At the end of each year, we look back at what came and we look forward to what is to come. Due to the way films get announced, especially smaller and international films, it’s hard to account for all films that will be coming out next year. Instead, I have decided to put together a list of two films per month to look forward to for the first half of 2024. I will then return in June to see how my first 12 anticipated films held up and what I am looking forward to for the remainder of the year with a more filled out slate of films for the latter half. These of course reflect my tastes, but look in the honourable mentions portion at the end of each section to see if a movie you’re looking forward to pinged on my radar and just didn’t happen to crack the top two for that month.
January
Merry Christmas by Sriram Raghavan (January 12)
Sriram Raghavan is one of my favourite working directors in Indian cinema. He manages to combine dark comedy and twists in a way no one else does. He is not afraid to lean into pulpiness and cliches in order to then turn them on their heads and switch the plot on the audience who got sucked into a stereotypical setup.
This film promises a similar experience of setting up a Christmas meeting between two strangers that goes from romance to a crime thriller. The mix of genres and styles really hits all the things I look for in a film and it doesn’t hurt that this is the director’s follow up to Andhadhun, one of my favourite Indian movies.
The Book of Clarence by Jeymes Samuel (January 12)
January generally ends up being a month where the final big releases of December dominate the viewings and very little comes out. Among the heap of discarded films that see release dates in this month, I’ve chosen The Book of Clarence as my second pick. It’s an alternate history biblical dramedy where a man tries to capitalize on the rise of Jesus Christ to gain popularity and rid himself of debt. A little laughter in the dog days of January goes a long way. The cast also boasts big names like James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch as well as other great actors such as LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, David Oyelowo, Alfre Woodard, and many more.
With the film previously being shown at a film festival, it already carries with it a 93% critic score from 14 reviews, but we will have to wait until January to see how it lands. I generally have loved the off-kilter filmography of LaKeith Stanfield from Atlanta to Get Out to Sorry to Bother You to The Harder They Fall, and many more great films and shows in his repertoire. I’m often interested by anything he’s attached to and this is no different.
Honourable mentions
- The Beekeeper because Jason Statham only does one thing but damn if he doesn’t do it well.
- Self Reliance is a Jake Johnson directed and starring film where he and Anna Kendrick must avoid being killed for a month to win $1 million.
February
Madame Web by S.J. Clarkson (February 14)
Listen, you tell me you read this dialogue and don’t want to see and know more:
“He was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died.”
With a star-studded cast of Dakota Johnson, internet heartthrob Sidney Sweeney, and ex-Dora actress Isabela Merced, this promises to be the best entry to the excellent suite of Spider-Man adjacent films Sony has released already headlined by Morbius. Who amongst us can’t admit to waiting with bated breath from when their universe with Venom, Morbius and the characters from this film all come together to do whatever it is they might do? This is a must see!
Bring your partner for the best Valentine’s day watch.
Lisa Frankenstein by Zelda Williams (February 9)
February is not a month known for high quality releases. Despite that, I’ve picked out Lisa Frankenstein, a horror comedy, as at least an interesting prospect if you intend to go to the movies that month. It is written by Diablo Cody who has written films like Juno, Jennifer’s Body, and Tully. She boasts a strong track record of female-perspective stories with good emotional connection. Meanwhile, the name that may attract interest is that it is the directorial debut of Zelda Williams, daughter of the late Robin Williams. With a cult favourite cast of actors such as Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse and Carla Gugino, this could end up being a sleeper tongue-in-cheek cult classic.
March
Mickey 17 by Bong Joon-ho (March 29)
Mickey 17 is the hotly anticipated follow up to Parasite from Bong Joon-ho. It is an adaptation of the science fiction novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton. It follows Roboert Pattinson who plays a disposable employee on an expedition to colonize an ice world. It entails other science fiction concepts that I will leave for the trailer or movies to show us so as to not ruin the artistic vision of those involved.
The cast also has Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo and Steven Yeun. After winning best picture for the first time for an international film in 2020, the expectations for Bong Joon-ho are high. Although Parasite was a grounded film, this film will be him returning to science fiction for the first time since his 2013 film Snowpiercer, which was when Hollywood first took notice of him. Not too much is known about the film, but there is little chance that this does not make its mark as one of the early big movies of 2024.
Dune 2 by Denis Villeneuve (March 1)
The delayed sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune arrives in cinemas finally in March of 2024. It adds Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, and Christopher Walken to the first film’s cast, which was already stacked. There’s not much for me to add to the hype around this film. I personally liked but did not love the first film, but the technical aspects were undeniable. Here’s to hoping that the story aspect of this film completes some of what was lacking in the first to make a more cohesive story.
