There were many industries crushed by the pandemic in 2020, but few as brutally, or as quickly, as the film industry. Within days of the first infections in the US and UK, production staff were furloughed en masse, major releases were shelved and several cinema chains went bust. Even the stars of the big screen didn’t escape: many ended up singing tunelessly into their phones for Gal Gadot’s celebrity cover of "Imagine".

Just as the movie world began to get back on its feet in the late summer – amid repeated Covid-19 tests for all cast and crew, as well as marshals to reduce the chance of the virus spreading on sets – the second wave crashed, shutting down international productions once again. It was enough to make even Tom Cruise scream out in fury when he noticed several crew not wearing their masks on the set of the new Mission Impossible film.

Which makes 2021 a strange year for new movies. On the one hand, what hasn't been filmed can't be released, which means some of the blockbusters that were lined up to land this year are now on ice. On the other, all those films that should have hit cinemas in 2020 – your James Bonds, your Marvel movies, your Oscar-bait dramedies – have been shunted into 2021, in the hope that cinemas might open up again. Although even that's not a sure thing, which means we're likely to see more shifting release dates, and more of the best movies of the year landing straight onto streaming services.

Still, we're already off to a great start. Here are our favourite movies of the year so far, as well as all the ones we're very, very excited about. Here’s hoping you've picked up a new projector.

July

Limbo

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You might think a gentle comedy about the refugee experience that is tonally redolent of Richard Ayoade’s Submarine would be a fine line to walk, and indeed it is. But Ben Sharrock, whose debut, Limbo, received two Bafta nominations, manages it with a minimum of teetering. Omar, an oud player from Syria, finds himself stranded on an island in the Outer Hebrides with a bunch of other single young men from troubled regions, all waiting to find out whether their asylum applications will be accepted or denied. Each has his own personal drama: Omar (an infinitely watchable Amir El-Masry) has a difficult relationship with his brother, who chose to stay in Syria and fight; Queen-loving Farhad has struggled for acceptance in Afghanistan; while bickering “brothers” Abedi and Wasef must face up to their fading dreams (Wasef: “How are the Chelsea scouts going to find me here?”). The cinematography is staggering: the Scottish landscapes as bleak and empty as the men’s prospects, punctured only occasionally by a bright red mail van, or a glowing phone box. A flash of colour or, perhaps, of hope.

WATCH NOW

First Cow

Oh to have been a fly on the wall when Meek’s Cutoff director Kelly Reichardt was pitching her latest movie, First Cow. “It’s about two desperate men on the fur-trapping trails of 19th-century Oregon.” I’m listening… “Who devise a cunning plan to make their fortunes.” Well alrighty! “By stealing milk from Chief Factor’s cow so they can make biscuits.” Erm. What now? But this is Reichardt, who knows how to squeeze exquisite urgency from the tiniest of dramas (see also her 2008 film Wendy and Lucy, in which Michelle Williams loses her dog), and First Cow is as beautiful as it is strange. The always-welcome Toby Jones plays the Chief Factor, while John Magaro and Orion Lee star as the two wanderers who strike up an unexpected friendship. Also, we’ll be gosh-darned if you see anything more romantic this year than Magaro sweet-talking Eve as he milks her (yes, Eve was the cow).

WATCH NOW

The Sparks Brothers

Edgar Wright has been a Sparks fan since he was five, and as he told Esquire he’s spent many of the intervening years trying to convince anyone who would stand still for long enough to become the same. Finally though, he’s committing his passion to celluloid, with a debut documentary that celebrates everything that is wonderful and weird (very weird) about the 50 years of electro-rock-pop released into the world by Ron and Russell Mael. The Baby Driver and Shaun of the Dead director tracked down 80-odd other people to sing Sparks’ praises, including big names such as Beck, Flea and Mike Myers, and lesser known people – former band mates, collaborators, stage invaders – who have helped support them through the years. Still though, it is Ron and Russell, with all their gnomic eccentricity and dogged devotion to their art, who steal the show.

