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60 films to look forward to in 2020 – part 1
WORDS
MARIA NAE
New year, new decade – these are the new movies to start getting excited for.
The start of a new decade is always a good time to take stock. While there appears to be no end in sight to the increasingly polarising culture wars, we think there are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future of cinema. With that in mind, we’ve picked out 30 forthcoming releases to add to your watch list, including new work by some of our favourite filmmakers and talented up-and-comers we’re earmarking for greatness. Check out part two of our 2020 preview here, and let us know which films you’re most looking forward to @LWLies
1. Rose Plays Julie
Released TBA
Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy seem to love making films, and we definitely love watching them. Expanding on themes such as identity, guilt and revenge – previously explored in Helen and Mister John – Rose Plays Julie is a taut psychodrama telling the story of a young woman’s attempt to reconnect with her biological parents who have no desire to meet her.
2. A Hidden Life
Released 17 January
Terrence Malick spent three years editing A Hidden Life, a World War Two drama in which August Diehl and Valerie Pachner fight for what is right. Profound inner silence drives this intimate story based on the real life of Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector turned martyr. Prepare for astounding cinematography, intense performances and an experience that will stay with you for a while, in the typical Terrence Malick fashion.
3. Emma
Released 14 February
From shooting campaign videos for Prada to directing the new adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel. Autumn de Wilde’s first feature-length drama has Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Cotton tailoring the script and Anya Taylor-Joy alongside Johnny Flynn starring as Emma Woodhouse and Mr Knightley.
4. Little Joe
Released 21 February
The English-language debut from Lourdes and Amour Fou director Jessica Hausner was one of our highlights of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Emily Beecham and Ben Whishaw are plant biologists plunged into a tale of horticultural horror, with themes of motherhood and fertility also coming to the fore.
5. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Released 28 February
Girlhood director Céline Sciamma opts for a lack of musical score to emphasise the precise choreography of the shot sequences, the rhythm of the bodies and the specific camera movements. This romantic drama revolves around a female artist asked to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman at the end of the 18th century.
6. Richard Jewell
Released 31 January
From national hero to FBI target; director Clint Eastwood tells the story of security guard Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) whose discovery of an explosive device saved thousands of lives and changed his forever. The powerful influence of the media is heavily explored in this film driven by morality.
7. Birds of Prey
Released 7 February
Harley Quinn is back. The Joker, not so much. Margot Robbie stars alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jurnee Smollett-Bell forming the group Birds of Prey, attempting to save a young girl from an evil crime lord. An (almost) all-female antihero film? Yes please.
8. Wendy
Released 28 February
On an island where time has lost all meaning, two children must fight to secure their long term happiness. Benh Zeitlin’s second feature treads in the paw-prints of 2012’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, merging fantasy with human drama. The promising young director has once again opted to cast unknown child actors.
9. The Last Thing He Wanted
Released TBA
Based on Joan Didion’s 1966 Orange-Prize winning novel with the same name, Mudbound director Dee Rees’ crime drama stars Ben Affleck, Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe and Rosie Perez – all of whom have starred in DC films. A guilt-propelled errand for her father pushes a journalist to become the subject of the very story she is trying to break.
10. Bergman Island
Released TBA
Mia Wasikowska and Vicky Krieps make the pilgrimage to the same island that inspired famed Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman, before the lines between fiction and reality start to blur. Mia Hansen-Løve’s latest sounds like a dream, and we’re expecting it to make an appearance at a major film festival early in the year.
11. The Invisible Man
Released 28 February
In 1993, Elisabeth Moss voiced Kimmy Ventrix in an episode of Batman the Animated Series in which an invisible man attempted to abduct his daughter. Twenty seven years later she returns to play Cecilia in Upgrade director Leigh Whannell’s latest horror, attempting to prove that she is being haunted by someone nobody can see. Coincidence?
12. West Side Story
Released 18 December
West Side Story is Steven Spielberg’s last musical following the failure of his Reel for Reel project. The latest film adaptation of Arthur Laurent’s novel, with a screenplay tailored by Fences producer Tony Kushner, tells the story of forbidden love and the rivalry between two teenage street gangs.
13. In the Heights
Released 26 June
Director Jon M Chu has drawn inspiration from Do the Right Thing and Annie Hall to create a feature-length version of the Broadway hit In the Heights. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Stephanie Beatriz star in this musical drama about a bodega owner with conflicting feelings about retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother’s fortune.
14. Top Gun: Maverick
Released 17 July
Although publicly confirmed by Cruise in a 2002 interview, Top Gun’s sequel will be released 34 years after the original – meaning that Maverick is now older than Tom Skerritt’s Viper was in 1986. Expect to see plenty of high-octane aerial sequences, as Cruise’s condition for his involvement in this project was no CGI.
15. Halloween Kills
Released 16 October
The second modern instalment of the Michael Myers/Laurie Strode saga again stars Anthony Michael Hall and Jaime Lee Curtis. Announced in September 2019, indie sweetheart Robert Longstreet joins the cast as adult Lonnie Elam, who bullied Tommy and tried to make him believe that the boogeyman was coming after him in the 1978 original.
