New year, new movies! Here’s part two of our annual preview looking ahead to the year’s most exciting releases.
Here it is! The second half of our mammoth preview of films we’re expecting (or hoping) to see hit festivals and cinemas in 2026. Have we missed your most anticipated films? Let us know what you’re excited about on Bluesky.
51. Moonglow (Isabel Sandoval)
February 2026
One of our favourite directors on the current block, Isabel Sandoval, returns with a moody policier set in Manila in which she plays a slick, driven cop who’s out to take down a local crime kingpin with the help of her bookish partner. Inspired by classic-era noir and the ambient cine-landscapes of Wong Kar-wai, the film is Sandoval’s follow-up to the sensual sleeper hit, Lingua Franca, and is set to premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival in February. David Jenkins
52. Ancient History (Annie Baker)
2026; Release date TBA
It was a cryin’ shame that Annie Baker’s superb Janet Planet got a miniscule release in the UK, as it was one of the strongest and most soulful features in the class of 2024. The good news is, she’s going to be back in the mix soon with Ancient History, with actors Sophia Lillis and Daniel Zolghadri signed on for the leads and a plot that – at time of writing – is still very much under wraps. DJ
53. Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew (Greta Gerwig)
November 26, 2026 (US)
Twenty years on from the much-loved screen adaptations of CS Lewis’ fantasy world, Greta Gerwig has opted not to reopen the wardrobe, but to rewind the story entirely with Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. A prequel concerned less with battles than beginnings, it traces the creation of Narnia itself. Emma Mackey steps into the role of the White Witch (a hard act to follow from Tilda Swinton), with Daniel Craig and Carey Mulligan co-starring. It’s a smart point of entry for a reboot, and one that plays to Gerwig’s strength – a willingness to look differently at stories we thought we already knew. Anna Stafford
54. Dune: Messiah (Denis Villeneuve)
December 18, 2026 (UK)
After turning Frank Herbert’s famously unfilmable epic into prestige blockbuster scripture, Denis Villeneuve returns with a third instalment, Dune: Messiah, the chapter where prophecy curdles into consequence. Picking up after Paul Atreides’ ascension, this is less sandworm spectacle than moral hangover, tracing the uneasy reality of being worshipped as a messiah and the violence done in your name. Alongside Timothée Chalamet’s Paul comes Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem and Florence Pugh to flesh out a universe where devotion transforms quickly into extremism. AS
55. Werwulf (Robert Eggers)
December 25, 2026 (UK)
Robert Eggers’ new film Werwulf returns to the austere, historically-rooted folk horror that made his name. Arriving amid a renewed appetite for gothic cinema, the film promises a lupine myth stripped of romance and spectacle. Reported to feature Middle English language, the film stars past collaborators Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily Rose-Depp and Willem Dafoe. Co-written with The Northman’s Sjón, Eggers has described it as the darkest script he has ever written. Landing on 25 December, festive cheer may be in short supply. AS
56. A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh)
2026; Release date TBA
The story of a family living on an inhospitable mountainside and preparing for the manifold perils ahead seems like a very on brand story for 2026. British filmmaker Andrew Haigh returns with this adaptation of a Colm Tóibín short story, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Caitríona Balfe, Kit Connor and Fred Hechinger are all battening down the hatches in a film which promises a portrait bathed in atmosphere, isolation and quiet resilience. DJ
57. The Adventures of Cliff Booth (David Fincher)
2026; Release date TBA
Handing one of Quentin Tarantino’s most endearing sidekicks to David Fincher feels like a double dare. The Adventures of Cliff Booth spins the beloved and problematic stuntman out of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and into what we assume will be a colder, more forensic register. Fincher’s cinema thrives on obsession, routine and men who disappear into their work, which makes Booth an unusual but intriguing fit. Brad Pitt and Timothy Olyphant return to reprise their respective roles, alongside Elizabeth Debicki, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Carla Gugino. AS
58. Wildwood (Travis Knight)
2026; Release date TBA