In cinemas now

June

Nobody

Nobody expected Nobody... apart from Bob Odenkirk. Best known for his role as Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, as well as his early career on the TV comedy circuit, it was the 58-year-old actor who came up with the idea of becoming a late-in-the-day action hero. The film itself, made in collaboration with John Wick screenwriter Derek Kolstad, is based on a personal experience of Odenkirk’s, telling the story of a middle-aged dad (Hutch Mansell) who becomes the victim of a home invasion and fails to stand up to the robbers. The shame he experiences, especially in regards to how his family feel about him, galvanises Hutch into becoming the fighting machine he once (secretly) was, and he hits the streets in search of vengeance.

In cinemas now

Shiva Baby

If you were a fan of the unrelentingly stressful Uncut Gems, then Shiva Baby should be right up your street. A darkly comic chamber piece, writer-director Emma Seligman’s debut film tells the story of an aimless college senior (played by comic Rachel Sennott) who runs into her sugar daddy and his unknowing wife at a family shiva (a Jewish wake of sorts), as well as a former flame in the form of Maya (Molly Gordon). The ensuing chaos ramps up incrementally, the disorientating camera work and discordant score from Ariel Marx clashing with the domestic dread of the setting to create a sense of nerve-wracking claustrophobia. (But, you know, in a good way).

WATCH NOW

The Father

A deeply touching debut from French playwright-turned-director Florian Zeller, which earned Anthony Hopkins the best actor gong at this year’s Academy Award. He plays an older man who is succumbing to dementia, and the film sits us inside his mind; we experience the disorientation, suspicion and fear just as he does, as a rotating cast of characters – family members and social workers – move in and out of his life with seemingly no rhyme or reason. It’s this sense of immersion that sets The Father apart from previous films that have addressed the disease, and the movie often takes influence from horrors and thrillers of the past to get its point across.

In cinemas now

May

Rare Beasts

Billie Piper’s directorial debut has received mixed reviews, but Rare Beasts has enough about it to leave us hopeful about the I Hate Suzie star's future output behind the camera. In some ways an anti-romcom, it tells the story of Mandy, a self-loathing single mum who goes on a date with a religious, obnoxious, misogynistic and all-round creepy man named Pete. Despite having every reason not to, they embark on a relationship, and over the ensuing 90 minutes the experimental dark comedy asks some big questions – and delivers some grim answers.

WATCH NOW

Sound of Metal

After months and months of watching The Sound of Metal earn plaudits and Hollywood awards aplenty, UK audiences can finally experience Riz Ahmed’s star turn as a workaholic heavy metal drummer named Ruben who suddenly loses his hearing. It was well worth the wait. Directed and co-written by Darius Marder, it’s a deeply experiential film that delves into the true experience of late-onset deafness – the feeling of panic, the noiseless claustrophobia, the attempts to find a sense of peace and acceptance – through impeccable sound design and understated writing. The cast are just as impressive, with Ahmed arguably delivering a career-best performance and Paul Raci doing a brilliant job as Joe, a compassionate Vietnam War veteran who helps Ruben come to terms with his new condition. A beautiful film.

WATCH NOW

Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In

On the 5 May 2018, legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson underwent emergency surgery after suffering a brain haemorrhage. It was completed successfully, but one huge concern remained: the fear of losing his memory. It’s one of the reasons he allowed his son, Jason, to create a documentary about his life and career, from his humble working-class beginnings in Govan, Glasgow, to his prolific playing days at Rangers and Aberdeen, right through to his glorious managerial achievements at Manchester United. Featuring words from family members and former players, this is the most insightful portrait you’ll find about the Premier League great.

WATCH NOW

April

Promising Young Woman

Rape culture and revenge go under the microscope in this dark – like, bottom-of-a-mineshaft-dark – comedy starring Carey Mulligan, who puts in a career-best performance as a women hell-bent on getting justice for an old university friend (earning Mulligan a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards). Written and directed by Emerald Fennell (yes, The Crown’s Camilla Parker-Bowles), it's a timely take on consent, justice and responsibility. It’s also packed with hilarious one-liners, is gorgeously shot and features one of the most effective soundtracks of recent times. There’s been some backlash amongst audiences, especially around the ending, but a film this provocative was never going to escape a strong reaction

