The 2024 Festival Films You Need to Know

It’s safe to expect the unexpected with Todd Phillips’ Joker sequel, Joker: Folie a Deux. The director was adamant his 2019 film was a standalone during its initial release, only for Phillips to announce a follow-up was in development the following June. Comics fans took up considerable server space speculating on whether the clown prince of crime’s girlfriend, Harley Quinn, would make an appearance in the movie, but few people guessed it would be pop icon Lady Gaga who would secure the role. And no one – we mean no one – was ready for the news that the picture would be a musical. Add to all this mystery the supporting cast additions of Brendan Gleeson and Catherine Keener, and it’s easy to see why this enigmatic continuation is one of the most anticipated of the year.

Premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

It's hard to believe it's been 16 years since George Clooney and Brad Pitt starred in a movie together, but after this far-too-long gap they're back together and working with Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts in the hitman action-comedy Wolfs. The story focuses on a pair of seasoned, lone-wolf fixers who are forced to work together after a gig goes south, and from the trailer it looks like everything we love from this actor/director combo: snarky back-and-forth sparring meets fast-paced action. We might not have to wait much longer for the next team-up as Clooney has mentioned being down for a potential sequel.

Premiered out of competition at the Venice Film Festival.

In her first role since 2021’s Eternals, Angelina Jolie emerges center-stage to portray renowned opera singer Maria Callas. Director Pablo Larraín is no stranger to tapping into the complex psyche of well-known women, as evidenced by his prior work on Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021) — though you may be a fan for his more recent Oscar-nominated political-comedy El Conde. He’s well-suited to shepherd Callas’ story to the big-screen, illustrating the many dimensions of the famed soprano’s life, punctuated by scandal and a high-profile rivalry with fellow opera singer Renata Tebaldi. Jolie stars alongside Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog) and global talents Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, and Haluk Bilginer.

Premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival and showed in spotlight at New York Film Festival.

Pedro Almodovar continues his run as one of cinema’s most prolific directors with the first English-language film of his career. The Room Next Door stars Julianne Moore as a New York writer who reunites with an old friend, a war journalist played by Tilda Swinton. We’re dying to see New York through Almodovar’s lens, a perspective that’s been inextricably tied to Spanish cinema. The film has been chosen as the Centerpiece film of the New York Film Festival, where the director has screened 14 films, dating back to his international breakout, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

Screened in competition at the the Venice Film Festival; appeared in TIFF's special presentations lineup; and showed as the centerpiece film at NYFF.

We were big fans of director Brady Corbett's Vox Lux and he’s already creating a bit of a stir with The Brutalist, his shot-on-film, 70mm epic that's shipping (to festivals anyway) with a 15-minute intermission and all the trimmings of a throwback theatrical experience. The early hype is nearly eclipsing the story, which pairs Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones as an architect and his wife whose lives are changed by a wealthy client soon after they arrive in the US from post-WWII Europe.

Premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival; screened in TIFF's special presentations lineup; and appeared as part of New York Film Festival's main slate.

Jude Law and Nicolas Hoult face off in this true crime thriller about one FBI agent’s mission to take down a ring of white supremacist bank robbers in the Pacific Northwest. Justin Kurzel (The Snowtown Murders) directs a script from Oscar and BAFTA nominee Zach Baylin (King Richard), based on the non-fiction book "The Silent Brotherhood" by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt. In addition to Law and Hoult, the cast will include Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollett, Alison Oliver, Odessa Young, and Marc Maron, among others.

Premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival and screened in TIFF's special presentations lineup.

Before Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc, he's sure to create a stir in Luca Guadagnino's adaptation of William S. Burroughs' novel set in 1950s Mexico, where the author once lived alongside expats and veterans cobbling together their lives in the capital city. Craig plays a semi-fictionalized version of Burroughs, who is in pursuit of Allerton, a young man living off of his G.I. Bill benefits. Drew Starkey got the call up from the “Outer Banks” to play the elusive subject of Craig’s affection. The novel was mostly assembled while Burroughs awaited trial for killing his common law wife, Joan Vollmer, and it continues to inspire debate as to whether it’s truly queer canon. Guadagnino re-teams with Justin Kuritzkes, the playwright who helped make Challengers one of the most talked about movies since Saltburn.

Premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival; screened in TIFF's special presentations; and appeared as part of New York Film Festival's spotlight lineup.

