powerfully told, tightly wound, and riveting story" with a "clever script full of fascinating detail," and THR's Jordan Mintzer declares it an "enlightening, altogether gripping experience to watch a film like September 5."

tbd The Wild Robot

Animation/Family | USA | dir. Chris Sanders
Opens in theaters and IMAX on September 27

After directing a live-action adaptation of The Call of the Wild, Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon with Dean Delois and The Croods with Kirk DeMicco) returns to animation with this adaptation of Peter Brown's award-winning bestseller about a robot, ROZZUM unit 7134 (Roz for short), that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the unfamiliar surroundings, eventually becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling. It sounds like an instant Oscar contender. "From its very opening frames, the artistry of The Wild Robot bursts through every image," writes Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com. He's joined in praising the film's animation by Screen Daily's Tim Grierson, who finds it "gorgeous, painterly" and "meticulously-crafted," and by Variety critic Peter Debruge, who feels "the expressionistic environments can take one's breath away." Writing for IGN, Siddhant Adlakha believes "its dazzling, tear-jerking moments put it metallic-shoulder-to-metallic-shoulder with classics like WALL-E and The Iron Giant," and for Collider, Shaina Weatherhead declares The Wild Robot "an instant classic" and an "incredibly impressive feat of both animation and storytelling."

tbd Youth (Homecoming)

Documentary | France/Luxembourg/Netherlands | dir. Wang Bing

Following the Cannes debut of Youth (Spring) and the Locarno premiere of Youth (Hard Times), filmmaker Wang Bing concludes his Youth documentary trilogy about garment workers in the textile industry of Zhili, Zhejiang Province, China with the shortest and most focused of his three films as he follows several workers on their trips home for the New Year. THR's Leslie Felperin believes it's a "work much like its predecessors in that it's simultaneously deeply fascinating and profoundly soporific." Writing for IndieWire, Ben Croll concludes, "The film quite ably stands alone," and Variety's Siddhant Adlakha agrees, "Youth (Homecoming) stands on its own, as a genuinely sorrowful film about how deeply the churn of industry has worked its way into people 's bones, as though they've become one with the machines they operate." Screen Daily critic Jonathan Romney looks at the project as a whole, "Overall, the trilogy must stand as a monument in contemporary documentary, and will be much discussed by historians of the form."

Other notable debuts (good but unexceptional)

tbd All of You

Drama | UK | dir. William Bridges

Director William Bridges makes his feature debut with a script he wrote with his star, Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso). Goldstein plays Simon, who is best friends (and secretly in love) with Imogen Poots' Laura. They live in a near future world where a test can determine your soulmate, and Laura decides to take it. When she matches with Lukas (Steven Cree), she gets married and starts a family, but her feelings for Simon (and his for her) don't disappear. Writing for Collider, Shaina Weatherhead praises the "excellent chemistry" between Goldstein and Poots, as well as the "unexpected humor" in the script, but she feels the film "lacks clear stakes, making this love story difficult to invest in." IndieWire critic David Ehrlich is surprised how the sci-fi concept in this "plaintively compelling" and "high-concept relationship" drama "seems to have absolutely no impact on the story whatsoever," and TheWrap's Steve Pond agrees, but still finds this "crowd-pleaser" to be "unexpectedly touching and even lovely, a grandly sad benediction to people who don't need no stinkin' test to tell them who their soulmate is." Lastly, Maureen Lee Lenker of EW believes it's a romantic drama "of the highest caliber thanks to its sharp script and devastating central performances."

tbd The Assessment

Drama/Sci-fi | UK/Germany/USA | dir. Fleur Fortuné

Music video director Fleur Fortuné's feature debut is set in a future world where couples must go through a seven day assessment to prove they are worthy of having children. Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel), a successful couple who have given back to society, want to have children. Virginia (Alicia Vikander) is their assessor, who at times asks very personal questions and at others acts like a child to provoke a response from the couple. For Screen Daily's Tim Grierson, Fortuné delivers a "strong sense of composition and mood," but, overall, the film is an "intriguing premise in search of a more successful execution." THR critic Lovia Gyarkye has an issue with the third act, when the film "begins to feel like a far less compelling story than the one we've just spent an hour and a half engrossed in," but she also believes "Olsen, Patel and Vikander are stellar." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian similarly admits that the ending may divide viewers, but he likes Fortuné's ambition in this "stylish debut." And in her review for Collider, Isabella Soares writes, "Though powered by incredible performances and worldbuilding, what truly leads The Assessment to have an exceptional final product is its refreshingly original premise."

tbd Better Man

Musical/Drama | Australia | dir. Michael Gracey
Opens in theaters on January 17 (following a qualifying run in December)

The Greatest Showman and P!nk: All I Know So Far director Michael Gracey takes an original approach in this musical biopic about British pop superstar Robbie Williams. Narrated by Williams and covering his life from childhood to fame to addiction and recovery, Better Man depicts Williams as a monkey performing for others, or, more specifically, the actor Jonno Davies as an ape version of the singer via the motion-capture effects magic of Weta FX. "It was a gutsy and admirable choice from Gracey to go in this direction, but it eventually just leaves you wanting," according to Gregory Ellwood of The Playlist. But in her review for EW, Maureen Lee Lenker finds it "far more exciting and inventive than many musical biopics," and Screen Daily critic Tim Grierson declares it a "very entertaining, surprisingly moving film." IndieWire's David Ehrlich adds, "If Bob Fosse had fallen in love with CGI instead of jazz hands, this is probably the kind of movie he would've made."

