It’s the most wonderful time of year to watch a movie. Cinema schedules are filled with Oscar contenders, big-budget blockbusters and indie film-festival winners all vying for our attention – and the air con and buttery popcorn are a welcome distraction from the hot weather. This summer, the films we’re looking forward to most include star performances from Cate Blanchett, Emma Mackey and Michelle Williams; Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson going through a buddy break-up; Jenny Slate lending her voice to a teeny one-inch shell with a big heart; and Woody Harrelson navigating a fated yacht of entitled (and lost) mega-rich losers.
Here are some of the biggest releases to catch this season.
For a tragicomic break-up: The Banshees of Inisherin
Pádraic (Colin Farrell) calls on his best friend Colm (Brendan Gleeson) every day at the same time for their daily pub catch-up on the isle of Inisherin, a remote community off the west coast of Ireland. But on one particular day, Colm inexplicably decides he no longer wants to be boring Pádraic’s friend, and threatens to sever his fingers if the dairy farmer talks to him again. It sounds like a playground tiff, but there’s a heavy gloom weighing over Colm, who wants to waste no more time with Pádraic, but instead compose music that he hopes will survive long after he’s gone. For fans of In Bruges, this is a reprise of Farrell and Gleeson’s onscreen chemistry, as well as the whip-sharp writing of writer-director Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). For those new to McDonagh’s work, it’s a masterful combination of tragicomedy, absurdity and oddball characters.
In cinemas from December 26.
For a sexy origin story: Emily
Not much is known about Wuthering Heights author Emily Brontë. The English writer published her 1847 novel under the name Ellis Bell and died a year later from tuberculosis, aged 30. What we do know comes mostly from her sister Charlotte Brontë’s diaries, and whatever hot takes we can draw from her characters Heathcliff and Catherine. Emily, starring Sex Education’s Emma Mackey, is a semi-biographical story of the writer’s life – and Australian director Frances O’Connor has made sure it’s as tense and sexy as we’d like to imagine. This is O’Connor’s directorial debut, and she’s picked a powerhouse actor in Mackey, who brings depth to the young writer’s life story as she contends with a disapproving father and a fraught relationship with her sister Charlotte. There’s a particularly sexy scene with her lover, William Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) – not Bridgerton levels of raunchy, but pretty hot all the same.
In cinemas from January 12.
For “our Cate” at her best: Tár
Director Todd Field had one actor in mind when he wrote the fictional character of Lydia Tár – a conductor at the top of her game ahead of a book launch and crucial performance with her orchestra in Berlin – and that was Cate Blanchett. It’s the director’s first film in 15 years, and its story addresses power struggles, cancel culture, artistic legacy and personal cruelty in a tense and captivating movie that clocks in at almost three hours. Blanchett absolutely nails it, of course. Her Lydia Tár is messy, complex, unlikeable and unapologetically ambitious – and, through Blanchett’s unwavering performance, she’s vulnerable too. Tár is a psychological portrait of an artist of our times that stands out as one of Blanchett’s best. It ignites the age-old question: can you love the art but not the artist?
In cinemas from January 26.
For coke-fuelled chaos: Babylon
Early reviews of Damien Chazelle’s three-hour portrayal of hedonistic Hollywood, starring Margot Robbie, Diego Calva and Brad Pitt, have called it “dizzying”, “ambitious” and “a lot”. The Whiplash and La La Land director has leaned into the excess and depravity of 1920s Los Angeles and painted it red with a spectacular cast, including Tobey Maguire and Jean Smart, and a high-octane soundtrack. The film’s fictional parties are cocaine-fuelled and lavish; the onslaught of jazz is tense and fast-paced; and the costume and production design is big-budget extravagance. Some say it’s one of Robbie’s best performances. Many agree it’s an entertaining (if somewhat numbing) sensory overload.
In cinemas from January 19.
For the magic of the movies: The Fabelmans
Steven Spielberg takes a fantasy filter and applies it to his childhood in this film, which is part memoir, part movie-making tribute. It has all the sentiment and sheen of his early work, with an Oscar-tipped performance from Michelle Williams as Sammy’s artistic mother, Mitzi. The Fabelmans is not a biography as such, but figuring out the overlap between Spielberg’s real-life family and the fictional Fabelmans is like playing “spot the difference”. In the film, a young Sammy falls in love with movies after seeing The Greatest Show on Earth (just as Spielberg did) and, as a way to process a train-crash scene that keeps replaying in his mind, he starts making his own films. The stellar cast includes Paul Dano as his engineer father, Seth Rogen as family friend Bennie, and Judd Hirsch as Mitzi’s uncle Boris – and the tear-jerking, nostalgic script is courtesy of Spielberg’s West Side Story collaborator Tony Kushner. Though the film touches on anti-Semitism, mental health and divorce, it does so lightly (to the disappointment of some critics).
In cinemas from January 5.
For absurd, frenzied satire: Triangle of Sadness
A group of beautiful, exceedingly rich and grossly entitled passengers board a luxury yacht where the only correct answer to any of their requests – no matter how ludicrous – is “Yes, sir” or “Yes, ma’am”. Two of those passengers are the vapid, talentless and extremely attractive Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean, who died earlier this year). They’re probably the least ridiculous pair among all the other pompous socialites on board, which may help explain why the unhinged captain (Woody Harrelson) has a drinking problem. Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning satire is a farcical tale about what happens when society’s most privileged are suddenly fighting for survival – stranded on an island, where a Rolex can’t secure you a meal or fresh drinking water. It’s an outrageous ride, and one that divided audiences at Cannes: some walked out, others gave a standing ovation. Diarrhoea jokes can do that sometimes.
In cinemas from December 26.
For cuteness overload: Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Looking for a charming tear-jerker? There’s nothing more adorable than a one-inch shell making the most of life in an abandoned Airbnb while taking care of his ageing grandmother Connie (voiced by Isabella Rossellini). Marcel (voiced by comedian Jenny Slate) is the most optimistic character you’ll come across this year, and as we learn in this stop-motion animation, you don’t need to be big to have a massive heart. Once part of a sprawling community of shells, Marcel and Connie – and their pet lint, Alan – are all alone in a house when documentary filmmaker Dean discovers them and asks to learn more about how Marcel spends his time, and if he’d like to try to find his missing family. Fame and a prime-time interview help their search reach millions. Marcel the Shell With Shoes On has been doing the rounds at film festivals all year, and the heartwarming little movie gets its Australian cinema release in the new year. It’s the follow-up film from director Dean Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate’s short Youtube clips that launched the character of Marcel in 2010. It’ll melt even the coldest of hearts.
In cinemas from January 5.