Honourable Mentions
Kung Fu Panda 4 marks the return of Jack Black as Po after a 7 year hiatus.
April
Civil War by Alex Garland (April 26)
Civil War comes from one of the most interesting directors of the past decade. Alex Garland has written excellent films like 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Dredd. He then added directing to his repertoire with Ex Machina, Annihilation, and Men. Every one of these movies has incited reactions and until Men, I have loved each entry. Men was a movie that I really liked but personally didn’t think landed it at the end. Regardless, his films bring something to the table that is far from bland, and that’s something that always appeals to me.
That said, Civil War, at least from the outset, seems to be a much more straightforward film than the ones he has directed to date. It tells the story of an alternate reality dystopian America that has split into factions with themes covering classism and political violence. With his previous entries toeing the line between sci fi and horror, this would be departure to a more war/action film. I suspect there will be more than meets the eye given Garland’s history.
The cast also contains actors I quite like in Wagner Moura, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Nick Offerman. I look forward to Alex Garland winning me back after losing me at the end of Men.
Fall Guy by David Leitch
Ok listen, I cheated. April turned out to be a rough month for movies and May had 3 I really wanted to put on this list, so my suggestion is after Civil War, just have a hot cocoa until May 3rd and then go to the theater to watch The Fall Guy. Will this be a thoughtful movie with deep meaning and themes? No, probably not. But as summer beckons us, it’s a great time to dive into the beautiful eyes of a beautiful man in Ryan Go- err I mean it’s a great time to have some mindless fun with great action and funny dialogue.
I’ve liked basically everything David Leitch has put out and I look forward to his take on a romcom. Hard to really mess this up with a straightforward plot, a great action director and likable actors. We can at least join together in celebrating that the role ended up not going Dwayne Johnson.
May
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga by Mastermind George Miller (May 24)
Mad Max: Fury Road ranks amongst my favourite films of the 2010’s. The visual flair, the music, the acting, the action; it’s got everything. It’s shame we were never able to get a direct sequel or even this prequel closer to the release of that film when Charlize Theron could have taken up this role once again, but I am not one to complain when we finally get another entry into this franchise and a long awaited return to the big screen of mastermind George Miller.
This is a film I need no more trailers and no reviews for. I will be seated.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes by Wes Ball (May 24)
I am a massive fan of the rebooted Planet of the Apes trilogy starting from Rise to Dawn and culminating in War. To me, that still remains a self-contained trilogy since this film picks up decades later with no returning characters. The world, acting, messages and beautiful cinematography of that trilogy makes me look forward to what’s next even though there is no guarantee this can serve as a great follow up. The trailer was enough to make me at least feel like we are back in that same world with enough of the design language carrying through. I choose to be optimistic and hope that this picks off where the last one left off in terms of quality and provides us with a great new story that would make Caesar and Andy Serkis proud.
June
A Quiet Place: Day One by Michael Sarnoski
June proves to be a quieter release month than expected for a summer movie season, but with the tumultuous shooting schedule in 2023 due to the writer and actor strikes, the latter of 2024 could prove to be more bare than other years. Regardless, there are a couple of interesting entries that did catch my eye. A Quiet Place: Day One expands on the scene from the second A Quiet Place movie that shows the first day that the aliens arrived. This whole film follows different characters on that same day. As a fan of the franchise thus far, I look forward to a fresh take as the firecting cap gets handed over to Michael Sarnoski, director of the underrated and underwatched film Pig starring Nicholas Cage.
Ballerina by Len Wiseman
I’ve had to resort to using a fan-made image for this film as no official images or posters have yet been released. This is a spinoff film in the John Wick series of films that takes place in the same universe following Ana de Armas’ titular ballerina. With her action turn in the latest James Bond film, I am very much looking forward to seeing her in a full fledged action film. She will be joined by Norman Reedus as well as John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves, as the story takes place between the third and fourth films in the main franchise.
I love some high octane action when it’s shot well, so hopefully Len Wiseman can emulate Chad Stahelski’s magic from the John Wick franchise for this film.
Honourable Mentions
- Inside Out 2 is the sequel to Inside Out that follows Riley’s journey into adolescence.
Conclusion
The thing with anticipated movies is that they don’t always turn out how you expect, but that’s the fun of having things to look forward to. Finding out where they land and if they can cement themselves as great movies or fall flat is a fun exercise. I’ll be back at the end of June to look forward to the rest of the year and in July, I’ll break down how my 12 picks for the first half ended up going. See you then!