The last time director Halina Reijn stepped behind the camera she unleashed the whip-smart horror-comedy Bodies, Bodies, Bodies at SXSW 2023 to the delight of audiences and critics alike. Now the multi-talented filmmaker returns to the festival circuit with Babygirl, a picture that Venice Film Festival Artistic Director Alberto Barbera described as “a sadomasochistic relationship within an American corporation.” Starring Nicole Kidman as a high-powered CEO and Harris Dickenson as her much younger intern, this erotic thriller premieres at the Venice film festival before A24 distributes it to theaters just in time for Christmas 2024.

Premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival and screened in TIFF's special presentations.

We expect something simultaneously sweet and soul-crushing from director John Crowley’s upcoming romantic drama, a decade-spanning love story with Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh center of the frame. The trailer hints at a car crash meet-cute moment that sparks the start of the couple’s shared journey. It remains to be seen whether the couple’s story will unfold chronologically or via flashbacks, but we’re optimistic the onscreen chemistry between Garfield and Pugh will propel us through time effortlessly. Crowley struck a distinct balance of beauty and heartbreak with 2015’s Brooklyn, and has since toyed with viewer’s heartstrings on TV episodes for “Modern Love” and “Black Mirror” (yeah, the Aaron Paul/Josh Hartnett one), so come prepared for some light emotional manipulation.

Premiered as a special presentation at TIFF.

You don’t need to have read Robert Harris’ 2016 novel (we hadn’t) or have a fascination with the intricate rituals and secrecy of the Vatican (we do) to appreciate director Edward Berger’s (All Quiet on the Western Front) latest movie, which follows the behind-the-scenes intrigues of a Papal election in the future. One part pageant of Latin, incense, and birettas and another part high-stakes political thriller, this adaptation stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow as prominent Cardinals who endure one another’s ambitions while wrestling with their own shortcomings. Think classic, grandiose workplace drama where the office just happens to be the Sistine Chapel.

Premiered as a special presentation at TIFF.

It’s a return of the king in director Uberto Pasolini’s latest, but this reunion is far from triumphant. Ralph Fiennes stars as Odysseus, who washes up on the shores of Ithaca after waging a 10-year war against Troy and spending as many years lost at sea. This retelling of Homer’s “The Odyssey” starts near the end of the epic tale as the now-unrecognizable king attempts to reunite with his wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche) and son Telemachus (Charlie Plummer). Standing in his way is a horde of power-hungry suitors who hope to marry Penelope and assume the throne. Speaking of reunions, this is the third time Fiennes and Binoche have shared the screen, first in 1992’s Wuthering Heights, and then in The English Patient, which earned Binoche an Oscar for Best Actress and Fiennes a nomination for Best Actor.

Premiered as a gala presentation at TIFF.

Hugh Grant ratchets the creep factor up to eleven as Mr. Reed, a man whose entire life's purpose seems to be trapping missionaries in his MC Escher-like home of deathtraps in order to test their faith. We have so many questions about this one! He's got to be the devil, right? Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East star as the unluckiest missionaries ever in what looks to be a mind-bending, dread-inducing, scare-fest.

Premiered as a special presentation at TIFF.

With Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon writer/director Chris Sanders at the helm, we know this animated epic from Dreamworks is going to be magical and will make us cry. (Can we just let the robot stay on the planet with their animal friends?) Lupita Nyong'o stars as the wild robot Roz with Kit Conner, Pedro Pescal, and Mark Hamil rounding out the star-studded voice cast.

Premiered as a gala presentation at TIFF.

After her one-two punch with Can You Ever Forgive Me? and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Marielle Heller found herself going a little bonks trying to get this script — an adaptation of Rachel Yoder's magical realism novel — ready to shoot. It pretty much boiled down to sleep deprivation from balancing the creative process with parenting her two young children by herself for the first time; her partner, writer/comedian Jorma Taccone, went back to on-set production as Heller was recruited by producer Amy Adams for the project. Her experiences nearly mirror the events of the novel, which sees Adams portray a stay-at-home mom who loses her sense of self so completely she begins to transform into a different kind of animal. We’re talking fur and extra nipples and everything.

Premiered as a special presentation at TIFF.

Director Coralie Fargeat burst onto the festival scene in 2018 with her bold and visceral feminist Neo-exploitation flick, ‘Revenge.’ With comparison’s to French New Extremity films (like ‘Martyrs’ and ‘High Tension’), ‘Revenge’ established the director as a talent to watch. At the time of this writing, plot details for her second film, ‘The Substance,’ were scant. For starters, we don’t know what this “substance” is yet. But we do know Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid are starring, and that Fargeat promises it will “push boundaries with a different kind of violence.”