One of two Travis Knight films pencilled in for 2026 (his other is the live action remake of Masters of the Universe), Wildwood is a mooted as a dark fantasy animation that, tonally, will likely be in keeping with his work on Laika animation features such as Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link. It sees a young girl escaping her cosy life in Portland to visit a magical forest (!) to save her kidnapped younger brother (!!) from a band of malevolent crows (!!!). DJ
59. The Gallerist (Cathy Yan)
January 2026 (Sundance Premiere)
Filmmaker Cathy Yan boasts the dubious distinction of having made one of the best DC Comics movies of all time, with her knockabout femme riot, Birds of Prey. She returns after a six year pause with The Gallerist, a bleeding-edge artworld satire about the backbiting and rivalry between Nathalie Portman’s gallerist, Zach Galifianakis’ art influencer and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ grande dame scenester. With Yan having proven that she’s got a sharp sense of humour and can draw charming performances from veteran actors, we’re hoping that this one delivers on that promise. DJ
60. The Blood Countess (Ulrike Ottinger)
February 2026 (Berlinale Premiere)
To say we’re excited about a new film from German New Wave visionary Ulrike Ottinger would be a wild understatement. Adding the fact that this vampire tale stars screen icon Isabelle Huppert as a sadistic 16th century serial killer on a quest to recover the elixir of life, with a screenplay co-penned between Ottinger and ‘The Piano Teacher’ author Elfriede Jelinek, suffice to say the anticipation levels are shooting through the roof for this one. MA
61. Queen at Sea (Lance Hamer)
February 2026 (Berlinale Premiere)
Back in 2008, Lance Hamer was a name on everyone’s lips due to his massively impressive indie feature, Ballast. Then… crickets. The guy went off somewhere, did some other things evidently. But now he’s finally back with Queen at Sea, and he’s got none other than Juliette Binoche in tow, and the film is set to premiere in competition at the 2026 Berlin Film Festival. Its story, about a mother and daughter decamping to London to tend to an ailing relative, could also be a clue as to Hamer’s whereabouts for the last two decades. DJ
62. Wild Horse Nine (Martin McDonagh)
2026; Release date TBA
It was a bit of shame that Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin was kinda shunted to the side when it came to award distribution in 2022, so it’s good news that he’s going to be back with us soon with a new star-spangled thrilled called Wild Horse Nine, and hopefully with another major contender for silverware. Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich, Parker Posey, Steve Buscemi, Mariana di Girolamo and Tom Waits are all locked in to the cast, with the current logline running as a pair of CIA agents face a trust-testing mission from Santiago to Easter Island during 1973, which feels like something a little different a filmmaker whose work is often steeped in Irish lore and tradition. DJ
63. Artificial (Luca Guadagnino)
2026; Release date TBA
Erm… Luca bbs… is this really the best idea you’ve ever had? For a filmmaker who's made a bit a name for himself by announcing crazy future projects that never come to fruition, we’re not lying when we say that we were hoping that Artificial – the story of snake oil salesman and AI captain of industry, Sam Altman – would’ve never made it past the back-of-a-napkin idea stage. With Andrew Garfield playing the man himself, and white supremacist richkid Elon Musk played by Ike Barinholtz, we have fingers and toes crossed that this won’t be some “both sides” bullshit, as the only creative win here is if the film finds new ways to articulate just how awful and destructive these people are. DJ
64. The Entertainment System is Down (Ruben Östlund)
2026; Release date TBA
Excitement is subjective, so to be diplomatic we’ll say that there are probably some people out there who are very hyped by the fact that Swedish prankster Ruben Östlund is back on the scene in 2026. A Cannes competition slot likely beckons for his long-mooted The Entertainment System is Down, a comic satire about the mayhem that ensues when the seat-back TV on a long-haul flight malfunction. Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Brühl have all signed up for seats. Let’s see if Östlund can temper his trademark smug self-satisfaction and give us something more than his tired old, “all people are essentially c**ts” thesis. DJ
65. Fjord (Cristian Mungiu)
2026; Release date TBA