tbd Cloud

Action/Horror/Thriller | Japan | dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Japan's official Oscar submission this year, the latest from writer-director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse, Cure, To the Ends of the Earth) follows Yoshi, a morally dubious young man who resells various goods online after acquiring them on the cheap. With the profits of his reselling gig, he moves to a lakeside house in the country with his girlfriend Akiko, but that's when Yoshi's troubles begin in this thriller for the internet age. Writing for The Daily Beast, Barry Levitt finds Cloud "brilliant until it's frustrating" as a "masterful first hour makes way for a far more pedestrian second." But that change from atmospheric drama to action cinema is more of a feature than a bug for IndieWire critic David Ehrlich, who writes, "There's a unique thrill to watching Cloud shift from a sedate internet crime saga and into a frenetic manhunt (alternately funny and frightening)." For Screen Rant's Graeme Guttmann the "action isn't elegant. It's erratic and loud and ugly ... it's a symphony of chaos. It's also a damn good time." And Rory O'Connor of The Film Stage sees a "master filmmaker at his leanest and meanest."

tbd Disclaimer

TV/Drama | UK | dir. Alfonso Cuarón
Streams on Apple TV+ beginning October 11

Screening in its seven-episode entirety at all three festivals, filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón's first TV project in a decade—he wrote and directed every episode—is a psychological thriller adapted from the Renee Knight novel of the same name. Cate Blanchett stars as TV journalist Catherine Ravenscroft, who is alarmed to discover a new novel that appears to feature her as the main character—and discloses a dark secret from her own past. An impressive cast also features Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen, Lesley Manville, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Squid Game star Hoyeon Jung, while the cinematography comes from big names Emmanuel Lubezki and Bruno Delbonnel. Critic reactions range from "dazzling" to "silly"—and that's just in the span of one review, from THR's Daniel Fienberg, who deems the well-acted but overlong series "more fascinating to talk circles around than to actually watch" thanks to a "largely perfunctory" narrative that plays second-fiddle to the show's "captivating" structural mechanics. The Telegraph's Benji Wilson also finds Disclaimer to be "overwrought," but many other critics see a lot to like in the series. At IndieWire, Ben Travers anticipates some "bitter reactions" to Cuarón's "most provocative project since 'Y tu mamá también'" but he has mostly praise for what he deems "a cunning psychological thriller." And Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson feels that the series overcomes its "somewhat awkward premiere episode" to build toward its "disarmingly resonant finale."

tbd The End

Drama/Fantasy/Musical/Sci-fi | Ireland/Germany/Italy/Swweden/Denmark/UK | dir. Joshua Oppenheimer
Opens in theaters on December 6

Award-winning documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence) makes his narrative feature debut with this musical about a rich family living in an ornate bunker deep inside the earth after an apocalyptic event. Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon play the parents of a son (George MacKay) who was born in the bunker and knows nothing of the world prior to its collapse. Their lives are disrupted when a woman (Moses Ingram) from the outside seeks refuge in their affluent bubble. Oppenheimer's "serious-minded rumination on guilt and the human capacity to rationalize away one's misdeeds" didn't work for Variety's Peter Debruge, but he admits "there may never be another film like" it and feels it's "like an obtuse missive, hidden in plain sight, just waiting for intrepid seekers to unearth it." Lovia Gyarkye of THR labels The End a "fascinating and demanding intellectual exercise" with "deeply committed performances from the cast," resulting in an "admirable if uneven endeavor." But for IndieWire critic David Ehrlich, it's "delirious and delicately monumental," another "bold and unblinking examination of how people live with themselves when so many others have died for their sins." And Screen Daily critic Tim Grierson finds this "mixture of domestic drama, apocalyptic fable and old-fashioned (and unironic) Hollywood musical" to be an "audacious and frequently enrapturing experience, with superb performances at its emotional heart." Caleb Hammond of The Film Stage adds, "The End carries that rare sense of a lack of compromise––a fully realized world from a visionary director. It's exhilarating to simply exist in this world that Oppenheimer and his team (including co-writer Rasmus Heisterberg) craft."

tbd The Friend

Drama | USA | dir. Scott McGehee and David Siegel

Writer-directors David Siegel and Scott McGehee (The Deep End, What Maisie Knew, Montana Story) adapt Sigrid Nunez's 2018 National Book Award winner about a writer (Naomi Watts) who must take care of her deceased friend's Great Dane (Bing the dog). With a cast that includes Bill Murray, Carla Gugino, Constance Wu, Noma Dumezweni, and Sarah Pidgeon, The Friend's "model of adaptation" is a" fresh, unsentimental yet touching story," according to Caryn James of THR. For TheWrap's Steve Pond, it's a "gently affecting study in loss that benefits greatly from the unaffected charm and grace of Naomi Watts and the monumental presence of a 150-pound canine actor named Bing." EW critic Maureen Lee Lenker agrees that "while Bing is masterful, his real magic is in the miraculous work he elicits from his screen partners." And IndieWire's Kate Erbland believes it's "the sort of witty, wise, and warm character study we seem to be running out of these days."

tbd Harvest

Drama | UK/Germany/Greece/France/USA | dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari

The third feature from writer-director Athina Rachel Tsangari (Attenberg, Chevalier) is an adaptation of Jim Crace's novel. Written with Joslyn Barnes (Nickel Boys), the film takes place in an agrarian village at an unspecified time in history, where farmer Walter Thirsk (Caleb Landry Jones) and his wealthier childhood friend Master Charles Kent (Harry Melling) face an invasion by three groups of outsiders bringing modernity to their pastoral land. According to The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, it's an "exasperating experience: a directionless, shallow movie which seems bafflingly unconvincing and inauthentic at every turn." Writing for IndieWire, Sophie Monks Kaufman is more positive on the film, especially its "comprehensive visual grammar," but still feels it is "less than the sum" of its "many mesmerizing moving parts." Telegraph critic Robbie Collin finds Harvest "glimmeringly surreal" as it "moves to a folkloric drumbeat all of its own." And Variety's Guy Lodge believes "the storytelling is so busy and fevered that the film, heavy in some respects, never feels stiff," and "as a feat of world-building — and later, world-dismantling — Harvest consistently dazzles."

