The Best New Films To Watch This Month
It’s November, and while it might be nearly the end of the year, 2024 certainly isn’t done with new film releases. The whiff of awards season is in the air, and there are quite a few big releases in the coming weeks. From big blockbusters like Gladiator II and Wicked, to awards favourites like Anora and Conclave, here’s everything you need to watch out for at the cinema this month:
Gladiator II
One the biggest releases of this month, Gladiator II comes to cinemas 24 years after the original starring Russell Crowe, and is once again directed by Ridley Scott. The sequel takes us back to Ancient Rome, with a new hero played by Normal People and Aftersun star Paul Mescal. Lucius (Mescal), the nephew of Crowe’s character Maximus in the first film, enters the formidable coliseum as a gladiator, doing battle after being driven from his home by the Roman army. Alongside him is Macrius (Denzel Washington), who offers guidance and seeks to overthrow the emperors. The starry cast also includes Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi and Fred Hechinger. Expect grandiose battle scenes, epic drama and a hell of a spectacle.
out on 15th november
Anora
The winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Anora is a strong contender for awards season including the Oscars next year. It centres around a sex worker and stripper, Anora (played by Scream’s Mikey Madison) from Brooklyn who meets and marries the son of a Russian oligarch, Ivan Mark Eidelstein. To her, it feels like it could be a match made in heaven and a fairytale ending. However, the marriage doesn’t run entirely smoothly, and when news of the wedding gets back to Russia and Ivan’s family, they don’t react very well. They send their hired henchman to annul the marriage, threatening the pair’s relationship forever.
out on 1st november
Paddington In Peru
Who doesn’t love Paddington, or the two movies that have already starred him? The bear from Darkest Peru returns in this third instalment in the franchise, and will see him revisit to his homeland. Paddington (Ben Whishaw) and his adopted family The Browns, currently living in London, decide to return to Peru to visit his Great Aunt Lucy, who he hasn’t seen in years. They head off for what seems like a nice family holiday, but upon arrival at the Home for Retired Bears find that Lucy has disappeared, and no one quite knows where she is.
The film keeps much of the same cast from the previous films, including Hugh Bonneville as Mr Brown and Julie Walters as Mrs Bird, though Sally Hawkins is replaced by Emily Mortimer. Olivia Coleman and Antonio Banderas also join the fun.
out on 8th november
Wicked
Based on the hit musical that defied gravity (excuse the pun), Wicked is the other big blockbuster release this month. The first of a two part story, Wicked stars Ariana Grande as Galinda, and Cynthia Erivo in the main role of Elphaba. Elphaba has long lived a life feeling misunderstood and like an outsider due to her unusual green skin. Searching for a sense of belonging and purpose in life, she becomes unlikely friends with Galinda while at university, a highly popular student and her classmate.
This film follows roughly the first half of the stage musical, as she and Galinda set out on the paths that will lead them to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. Jeff Goldblum plays the Wizard of Oz, and the film also stars Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater and Peter Dinklage.
out on 27th november
Heretic
Hugh Grant as a villain in a horror-thriller? That’s what you’ll find in Heretic, a new film from A24 and Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (who co-wrote A Quiet Place.) It follows two Mormon missionaries, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East), as they arrive at the house of a Scottish man, Mr Reed (Grant).
However, this ain’t The Book of Mormon, as the two young missionaries soon find themselves put in a horrifying trap, and must play a game of cat and mouse with the strange and devious Reed. Can they escape from this frightening scenario alive? And if they do, will they even make it out with their sanity intact? That 90s Show and BlacKkKlansman star Topher Grace also stars as Elder Kennedy.
out on 1st november
Blitz
Saoirse Ronan stars in this historical drama from 12 Years A Slave director Steve McQueen. Ronan plays a mother, Rita, during the Blitz in London in WWII, who as the constant bombing runs from the Germans become more dangerous and more intense, decides to send her son, George, away as an evacuee.
While on the train away from the city, George feels fed up with being bullied by the other kids, and desperately seeking to go home again jumps off the train. As he heads back on the risky and potentially dangerous trip to London, he meets a number of civilians and other characters as he tries to find his way home. Rita meanwhile remains in the city as a factory worker, and fears what might have happened when told of George’s disappearance. The film also stars Stephen Graham, Harris Dickinson, Paul Weller and Kathy Burke.
out on 1st november
Conclave
Another thriller film releasing in November, Conclave stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal in the Vatican. Filled with mystery and intrigue, the plot sees the scramble to elect a new pope after the previous one died suddenly, leaving a huge void. The secretive ritual has been done many times before, but Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes) will find it’s not quite as simple as he might hope.
Tasked with the burden of leading proceedings, Lawrence embarks on a mystery as he discovers revelations and secrets that could shake the Catholic Church to its core, and uncovers a wide-ranging conspiracy. The cast also includes Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Sergio Castellitto and Lucian Msamati.
out on 29th november