“Hope” (Directors: Jackie van Beek & Madeleine Sami)
The plot of “Hope” is completely under wraps, but its creative team earns it an easy spot on this list. This sophomore feature from “The Breaker Upperers” directors Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami stars Aubrey Plaza in a script written by Karen McCullah and Kiwi Smith (“Legally Blonde,” “She’s the Man”). McCullah and Smith are rom-com royalty, so for Netflix to be financing one of their scripts with van Beek and Sami at the helm is a dream come true. “The Breaker Upperers” made a splash at SXSW 2018, solidifying these directors’ place among New Zealand’s coolest comedians (including “Breaker Upperers” producer Taika Waititi). We can’t wait to see what these two do with the creative freedom that Netflix offers. There’s no premiere date set yet, but it should definitely hit small screens this year. –LW
“Covers” (Director: Nisha Ganatra)
After her charming “Late Night” got picked up by Amazon and ushered into a limited release, Nisha Ganatra set her sights on an even bigger project. “Covers,” which is set for distribution by Focus Features, is a romantic comedy set in the Los Angeles music industry. Its absolutely stacked cast includes Dakota Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Bill Pullman, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. The script comes from a first-timer, Flora Greeson. We don’t know much else, but Focus has it slated for a May 8 release, so there’s sure to be more news coming down the pike shortly. –LW
“The Old Guard” (Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood)
This upcoming Netflix release, based on the comic book of the same name, stars Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as ass-kicking immortal assassins. That should be reason enough to want to check this one out, much less add Gina Prince-Bythewood at the helm. The “Love & Basketball” and “Beyond the Lights” director hasn’t led a feature for six years, so for her to return now – and return for an action feature – only builds the excitement. This should be a departure from her more romantic, dramatic films, but it’s difficult to imagine any collaboration between a director as talented as her and an actress like Charlize Theron going wrong. No word on the exact premiere date from Netflix, but keep an eye out for this year. –LW
“Luxor” (Director: Zeina Durra)
“Luxor,” Zeina Durra’s return to the big screen and the Sundance Film Festival after ten years, is an Egypt-set romance film starring Andrea Riseborough and Karim Saleh. Riseborough plays Hana, a woman who visits Luxor while on leave from a job working in a Syrian clinic. As she processes her time spent working with victims of war, Hana runs into an old lover. Truly anything starring Andrea Riseborough is already worth watching, but Durra’s directorial touch makes this an even more exciting prospect. Her first feature, 2010’s “The Imperialists Are Still Alive!,” won the Best Narrative Jury Award at Sundance that year and demonstrated a burgeoning talent in independent cinema. It will be a pleasure to see her debut at the festival again in just a few days. –LW
“Wonder Zenia” (Director: Malgorzata Szumowska)
Malgorzata Szumowska is easily one of the most talented and prolific European filmmakers working today, and “Wonder Zenia” is just one of two projects she has projected to drop in 2020 (the other being “All Inclusive”), right on the heels of a 2019 Berlinale showing with “The Other Lamb.” Originally titled “The Masseur,” “Wonder Zenia” follows Zenia (Alec Utgoff, “Stranger Things”), a Ukranian migrant worker in Poland who makes house calls as a masseur and becomes an object of lust for many of his listless, middle-class clientele. Szumowska has won three trophies at Berlin for “In the Name Of” (2013), “Body” (2015), and “Mug” (2018). Her films tend to contain a surreal, psychological element – “Body,” which won the Silver Bear for Best Director, follows an anorexic woman whose therapist believes she can talk to ghosts. (She also co-produced “Antichrist,” so, yeah.) It goes without saying that any and all weirdo cinephiles should keep an eye out for this one. Given Szumowska’s illustrious history with Berlin, it could drop there, but it’ll be a festival flick for sure. –LW
“Saint Maud” (Director: Rose Glass)
For those of us who love a Catholic aesthetic, it’s difficult to resist a movie that’s horny for Jesus, much less a horror movie that’s horny for Jesus. “Saint Maud” fulfills that desire: The titular Maud (Morfydd Clark) is a nurse filled with godly purpose who pours all her pious attention into her newest charge, Amanda (Jennifer Ehle). Unfortunately for Amanda, Maud has a complicated – and bloody – past. Written and helmed by newcomer Rose Glass, this 2018 Toronto Film Festival competitor got scooped up by A24 after the festival, where it received rave reviews comparing it to “Midsommar,” “First Reformed,” and “Raw.” Any movie that sits at the intersection of those three titles is bound to make any cinephile downright rapturous. Look out for it on March 27. –LW
“The Beautiful Woman Sleeping” (Director: Ulrike Ottinger)
It could be a long shot to pray for Ulrike Ottinger’s next narrative feature – her first since 2004 – to drop since it’s been in the works for nearly five years, but what’s life good for if not dreaming? The German director, who made a name for herself in the ’70s and ’80s, flew in the face of male peers like Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog by constructing elaborate, avant-garde narratives dominated by female casts. Her 1989 Berlinale contender “Johanna d’Arc of Mongolia” is notable for its sumptuousness, madcap plot, and lesbianism. Though very little is known about “The Beautiful Woman Sleeping,” it follows Ottinger’s unrealized dreams for a film about Countess Elizabeth Bathory, so we’re hoping for more of that energy. If it does finally drop this year, keep an eye on festival schedules for when. –LW
“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (Director: Céline Sciamma)
This may have technically come out last year on the festival circuit, but since it only got a teeny-tiny limited release to qualify for awards season and is one of the best films of the decade, it’s worth flagging its proper and upcoming Valentine’s Day theatrical release. Heart-rendingly poetic, Céline Sciamma’s first departure from her trilogy of coming-of-age films follows a marriage portraitist as she takes on a life-changing job on an island off the coast of France. It’s difficult to say what shines brightest here, Sciamma’s script, Claire Mathon’s exhilarating camerawork, or leads Adèle Haenel and Noémie Merlant – but the alchemy of all four makes for a truly unforgettable romance. This is the stuff of real cinema, a feminist tale only properly told within its own faraway world, a mini-utopia where, briefly and despite the strictures of history, anything is possible. Courir as fast as you can to see it on the big screen. –LW
