November Movie Preview (2023)
tbd All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Drama - directed by Raven Jackson
In theaters November 3
Raven Jackson's debut feature is a decades-spanning portrait of Mack, a Black woman in Mississippi, and her connection to the traditions, people, and spirit of her home. It's an intimate film, focused not on story or dialogue but the other aspects of filmmaking—especially sound—resulting in a layered work that evokes the tactile nature of memory. Jackson's singular vision was recognized by the Gotham Awards with a nomination for Breakthrough Director.
tbd The Boy and the Heron
Animation/Fantasy/Family - directed by Hayao Miyazaki
In theaters November 22
Ten years after The Wind Rises was billed as his final film, legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) returns with this story of a boy who moves away from Tokyo after his mother dies during World War II. In his new home in the countryside, he discovers a mythical bird creature and a mysterious tower that leads to a parallel world. For many critics, Heron is another masterpiece in the 82-year-old director's brilliant career.
tbd The Disappearance of Shere Hite
Documentary - directed by Nicole Newnham
In theaters November 17
With her latest documentary, Nicole Newnham (co-director of the award-winning Crip Cramp) resurrects the sex researcher and writer Shere Hite, who in 1976 published The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality, which highlighted the role of the clitoris in sexual satisfaction. If that didn't threaten the patriarchy enough, her follow-up, The Hite Report on Male Sexuality, only made her more of a target. Newnham and editor Eileen Meyer thoughtfully combine vast archival footage (an appearance on Oprah is quite revealing) with readings of Hite's writing by Dakota Johnson, and Lisbeth Scott's score to reveal the incredibly rich life lived by a trailblazing feminist.
tbd Dream Scenario
Comedy - directed by Kristoffer Borgli
In theaters November 10
Writer-director Kristoffer Borgli's follow-up to Sick of Myself stars Nicolas Cage as Paul Matthews, an unassuming professor who begins to appear in people's dreams. While exploring his sudden celebrity, Paul realizes fame comes with plenty of undesirable side effects. In Borgli's English-language debut, Cage is supported by Julianne Nicholson as his wife, Lily Bird and Jessica Clement as his daughters, as well as Tim Meadows, Michael Cera, and Dylan Gelula.
tbd Fallen Leaves
Foreign/Comedy/Drama - directed by Aki Kaurismäki
In theaters November 17
After taking home the Grand Prize (second place) in 2002 for The Man Without a Past and competing in 2011 with Le Havre, Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki returned to the Cannes Film Festival this year and won the third-place Jury Prize for this Helsinki-set story of first love between two lonely people, Ansa (Alma Poysti) and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen). After meeting at karaoke bar, they must battle through lost numbers, unknown names, mistaken addresses, and alcoholism to find each other again. With deadpan charm, Kaurismäki serves up a small but wholly satisfying romance.
tbd The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Action-adventure/Sci-fi/Thriller - directed by Francis Lawrence
In theaters November 17
This prequel to the original Hunger Games film series starring Jennifer Lawrence focuses on 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), long before he became President of Panem. Based on Suzanne Collins' book and directed by Francis Lawrence (who was at the helm for Catching Fire, and Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2), Songbirds is set after the First Rebellion and finds Snow mentoring tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) from District 12 in the 10th annual Hunger Games. Viola Davis plays Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the Head Gamemaker, and Peter Dinklage is Dean Casca Highbottom.
tbd Leave the World Behind
Drama - directed by Sam Esmail
In theaters November 22 / streams on Netflix starting December 8
After the release of Comet, writer-director Sam Esmail jumped to TV with Mr. Robot, but now he has returned to feature films with this adaptation of Rumaan Alam's 2020 novel. Julia Roberts, who worked with Esmail on the first season of Homecoming, stars as Amanda (though Karen might be more appropriate), who, with her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) and kids Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie), rents a luxurious home for the weekend. Their vacation is interrupted by G.H. (Mahershala Ali, in a role originally intended for Denzel Washington) and his daughter Ruth (Myha'la Herrold), who claim the house is theirs and are seeking refuge from a mysterious cyberattack. As the world around them grows more terrifying, tension builds between the families in what most critics believes is an entertaining film with excellent performances.