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival and screened in TIFF's midnight madness program.

Crime-thrillers may not spring to mind when you think of musicals, but writer-director Jacques Audiard’s new film could change that. Inspired by a chapter in Boris Razon's novel ‘Écoute,’ and developed from what was originally envisioned as a four-act opera, ‘Emilia Perez’ traces the journey of a feared Cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón) who enlists the help of a lawyer (Zoe Saldana) to escape their criminal life and transition into the woman they have always been inside. Pop artist Camille has penned the film’s original songs, and we’re excited to hear co-star Selena Gomez tackle the French singer’s playful songwriting style in this unique musical comedy.

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival; screened in TIFF's special presentations; and appeared New York Film Festival's spotlight lineup. Expected in theaters November 14, 2024.

Jesse Eisenberg is back behind the camera (and in front of it) with A Real Pain, a buddy comedy of sorts “set against the backdrop of the history and trauma of Eastern Europe.” In the film, two cousins, played by Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, travel through Poland to see their ancestral home in the wake of the death of their grandmother. Portions of the narrative are based on Eisenberg’s family history, including a scene filmed in an apartment his family was forced to leave behind in 1938. With supporting performances from Jennifer Grey and Will Sharpe, and Emma Stone acting as a producer, A Real Pain is poised to become a must-watch film of the festival season.

Screened as part of the New York Film Festival spotlight series.

Writer-director Steve McQueen is closing out the New York Film Festival with a historical drama set during the British Capitol bombing of World War II. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Harris Dickinson, Stephen Graham, and introducing Elliott Heffernan, the period piece follows Herrernan’s George as he attempts to travel from the safety of the English countryside to London in search of his mother. The premiere will be a coming home of sorts for McQueen, who has had several of his films screen at NYFF, including Hunger, Shame, 12 Years a Slave, and Occupied City.

Premiered as the closing night film at the New York Film Festival.

We're here for Oscar-nominated director Dianne Houston's tribute to trailblazing small-business owner Melony Armstrong. Houston's experience as a writer on Empire and When We Rise should be a natural fit for the story, and it's a promising role for Simona Brown, perhaps most recognizable from Netflix's Behind Her Eyes.

Screened as part of the Narrative Feature competition at American Black Film Festival.

Directors Billy Miossi and Soraya Sélène get to the bottom of that very question, turning a spotlight on Regina Jones, the creative powerhouse and groundbreaking newspaper publisher who ran the iconic SOUL Newspaper between 1966 to 1982 and featured R&B icons from The O'Jays and James Brown to Etta James and The Supremes.

Screened as part of the Documentary Feature competition at the American Black Film Festival.

Writer-director Christine Swanson is bringing viewers a road movie that, in the filmmaker’s own words, “is an unapologetic, ironic presentation of Black joy, Black resilience, and Black humanity.” Renée Elise Goldsberry stars as Celeste, a big city ad exec who is forced into a road trip with her ex’s mother, Paula (Lynn Whitfield), in order to arrive at a career-defining meeting on time. Swanson is no stranger to telling emotional family stories (check out ‘The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel,’ for example), and we suspect Celeste and Paula’s journey will take them places they could have never imagined. Produced by the director’s Faith Filmworks production company, which she co-owns with husband and producer Michael Swanson.

Screened as part of the Narrative Feature competition at American Black Film Festival.

Jamie Foxx, Nile Rodgers, Mariah Carey and Dionne Warwick are just a few of the stars who share their personal stories about Luther Vandross in Dawn Porter's tenth feature documentary, a deep dive into the life and career of the late R&B legend. 'Luther: Never Too Much' debuted this year at the Sundance Film Festival.

Screened as part of the Documentary Feature competition at the American Black Film Festival.

Vivica A. Fox stars as a woman who learns her estranged son has died, leaving behind a daughter and a husband she never knew about. Jussie Smollett makes his return to acting as the grieving son-in-law, but also plays a key roles behind the scenes, as director and co-writer.

Screened as part of the Narrative Feature competition at the American Black Film Festival.

Did you know Yorgos Lanthimos was filming this project while in post-production on 'Poor Things' and planning his fifth project with Emma Stone (a remake of the comedy 'Save the Green Planet')? Of course there's all sorts of anticipation for this anthology film, which Lanthimos co-wrote with his longtime creative partner Efthimis Filippou, and will premiere at Cannes but pretty much skip the festival circuit, opting for a worldwide rollout starting in June. Lanthimos has shared it's a three-part fable, and the cast, which includes 'Poor Things' players Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley, as well as Jesse Plemons, Hong Chau, and Hunter Schafer in a small role, will play different characters in each of the segments. As for the stories themselves: one's about a man without choice who tries to wrest control over his life, the centerpiece about a woman who returns from being missing at sea, and the finale is about the search for a person destined to become a spiritual leader.

