As 2022 comes to a close, there’s plenty of reason for concern about the fate of cinema. Critics are bemoaning Hollywood’s lack of movie stars, the dearth of films that leave you feeling obliterated, and how highbrow films are consistently bombing at the box office. It would be tough to argue that the past year reached the pre-pandemic cinematic heights of 2019—let alone the pre-streaming heights of yore.
But you know what? Fuck your bah-humbugs. After a couple years of sparse releases and uber-contained productions, 2022’s slate of films gave us plenty to be grateful for. We got indelible lines like “Surgery is the new sex,” “I ate him right the fuck up,” and “Suck me.” We saw Tom Cruise fly fast in airplanes, hot dog-fingered multiverses, an incredible gag involving a tape measure, and a blockbuster original alien movie that fully delivered. Oh, and maybe best of all, the invention of Lydia Tár.
Will the caliber of movies continue to rebound next year, or is the medium on its way to realizing its doomsayers’ worst fears? Who can say! But what does seem clear is that there’s plenty to be excited about in 2023—from the feature debuts of exciting young talents to star-studded mega-productions from the likes of Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson. Here are just a handful of the films we’re giddily anticipating in 2023.
What we know: We’ll meet a freaky-deaky AI doll who dances… and also maybe (read: definitely) kills people?
Why we’re excited: The doll humor. We can’t resist the doll humor.
Release date: January 6, 2023
What we know: Carla Simón follows Summer 1993 with an ensemble drama about a family of peach farmers in a small village in Catalonia. They find their lives turned upside down when the owner of their large estate dies and his lifetime heir decides to sell the land.
Why we’re excited: Alcarras won the Golden Bear award at this year’s Berlinale. We’re ready to see what the hype is all about.
Release date: January 6, 2023
What we know: Two best friends and club promoters throw a party in LeBron James’s house in this remake of the beloved 1990 comedy.
Why we’re excited: This version of House Party was penned by Stephen Glover, who, besides being the brother of Donald Glover, was responsible for many of the best episodes of Atlanta.
Release date: January 13, 2023
What we know: Skinamarink is a fuzzy microbudget horror film about two kids who wake up during the night, can’t find their father, and discover that the windows, doors, and other objects in the house have disappeared.
Why we’re excited: After a strong festival run and a pirated cut circulating online, Skinamarink has been setting Letterboxd aflame with glowing reviews.
Release date: January 13, 2023
What we know: Alice Diop, acclaimed for her documentary work, makes her narrative debut with a critically beloved drama inspired by the 2016 court case of Fabienne Kabou, who was convicted of killing her daughter in 2013.
Why we’re excited: We caught Saint Omer at New York Film Festival, and were taken with Diop’s assured pacing, observational prowess, and abundant empathy. Saint Omer is a movie rich in ideas about motherhood, race, and the limits of cross-cultural knowledge.
Release date: January 13, 2023
When You Finish Saving The World
What we know: Jesse Eisenberg wrote and directed this drama about a woman (Julianne Moore) and her moody teenage son (Finn Wolfhard), who seek out replacements for each other in their lives. A24 is distributing.
Why we’re excited: Jesse Eisenberg is known for playing smart characters—and also, for being very smart himself. We look forward to seeing him be smart in his debut directorial effort.
Release date: January 20, 2023
What we know: Give Me Pity! is Amanda Kramer’s very neon, very psychedelic ride into the dark side of showbiz. In it, Sissy St. Claire’s first-ever television special quickly descends into a wild nightmare.
Why we’re excited: In an early review out of Rotterdam, Screen Daily’s Wendy Ide wrote: “Part exercise in kitsch 1980s analogue nostalgia, part examination of ego-driven diva culture, part psychological horror, Give Me Pity! is a singular vision which could resonate with audiences with a taste for lurid cinematic mischief-making.”
Release date: February 2023
What we know: Clay Tatum’s feature debut is a two-hander between him and frequent collaborator Whitmer Thomas, in which Thomas plays a ghost only Tatum’s character can see. Fans of Thomas’s comedy will be glad to know there are Joker gags.