Ever since netting the Palme d’Or in 2007 for his remarkable 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, Romanian New Wave linchpin Cristian Mungiu has never missed with his detailed, determined human dramas about the relationship between the messy reality of human lives and the teetering political structures that are built for people to live in. His new one, Fjord, is notable for being his first English-language film, and also his first set outside Romania, as Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve play a couple who move to a Norwegian village and come under scrutiny from the locals. DJ
66. Jack of Spades (Joel Coen)
2026; Release date TBA
Pains us to say this, but Ethan Coen has a lot to prove when it comes to the idea that there’s a viable cinematic form that can be described as a Coen brother (singular) movie. His silly sex comedies just have landed with a thud. And the jury is still out on Joel, having made a very decent version of Macbeth which noticeably lacked some of that old Coen magic. His new one is a Gothic mystery, set in and around Glasgow during the 1800s and stars Josh O'Connor, Frances McDormand, Lesley Manville and Damian Lewis. All the ingredients are there for something special, but we hope that this can finally put paid to the Curse of Coen (singular). DJ
67. Paper Tiger (James Gray)
2026; Release date TBA
We only want the best for James Gray, who as a champion of cinema and traditional methods of production and storytelling, could be seen as the heir apparent to Martin Scorsese. Following on from 2022’s melancholy autobiography, Armageddon Time, Gray is joined by Hollywood heavyweights Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller for this story of two brothers who find out what happens when you make a deal with the Russian mafia (spoiler: bad things). Filming already occurred in the summer of 2025, so expect Gray to be presenting this one in competition in Cannes come May. DJ
68. The Way of the Wind (Terrence Malick)
2026; Release date TBA
Okay, this is going to be the year where it’s actually going to happen. I think we’ve had Terrence Malick’s The Way of the Wind on our movie preview lists for the past four years now, but word from the whisper network suggests that – finally – we might have the maestro’s follow-up to his rhapsodic 2019 film, A Hidden Life. This film which purports to be about the life of Jesus (played by Géza Röhrig, recently seen in Marty Supreme) will likely be presented in the transcendental mode of late Malick (complimentary), and we’re still really hyped by the credit “Mark Rylance as Satan”. DJ
69. Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
2026; Release date TBA
There was a point around 2021, when vaccines for the COVID were being dished out, where we almost lost Russian auteur Andrey Zvyagintsev. A three year period of convalescence led to him finally being able to re-enter the cinematic fray, and the maker of such films as Elena, Leviathan and Loveless returns with Minotaur, a story that follows a Russian entrepreneur as he swings the axe on his employees but has a last-minute change of heart when he discovers that his wife is having an affair. Shooting wrapped at the end of 2025, so a Cannes berth seems inevitable. DJ
70. All of a Sudden (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
2026; Release date TBA
Following his speedy ascent to global stardom, which included scoring a Best Picture Academy Award nomination for his 3-hour experimental adaptation of the Murakami short story, ‘Drive My Car’, Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi is back, and he’s decamped to Paris. This new work, titled All of a Sudden, is set to star French actor Virginie Efira opposite Japanese actor Tao Okamoto, and even though little is known about it beyond the fact that it has been inspired by a book of letters called “You and I – The Illness Suddenly Gets Worse”, Efira did drop on a red carpet appearance that the film will likely be another 3-hour job. Yay! DJ
71. Soumsoum the Night of the Stars (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
February 2026 (Berlinale Premiere)
We’re always excited to see new work from the Chadian filmmaker Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, who burst onto the scene in 2006 with his generational revenge saga, Dry Season. Having spent the intervening years ducking into and out of many major film festival competitions around the globe, he’s now back and under the wing of the Berlin Film Festival with Soumsoum the Night of the Stars, a story of legend, social order and violence in the villages that sit in the shadow of Chad’s Ennedi Massif mountain range. DJ