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival. In theaters June 21.

Francis Ford Coppola's self-funded sci-fi drama premieres in competition at Cannes, adding to the list of decades-in-the-making passion projects screening at the festival. Coppola contributed $120 million to finish 'Megalopolis,' which tells the story of the rebuilding of a futuristic Roman-inspired metropolis after a devastating disaster. Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, and Shia LaBeouf star.

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival; screens in TIFF's galas lineup; and is expected in theaters September 2024.

What a lovely day it was when we got a first look at the 'Mad Max: Fury Road' prequel that will transport us back to the manic, mechanic, high-contrast dystopia created by George Miller more than 30 years ago. This fifth installment in the franchise follows Furiosa from her kidnapping from the Green Place by the warlord known as Dementus. That character — previously known only to those whose love for this franchise spilled over into its 2015 video game — is being played by Chris Hemsworth. We're excited to see him put down Mjolnir and try to contain Anya Taylor-Joy as the future Imperator who eventually looks to take down Immortan Joe and his Citadel. Sure, we didn't really need to know how she lost her arm, or see what Immortan Joe looked like in his pre-respirator era, but highly recognizable and under-appreciated actor Lachy Hulme looks to imbue the character with a proper freak factor that will make us rewatch 'Fury Road' as soon as we get home from the movies.

Premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. In theaters May 24.

Kevin Costner brings the first chapter of his epic four-part Western series to Cannes ahead of its June 28 theatrical premiere. 'Horizon' has been a 36-year passion project for Costner, based off a story he commissioned in 1988 and is planned as a four-film series, which Costner funded, co-wrote, produced, directed, and stars in. Although the third and fourth films have not gone into production, fans will only have six weeks to wait for more tales of the American west, as 'Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2' drops on Aug. 16.Premiered out of competition at Cannes Film Festival. In theaters June 28.

If you're talking about David Cronenberg movies, it's natural to say something like: His latest is about watching your deceased loved ones decompose in real time. Aside from that particularly challenging story detail, 'Shrouds' will go down as Cronenberg's most personal film to date — if you're unaware, he lost his spouse, film editor Carolyn Cronenberg, in 2017. We hope it has been a form of solace for him to watch his children Caitlin and Brandon emerge as headline-making filmmakers in their own right. 'Shrouds' is Cronenberg's third collaboration with Vincent Cassel (after 'Eastern Promises' and 'A Dangerous Method'), with Diane Krueger playing three different characters, and Guy Pearce in an undisclosed supporting role. Interestingly, Netflix passed on the project, which Cronenberg initially pitched as a series.

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival; appears in TIFF's galas lineup; and expected in theaters September 25, 2024.

Perhaps sooner than anyone wanted, a Donald Trump biopic is making its way to the screen, premiering at Cannes this year. Sebastian Stan (who scored an Emmy nomination portraying Tommy Lee in Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy”) stars as Trump during the 1970s and 1980s as he’s mentored by Roy Cohn, the reviled prosecutor best remembered for his work with Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare of the 1950s. Stan’s co-star Jeremy Strong (“Succession”) plays Cohn, with Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump, and Martin Donovan as Trump’s father, Fred Trump.

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival.

'Oh Canada' is an adaptation of the novel 'Foregone' by Russell Banks, the author who was always suspicious of the movie business until he worked with Paul Schrader on 'Affliction' in 1997 (and with Atom Egoyan on 'The Sweet Hereafter' the same year). Jacob Elordi — who continues to put distance between himself and his 'Kissing Booth' character — plays the younger version of Leonard Fife, while Schrader fans will plotz to see Richard Gere playing the older version of the character. The novel plays with time and memory as Fife suffers from late-stage cancer and the effects of chemotherapy, so we're looking forward to the first reviews of the film to see if the stylistic risks Schrader has taken in the past are on display here.

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival; screens in TIFF's galas lineup; and will appear as part of New York Film Festival's main slate.