Why we’re excited: The Civil Dead, which won the audience award at last year’s Slamdance, is one of the best independent films of the past few years. Tatum and Thomas have a unique sensibility and the effortless chemistry of longtime friends. A cult classic in the making.
Release date: February 2, 2023
What we know: Sharper is an A24-distributed ensemble NYC con-comedy featuring Julianne Moore, John Lithgow, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith, and Brianna Middleton. It will be released by Apple TV+.
Why we’re excited: Collider has reported that Sharper “unfolds within the secrets of New York City, from the penthouses of Fifth Avenue to the shadowy corners of Queens”—a world that, frankly, we’re suckers for.
Release date: February 10, 2023
What we know: In the third installment of the Magic Mike franchise, there will be a lot of dancing. While we don’t know much about the plot, we do know that the film will end with a—get ready—30-minute-long dance sequence. Olay!
Why we’re excited: Channing Tatum’s abs? Stephen Soderbergh’s camerawork? A guaranteed good time? We all have our reasons.
Release date: February 10, 2023
What we know: This is a movie about a bear who eats a lot of cocaine. It is loosely based on a true story.
Why we’re excited: 1. Cocaine bear. 2. This is one of the last films featuring the late, great Ray Liotta. 3. Elizabeth Banks getting weird as a director. 4. Cocaine bear!!!!
Release date: February 24, 2023
What we know: Not to be confused with Bo Burnham’s 2021 pandemic special, this Inside finds Willem Dafoe as an art thief trapped in a New York penthouse following a heist gone wrong.
Why we’re excited: If you’re going to be stuck inside with anyone, it might as well be Willem Dafoe.
Release date: March 10, 2023
What we know: Keanu Reeves is gonna kill a lot of fools who should probably just leave him alone.
Why we’re excited: Improbably, the story of Keanu Reeves avenging his murdered dog has become our most bankable action franchise. Whose charm has aged better than Reeves’?
Release date: March 24, 2023
What we know: Nicholas Cage is Dracula, boss from Hell, doing an “amalgamation of a sort mid-Atlantic August Coppola accent combined with some Christopher Lee, with some Anne Bancroft thrown in for good measure” and dressed in what will undoubtedly be the most popular Halloween costume of 2023.
Why we’re excited: See above.
Release date: April 14, 2023
What we know: Wes Anderson’s latest sounds unmistakably like a Wes Anderson movie: It’s set at a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention in a fictional American desert town, and finds the itinerary disrupted by world-changing events. Asteroid City‘s cast is full of Anderson mainstays, like Jason Schwartzman, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Ed Norton, Adrien Brody, and Willem Dafoe.
Why we’re excited: To see Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, and Maya Hawke make their Wes Anderson debuts.
Release date: June 16, 2023
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One
What we know: The seventh Mission: Impossible film will be one half of a two-part adventure. Director Chris McQuarrie has said of it, “It’s going to have to be the installment that swallows the rest of the franchise whole.”
Why we’re excited: The Mission: Impossible movies defy sequel conventions by seemingly getting better with each new installment. Tom Cruise defies human conventions by failing to age. The odds are pretty good—this is going to be a fun time.
Release Date: July 14, 2023
What we Know: Margot Robbie is Barbie. Ryan Gosling is Ken. Greta Gerwig directed. Gerwig’s husband Noah Baumbach helped her write the script. There’s a lot of neon.
Why we’re excited: “Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach are doing a Barbie movie” is one of those sentences that at first sounds vaguely apocalyptic (What have we come to?) until you hear it enough times that it becomes exciting (The possibility!). Mostly, we’re dying to know whether Baumbach gave Barbie the trauma of divorced parents.
Release date: July 21, 2023
What we know: Christopher Nolan’s biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb has an—excuse us—an explosive cast: Cillian Murphy (as Oppenheimer) is joined by Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Gary Oldman, Matt Damon, Rami Malleck, Benny Safdie, and about ten other actors who could lead a movie themselves.
Why we’re excited: Christopher Nolan’s movies tend to be at their best when the filmmaker doesn’t get too bogged down in the science of time. With this one, we can’t wait to see bomb go boom.