WATCH NOW

Nomadland

The winner of Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards – as well as Best Actress (Frances McDormand) and Best Director (Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao) – Nomadland follows a recently widowed woman, Fern, who travels cross-country in van to escape her Nevada home's economic collapse. It’s 2008, and the recession has had a devastating impact on American factories and mortgages, plunging countless people into financial woe. She packs her life into a vehicle and sets off across the beautifully shot but unforgivingly weather-torn American Midwest, like a modern-day pioneer, finding guidance from (real-life) nomads Linda May, Charlene Swankie, and Bob Wells along the way. It’s a gentle and meditative take on the complicated reality of the American Dream, and Chloé Zhao tells the stories of these inspirational “houseless” people with incredible warmth and subtlety. It’s a keen sense of humanity that was reflected in her speech at the Academy Awards in April, when she said: “I have always found goodness in the people I met everywhere I went in the world”

WATCH NOW

Minari

The beautifully shot, Oscar-nominated tale of an immigrant Korean couple, Jacob and Monica, who move their young family to a small farm in the Ozarks in the Eighties, in a bid to chase a better life. But work as a inexperienced farmer proves to be a real struggle, as does the eventual arrival of Monica’s mother, Soonja. With Minari, writer-director Lee Isaac Chung has produced a heartfelt and understated work of art that has a lot to say about the virtues and hardships of family, assimilation, the immigrant experience and the American Dream. The performances from Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, and Yuh-Jang Young especially, are brilliant.

WATCH NOW

Godzilla vs Kong

Look, Godzilla vs Kong may not be up there with other movies on this list when it comes to silly things like acting, character development, scripting or plot, but few films have made us miss the cinema quite like this. A blockbuster sequel to Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and part of Legendary Picture’s wider MonsterVerse, Godzilla vs Kong well and truly delivers on its title. They really go at it. There’s some dialogue and acting sprinkled here and there, obviously, but everybody’s really here for the titanic, box office showdown between a big gorilla and a prehistoric sea dinosaur. Stupidly entertaining stuff.

WATCH NOW

Palm Springs

It’s strange to find ourselves referring to Palm Springs, which debuted in the US almost a year ago, as a ‘new film’. Of all the films that have suffered delayed roll-outs in the UK, this one was perhaps the most ludicrous, and many have pointed out the irony of a groundhog day comedy receiving a seemingly endless amount of releases. All in all it was worth the wait: funny, boring, hopeful and nihilistic, it’s a rom-com that subverts tropes and makes the most of its existential premise and talented leads (Andy Samberg, finally receiving deserved praise for his work on the big screen, and Cristin Milioti.)

WATCH NOW

March

Ammonite

Reviews have been mixed – perhaps partly due to its various similarities with the incredible 2019 French-language film Portrait of Lady on Fire – but Francis Lee’s historical romance remains a powerful and richly crafted depiction of deeply buried passion and patriarchy. Kate Winslet plays the real-life figure Mary Anning, the 18th-century fossil collector who received little credit for her world-shaking discoveries and was refused entry into the male-dominated scientific community. A wealthy couple from London travel to Anning's humble shop to learn from her, and the husband asks if she would be willing to spend some time with his wife (Saoirse Ronan), who is suffering from “mild melancholia”. Before long, frosty walks across Dorset’s Jurassic Coast give way to fiery lesbian trysts, and Anning’s hard exterior begins to crack.

WATCH NOW

Tina

From the Oscar-winning directors behind Undefeated and LA 92, Tina is a story of immense trial and triumph, albeit a well-trodden one. What sets it apart is the fact that Tina Turner, now 81, gave her full cooperation on the project, providing private recordings and drawing her many famous friends into the fray (including Oprah, who described watching Turner as “no different from being in church.”) For those who don’t know, the ‘Queen of Rock’n’Roll’ started her life as Anna Mae Bullock and began her music career with Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm at the age of 19, but she was always destined to be a solo star. Ike Turner realised this as much as anyone, marrying the young singer and changing her stage name to Tina Turner (which he also trademarked). The pair found success together, but behind the scenes Ike was physically and emotionally abusing his young wife. Turner refers to the sixteen-year marriage as “living a life of death”, but she eventually escaped – with some pocket change, a fuel card, and perhaps most importantly, her name.

WATCH NOW

Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché

In the Seventies, Brixton-born Poly Styrene (Marianne Joan Elliott-Said) became the first woman of colour in the UK to front a popular rock band. Her work with X-Ray Spex, an experimental punk outfit that made music about identity, sex, race and class, left a profound cultural footprint, but the songs can only give a peek into a complex story. In the documentary I Am A Cliché, Poly Styrene’s daughter, Celeste Bell, delves into the high and low points of her late mother’s career, including her struggles with mental health, and celebrates her important legacy.

