By Brian Bowe
2023 was fun, wasn’t it? But, guess what? It’s over. Goodbye Todd Haynes; smell ya later, Scorsese; see you next time, Reichardt. We’ll see you all in a few years, when I’m sure you’ll return with another stunner. As for 2024, this year will belong to the likes of Johnathan Glazer, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, but apparently not Bong Joon-ho, whose long-awaited follow-up to 2019’s Parasite, The Robert Pattinson-led Mickey 17, has reportedly been pushed back to 2025.
Alas, we soldier on because 2024 is packed with so many intriguing titles, from small arthouse fare like All of Us Strangers to megawatt blockbusters like Dune: Part Two. Marvel will look to rebound after a dismal 2023, with the likes of Deadpool 3, Venom 3, and Kraven the Hunter, starring Arron Taylor Johnson, all slated to land this year. Speaking of sequels, get ready for Godzilla x Kong and Inside Out 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and a fourth film from both Bad Boys and Despicable Me franchises.
(Image – Glenn Francis)
If, while reading the following list, you come to ask yourself, “Hey, why no Ghostbusters or Transformers, or any mention of everybody’s favourite lasagne guzzling cat?” you’ll be happy to know that these will all feature on a list for a future issue: “Movies to Avoid like The Plague.” Anyway, 2024 is going to be a fun year for cinema, and here’s why.
The Brutalist
Adrien Brody stars in Brady Corbet’s follow up to Childhood of a Leader and Vox Lux, a sprawling biopic of László Tóth, a Hungarian-born Jewish architect who lived through the Holocaust. I was a big fan of Corbet’s previous two films, especially Childhood of a Leader, so expectations are high for the third. Late 2024.
Dune: Part Two
Delayed from 2023, the second half of Denis Villeneuve’s epic Dune adaptation will see Hollywood princeling Timothée Chalamet return as Paul Atreides, cozying up with the Fremen clans in order to battle against those who attacked his family in Part One. Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and the legendary Christopher Walken are set to join the franchise, with Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård and Zendaya returning for some more spicy action. 1 March.
Gladiator 2
Ridley just won’t stop! The man – all 86 years of him – is a movie machine. He churns ‘em out and we lap ‘em up. This is easily his most anticipated picture in recent years, a sequel to his blockbuster behemoth Gladiator, which is set to star Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal and, returning after 23 years, Connie Nielsen. 22 November.
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(image – Gage Skidmore)
Monster
Fans of Kore-eda Hirokazu will know what to expect with this one. He’s a director full of compassion and patience and never fails to deliver a thought-provoking piece of work. The film follows a single mother who demands answers from a school teacher when her son begins acting strangely. A fight at school causes even more trouble. 15 March.
Kneecap
The first Irish-language film to be selected for the Sundance Film Festival, Kneecap is an origin tale of the west Belfast Irish-language hip-hop trio of the same name. The film stars the band members themselves as well as Michael Fassbender. We’re very intrigued. Late 2024.
Love Lies Bleeding
After terrifying audiences back in 2020 with Saint Maud, British director Rose Glass is back with a 1980s-set romantic thriller starring Kristen Stewart as a gym employee who runs off on a Bonnie-and-Clyde-esue adventure with a woman bodybuilder (Mandolorian’s Katy O’Brian). I recommend you check out the trailer, if not for the film then for a bewigged and barmy Ed Harris, who seems to be having the time of his life. 8 March.
MaXXXIne
Finishing off his gruesome trilogy, Ty West’s takes us to 1980s Hollywood. It follows Maxine (Mia Goth), who, after surviving a horrific massacre, moves to Los Angeles in the early 1980s to pursue her dreams of becoming a big famous actress. If it’s anything like his previous films, X and Pearl, expect a lot of blood and screaming, along with a spectacular performance from Goth, an actor who’s quickly becoming everyone’s favourite scream queen. Late 2024.
Challengers
A casualty of last year’s actors and writers’ strike, Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis film will finally arrive on our screens in 2024 after a lengthy delay. Zendaya plays a tennis player-turned-coach who has transformed her husband (Mike Faist) from a low-ranking player into a world-famous champion. However, to jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she makes him play a challenger event, where he finds himself up against his former pal and his wife’s former lover (Josh O’Connor). 26 April.
Drive-Away Dolls
Back in 2021, Joel Coen (of Coen Brothers fame) went solo, directing a fine Macbeth adaptation for Apple that starred Denzel Washinginton. Now it’s his brother Ethan’s turn. This will be his narrative feature debut as a solo director, following his 2022 documentary, Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind. As far as I can make out from the trailer, Drive-Away Dolls looks to be an offbeat queer road-trip comedy, packed with mayhem and mishap which fans of the siblings’ previous work will be familiar with, notably Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski. The “Dolls” in question are played by Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan. 21 March.
All of Us Strangers
I’ve been hearing about Andrew Haigh’s “stunning,” “beautiful,” “poetic” film All of Us Strangers for what seems like years now. At first I was intrigued, but now I’m feeling tired of all these glowing write-ups and soft-spoken, big-hearted interviews. Of course, I shouldn’t blame the film but instead cast my deathly stare towards the movie’s staggered distribution, having come out in America last year. Haigh has always been a filmmaker to look out for; he rarely disappoints. Even his recent foray into television, The North Water, starring Colin Farrell, was a whale of a time. The fact his new film stars two Irish stars in Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal is cause for interest. Scott was nominated for a Golden Globe for this performance and, who knows, might even get an Oscar nod down the line. 26 January.