Release date: July 21, 2023
Please Don’t Destroy Project
What we know: The Please Don’t Destroy boys have made a buddy comedy centered around a hunt for gold, with Judd Apatow producing.
Why we’re excited: More weeks than not, SNL’s funniest sketch comes from Please Don’t Destroy. The three-headed beast of Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy give the impression of sharing the same brain. Their first foray into feature filmmaking will introduce much of the world to their eclectic extended universe of brilliant young comedians like Chloe Troast and William Banks.
Release date: August 18, 2023
What we know: There will be a lot more Zendaya in the second and final part of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. This one will focus more on the Harkonnen. And Florence Pugh will be one of the new actors introduced.
Why we’re excited: Because there’s seemingly nothing in the world that gets Denis Villeneuve more jazzed than Dune.
Release date: November 3, 2023
What we know: Timothée Chalamet is Wonka in Paul King’s origin story of the famed chocolatier.
Why we’re excited: If Twitter is still around when this movie comes out, it’s going to have a field day.
Release date: December 15, 2023
What we know: Acclaimed playwright Bess Wohl makes her film debut with a story about a vlogger and influencer’s life unraveling after she becomes a mother. Noémie Merlant (Tár) and Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones) star.
Why we’re excited: Cate Blanchett is understandably getting the lion’s share of praise for her turn in Tár, but nearly everyone in Todd Frield’s Best Picture-hopeful gives a pitch-perfect performance—including Noémie Merlant, who plays Tár’s assistant. We’re pumped to see her shine in a bigger role.
Release date: TBA
What we know: Not much. The plot of Ari Aster’s Midsommar follow-up has mostly been kept under wraps–other than it being “a decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.” It stars Joaquin Phoenix. It used to be called Disappointment Blvd.
Why we’re excited: To see Ari Aster move beyond the horror genre.
Release date: TBA
What we know: Bottoms is Emma Seligman’s follow-up to 2020 cringe-comedy sensation Shiva Baby. Its logline goes as follows: “Two unpopular queer high school students start a fight club to have sex before graduation.”
Why we’re excited: Star Rachel Sennott is batting a thousand at being funny in every role. Here, she’s joined by The Bear standout Ayo Edibiri.
Release date: TBA.
What we know: The title does not lie. This is a movie about a dad (Colin Burgess), a step-dad (Anthony Oberbeck), and the hijinks that ensue during their weekend excursion with their 13-year-old son Branson (Brian Fiddyment).
Why we’re excited: Who doesn’t love some good dad (and step-dad!) humor?
Release date: TBA.
What we know: Michael Mann has made a biopic of Italian sports car entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari starring Adam Driver.
Why we’re excited: Michael Mann + fast cars = yes please!
Release date: TBA
What we know: Free Time, from first-timer Ryan Martin Brown, is the story of a man (Colin Burgess) who, nearing the end of his twenties, quits his unfulfilling desk job to have his “Summer of George”: embrace life, find himself, that whole rigamarole. But figuring out what to do with his time proves harder than expected.
Why we’re excited: Like Downtown 81 or Slacker, Free Time is one of those down-and-dirty ensemble movies that captures a burgeoning scene at a fertile time. In addition to Burgess, the film features a host of other Brooklyn mainstays who could soon be household names. Among them, Rajat Suresh, Jessie Pinnick, Holmes Holmes, Jeremy Levick, and a stand-out performance from distinguished yeller, Bardia Salimi. (Also, I appear for approximately one movie-stealing second as an extra.)
Release date: TBA
What we know: Thea Hvistendahl’s feature debut is an adaptation of acclaimed horror novelist John Ajvide Lindqvist’s 2005 book of the same name. It’s set on an unusually hot day in Oslo, when a strange electrical field brings about a collective migraine, causing electronics around the city to malfunction and the deceased to return to life.
Why we’re excited: Fans of The Worst Person in the World will be excited to see stars Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie reteam in another Oslo-set drama.
Release date: TBA
What we know: Taika Watiti has made an “epic space opera,” written by fellow New Zealander Jermaine Clement, based on Alejandro Jodorowsky’s graphic novel.
Why we’re excited: Epic space operas are either epically great or epically bad, and we’re up for either.
