Over the past 18 months, the cinematic experience has been dire. With cinemas being closed internationally, the film industry drew to a halt and many of us spent our lockdown revisiting old TV shows and films we’ve seen a thousand times over. Except for the occasional surprise release on Disney+, or other streaming services, our thirst for culture has only heightened over the past year or so.
Thankfully, cinemas started to open again this summer, and flicks like Zola and Free Guy helped to quench our thirst for film. This autumn, we’re finally going to get the flicks that we’ve been waiting on, with delights from Marvel, Denis Villeneuve and Wes Anderson, to name a few. Here, we select the films that need to be on your watch-list this season.
No Time To Die (30th September)
Impossible not to mention, but like, they’ve taken forever and we’re sick of waiting, right?
The French Dispatch (22nd October)
As is often the case with Wes Anderson flicks, people have been gagging for The French Dispatch since it was announced. Boasting a cast of Hollywood elite including Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, and of course, one Timothée Hal Chalamet, it’s no wonder that it’s set to be a box office smash this Autumn.
The film is split into three parts, and has been described as “a love letter to journalists set at an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th-century French city” with Anderson saying “The story is not easy to explain, [It’s about an] American journalist based in France [who] creates his magazine. It is more a portrait of this man, of this journalist who fights to write what he wants to write. It’s not a movie about freedom of the press, but when you talk about reporters you also talk about what’s going on in the real world.”
If the trailer is anything to go by, it’s going to be filled with classic Anderson quirks, nostalgic charm and sets you wish you could inhabit.
Spencer (5th November USA. UK TBC)
When it was announced that Kristen Stewart was going to be playing the People’s Princess, Diana Spencer, the entire country let out a groan. Do we really need another look at Diana’s tragic life by an actress butchering her one-of-a-kind accent? I’d say no – especially so soon after the role was so elegantly mastered by Emma Corrin in The Crown.
BUT – if the rumours from the Venice Film Festival are to be believed, Stewart’s turn as Diana might just be the best one yet. The trailer offers a little hint that she just might have mastered that voice, and it’s enough to get us curious…
Eternals (5th November)
Finally, Gemma Chan gets her leading moment in a major flick. It’s been a long-time coming, but we can’t wait to see the actress become Marvel’s next big name. Starring alongside Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek and Kit Harrington, the film follows a group of superheroes from an alien race joining forces once again to save planet Earth.
While that description might sound like the same as any other Marvel flick, it’s the direction of award-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao that will set this film aside from others within the Marvel cinematic universe. In an interview with Vogue, Chan says “I think this is going to be a really different, special film,” likening it more to an independent superhero movie than a big-budget blockbuster. World’s away (literally) from Zhao’s award-winning Nomadland, Eternals is an opportunity for the director to prove that she has many more strings to her bow…
Belfast (12th November)
Jamie Dornan has shown his acting chops in recent years, from playing a serial killer in The Fall, and S&M obsessive in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and most recently a distracted assassin in Barb and Star Go To Costa Del Mar. He will continue to showcase his acting prowess in the new film from Kenneth Branagh, Belfast, which also stars Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds.
Believed to be a semi-autographical piece on Branagh’s upbringing, the film tells the story of a young boy and his working class family living in Belfast during the troubles. Singing, dancing and bucket-loads of charm, Belfast is certain to be a big hit this autumn.
House of Gucci (26th November)
“Father, Son, and House of Gucci”. Potentially Lady Gaga’s most meme-able moment since that Superbowl jump – and it’s no surprise. The role of Patrizia Martinelli seemed to be hand-crafted for the pop icon. And with director Ridley Scott at the helm, and Adam Driver playing Maurizio Gucci, this biographical crime drama is certain to pack a punch.
For those not in the know, House of Gucci explores the highly publicised events around the murder of Gucci, orchestrated by his ex-wife in an attempt to gain greater control over the Gucci estate. Slick, stylist and steeped in iconography, House of Gucci is a watch-list must.