72. Her Private Hell (Nicolas Winding Refn)
2026; Release date TBA
It’s crazy to think that dangerous Dane Nicolas Winding Refn hasn’t made a feature film since 2016’s The Neon Demon, having placed his creative chips on TV series and his own bizarro streaming channel. He returns with Her Private Hell, a film he has billed as being “something groovy” and that promises much, “sex, violence and glitter”. Charles Melton and Sophie Thatcher have signed on for the leads, and hopefully we’ll be able to take a peep at whatever transgressive material he has to offer by the end of the summer. DJ
73. Hope (Na Hong-jin)
2026; Release date TBA
South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin made a name for himself at the beginning of this century with a trio of thrillers that presented some of the most eye-watering and sustained violence ever to be presented on a screen. It seems strange, then, that he should return with a film titled Hope, a film about a stray tiger that appears on the North/South Korean demilitarized zone and the havoc it causes among the local community. Although a Korean production, and focused on local action star Hwang Jung-min, the film also boasts intriguing roles for Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, Taylor Russell and Cameron Britton. DJ
74. Out Of This World (Albert Serra)
2026; Release date TBA
There was a decent stretch where Kristen Stewart was earmarked to lead this new film from Spanish experimental filmmaker Albert Serra, but there was a last-minute switch up at the top and now Riley Keough is in the mix. What feels like a film that capitalises on the success of Serra’s superb, ambient political thriller Pacifiction, Out of this World is said to deal with the ultra-contemporary subject matter of economic sanctions placed on Russia during their invasion of Ukraine. It’s Serra’s English language debut, and word around the campfire is that he’s currently in the process of editing down some 800 hours of footage for human consumption, probably at a festival near you. DJ
75. Ray Gunn (Brad Bird)
2026; Release date TBA
Our favourite 1950s futurism obsessive Brad Bird returns this year with another film that draws that beloved milieu, this time with an animated feature about the last human detective in a world populated by aliens. It’s an original story that’s not been ripped from existing IP, so that instantly raises this one on the excitement stakes, and it’s also a good sign that the only announced cast so far is the animation voice acting totem, John Ratzenberger. The film was originally developed by Apple, but has crossed the stream over to Netflix, where it is set to drop later in 2026. DJ
76. If Love Should Die (Mia Hansen-Løve)
2026; Release date TBA
As any long term LWLies readers will know, French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve never misses, and so it goes without saying that anticipation levels for her new one – biopic of 18th century English writer, philosopher, and women’s rights advocate, Mary Wollstonecraft – are through the roof. But, beyond that logline, at time of writing we don’t know anything more than that – particularly the juicy detail of who’s playing the lead. Initial riflings seem to suggest this will be MH-L’s most lavish production to date, so there’s a chance we may have to hold tight beyond 2026 to clap eyes on the results. DJ
77. The Great Beyond (JJ Abrams)
2026; Release date TBA
We’re really hoping that it’s too soon to herald the curse of Glen Powell, as it seems that no sooner was the avuncular hunk (ahunkular?) inducted into the annals of Hollywood superstardom that his fortunes began to wane somewhat. Still, JJ Abrams must still see something, as he’s cast him in his first original feature since 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, about a newlywed couple battling against a strange, supernatural entity. Also along for the ride are Jenna Ortega, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Merritt Wever, and Samuel L. Jackson. DJ
78. Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy)
2026; Release date TBA
The title makes it sound like it could be a monster movie, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. Tony Gilroy compounds his new celebrity status on the back of hit TV series Andor by moving back to feature filmmaking, writing and directing a drama that has been billed as a love letter to Los Angeles, music and movies. With a few casting switcheroos having taken place since its inception, Pedro Pascal is now set to lead, with support in the shape of Eva Victor, Olivia Wilde, Matthew Lillard, and Will Arnett. Imagine this one would arrive very late 2026, so probably hang tight for a bit. DJ