Release date: TBA
What we know: A24’s upcoming biopic of professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich and the Von Erich family is highly anticipated thanks to its cast of beefy boys and the early pictures of them beefing up.
Why we’re excited: The beef.
Release date: TBA
What we know: Jane Schoenbrun’s follow-up to creepypasta sensation We’re All Going to the World’s Fair has been described by the filmmaker as the second part in a trilogy of sorts. It follows two teenagers who bond over their shared love of a scary television show, only to have that show get mysteriously canceled.
Why we’re excited: Schoenbrun’s debut was a triumph of microbudget filmmaking. Now, they’ve got A24 behind them, as well as a bigger budget. We’re excited to see what they do as they level up in scope.
Release date: TBA
What we know: David Fincher is adapting the French graphic novel of the same name by Alexis Nolent (under penname, Matz) and artist Luc Jacamon. It’s a noir about an assassin who cracks as he develops a conscience, and it stars Tilda Swinton and Michael Fassbender.
Why we’re excited: Fincher doing a noir called The Killer. Come on. What more do you really need to know?
Release date: TBA
Killers of the Flower Moon
What we know: Martin Scorsese is finally venturing into the MCU with… Kidding! The GOAT is adapting the sweeping David Grann book about the 1920s F.B.I. investigation into the mysterious murder of members of the Osage tribe. The cast includes screen legends like Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, and John Lithgow. Plus, we’ll see two of the greatest singer-songwriters alive, Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell. Jack White, too.
Why we’re excited: Literally, everything. Everything about this movie.
Release date: TBA.
What we know: La Chimera is a 1980s-set tomb-robbing drama from Alice Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro), starring Josh O’Connor and Isabella Rossellini. It was filmed around Italy and Switzerland.
Why we’re excited: Umm, an Italian-set tomb-robbing movie that stars Isabella Rossellini from one of our favorite young directors, Alice Rohrwacher? Hell yeah!
Release date: TBA
What we know: Adapted from a Vladimir Nabokov novel, Anya Taylor-Joy plays a young aspiring actress who plots to take a married middle-aged art critic’s money.
Why we’re excited: The re-teaming of Anya Taylor-Joy and Scott Frank, who last worked together on the show that briefly made everyone want to play chess, The Queen’s Gambit.
Release date: TBA
What we know: Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot, Homecoming) is adapting Rumaan Alam’s novel about a family’s vacation gone wrong. It stars Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Bacon, Mahershala Ali, and Myha’la Herrold.
Why we’re excited: We loved Julia Roberts in Sam Esmail’s Homecoming series, and look forward to seeing the pair reunite.
Release date: TBA
What we know: Bradley Cooper is Leonard Bernstein in a biopic about Lydia Tár’s mentor.
Why we’re excited: The beautiful first-look photos.
Release date: TBA
A Manual for Cleaning Women
What we know: Pedro Almodóvar was originally slated to adapt Lucia Berlin’s hit 2015 short story collection (“All pain is real could be Berlin’s mantra, the motto of this collection,” Ruth Franklin wrote in her New York Times review) with Cate Blanchett starring, but the Spanish filmmaker has since backed out of the production.
Why we’re excited: Adapting a literary short story collection like Berlin’s with Blanchett on board is an intriguing prospect. If it’s half as good as Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, it’ll be worth the price of admission.
Release date: TBA
What we know: Ridley Scott has made a historical epic about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, starring Joaquin Phoenix.
Why we’re excited: This is sure to be an insane theatrical experience.
Release date: TBA
What we know: Fifty Shades Of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson tackles the story of Kate Rothko’s legal battle to honor her father Mark Rothko’s legacy. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Russell Crowe, and Aisling Franciosi star.
Why we’re excited: The art world intrigue.
Release date: TBA
What we know: Michelle Williams, in full Napoleon Dynamite mode, stars as a sculptor with a day job at a local arts college and an anxiety-inducing upcoming exhibition. There is a pigeon. Andre 3000 mans the kiln.
Why we’re excited: There’s a very small, very incredible moment at the end of the movie that—well, we won’t say more than that.
Release date: TBA
Max Cea
Max Cea is a writer based in Brooklyn.