Distinguished filmmaker Guy Maddin re-teams with his 'Green Fog' co-directors, the brothers Galen and Evan Johnson, for what could be a true festival breakout. The satirical nature of the story is essentially a roast of the annual G7 Summit and features a truly international ensemble cast, which includes Cate Blanchett, Alicia Vikander, and Takehiro Hira, who just became even more recognizable with his villainous turn on Shōgun. With 'Midsommer' director Ari Aster on board as hype man/executive producer, it would be weird if the movie isn't picked up worldwide for distribution, and if you've read the early coverage, any studio would be wise to just let Aster and the filmmakers handle the press rounds for the release.

Premiered out of competition at Cannes Film Festival; screens in TIFF's special presentations; and will appear as part of New York Film Festival's main slate.

Barry Keoghan reportedly excused himself from the stacked cast of the upcoming 'Gladiator 2' sequel to star in this drama from director Andrea Arnold, and that's enough to pique our curiosity. Details are scarce, aside from Keoghan's casting as a single father figure named Bug, bringing up two boys in Kent, UK (and some on-set shots showing him shirtless and covered in fake tattoos of creepy crawlers). He'll star alongside Franz Rogowski in this return to narrative filmmaking for Arnold, who's directed on popular series like Big Little Lies and Transparent since her first Cannes release, 2016's 'American Honey.' By nabbing Keoghan straight off a red-hot run, complete with an Oscar nomination and the 'Saltburn' sensation that carried through to 2024, Arnold has ensured plenty of eyes will be on this competition entry.

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival and screens in TIFF's special presentations

Know how sometimes you look up an actor you love and wonder why they haven't been on screen much lately? That's how we feel about Mikey Madison, who was truly wondrous as Pamela Adlon's eldest daughter in Better Things. So to discover she's the lead in 'Tangerine' director Sean Baker's newest movie makes us feel like other people understand what she accomplished on that show. Baker, who is masterful at keeping the secrets of his movies safe until they're released, has indicated this is his biggest budgeted project to date, and it was shot with a polished, 1970s aesthetic, a change-up from his previous, lower-tech approaches to movie making. Thematically it seems to be a new focus for Baker as well, since the story apparently deals with people of means; historically, the director has told stories about people living in the margins and on the fringe of society.

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival; screens in TIFF's special presentations; and will appear as part of the main slate at New York Film Festival. In theaters October 18.

We root for Michel Hazanavicius. 'The Artist' won him the 2012 Oscar and made him famous worldwide, while 2014's 'The Search' nearly destroyed him. Then he made under-seen, excellent films in 2017's 'Godard Mon Amour' and 'Final Cut', which debuted at Cannes in 2022 and was based on a 2017 Japanese film. The animation in 'Precious' looks gorgeous and the story heart-rending.

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival.

Zhangke Jia also directed 'A Touch of Sin', a much admired, sometimes loved film that won Jia the Best Screenplay award at Cannes in 2013. His other films In Competition for the Palme d'Or include 2018's 'Ash is the Purest White' and 2015's 'Mountains May Depart,' so 'Tides' is a strong contender for the top prize.

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival and screens in TIFF's special presentations.

If the poster chokes you up, wait until you see the trailer. Director Ron Howard brings this insider biography (it was done in consultation with Henson's children) to Cannes Classics (and shows up on Disney+ on May 31st). Cannes Classics, which typically shows restorations (such as a new, 4K treatment of 'Paris, Texas') and movie-themed docs (such as 'Faye', about the legendary actress (& legendary handful) Faye Dunaway), is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. We kinda hope Paul Williams shows up for the 'Idea Man' premiere. Heck, he co-wrote 'Rainbow Connection' for 'The Muppet Movie.'

Screened as part the of the Cannes Classics program at Cannes Film Festival.

Nicolas Cage is no stranger to movies about trippy nightmare worlds and meta realities. From the rules-shattering ‘Vampire’s Kiss’ to the criminally under-seen ‘Dream Scenario,’ the nouveau shamanic actor has made a career out of playing people with a tenuous grasp on reality. His expertise as a demented everyman is likely why director Lorcan Finnegan (‘Vivarium’) cast Cage in his new film, ‘The Surfer,’ which premiered as part of the Cannes Film Festival Midnight Screenings slate this year. The movie follows Cage’s would-be surfer as he wanders the super saturated Australian beach of his youth getting harassed by locals, losing out on buying his childhood home, and eventually eating out of a trash can for reasons that may, or may not, become clear when you watch the movie. Is this rollicking thriller a commentary on toxic masculinity or just an exercise in watching a man become unglued? No matter what audiences decide, we can all agree it’s another well-placed entry into the ever-expanding Cagesploitation sub genre.

Premiered in Midnight Screenings at Cannes Film Festival.