tbd Maestro
Drama/Music - directed by Bradley Cooper
In theaters November 22 / streams on Netflix starting December 20
After the success of 2018's A Star Is Born, Bradley Cooper is back in the director's chair for this look at the decades-spanning relationship between legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein (Cooper, in prosthetics by Academy Award-winner Kazu Hiro) and his wife, actress Felicia Montealegre Bernstein (Carey Mulligan). Co-written by Cooper with Josh Singer, Maestro attempts to intimately capture Lenny and Felicia in all their complexity, and for a large majority of critics, it succeeds.
tbd The Marvels
Action-adventure/Fantasy - directed by Nia DaCosta
In theaters November 10
Can The Marvels help right the wayward ship that is the MCU? It's a tough request for a 105-minute film (the shortest in the history of the MCU!) that combines characters from several different TV shows and movies. Yes, it's a sequel of sorts to Captain Marvel because Brie Larson's Carol Danvers is the featured star, but she joins forces with two characters featured in TV shows–Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) from WandaVision and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) from Ms. Marvel. After Secret Invasion re-introduced a post-blip Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to Earth, it sent him right back out to the S.A.B.E.R. space station where he'll help the team battle their mysterious foe. Directed by Nia DaCosta (Little Woods, Candyman), the film also features Saagar Shaikh, Zenobia Shroff, and Mohan Kapur reprising their roles as Khan's older brother Aamir, mother Muneeba, and father Yusuf.
tbd May December
Drama - directed by Todd Haynes
In theaters November 17 / streams on Netflix starting December 1
Todd Haynes reunites with Julianne Moore, the star of his 1995 film Safe, for this complex dark comedy written by Samy Burch. Moore plays Gracie, whose affair with 13-year-old Joe two decades ago became tabloid fodder. She's now married to an adult Joe (Charles Melton), and their life with their kids has settled into a sort of normalcy until Natalie Portman's Elizabeth, an actress hired to play Gracie in a movie about the affair, arrives to do research for her role. As Elizabeth inserts herself into their everyday lives, cracks begin to show in the foundation of Gracie and Joe's relationship.
tbd Menus Plaisirs - Les Troisgros
Documentary - directed by Frederick Wiseman
In theaters November 22
After veering into narrative filmmaking with the just over an hour long A Couple, 93-year-old director Frederick Wiseman returns to the familiar grounds of long documentary filmmaking (City Hall most recently) with this more than four-hour immersion in the life of a three Michelin star restaurant in central France. Troisgros, founded 93 years ago, has held its Michelin distinction for 55 years over four generations. Now, Michel Troisgros is preparing to turn the restaurant over to his son, César, as his wife, Marie-Pierre oversees the hotel. It's another fascinatingly detailed look at an institution with the added pleasures of exquisite farm-to-table transformations.
tbd Monster
Foreign/Drama - directed by Hirokazu Koreeda
In NYC November 22 / LA December 1 / other cities to follow
Since winning the Palme d'Or in 2018 for Shoplifters, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda has made a film in France (The Truth) and South Korea (Broker). His return to Japan finds him working for the first time since 1995's Maborosi with someone else's screenplay (a good decision given Yuji Sakamoto's win for Best Screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival). It's a story told from three different perspectives—a mother, her son and his teacher—which, under Kore-eda's typically gentle and empathetic direction, combine to reveal a profound truth.