WATCH NOW

Judas and the Black Messiah

A true story of Black power and betrayal, Shaka King’s film is a fitting tribute to the life of Black Panther chairman and revolutionary socialist Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), who was tragically gunned down by the Chicago authorities at the age of 21. Lakeith Stanfield plays William O’Neal, a chameleonic and conflicted petty criminal who infiltrated the Black Panther party on behalf of the FBI following an arrest for police impersonation, and struggled to balance his alliances along the way. Packed with brilliant performances, the Oscar noms are fully deserved.

WATCH NOW

Celebrate the Sopranos

Who could have predicted that The Sopranos, a show that finished airing in 2007, would become the most important show of the pandemic? It surely came as no surprise to critics Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall, who spent many years of their lives covering what is widely considered to be the greatest show of all-time – dissecting episodes, interviewing cast members and analysing the legacy of the HBO mob drama for the New Jersey Star Ledger (Tony Soprano’s home paper, FYI). Their dedication to the show eventually led to a brilliant book, 'The Sopranos Sessions', which in turn has resulted in a documentary triple-feature: Celebrating The Sopranos. One covers the critics’ experiences writing about the show, while the other two talk to cast members and creator David Chase himself. A must-watch for any Sopranos superfan (just about everyone at this point).

WATCH NOW

February

I Care A Lot

Marla Grayson is a bad person. Her nine-to-five consists of convincing the legal system to grant her guardianship over well-off, healthy senior citizens and then depositing them into care homes where they are administered unnecessary, dissociative medication and separated from society. Then she sells off their homes and assets. The craziest part? The whole scam is (mostly) conducted within the letter of the law. It’s all going off without a hitch until Marla, played by British Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike, picks on the wrong woman: Jennifer Peterson, the mother of an equally ruthless mafia boss. What follows is a pitch-black comedy and adventure that gets to the dark heart of late-stage capitalism.

WATCH NOW

Pelé

It’s been 44 years since Pelé hung up his boots, and seven more than that since he last lit up a World Cup. As a result, his once unquestionable legacy as the GOAT has come under intense scrutiny, exacerbated by the death of Maradona and the twilight years of Messi and Ronaldo’s careers. Few people actually watched Pelé in his free-scoring prime for Brazil and Santos, and it goes without saying that the odd YouTube clip can’t do his performances, or the hysteria that surrounded him at the time, justice. That’s why directors David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas pulled together Pelé, a Netflix documentary that seeks to communicate just how powerful, charismatic and prolific the man was in his youthful heyday, before the Viagra ads and endless legacy-building FIFA functions. The unearthed film footage is beautiful, and the duo are also helped by an extensive interview with the man himself, now 80 years old and unable to walk without assistance, a shadow of the smiling superstar who burst onto the world scene over seventy years ago.

WATCH NOW

Framing Britney Spears

For the past thirteen years, Britney Spears has been living within the confines of a conservatorship led by her father, Jamie. The court ruling was imposed upon her after a period of mental health struggles, often played out in public and gratefully gobbled up by the hordes of paparazzi that had permanently surrounded Spears since her teenage years. This New York Times documentary delves into her heady rise to pop stardom, the cruel misogyny of Noughties celebrity culture, and her ongoing attempts to escape the grasp of her conservatorship, galvanised by the viral #FreeBritney movement that has swept social media over the past few years.

WATCH NOW

Beginning

beginning
Mubi

Winner of Best Film and Best Director at the San Sebastian Film Festival, this debut feature from Georgian writer-director Dea Kulumbegashvili centres on a young Jehova's Witness who undergoes a crisis of faith when her religious community comes under attack from a group of extremists. An examination of faith, love and loss, it moves with the pace and pressure of a glacier.

WATCH NOW

January

One Night in Miami

It’s a night that’s taken on a near-mythic quality over the years. On 25 February 1964, a young Cassius Clay shocked the world by beating World Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston, and celebrated his victory by retiring to a motel room with three other Black superstars: soul singer Sam Cooke, American football player Jim Brown and Nation of Islam minister Malcolm X. Nobody knows what truly went down within those four walls, only that conversation flowed deep into the morning, but debut director Regina King has had a good guess with One Night in Miami. Based on Kemp Powers’s powerful play of the same name, the quartet talk and argue about their individual roles in the fight for civil rights and Black empowerment. Tightly scripted and beautifully staged, King’s film delves into the nuances that existed within these four Black icons, all on the verge of great change.