79. October (Jeremy Saulnier)
2026; Release date TBA
The maker of Green Room and the very tidy hardman thriller, Rebel Ridge, has been doing a good job at setting out his stall as the next John Carpenter. He is partnering with A24 for his latest, an action-packed horror thriller starring Juliet Rose Foley, Imogen Poots and Stephen Root. Plot details for October are currently under wraps for now, but we can tell you that there are potentially some fugitives involved, and that the story is set during Halloween, so two positive signs there. DJ
80. Ink (Danny Boyle)
2026; Release date TBA
We’ll admit, it’s been a while since Danny Boyle has made something that really knocked our socks off, but his 28 Years Later… definitely came close. Alas, he’s returning with a work that’s part of our least favourite genre: the scumbag origin story (see also Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming Artificial). Guy Pearce is set to play young Rupert Murdoch and Ink is set to tell of how he managed to consolidate his power and become a malevolent captain of industry. The film is based on James Graham’s hit play of the same name, and we’re pleased to see Jack O’Connell is back, for once not playing a thousand-yard maniac. DJ
81. The Riders (Edward Berger)
2026; Release date TBA
Award season darling Edward Berger surprised everyone when his version of All Quiet on the Western Front quietly netted four Oscars without anyone really noticing it. He came back fast with Conclave (yay) and Ballad of a Small Player (nay), and is now set for something new in The Riders, a missing person thriller starring Brad Pitt as an Australian searching for his wife in Ireland. This looks like it’ll be the filmmaker’s broadest and priciest canvas on which to work yet, but will it also be his best? DJ
82. Sheep in the Box + Look Back (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
2026; Release date TBA
Just to clarify, that’s not a really mad title, it’s actually two separate films on the horizon from Japan’s beloved Hirokazu Kore-eda. Sheep in the Box sees the filmmaker returning to sci-fi-tinged drama (a la Air Doll and After Life) with a story set in the near future, where a couple takes in a humanoid being to their home to live as their son. Look Back appears more introspective, a romantic drama about anxiety-prone artists uniting over their love of drawing Manga. For the latter it’s a high bar for the director to leap, as the book and 2024 Anime feature are both – per reports – very, very good. DJ
83. The Things That Hurt (Arnaud Desplechin)
2026; Release date TBA
Peek down the list of producers on the upcoming feature by French auteur Arnaud Desplechin and you might see a name you recognise. That’s it! Wes Anderson is involved in the back rooms, and his old cohort Jason Schwartzman is set to play the lead in this English-language drama about the intersecting lives of the patients of a recently deceased psychotherapist. This group session also includes Alfre Woodard, Léa Seydoux, John Turturro, and Golshifteh Farahani. Desplechin tends to work fast, so expect this one to drop in Cannes. DJ
84. Butterfly Jam (Kantemir Balagov)
2026; Release date TBA
The Russian upstart filmmaker Kantemir Balagov made waves in 2019 for his film Beanpole, a difficult, mature drama which he shot at the age of 27. Now 34, he returns with his English-language debut, the intriguingly-titled Butterfly Jam about the lives of the Russian diaspora in New Jersey, said to be set largely in and around a circus. Talha Akdogan, Riley Keough, Barry Keoghan and Harry Melling are all in the cast, which instantly places this into the personal “must see” list. DJ
85. Wake of Umbra (Carlos Reygadas)
2026; Release date TBA
While Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron style themselves as the “three amigos” of modern Mexican cinema, the great Carlos Reygadas has been casually formulating a deeply impressive, provocative and often transcendent body of work in the backdrop. He works as a farmer between making his films, and returns eight years after the magnificent Our Time with Wake of Umbra, a film about two sets of painters on a Mexican beach who experience communal visions which allow them to travel through time and space. It’s very hard to précis a Reygadas film from sketchy loglines, but as with all of the director’s films, we can wait to discover what this really is. DJ
86. Onslaught (Adam Wingard)
2026; Release date TBA