tbd Heretic

Horror/Thriller | USA | dir. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods
Opens in theaters on November 15

After writing A Quiet Place, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods went on to write and direct Haunt and 65. Their latest stars Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher as young Mormon missionaries forced to prove their faith once they step inside the house of Hugh Grant's Mr. Reed. For IndieWire critic David Ehrlich, Heretic is an "entertainingly unambitious midnight movie that thrives on the strength of a terrific cast and some equally brilliant craftwork." And in her review for The Daily Beast, Esther Zuckerman agrees, "Don't think too hard about Heretic—which has a lot of musings about faith and religion, none of which quite cohere. Just lean into Grant's lunacy and you'll have a fantastic time." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com believes it's "gorgeously made, and wonderfully performed," singling out "masterful cinematographer" Chung-hoon Chung, the man who shot The Handmaiden, Oldboy." EW's Maureen Lee Lenker adds, "Beck and Woods build fear and tension through close-ups, pregnant pauses, and a meticulous edit that masters the film's pace."

tbd Kill the Jockey

Drama | Argentina/Mexico/Spain/Denmark/USA | dir. Luis Ortega

Writer-director Luis Ortega's follow-up to El Angel follows legendary jockey Remo Manfredini (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart), who, in the race that was going to clear all his debts, has a severe accident and ends up in the hospital. Knowing the mob is after him, Remo escapes the hospital and wanders the streets of Buenos Aires in disguise. "While it lacks coherence or direction in storytelling terms," writes The Film Verdict's Stephen Dalton, this bit of "magical realism meets gender-blurring surrealism" is "consistently funny, inventive and visually voluptuous." Variety critic Guy Lodge finds this "fun but flighty" film to be "bolstered by the strange, soulful presence of leading man Nahuel Pérez Biscayart" and "suitably untethered for a story concerned with the malleability of the self." Alex Harrison of Screen Rant agrees that the "cast deserves real credit" especially Biscayart, whose "physical expressiveness is truly extraordinary." And in her review for Screen Daily, Wendy Ide declares this "weird and winding journey" to be "audacious, lawless and irreverent, and carried off with supreme confidence."

tbd The Last Showgirl

Drama | USA | dir. Gia Coppola

Working from a script by Kate Gersten, Gia Coppola (Palo Alto) directs Pamela Anderson as Shelley, a Las Vegas showgirl who has been in the same revue for 30 years and has just learned the show is closing. The film's impressive cast includes Jamie Lee Curtis as Shelley's friend Annette, a former dancer now cocktail waitress, Dave Bautista as the show's stage manager, Billie Lourd as Shelley's estranged daughter, and Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Song as younger dancers. For Nick Schager of The Daily Beast, it's a "shallow and slender tale of lousy dreams, worse decisions, and painful regrets, all of it predicated on a lead turn that's too one-note to wow." THR's David Rooney agrees that Showgirl is "slender overall" but also sees a "moving empathy in its portrait of Shelly and women like her, their sense of self crumbling as they become cruelly devalued." And Christopher Schobert of The Film Stage thinks Anderson's is a "real-deal performance, and Shelley is one of the more memorable Vegas denizens in recent cinema" in this "smart, emotionally satisfying exploration." In his review for Screen Daily, Robert Daniels adds, "The Last Showgirl is an achingly vulnerable picture that both catapaults Pamela Anderson into the awards conversation and stands as Gia Coppola 's best film to date."

tbd Maria

Drama/Music | Italy/Germany/USA | dir. Pablo Larraín

Pablo Larraín's third film about a famous woman living in a gilded cage (following Jackie and Spencer) is his least successful in the eyes of critics. Written by Steven Knight, Maria chronicles the final days of opera singer Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie) in 1970s Paris. The Times's Kevin Maher finds it "wilfully, wearily flat," and Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson claims it's "the thinnest of the three [films], psychologically facile and overly mannered. There is something arbitrary, unspecific about the film." Time's Stephanie Zacharek thinks it's a "movie made with great respect, almost adulation, but very little that qualifies as real feeling," with Jolie playing Callas as "haughtily cool and deeply insecure" but capturing "none of her imperious charisma." Slightly more positive is IndieWire critic David Ehrlich, who believes "Jolie gives this immaculately adorned movie a much-needed sense of interiority," in a film that "seldom feels like more than a libretto: passionately sung, but lacking the detail and fullness needed to bring it to life." Praising the "triumphant" film, Donald Clarke of The Irish Times writes, "Jolie's fragile brilliance is not to be questioned, and in her A– review for EW, Maureen Lee Lenker adds, "The film is more elegiac tone poem than structured narrative, echoing Maria's dreamlike trance induced by her abuse of medication and nostalgia for her glory days. Larraín exquisitely composes every image, placing the fragile figure of Maria in jewel box settings that are framed with the lush care of a Rococo painting."