WATCH NOW

The White Tiger

Based on Aravind Adiga’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel, The White Tiger is a story of stark inequality in India, and how easily one person got stuck between gears of an oppressive system. Balram lives in the impoverished village of Laxmangarh, which is essentially owned and leased out by a wealthy coal baron named The Stork. As a young boy, Balram was denied the chance to take up a scholarship in Delhi because of the debts that his family owed to The Stork, but that doesn’t stop him from aspiring to become a servant for his merciless landlord’s family; specifically his son, Ashok, who has just returned to Delhi with his American-Indian wife, Pinky (Priyanka Chopra). He manages to get the job, and is happy with his lot for a while, until a tragic event alters his fate forever. Director Ramin Bahrani’s classy direction never takes away from the grim reality of the tale.

WATCH NOW

Pieces of a Woman

A heartbreaking story of devastating loss; at its centre, a 24-minute single-shot scene of a home-birth gone wrong. British actress Vanessa Kirby is brilliant as Martha, the grieving mother who must attempt to pick up the pieces of her life and confront her fractured relationship. We spoke to cinematographer Benjamin Loeb about the scene in early January, and he talked about striking the balance between hope and dread. "My wife’s birth was 17 hours and it felt like two or three days but also like five minutes,” he said. “We wanted this scene to feel like the audience was drawn along and forced to feel everything and watch everything. It feels like you’re not able to take a breath and you forget about time and lean into the feelings you have.” Directed by Hungarian auteur Kornél Mundruczó, written by Kata Wéber and executive produced by Martin Scorsese.

WATCH NOW

MLK/FBI

“This represents one of the darkest periods in the bureau’s history”.

So says one of the interviewees in this documentary about how the FBI, and the White House, viewed civil rights activist Martin Luther King as a threat, and worked insidiously to take him down: investigating, bugging and harassing him until his assassination in 1968. Thanks to government documents that have now been declassified, director Sam Pollard has pulled together a distressing examination about the abuse of power, revealing how the FBI would seemingly stop at nothing to extinguish a man who’s only mantra was for equality for all in America.

WATCH NOW


And everything else to look forward to in 2021/2022

The World To Come

A love story set in the harsh 1850s American East Coast frontier, two women from neighbouring couples battle their way through hardship and isolation and find an unexpected bond that starts to grow between them. Starring The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston as Tallie and Abigail, the film has already picked up major plaudits, winning the Queer Lion award at the Venice International Film Festival in September.

Release date: n/a

Morbius

Infected with a virus from bats, you say? It’s no wonder this Marvel film – starring Jared Leto as the eponymous lead – was put on hold in 2020. Unlike Covid-19, this bat-born disease gives the scientist Michael Morbius incredible superpowers, but also turns him into a vampire (because presumably a superhero with no sense of taste or smell was a bit less cinematic). Chernobyl’s Jared Harris adds some much-needed weight to the story, which also stars Matt Smith, Tyrese Gibson and even a cameo from fellow chiropteran hero, Michael Keaton.

Release date: 2022

No Time to Die

Perhaps you hadn't heard, but there's a new James Bond film due. The much (much!) delayed 25th outing for 007, No Time to Die, stars Daniel Craig in his final outing as MI6's bluntest instrument, this time facing off against Rami Malek as the terrorist leader Safin, who’s out for revenge (is he actually Blofeld? Maybe!). Throw in return visits from Ben Whishaw (Q) and Léa Seydoux (Dr Madeleine Swann), plus Billie Eilish providing the official theme song, and this looks well worth the wait.

Release date: 30 September

Last Night in Soho

last night in soho
Focus Features

Edgar Wright's new one stars Anya Taylor-Joy as a woman who travels through time and winds up in Sixties London, which is remarkably less swinging – and rather more horrifying – than she expected.

Release date: 22 October

F9

Will the Fast & Furious franchise ever end? For Vin Diesel's sake, we hope not. Hollywood isn't as welcoming to musclebound bruisers as it was back in the Nineties, and these actors – your Vin Diesels, your Dwayne Johnsons, your Jason Stathams – can't survive on fish out of water comedies alone. F9 introduces John Cena and Cardi B to the already mammoth cast, with Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron returning as well.