WORDS
MARIA NAE
New year, new decade – these are the new movies to start getting excited for.
The start of a new decade is always a good time to take stock. While there appears to be no end in sight to the increasingly polarising culture wars, we think there are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future of cinema. With that in mind, we’ve picked out 30 forthcoming releases to add to your watch list, including new work by some of our favourite filmmakers and talented up-and-comers we’re earmarking for greatness. Check out part two of our 2020 preview here, and let us know which films you’re most looking forward to @LWLies
1. Rose Plays Julie
Released TBA
Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy seem to love making films, and we definitely love watching them. Expanding on themes such as identity, guilt and revenge – previously explored in Helen and Mister John – Rose Plays Julie is a taut psychodrama telling the story of a young woman’s attempt to reconnect with her biological parents who have no desire to meet her.
2. A Hidden Life
Released 17 January
Terrence Malick spent three years editing A Hidden Life, a World War Two drama in which August Diehl and Valerie Pachner fight for what is right. Profound inner silence drives this intimate story based on the real life of Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector turned martyr. Prepare for astounding cinematography, intense performances and an experience that will stay with you for a while, in the typical Terrence Malick fashion.
3. Emma
Released 14 February
From shooting campaign videos for Prada to directing the new adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel. Autumn de Wilde’s first feature-length drama has Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Cotton tailoring the script and Anya Taylor-Joy alongside Johnny Flynn starring as Emma Woodhouse and Mr Knightley.
4. Little Joe
Released 21 February
The English-language debut from Lourdes and Amour Fou director Jessica Hausner was one of our highlights of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Emily Beecham and Ben Whishaw are plant biologists plunged into a tale of horticultural horror, with themes of motherhood and fertility also coming to the fore.
5. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Released 28 February
Girlhood director Céline Sciamma opts for a lack of musical score to emphasise the precise choreography of the shot sequences, the rhythm of the bodies and the specific camera movements. This romantic drama revolves around a female artist asked to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman at the end of the 18th century.
6. Richard Jewell
Released 31 January
From national hero to FBI target; director Clint Eastwood tells the story of security guard Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) whose discovery of an explosive device saved thousands of lives and changed his forever. The powerful influence of the media is heavily explored in this film driven by morality.
7. Birds of Prey
Released 7 February
Harley Quinn is back. The Joker, not so much. Margot Robbie stars alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jurnee Smollett-Bell forming the group Birds of Prey, attempting to save a young girl from an evil crime lord. An (almost) all-female antihero film? Yes please.
8. Wendy
Released 28 February
On an island where time has lost all meaning, two children must fight to secure their long term happiness. Benh Zeitlin’s second feature treads in the paw-prints of 2012’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, merging fantasy with human drama. The promising young director has once again opted to cast unknown child actors.
9. The Last Thing He Wanted
Released TBA
Based on Joan Didion’s 1966 Orange-Prize winning novel with the same name, Mudbound director Dee Rees’ crime drama stars Ben Affleck, Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe and Rosie Perez – all of whom have starred in DC films. A guilt-propelled errand for her father pushes a journalist to become the subject of the very story she is trying to break.
10. Bergman Island
Released TBA
Mia Wasikowska and Vicky Krieps make the pilgrimage to the same island that inspired famed Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman, before the lines between fiction and reality start to blur. Mia Hansen-Løve’s latest sounds like a dream, and we’re expecting it to make an appearance at a major film festival early in the year.
11. The Invisible Man
Released 28 February
In 1993, Elisabeth Moss voiced Kimmy Ventrix in an episode of Batman the Animated Series in which an invisible man attempted to abduct his daughter. Twenty seven years later she returns to play Cecilia in Upgrade director Leigh Whannell’s latest horror, attempting to prove that she is being haunted by someone nobody can see. Coincidence?
12. West Side Story
Released 18 December
West Side Story is Steven Spielberg’s last musical following the failure of his Reel for Reel project. The latest film adaptation of Arthur Laurent’s novel, with a screenplay tailored by Fences producer Tony Kushner, tells the story of forbidden love and the rivalry between two teenage street gangs.
13. In the Heights
Released 26 June
Director Jon M Chu has drawn inspiration from Do the Right Thing and Annie Hall to create a feature-length version of the Broadway hit In the Heights. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Stephanie Beatriz star in this musical drama about a bodega owner with conflicting feelings about retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother’s fortune.
14. Top Gun: Maverick
Released 17 July
Although publicly confirmed by Cruise in a 2002 interview, Top Gun’s sequel will be released 34 years after the original – meaning that Maverick is now older than Tom Skerritt’s Viper was in 1986. Expect to see plenty of high-octane aerial sequences, as Cruise’s condition for his involvement in this project was no CGI.
15. Halloween Kills
Released 16 October
The second modern instalment of the Michael Myers/Laurie Strode saga again stars Anthony Michael Hall and Jaime Lee Curtis. Announced in September 2019, indie sweetheart Robert Longstreet joins the cast as adult Lonnie Elam, who bullied Tommy and tried to make him believe that the boogeyman was coming after him in the 1978 original.
