“Cocaine Bear”
Universal is really on one with their early horror releases this year, and we mean that as a compliment. They kicked off 2023 by letting “M3GAN” skulk across the big screen, and late February will welcome in the era of “Cocaine Bear.” Directed by Elizabeth Banks and based on a true story, this film follows — you guessed it — a bear that did a ton of cocaine. Though the real bear died after ingesting a duffel bag full of the stuff that had been dropped from a drug smuggler’s plane, the film envisions what bloodshed such a creature might have wrought. It also stays true to the actual time these events took place, 1985, casting an extra-campy sheen over everything. The ensemble cast includes Keri Russell, Brooklynn Prince, Margot Martindale, and Ray Liotta all going up against a bear who is, as the already iconic trailer says, “on a rampage for blow and blood.”
Release date: February 24 via Universal.
“Confessions of a Good Samaritan”
We like Penny Lane (“Nuts!” “Hail Satan?”) so much, we can’t help but hold this one over from our 2022 list. Lane is an irreverent documentarian who loves to playfully dissect humanity, so we’re delighted to see that her next subject is herself. “Confessions” unpacks the nature of altruism via Lane’s own journey to donate a kidney to a stranger. These so-called “good samaritan” donations are apparently quite rare — and in fact, socially stigmatized — so Lane goes on a journey to understand why. By talking to other donors, diving into the history of surgery itself, and putting herself in front of the camera, Lane hopes to make a case for a better moral future.
Release date: Lane says she hopes to get it out mid-late 2023, which means perhaps a TIFF or DOC NYC premiere.
“The Disappearance of Shere Hite”
No, Shere Hite wasn’t the victim of a kidnapping or murder. She was an essential contributor to women’s liberation thanks to her work in sexology. And yet you probably haven’t heard of her — hence, “disappearance.” With this Sundance doc, Oscar-nominated director Nicole Newnham (“Crip Camp,” “Sentenced Home”) explores the life, work, and erasure of the woman behind “The Hite Report,” a 1976 account of female sexual experiences that shattered the illusion of female sexual satisfaction and remains one of the bestselling books of all time. Hite was radical in some of her feminist ideals — and unquestionably played fast and loose with statistics — but her work and legacy will certainly be interesting to revisit today, in post-Roe America.
Release Date: Premieres in January at Sundance, then TBD.
“Emily”
After a lauded festival run last year, “Emily” will finally get a limited release in 2023. Directed by actor-turned-writer-director Frances O’Connor (“Mansfield Park”) and starring Emma Mackey (“Sex Education”) as the titular Emily — Brontë, that is — the film has already won praise for O’Connor’s assured direction and Mackey’s fierce performance. Our own Jason Bailey raved over it, noting that it is “a film that pulses and breathes and feels lived in.” With a frenetic, strings-heavy score from Abel Korzeniowski (“Penny Dreadful,” “Nocturnal Animals”) and faithful production design by Steve Summersgill (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”), this has all the markings of a pitch-perfect period drama.
Release Date: February 17 via Bleecker Street.
“Fair Play”
This Sundance contender marks the feature film debut of the writer and director Chloe Domont (“Billions,” “Ballers”). Domont returns once again to the world of the wealthy in this story of Emily (Phoebe Dynevor, who led season one of “Bridgerton”) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich, of “Solo: A Star Wars Story”), a couple vying for success in the world of New York finance. Brian McOmber (“It Comes at Night,” “Little Woods”) wrote the score, and Domont described her filmmaking process as ruthless as the subject matter itself, so this is shaping up to be a nail-biter. These days, there’s a seemingly endless demand for thrillers exploring the power dynamics between men and women. This is one to keep an eye on for sure.
Release Date: Premieres in January at Sundance, then TBD.
“Fancy Dance”
Another Sundance competitor, “Fancy Dance,” is set on the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation in Oklahoma, where a woman named Jax and her niece go searching for the girl’s missing mother. Lily Gladstone (“Certain Women,” “First Cow”) stars as Jax, with newcomer Isabel Deroy-Olson (“Three Pines”) as her niece, Roki. Set in the world of rez life and with our protagonists hoping to complete their quest in time for a powwow, “Fancy Dance” represents a growing mainstream interest in indigenous art and stories.
Release date: Premieres in January at Sundance, then TBD.
“Hello Dankness”
On the arty side, sister duo Soda_Jerk have created “Hello Dankness,” a collage of hundreds of images and film clips illustrating shifts in American culture since the election of Donald Trump. Take preview images of Nancy Thompson from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” sipping from a Bernie mug; Meatball, the cat from “Anger Management,” rocking a MAGA hoodie; a bust of The Donald added into a shot from “Wayne’s World.” Although Trump mania is a fresh concept, it’s become so ubiquitous in such a short amount of time that these images hardly register as altered. It will be fascinating to see this concept at feature length. The film is competing as part of the Panorama section at Berlin, and perhaps eventually coming to a museum near you.
Release Date: Hits Berlin in February, then TBD.
“Is There Anybody Out There?”
Writer-director Ella Glendining has a disability so rare that no reliable statistics for it exist. It makes sense, then, that her first feature, the documentary “Is There Anybody Out There?” chronicles her search for someone with the same condition. Along the way, the documentary inspires questions about embodiment, autonomy, and difference. It goes without saying that this Sundance competitor is a must-see for anyone interested in disability justice or stories about life outside the norm.
Release Date: Premieres in January at Sundance, then TBD.
“Joonam”
The Sundance documentary competition is certainly no stranger to intergenerational tales of the immigrant experience, but Sierra Urich’s first feature “Joonam” is especially timely. Raised in rural Vermont, with no connection to her maternal Iranian roots, “Joonam” chronicles Urich’s efforts to understand the world her mother and grandmother came from. Urich’s grandmother was a preteen bride; her mother was a teenager during the Iranian Revolution. The struggles of Iranian women are a mainstream topic for perhaps the first time ever, so it will be undoubtedly valuable to see an American filmmaker go deeper into some of these issues.
Release Date: Premieres in January at Sundance, then TBD.
“Kim’s Video”
Every film nerd loves a movie about movies. “Kim’s Video,” directed by David Redmond and Ashley Sabin (“Girl Model”), offers just that, as Redmond works to track down the titular treasure trove that provided esoteric rental titles to New Yorkers for two decades before moving to Sicily and quietly fading away. Acting as both cine-essay and investigative nonfiction, “Kim’s Video” gleefully toys with form, even paying homage to experimental cinema and heist movies. If you’re a New York City film geek, you might already know where Kim’s Video ended up, but this doc is not a whodunit. It’s a journey of love, where the real treasure is all the movies that raised us along the way.
Release Date: Premieres in January at Sundance, then TBD.