Release date: June 2021

The French Dispatch

preview for The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun

Wes Anderson's "love letter to journalists" tells the heartwarming tale of a muckraker who goes through celebrity's bins. Oh, wait, nope; The French Dispatch is about the Parisian bureau of a US newspaper (the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun) where Anderson alums like Bill Murray and Owen Wilson, alongside new faces including Timothée Chalamet and Léa Seydoux, pursue a trio of stories. Expect whimsy.

Release date: 22 October

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Or, as it should be called: 'Ghostbusters: The Kids Are Alright'. A single mum moves to a small town in Oklahoma with her two children, who discover that their grandad (RIP) used to be a Ghostbuster. Which is kind of handy, actually, as there’s some supernatural goings-on spooking the townsfolk. Before you can say "Slimer!", the kids have jumped into those familiar greige boiler suits and are wieldinging the proton packs. Fans of the original will be happy to see familiar faces Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Sigourney Weaver popping up once again, while Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) and Paul Rudd are also up for busting some spirits, too.

Release date: 11 November

Candyman

Jordan Peele must have uttered the Candyman's name too many times in front of the mirror, because the iconic slasher villain is back in 2021. This sequel to the cult 1992 horror movie is produced by Peele and directed by Nia DaCosta (who's helming 2022's Captain Marvel sequel) centres on a hipster artist (played by Watchmen and Matrix 4 star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who moves into an old sweet factory decides to create an installation, in which viewers are encouraged to say the “c” word into a mirror. Bad move, bozo: it awakens the demon from his slumber once again.

Release date: 27 August

The Many Saints of Newark

Thirteen years after the end of The Sopranos, and despite James Galdofini’s death in 2013, will this prequel to one of the greatest TV shows of all time work? It certainly looks like it might. Based around the race riots in Newark in 1967, The Many Saints of Newark focuses on Dickie Moltisanti, the father of the older Tony’s protege, Christopher, and in some genius casting, also features Galdolfini’s real-life son, Michael Galdolfini as a young Tony Soprano. Bada-bing, we’re in.

Release date: 22 October

Dune

Is Dune the film with the longest pre-production span in history? Quite possibly. Since the sci-fi novel was released in 1965, Alejandro Jodorowsky was tipped to helm a 10-hour series in the mid Seventies, but it never happened. David Lynch had a go in the Eighties that almost ended his career. In the Aughts, it was attached to a slew of names, including Peter Berg and Pierre Morel, before Blade Runner 2049's Denis Villeneuve came on board in 2016. Timothée Chalamet stars as Duke Leto Atreides, who's sent to the desert planet Arrakis to guard 'the spice' – the most valuable drug in the universe. Looking very serious amid the incredible backdrops are Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa and Zendaya, and if you’re wondering why the score sounds so awesome – even on the trailer – it's because Hans Zimmer is at the helm.

Release date: 1 October

Eternals

richard madden, kumail nanjiani, lauren ridloff, salma hayek, lia mchugh, don lee, angelina jolie, and barry keoghan of 'the eternals, disney studios showcase presentation at d23 expo, saturday august 24
Jesse Grant//Getty Images

When Chloe Zhao isn't making docu-realist masterpieces with Frances McDormand (see Nomadland, above) she's helming Marvel's next blockbuster, which stars Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden and Gemma Chan, and reportedly features the studio's first transgender superhero.

Release date: 5 November

The Matrix 4

keanu reeves and carrie anne moss filming matrix 4
AKGS//BACKGRID

Now, no one needs a fourth Matrix movie, especially after the sour taste left by part three. But the signs are good. Lana Wachowski is in charge, Neo and Trinity (Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss) are in, and the idea that we're all slaves to semi-sentient machines is no longer sci-fi (go on, put your phone down, we dare you).

Release date: 22 December

Antlers

Fans of Stranger Things will be into this supernatural horror film featuring Jesse Plemons. A young boy has captured and is feeding some sort of beast that soon is at large in their town, with a devastating impact on everyone who lives there. Produced by Hellboy’s Guillermo del Toro, the trailer alone gives us the willies, so perhaps it’s a good thing the film’s release has been delayed once again, giving us time to bolster ourselves for the main event.

Release date: TBC