The first thing we look for when researching the new film by Adam Wingard is whether Dan Stevens is on the cast list. Reader, you’ll be pleased to hear that he appears to have a key role in the upcoming horror-tinged action thriller Onslaught and – get ready for this – he may be doing a German accent. The film’s lead, however, is Adria Arjona (so great in Richard Linklater’s Hit Man) and she plays a trailer park mother who’s trying to protect her family from an evil scourge unleashed from a nearby laboratory. DJ
87. Primetime (Lance Oppenheim)
2026; Release date TBA
David Osit’s Predators was one of our favourite films of 2025, a documentary about the deeply unethical American TV show, To Catch a Predator. With no apparent overlap, Lance Oppenheim directs this dramatic version of the controversial hit show in which child sex offenders are ensnared for your viewing pleasure by host Christ Hansen. And who best to be playing the lead in this bizarre-sounding film? Why, Robert Pattinson of course, and this all comes with the rubber stamp of A24. This had the potential to be a fairly dry biopic, but with R-Patz in the mix, anything could happen. DJ
88. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (Jane Schoenbrun)
2026; Release date TBA
Jane Schoenbrun continues their excavation of queer adolescence with Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, following their Lynchian parable I Saw the TV Glow, a mythic voyage through trans identity. Camp Miasma looks to push these ideas further. Described by Schoenbrun as funny and grisly, it twists the summer-camp slasher into a queer reckoning with gender deviance, drawing on the legacy of classics like Psycho. Think Portrait of a Lady on Fire meets Friday the 13th, starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson. AS
89. Alpha Gang (Zellner brothers)
2026; Release date TBA
The last time we saw the Zellner brothers it was with their bodily fluid-drenched feature 2024, Sasquatch Sunset. Where that film was about a trio of sasquatches connecting with a landscape spoiled by humans, this new one, billed as a “sci-fi comedy” (red flag?), is about humanoid aliens who arrive on Earth and find it difficult to comprehend the complexity and idiosyncrasy of human emotion. It’s an independent film, but the brothers have managed to gather a spectacular cast: Cate Blanchett, Chris Pine, Dave Bautista, Léa Seydoux, Lily-Rose Depp, Adria Arjona, Doona Bae and Kelvin Harrison Jr. DJ
90. Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)
2026; Release date TBA
The great Werner Herzog will be celebrating his 84th birthday this year, and his filmmaking impulses have not dimmed a jot. In 2025 he delivered nature doc Ghost Elephants (which does sound like an Invent Your Own Werner Herzog Film Title), and he returns this year with his first fiction work since 2019: Bucking Fastard. He’s managed to secure the help of Kate and Rooney Mara to play twins searching for a mystical land of true love… by digging a tunnel through the side of a mountain! We’re not gonna lie: this sounds absolutely awesome and we want this film in our lookin’ balls asap. DJ
91. Tony (Matt Johnson)
2026; Release date TBA
Canadian actor and filmmaker Matt Johnson is someone who likes to keep audiences on their toes. Whether it’s through cult comic web series (Nirvanna the Band the Show), alterno biopics (Blackberry), or his innovative found-footage debut (The Dirties), he always brings something fresh and weird to the table. The upcoming and potentially bittersweet Tony is a film about the formative years of the great traveller, philosopher and gourmand Anthony Bourdain, with The Holdovers’ break-out star, Dominic Sessa, playing the lead. In lesser hands, this one would have us nervous, but with Johson at the pass, we’re optimistic that this one will taste very good indeed. DJ
92. Animals (Ben Affleck)
2026; Release date TBA
It’s kinda awesome that Ben Affleck is still flying the flag for mid-budget adult thrillers while off on his regular moonlight mission to the director’s chair. For the upcoming Animals, he also co-writes and stars as a Los Angeles mayoral candidate whose victory scuppered at the last minute when he’s kidnapped, and his family is unable to raise funds because everything was blown on the campaign. So, of course, things get very dark. Opposite Baffleck is Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Adriana Paz, Ray Fisher, Matt Gerald, Luis Gerardo Méndez, and Steven Yeun. DJ
93. A Colt is My Passport (Gareth Evans)
2026; Release date TBA