Netflix picked up the film's U.S. rights just prior to its Venice debut, but neither a streaming date nor theatrical release plans have been revealed.

tbd Nightbitch

Comedy/Drama/Horror | USA | dir. Marielle Heller
Opens in theaters on December 6

The latest from writer-director Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) is an adaptation of Rachel Yoder's 2021 novel about a stay-at-home mom who starts to take on the characteristics of a dog. Amy Adams stars as the mom and Scoot McNairy is her husband in a film that some critics wanted to be a little more crazy. Writing for The Playlist, Ankit Jhunjhunwala believes Adams' performance is "unsparing, setting aside all vanity, but is constrained by a film that is ultimately more square than intended." In his review for TheWrap, Chase Hutchinson agrees, "It may not always come alive in the way Heller, or us, would entirely hope for, but one can still be glad 'Nightbitch' exists, especially with Adams there to lead the way." Screen Daily critic Tim Grierson finds "Adams' occasionally ferocious, often bone-weary turn is quite touching," but that ultimately Nightbitch is a "gently observant comedy-drama about the perils of motherhood that could use a little more bite." Looper's Reuben Baron adds, "Adams' great performance aside, Nightbitch is just a good but not great movie — and oddly enough, its biggest obstacle to greatness might be that it's not quite weird enough." More positive is EW's Maureen Lee Lenker, who writes, "Heller and Adams are a dynamic pair, finding ways to punctuate their bizarre tale with brutal honesty, off-the-wall humor, and a desire to celebrate the messiness and magic of motherhood."

tbd On Swift Horses

Drama | USA | dir. Daniel Minahan

Prolific television director Daniel Minahan (Game of Thrones, Deadwood: The Movie) directs Bryce Kass's script based on Shannon Pufahl's 2019 novel about Julius (Jacob Elordi), who returns from the Korean War to the Kansas home of his brother Lee (Will Poulter) and fiancé Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones). Lee dreams of moving to California with Muriel and Julius, but Julius' penchant for gambling leads him to Las Vegas instead while the married couple set up their new life. Unbeknownst to Lee, Muriel also likes to bet, on horses specifically, and she also shares something else with Julius. "On Swift Horses isn't a disaster, but given its stars and potential, it is a disappointment," Caryn James writes in her review for BBC. And for Collider's Tania Hussain, Horses "feels tonally uneven at times, veering into campiness." Screen Rant's Graeme Guttmann thinks "Elordi, Edgar-Jones, and the rest of the cast give quietly devastating performances as their dreams manifest in ways they cannot predict." Screen Daily critic Robert Daniels concurs, "With style, strong performances and emotive use of mis-en-scene, On Swift Horses is a flawed but intense critique of Americana." Lastly, THR critic Jourdain Searles declares it the "kind of big, sweeping romantic drama that Hollywood just doesn 't make anymore," one that is "beautiful, heartbreaking and demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible."

tbd The Order

Drama/Thriller | Canada | dir. Justin Kurzel
Opens in theaters on December 6

Director Justin Kurzel's follow-up to his award-winning Nitram is based on Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt's nonfiction book The Silent Brotherhood. In 1983, a series of violent crimes disrupt the peaceful communities of the Pacific Northwest. Believing there is a link to a white supremacist group, FBI Agent Husk (Jude Law) teams up with a young local cop (Ty Sheridan) to hunt down the organization's leader, Robert Jay Mathews (Nicolas Hoult). But The Order doesn't work for Alonso Duralde of The Film Verdict, who laments, "As a procedural, it's by-the-numbers. If it's supposed to be a character study, the characters are TV-familiar." And in his review for the BBC, Nicholas Barber finds it not "quite as gripping as the events deserve" despite it being "superbly acted by its charismatic cast" and the "violent robberies and shoot-outs" being "staged with a nerve-jangling ferocity." However, writing for The Observer (UK), Jonathan Romney finds the film "highly effective as docudrama" and "briskly compelling as a straight-down-the-line detective thriller, especially in its action sequences." THR's Jordan Mintzer claims it's a "nail-biter from start to finish," and for Variety critic Owen Gleiberman it's "at once a supremely intelligent docudrama about the rise of the white-supremacist movement and a riveting crime story."

tbd The Piano Lesson

Drama | USA | dir. Malcolm Washington
Opens in theaters on November 6 and streams on Netflix beginning November 22

After directing and starring in Fences and producing Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Denzel Washington's goal of bringing all ten of August Wilson's Century Cycle plays to film moves closer to completion with this adaptation of Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Washington's son, Malcolm, makes his feature directing debut from a script co-written with Virgil Williams. Set in 1936 (after a brief prologue in 1911), The Piano Lesson focuses on Danielle Deadwyler's Berniece and her brother Boy Willie (John David Washington). He wants to sell the family piano to buy a piece of land on which their family was once enslaved, but she does not. Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts and Corey Hawkins also star in this family drama in which "Deadwyler and Washington bounce well off each other. Their performances are particularly dynamic when Boy Willie and Berniece negotiate the details of family legacy," according to Lovia Gyarkye of THR. For The Playlist's Gregory Ellwood, it's "hard to exaggerate the importance of Deadwyler's contributions to Washington's finished film without descending into hyperbole." And Variety critic Peter Debruge adds, "While most of the cast is the same that appeared on Broadway, the movie is undeniably Deadwyler's show." In her review for EW, Maureen Lee Lenker describes Deadwyler's performance as one of "tremendous courage and heft," and Malcolm Washington's direction as a "potent showcase for his visionary, promising skills as a filmmaker."

tbd Piece by Piece

Animation/Documentary | USA | dir. Morgan Neville
Opens in theaters on October 11

Morgan Neville's (20 Feet from Stardom, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain) documentary on the life of songwriter/producer/musician Pharrell Williams is told through LEGO animation. For some critics that was enough to set it apart from other authorized documentaries, but for others it was not. The latter group includes RogerEbert.com's Robert Daniels, who believes the film "lacks specificity and substance," and THR critic Lovia Gyarkye, who finds it "inventive" but unable to "avoid the trappings of the celebrity-produced biopic, and is expectedly marked by typical hagiographic evasiveness." In his review for IndieWire, Caleb Hammond calls it a "surface-level entertainment, a light, visually-inventive ride without much to offer its audiences beyond a reaffirmation on the values of hard work and believing in one's self." But Radheyan Simonpillai of The Guardian sees a "familiar tale re-energised not just with his unique sound but the basic decision to animate his life so that it can thrive with his imagination and hit so many visual grace notes."

