10. The Favorite
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult
Synopsis: The film, set in 18th century England, takes the form of a biographical historical drama to explore themes of betrayal, deceit, passion and desires.
Why Anticipate: Not much is known about the plot, but we do know a lot about the man behind the camera. Yes, Yorgos Lanthimos, the new cinephile favourite. With films like ‘Dogtooh’, ‘The Lobster’ and more recently, ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’, Lanthimos has made a niche for himself and once again, we do hope to get a taste of his distinctly intriguing but unsettling sense of dystopian humour.
9. The Sister Brothers
Director: Jacques Audiard
Starring: John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed
Synopsis: Set in the 1850s, the story centers around a gold prospector who is chased by the deadly assassin duo, the Sister Brothers.
Why Anticipate: Jacques Audiard is one of the most versatile filmmakers working today. His films have explored a wide range of themes, mostly within the crime drama genre. Though ‘A Prophet’ remains his most acclaimed work to date, he had followed that up with the gorgeous romantic drama ‘Rust and Bone’ and the clinically brilliant ‘Dheepan’. So one can only expect things to get better and better with Audiard. And having someone like Joaquin Phoenix, arguably the greatest working American film actor, in your film will only make things more exciting. The film looks like an eclectic blend of western, comedy, crime and tragic humor, and it will be interesting to see Audiard take on his first Hollywood project, which may well also be his most thematically ambitious work.
8. Peterloo
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Teresa Mahoney, Adam Long, Rorey Kinnear
Synopsis: A cinematic recreation of the tragic 1818 Manchester Massacre in which 18 protesters were brutally murdered by the British forces.
Why Anticipate: The great Mike Leigh delves deep into the devastating secrets of the 19th century British society. To be honest, it’s hard to think of any other filmmaker who has always managed to capture Britain in all its cultural turbulence across various periods of time. ‘Peterloo’ has got everything that would probably make it the finest film of this year, and could well aslo be Leigh’s greatest work since ‘Naked’.
7. Widows
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Voila Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodrigues, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Ferrel, Jon Bernthal, Liam Neeson
Synopsis: Set in contemporary Chicago, amidst a time of turmoil, four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities take fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.
Why is it anticipated?: ‘Widows’ marks the return to action of the sensational Steve McQueen, who won every award imaginable for his last film ’12 Years A Slave’ in 2013, before which he directed ‘Shame’, another hauntingly brilliant yet underrated modern gem. It will be interesting to see the kind of ambience he provides to a heist film. The heavyweight cast is an added bonus.
6. Roma
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Starring: Marina de Tavira, Daniela Demesa, Marco Graf
Synopsis: A story that chronicles a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s.
Why is it anticipated?: Not much is known about ‘Roma’ except the basic plotline. But the presence of Alfonso Cuarón, who has managed to put poignancy and emotion even in sci-fi films (‘Gravity’ and ‘Children Of Men’) in the director’s chair is enough to get any cinephile hyperventilating. To see him tackle a family drama based in his home country of Mexico would be a sure treat.
5. If Beale Street Could Talk
Director: Barry Jenkins
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Dave Franco, Ed Skrein, Finn Wittrock, Michael Beach, Regina King, Aunjanue Ellis
Synopsis: A woman in Harlem desperately scrambles to prove her fiancé innocent of a crime while carrying their first child.
Why is it anticipated?: Barry Jenkins shook everyone with his 2016 coming-of-age drama ‘Moonlight’, which is one of the most memorable Best Picture winners from recent years. He takes on a similar, yet vastly different story in ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’, a story based in Harlem, NYC’s ,most prominent African-American neighbourhood. Expect the same kind of raw authenticity and sublime emotional maturity as you saw in his previous film.
4. Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer, Laurence Fishburne, Troian Bellisario and James Urbaniak
Synopsis: Bernadette hates people, she hates leaving the house, and more than anything, she hates the other parents at her daughter’s school. But when Bee’s mother disappears, it’s her mission to find out where she is and what really happened to her.
Why is it anticipated?: Linklater is a master of portraying human relations on screen; Blanchett is a master at portraying messed-up characters you can’t help feeling a little empathy for, it is a match made in heaven. ‘Where’d You Go Bernadette’ is based upon the novel of the same name by Maria Semple, which, despite its sombre-sounding plotline, is a heck of a comedy. It’d be super-interesting to see Linklater handling such unique source material.
3. Everybody Knows (Todos lo saben)
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Starring: Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Barbara Lennie, Ricardo Darin, Inma Cuesta, Eduard Fernandez, Javier Camara
Synopsis: Carolina, a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, who returns to her hometown outside Madrid with her Argentinian husband and children. However, the trip is upset by unexpected events that bring secrets into the open.
Why is it anticipated?: Asghar Farhadi has stamped his mark on modern cinema through his evocative Academy-winning duo of films set in the milieu of Iran, namely ‘A Separation’ and ‘The Salesman’. To see him at the helm of a Spanish psychological thriller starring the like of Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz is sure to be a film to look out for.
2. The Irishman
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel
Synopsis: A mob hitman recalls his possible involvement with the slaying of Jimmy Hoffa.
Why is it anticipated?: Martin Scorsese. Arguably, the greatest living director. Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Two of the greatest living actors. The only reason this film is not at No.1 is because of the tiny possibility that it might not release this year. Irrespective of when it releases our excitement is through the roof.
1. First Man
Director: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Corey Stoll, Kyle Chandler, Jason Clarke, Shea Whigham, Jon Bernthal, Brian d’Arcy James, Pablo Schreiber
Synopsis: A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
Why is it anticipated?: There’s an avalanche of reasons why I’m stoked for ‘First Man’, and the biggest one is Damien Chazelle, whose last two films ‘Whiplash’ and ‘La La Land’ have moved and mesmerised me to no limit. Him chronicling the story of one of 20th Century’s most iconic personalities with the stellar Ryan Gosling in the lead, as well as Claire Foy (Queen Elizabeth from ‘The Crown’) is a cinephile’s wet dream.
Read More: Best Romantic Movies of 2017