When playing the fun game, What’s The Greatest Film Title of All Time, Takashi Nomura’s 1967 genre thriller, A Colt is My Passport, is always in the mix. As it happens, it’s also a very good film as well, a lean and spiky film about a group of Japanese hit men that was inspired by the existential likes of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samourai. It’s interesting to see that Brit genre man Gareth Evans has made a new version of this story, set now in the dying days of the Vietnam war and starring one of our absolute faves in the lead, Sope Dirisu. DJ
94. The Chaperones (India Donaldson)
2026; Release date TBA
American writer/director India Donaldson follows the classic arc of having made three acclaimed shorts, one acclaimed debut feature that premiered at a big international festival (2024’s Good One), and now she scales up once more with the A24-backed comedy crime caper, The Chaperones. What’s extra exciting about this one is that it reconnects the two stars of 2025’s Stephen King thriller, The Long Walk, Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, with the great Paul Dano taking the lead. DJ
95. The Last Mrs. Parrish (Robert Zemeckis)
2026; Release date TBA
Despite the fact that Robert Zemeckis really hasn’t come up with the goods for a long while now, there’s still always a place for this mad scientist in our annual preview list. With The Last Mrs. Parrish, it seems that Big Bob is putting the daffy experimentation to the side for a bit and just reminding himself that he can make a normal, up-and-down literary thriller, with author Liv Constantine providing star wattage, Jennifer Lopez providing star wattage, and Netflix providing the dosh. DJ
96. Klara and the Sun (Taika Waititi)
2026; Release date TBA
There seemed to be a period in the middle of the 2010s where you couldn’t move for things that were made by or starred Taika Waititi. Having courted the award set with 2019’s Jojo Rabbit and the popcorn set with his various Thor films for Marvel, he fell back to Earth a bit with the failure of 2023 sporting comedy, Next Goal Wins. For someone whose success has been largely predicated on a juvenile sense of humour, it seems that Waititi may be making a bid for serious sincerity with this adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s doleful hit novel from 2021, about a futuristic care robot played by Jenna Ortega. DJ
97. The Young People (Osgood Perkins)
2026; Release date TBA
Dread seems to come naturally to Oz Perkins. Longlegs and The Monkey delivered some genuinely brilliant scares, blending slow-burn horror with flashes of pitch-black humour. The Young People looks set to extend that streak. Details are thin for now, but the title alone hints at generational unease, social rot and the quiet horror of inheritance. It feels only fitting that emerging talents Lola Tung and Nico Parker take the lead. Expect a carefully composed coming-of-age story where whatever’s being passed down is better left untouched. AS
98. The Man I Love (Ira Sachs)
2026; Release date TBA
Following the delightful little run of 2023’s Passages and 2025’s Peter Hujar’s Day, the industrious Ira Sachs returns swiftly with The Man I Love, a full-bore musical set in 1980s New York about a down-and-out artist vicariously experiencing the onset of the Aids pandemic. Rami Malik is cast in the lead, with Tom Sturridge, Luther Ford and Rebecca Hall firming up the ranks. We’re really excited and intrigued to see how Sachs plays this, especially due to his deep love for – and knowledge of – classic-era Hollywood. DJ
99. Gentle Monster (Marie Kreutzer)
2026; Release date TBA
Austrian filmmaker Marie Kreutzer impressed with her 2022 feature Corsage, with Vicky Krieps playing the impulsive Empress Elisabeth of Austria. This new one is an original drama, with Léa Seydoux playing a renowned concert pianist who, in her private life, makes a series of world-shattering discoveries. It seems like a change of key from her more costume-drama-y previous, but we’re certainly keeping our eye out for it. DJ
100. Rosebush Pruning (Karim Ainouz)
February 2026 (Berlinale Premiere)
Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz crosses paths with Greek screenwriter and longtime Yorgos Lanthimos collaborator Efthimis Filippou on Rosebush Pruning, an intriguingly thorny prospect on paper alone. Filippou’s taste for absurdist cruelty meets Aïnouz’s instinct for intimacy – a combination that suggests something stranger, colder and more confrontational than the director’s recent work. Expect an English-language remake of Marco Bellocchio's 1965 debut feature Fists in the Pocket, starring Riley Keough, Callum Turner, Elle Fanning and Pamela Anderson. AS
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