tbd Relay

Thriller | USA | dir. David Mackenzie

The latest from director David Mackenzie (Starred Up, Hell or High Water, Outlaw King) is a thriller starring Riz Ahmed as Ash, a middleman who brokers deals between whistleblowers and their threatened companies. His new client, Sarah (Lily James), a former bio-tech company employee, has a team led by Sam Worthington hunting her down, putting her and the normally reclusive Ash in danger. The Guardian's Benjamin Lee is disappointed that the "subdued carefulness of the buildup gives way to rote, poorly staged action and a twist that might fill in a few plot-holes but leaves us otherwise dissatisfied." In his review for Screen Daily, Robert Daniels agrees this "slow-burn, high-concept paranoid" thriller "commits the unforgivable sin of stumbling just before the finish line." Vulture's Bilge Ebiri is more forgiving, "The rest of the film is so strong that any ending it inspires one to imagine would probably be better than what we ultimately get. But still, up until then — wow." And Relay is, for IndieWire critic David Ehrlich, "Sharp, fun, and smartly entertaining from its first scene to its final twist."

tbd The Return

Drama | Italy/UK | dir. Uberto Pasolini

Director Uberto Pasolini's follow-up to Nowhere Special is an adaptation of The Odyssey. Focusing on the last third of Homer's tale, the film begins with Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) returning to the shores of Ithaca, his kingdom where his wife Queen Penelope (Juliette Binoche) and son Telemachus (Charlie Plummer) await his return after leaving for the Trojan War 20 years earlier. Writing for The Guardian, Radheyan Simonpillai praises Binoche but is less enthused about the film, "Her performance is short with words. But she holds and command long stretches of silence, as if bending it to her whims, doing the most in a movie that too often feels like an endurance test." TheWrap's Steve Pond admits the "pacing is far from what you'd expect in a Hollywood movie with this much action," but it's still "simultaneously visceral and contemplative." Screen Daily critic Nikki Baughan agrees, finding the world "richly drawn" in this "measured, introspective take on familiar material," and Nick Schager of The Daily Beast declares it "as tender and somber as it is thrilling."

tbd Saturday Night

Drama/Comedy | USA | dir. Jason Reitman
Opens in LA/NY/Toronto on September 27 followed by more cities on October 4 and nationwide on October 11

In his latest film, director Jason Reitman (Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Tully, Up in the Air) attempts to capture the chaos of the 90 minutes leading up to the airing of the first episode of Saturday Night Live (then titled NBC's Saturday Night) in 1975. Working from script co-written with Gil Kenan, Reitman casts Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, who tries to corral the writers and cast (Matt Wood as John Belushi, Dylan O'Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, Kim Matula as Jane Curtin, and Nicolas Braun as both Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson) and deal with Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott), his wife/producer all while placating NBC brass before the show's launch. IndieWire critic David Ehrlich finds this bit of "glorified showbiz cosplay" both "tedious and exasperatingly self-absorbed." And for Stephen Farber of THR, the "cast works hard and brings off some antic moments, but too many of the riffs fall flat." Rolling Stone's David Fear believes the "Print the Legend vibe is strong with this one," but admits the "second-hand high Reitman hotboxes you with is extremely potent." Variety critic Peter Debruge is more positive, finding the ensemble "terrific" and the film a "rowdy, delectably profane backstage homage." And /Film's Ethan Anderson goes even further, declaring it "hands down spectacular" and "one of the best movies of the year."

tbd Unstoppable

Drama/Sports | USA | dir. William Goldenberg
Opens in theaters on December 6 followed by a streaming premiere on Prime Video (date tbd)

Oscar-winning editor William Goldenberg (Argo) makes his feature directing debut with this true story about Anthony Robles. Born with one leg, Robles (Jharrel Jerome) fought to earn a spot on the Arizona State wrestling team, hoping to become an NCAA Champion. The impressive supporting cast includes Jennifer Lopez as Robles' mother, Don Cheadle as his coach, plus Michael Peña and Bobby Cannavale. For The Guardian's Benjamin Lee, the film is "content to be just as bland and boilerplate as the many, many against-all-odds crowd-pleasers that have come before it." But in his review for Screen Daily, Robert Daniels is a little more positive: "While there is nothing surprising in Unstoppable, the film works as a tightly crafted take on the formula." Collider's Isabella Soares agrees, "Although the film is by no means a groundbreaking biopic, it has an effective execution that will appeal to the masses." And Variety critic Owen Gleiberman believes it's an "honest and stirring entry in the genre."

tbd We Live in Time

Drama | UK/France | dir. John Crowley
Opens in theaters on October 11

Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh star in this romantic tearjerker from director John Crowley (Brooklyn) and writer Nick Payne (Last Letter from Your Lover). The film is a time-shuffling chronicle of the relationship between Tobias (Garfield) and Almut (Pugh) in all its heartbreaking glory. For The Daily Beast's Nick Schager, it's a "carpe diem fable that elicits more exasperated eye rolls than tears or laughs," and Tim Grierson of Screen Daily finds the narrative structure "initially clever but ultimately unrewarding." Over at RogerEbert.com, Brian Tallerico admits it's a "movie that would almost certainly fall apart with lesser performers to make this kind of shallow script feel organic. Luckily, this one has Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield." The Guardian's Benjamin Lee finds "its throwback nature to be immensely charming, a big, full-throated romantic drama that knows exactly how to make us swoon as well as make us sad." And in his review for THR, Michael Rechtshaffen has high praise for the film, writing, "Seldom has such an unflinchingly honest take on mortality felt so transcendently life-affirming."

tbd Wolfs

Drama/Comedy/Thriller | USA | dir. Jon Watts
Opens in theaters on September 20 and streams on Apple TV+ on September 27

George Clooney and Brad Pitt play rival professional fixers booked on the same job in this high-concept comedy-caper from writer-director Jon Watts (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home). "The film ultimately exists as a delivery device for Clooney and Pitt to engage in prickly banter and deadpan wisecracking. Any ideas deeper than that are rejected like an unsuitable liver," according to Alonso Duralde of The Film Verdict. For Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson, it's a "confident, engaging Saturday-night movie, of the sort that has become dismayingly rare." (That's true even for Wolfs: Apple's recent decision to greatly reduce the film's theatrical run means that it'll be in theaters for just one Saturday night.) And /Film's Jeremy Mathai describes it as "devilish, original, and mercifully brisk" as well as "frequently funny and consistently stylish." Vulture's Alison Willmore adds, "It is an unabashed platform for basking in the rapport of its two leading men, who are in familiar and fine form as a pair of hypercompetent cleaners, and that makes it a consistently enjoyable watch even when the pacing gets a little slack."

The disappointments

tbd 2073

Thriller/Sci-fi/Documentary | UK | dir. Asif Kapadia

Director Asia Kapadia is best known for his award-winning documentary work (Amy, Senna, Diego Maradona), but he has helmed narrative features as well (The Warrior, Ali and Nino). His latest combines these two modes to depict a world on the brink of disaster. Forty-nine years in the future, Ghost (Samantha Morton) lives a solitary life in dystopian New San Francisco and serves as our conduit to learn how the world became a wasteland ruled by autocrats. For Telegraph critic Robbie Collin it's an "earnest if not wholly convincing documentary-sci-fi collage." While The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw admits it "feels occasionally strident, or redundant, or choir-preaching," he also thinks the film delivers a "relevant shout of rage against the authoritarian forces despoiling our democracy and our environment – and the bland and complaisant naivety that's letting it happen." Writing for THR, Leslie Felperin admires "Kapadia's sui generis feature" and his "commitment to feel-bad cinema, his refusal to end on any false note of hope." And Marshall Shaffer of The Playlist writes, "2073 might sacrifice some eloquence to make its creative points, but the sincerity shines poignantly and powerfully. Let it be a galvanizing call to action."

tbd And Their Children After Them (Leurs enfants après eux)

Drama | France | dir. Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma

Young French writer-director twin brothers Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma adapt Nicholas Mathieu's 2018 Prix Goncourt-winning novel Leurs Enfants Après Eux, the story of teenagers growing up in an impoverished town in eastern France during the 1990s. Paul Kircher, winner of the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor at the Venice Film Festival, plays Anthony, a 14-year-old who falls for Steph (Angelina Woreth) in the summer of 1992 while entering into a life-altering conflict with Hacine (Sayyid El Alami), a local Moroccan boy. The film revisits the three leads as their lives intersect in 1994, 1996 and 1998. The result is an "overlong, outwardly emotive but strangely unmoving film," according to Variety's Guy Lodge, who admits "where the writing is wan, the filmmaking compensates with emphatic braggadocio." Writing for Screen Daily, Wendy Ide finds this "big, sweeping melodrama" to be "undeniably cinematic" but unable "to sustain audience engagement throughout its overly generous running time." But Xan Brooks of The Guardian calls the film a "potent tale of disaffected youth," and IndieWire's Sophie Monks Kaufman appreciates how the "Boukhermas do not shy away from depicting the ugliness of racism and the brute violence ready to erupt out of both boys" in this "rich human drama."

tbd Baby Invasion

Action | USA | dir. Harmony Korine

After introducing his new studio EDGLRD with AGGRO DR1FT at last year's Venice Film Festival, Harmony Korine returned to the fest this year with an even more experimental work about the creation of a FPS game that was stolen and found popularity on the dark web, leading to copycat mercenaries who conceal their identity with horned baby faces as they raid the sprawling houses of the rich. Set to a score by Burial, much of Baby Invasion is seen from the perspective of Yellow, the player of the game, but according to Korine, this version of the film is "just a base layer film" that will be built upon when it is released. According to critics, viewers will either get on the film's wavelength or they won't. Count Stephen Dalton of The Film Verdict in the latter category; he believes this "repetitive and tedious" film "becomes borderline unwatchable, but such is the steep price of maintaining your status as cinema's undefeated champion of post-modern hipster nihilism." Vulture critic Alison Willmore is slightly more positive, writing, "I thought the first 20 minutes of Baby Invasion were brilliant, and then it kept going for 60 more." And THR's Jordan Mintzer agrees, "Certain images in the film are downright mesmerizing. But accumulated over 80 minutes, they tend to lose their staying power." Defending the "disquieting and sickeningly compelling new project," IndieWire's Ryan Lattanzio finds it "luridly hypnotic on visual terms even as thematically it seems to have nothing to say." And Luke Hicks of The Film Stage declares it "capital-A Art, a new standard for cinematic absurdism in which every audio-visual element is thrown to the wind."

tbd Bonjour Tristesse

Drama | Canada/Germany | dir. Durga Chew-Bose

The feature debut of writer-director Durga Chew-Bose is an adaptation of Françoise Sagan's classic 1954 coming-of-age novel about Cecile (Lily McInerny), a teenager spending the summer with her widower father Raymond (Claes Bang) and his lover (Nailia Harzoune). Complications ensue when her mother's friend, Anne (Chloë Sevigny), arrives. Unlike Otto Preminger's 1958 adaptation, the new film takes place in a timeless, contemporary setting, and that's an issue for THR's Caryn James, who notes that the "sexual freedom that seemed shocking seven decades ago no longer does," but she does find the film "always glorious to look at" even if "its emotional trajectory is curiously flat." Variety critic Peter Debruge also believes the chosen time period is a mistake because it "inexplicably rejects the sexual revolution that Sagan's novel anticipated," but Kate Erbland of IndieWire thinks the film is a "sharp offering that adds to the mystique of the original material and makes a strong case for its own existence."

tbd Bring Them Down

Drama/Thriller | Ireland/UK/Belgium | dir. Chris Andrews

Christopher Andrews' debut feature is "a thriller about two feuding families so perpetually grim it risks becoming a slog," according the Chase Hutchinson in his review for TheWrap. He adds that the "saving grace of the film's world comes in the form of its two leads who, despite all the drudgery that they must push through, create something gripping." Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan play those characters, two members of feuding families in rural Ireland. THR critic Jordan Mintzer echoes those sentiments, claiming "this violent first feature is carried more by leads Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan than by its dour storytelling," and The Film Stage's Christopher Schobert agrees the film is "an endurance test," and is impressed that the actors "make so much of so little." Defending the film, Nick Schager of The Daily Beast finds it "taut and mournful."

tbd The Cut

Thriller | UK | dir. Sean Ellis

Orlando Bloom stars as a retired boxer who goes to extreme lengths to shed weight in this feature from director Sean Ellis (Cashback, Metro Manila, Anthropoid, The Cursed). Caitriona Balfe plays Caitlin, his partner and trainer who cedes power to Boz (John Turturro), a sadistic trainer, when she refuses to push Bloom's character (he is unnamed in the movie) any further. Some reviewers didn't pull their punches. For The Guardian's Benjamin Lee, it "all just goes from scary to silly too fast." And in her review for EW, Maureen Lee Lenker writes, "Despite a trio of knockout performances, The Cut is a lackluster boxing drama." Writing for IndieWire, Wilson Chapman believes "Ellis dramatizes the psychological toll that the crash-diet and excessive routine has with patience and a compelling hint of horror," but he doesn't find Bloom's performance convincing. However, Siddhant Adlakha defends Bloom and the film in Variety, writing, "Its impact ultimately comes down to Orlando Bloom's visceral, transformative performance as an unnamed Irish brawler."

tbd Eden

Thriller | USA | dir. Ron Howard

Inspired by a true story chronicled in the documentary The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden, the latest addition to the incredibly diverse filmography of director Ron Howard stars Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Daniel Brühl, and Ana de Armas. Written by Noah Pink (Tetris), Eden follows Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Law) and his partner Dora Strauch (Kirby) as they establish themselves on the uninhabited island of Floreana in the Galápagos archipelago. As word of their exploits gets back to their native Germany, they are joined by unwelcome guests—earnest couple Margaret (Sweeney) and Heinz Wittmer (Brühl) and vapid Baroness Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (de Armas). For Variety critic Owen Gleiberman, the film "lopes along, without energy or purpose, but with a great deal of random showboating." And Screen Daily's Tim Grierson finds this "grim, feverish film that feels touched by madness" to be "monotonous and unwieldy." However, Nick Schager of The Daily Beast believes to be "another of the director's sturdy star-studded genre efforts," and in her review for IndieWire, Kate Erbland writes, "No film about the utter demise of a supposed utopia — a real one, to boot! — and the utter infallibility of human beings should be this fun, but we're lucky this one is."

tbd Elton John: Never Too Late

Documentary/Music | USA | dir. R.J. Cutler and David Furnish
Opens in theaters on November 15 and streams on Disney+ beginning December 13

This documentary directed by R.J. Cultler (Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry) and David Furnish (Elton John's husband) works as a companion to the concert film, Elton John: Farewell from Dodger Stadium, already streaming on Disney+. As John prepares for his final concert at the site of his 1975 triumph, he looks back on his life through archival footage and his own narration. Variety's Owen Gleiberman calls Never Too Late a "robustly satisfying and emotional documentary," but he's in the minority of critics so far. "With the access this doc has — Furnish is, after all, John's husband — it feels like a squandered opportunity," writes Esther Zuckerman of IndieWire. And for The Playlist's Chris Barsanti, "The end result here is more dutiful than thrilling or revealing." Writing for The Guardian, Radheyan Simonpillai finds the film "precious and tempered," despite the access to John's life." And in his review for Screen Daily, Robert Daniels believes it's "clear early on that this film is poorly conceived."

tbd Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2

Western | USA | dir. Kevin Costner

Unfortunately, Chapter 2 of Kevin Costner's Western saga didn't pay off in satisfying fashion what was set up in Chapter 1, leaving critics to wonder where this planned four-part epic is heading. According to Scree Rant's Alex Harrison, "if you've seen the first movie, Chapter 2 is more of the same," adding that "being halfway between film and TV gives it the weaknesses of both and strengths of neither." Screen Daily critic Fionnuala Halligan finds it "a little more dynamic than the opener," as well as "enjoyably retro and fascinatingly aimless as it attempts to resurrect an old genre with gleaming sincerity." For THR's Leslie Felperin, "Chapter 2 proves to be more fun to watch than 1," and in her review for Variety, Jessica Kiang writes, "Like a modular suite of furniture in which each section is perfectly designed but it's assembled so haphazardly it barely resembles a sofa, 'Horizon: An American Saga – Part 2' is, as a film, fatally hobbled by its ungainly construction."

Originally dated for August, the film was pulled from the release schedule following the poor performance of Chapter 1 and has yet to be rescheduled.

tbd Joker: Folie à Deux

Drama/Musical/Thriller | USA | dir. Todd Phillips
Opens in theaters on October 4

Todd Phillips' sequel to his gigantic 2019 hit Joker didn't win the Golden Lion in Venice like the first one did, but it did divide critics. Joaquin Phoenix returns as Arthur Fleck, who is now on trial, and Lady Gaga joins the cast as Harley Quinn. Prosecuting Fleck is Industry's Harry Lawtey as Harvey Dent, and defending him is Catherine Keener as Maryanne Stewart. Brendan Gleeson, Steve Coogan, and Ken Leung are also in the cast. It's a "middling courtroom tale and half-baked musical," writes Martin Tsai in his review for Collider, and Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson finds it "startlingly dull, a pointless procedural that seems to disdain its audience" with a "woefully underused" Gaga. For Screen Daily's Tim Grierson, it's an "ambitious sequel whose big swings mostly turn out to be misses." And David Ehrlich of IndieWire declares it as "excruciatingly — perhaps even deliberately — boring sequel that does everything in its power not to amuse you." Defending the film, Luke Hicks of The Film Stage writes, "Joker: Folie à Deux is a prank on incels and anarchists everywhere, a dark, soft, sing-songy dismemberment of the very concept of the Joker that roused fandom to begin with." Writing for The Playlist, Rafaela Sales Ross agrees, "Of all the things Phillips does better in Joker: Folie à Deux than he did in Joker, the best is by far his course correction in catering to radical misogynists. The director isn't subtle in his nods to the controversy stirred by the original." TheWrap's William Bibbiani adds, "What's most impressive about Joker: Folie à Deux is the way Phillips willingly undercuts his own billion-dollar blockbuster."

tbd Nutcrackers

Comedy/Drama/Family | USA | dir. David Gordon Green

After three Halloween films and The Exorcist: Believer, director David Gordon Green shits gears and tries his hand at a family holiday comedy with this story inspired by meeting a friend's four boys—Homer, Ulysses, Arlo, and Atlas Janson. Written by Leland Douglas, Nutcrackers follows Ben Stiller's Michael, a workaholic city-slicker who must leave Chicago to take care of his deceased sister's four sons until they can find a foster home. For Screen Daily's Tim Grierson, the film "strains to sell the openhearted spirit of this Christmas-themed lark" never "pinpointing the right balance of poignancy and cathartic humour." And THR critic David Rooney finds it "too predictably sentimental," though he admits that for some viewers "the emotional payoff will be affecting." Ross Bonaime of Collider believes "Stiller and the Janson clan are a delight, and it's great to see Green attempt something completely different once more after this long stretch of horror films."

Hulu is reportedly in the final stages of negotiations to acquire the film (for at least $10 million), and a streaming debut during the holiday season is expected.

tbd The Penguin Lessons

Drama | Spain/UK | dir. Peter Cattaneo

As he did in Philomena, Stan & Ollie, and The Lost King, Steve Coogan stars in a movie based on a book and adapted by screenwriter Jeff Pope, but this time the liberties taken with Tom Michell's memoir has cost them critical favor. Michell (Coogan) was a professor at the elite boarding school St. George's College in Buenos Aires (and in his twenties) when President Eva Peron's government was removed in a military coup on March 24, 1976. However, Argentina's "Dirty War" is not the focus of Michell's memoir; instead it is his relationship with a penguin he rescues from an oil spill. Directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty), the film is "peppered with comedic delight," with Juan Salvador (the penguin) and Coogan an "imminently watchable pairing" but the way the film treats history and Michell's role in it is disappointing, according to IndieWire critic Beandrea July. Screen Daily's Nikki Baughan admits "Michell's story is no doubt a heartwarming one," but the "decision to go beyond the confines of his lived experience and use the wider socio-political landscape to add further drama is ill-judged." Variety critic Guy Lodge agrees, "This is amusing stuff, well served by Coogan's knack for haughty composure in the face of the absurd. The film is less convincing, however, when it reaches into the realm of the tragic."

tbd Riff Raff

Comedy | USA | dir. Dito Montiel

Dito Montiel, best known for his 2006 autobiographical debut, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, has gathered an impressive cast (Ed Harris, Gabrielle Union, Jennifer Coolidge, Bill Murray, Pete Davidson, Miles J. Harvey, Lewis Pullman, Emanuela Postacchini) for this dark comedy written by John Pollen (Stronger, Small Engine Repair) about an unhappy family reunion and the killers trying to track one of them down on New Year's Eve. Writing for IndieWire, Marya E. Gates cautions that "game performances from its ensemble cast" can't save the film from an "incoherent tone and overall sloppy execution." And THR critic David Rooney agrees, "Riff Raff is a flat-looking movie with a tone that's all over the map and a strong cast mostly left floundering." In his review for Variety, Siddhant Adlakha praises the "all-star cast," but is disappointed the film "uses none of its story swerves to build on its dramatic themes, or its one-note humor." Going against the critical tide, Collider's Shaina Weatherhead praises this "biting black comedy" that is "as fun as it is jaw-dropping, and will keep you entranced (and at times mildly disturbed), for its entire wacky runtime."

Roadside Attractions, which acquired the film (along with Lionsgate) a week ahead of its Toronto debut, will release the film nationwide sometime in 2025.

tbd Without Blood

Drama | USA/Italy | dir. Angelina Jolie

In this adaptation of the Alessandro Baricco novel, Angelina Jolie once again investigates the toll of war, as she has in three of her previous directing efforts (In the Land of Blood and Honey, Unbroken, First They Killed My Father). But this one appears to be far less successful. Salma Hayek Pinault stars as Nina, who seeks revenge on the man (Demián Bichir) she believes killed her father. Their conversation makes up the bulk of the movie, which critics believes suffers from a lack of specificity. "By choosing to reside in abstraction, it imparts only generic and empty truths,' according to Nick Schager of The Daily Beast. And in his review for IndieWire, Vikram Murthy adds, "Film demands specificity, and Without Blood ... can't help but feel constantly confused." THR critic Lovia Gyarkye see "flashes of power" and "bursts of intelligence" but warns that the film's "vagueness ends up blunting many of its lessons." And TheWrap's Chase Hutchinson feels that Blood is a "film with its heart in the right place yet only a faint pulse."

Additional content by Jason Dietz

All photos above courtesy of TIFF and La Biennale Di Venezia.