tbd Napoleon
Action-adventure/Drama - directed by Ridley Scott
In theaters November 22 / streams on Apple TV+ starting tbd 2023/2024
It might not be Stanley Kubrick's long dreamed-of take on the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, but Ridley Scott's latest feature reunites him with one of his Gladiator stars, Joaquin Phoenix, before the sequel to that film hits theaters next year. Epic and filled with large-scale, practical battle sequences, Napoleon captures the rise and fall of the French emperor through his relationship with his true love, Josephine (Vanessa Kirby). Scott has talked of a four-hour cut (the theatrical cut runs 158 minutes) that features more of Josephine's life, and indications are that the longer version will stream on Apple TV+ after the original's theatrical run.
tbd Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain
Comedy - directed by Paul Briganti
Streams on Peacock starting November 17
After collaborating as students at New York University and then making the jump to SNL with their pre-recorded shorts in 2021, Ben Marshall, Martin Herlihy, and John Higgins of Please Don't Destroy now have their first feature. Directed by Paul Briganti and narrated by John Goodman, the comedy follows three childhood friends as they search for a legendary hidden treasure. Also looking for the treasure are park rangers played by Meg Stalter and X Mayo and a fraudulent cult leader (is there any other kind?) played by Bowen Yang.
tbd Priscilla
Drama - directed by Sofia Coppola
In theaters November 3
Sofia Coppola adapts Priscilla Presley's 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me (written with Sandra Harmon), for this intimate look at the teenage courtship and turbulent marriage of Priscilla Wagner (Cailee Spaeny) and Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi). It's the opposite of last year's brash biopic by Baz Luhrmann with its spectacle and wall-to-wall Elvis music—Coppola's film actually has none after being denied permission—and is all the better for it, according to critics. Spaeny has been a revelation to many, as she ages from 14 to 26 over the course of the movie.
tbd Quiz Lady
Comedy - directed by Jessica Yu
Streams on Hulu starting November 3
In this comedy from director Jessica Yu and writer Jen D'Angelo, Awkwafina and Sandra Oh get to play against type. Awkwafina is Anne, a game show-obsessed accountant, and Oh is her estranged, free-spirited sister. When their mom skips town to avoid a massive gambling debt, Anne's dog is kidnapped as collateral, and the sisters are given two weeks to pay off the debt. Anne's skill at the TV show Can't Stop the Quiz, hosted by Will Ferrell's Terry McTeer, provides a potential solution, but Jason Schwartzman is the undefeated contestant who stands in their way.
tbd Radical
Drama - directed by Christopher Zalla
In theaters November 3
Written and directed by Christopher Zalla, who won the Sundance U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize in 2007 for Sangre De Mi Sangre (aka Padre Nuestro), this inspirational Spanish-language drama is another Sundance winner, taking home this year's Festival Favorite Award. Based on a true story reported on by Joshua Davis in Wired, Radical is set during 2011 in the dangerous border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where dedicated teacher Sergio Juárez Correa (CODA's encouraging teacher Eugenio Derbez) as he tries to connect with his sixth-grade class. The story might follow predictable beats, but it's balanced by the sincerity and surprising heart provided by Derbez and the film's young cast.
tbd Rustin
Drama - directed by George C. Wolfe
In theaters November 3 / streams on Netflix starting November 17
Directed by George C. Wolfe (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) from a script by Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black, this biopic highlights the vital, but lesser-known civil-rights activist Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo), who was a key organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Less celebrated than his contemporaries due to his outsider status as a homosexual and past member of the Communist party, Rustin finally gets his due here thanks to an impressive performance by Domingo. He's supported by a terrific cast that includes Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Ami Ameen, CCH Pounder, Audra McDonald, and Jeffrey Wright.
tbd Saltburn
Comedy/Drama/Thriller - directed by Emerald Fennell
In theaters November 17
Writer-director Emerald Fennell's follow-up to Promising Young Woman follows Barry Keoghan's Oliver Quick as he worms his way into the life of his Oxford University classmate Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). When Felix invites Oliver back to Saltburn, his sprawling family estate, and introduces him to his eccentric family, including his mother (Rosamund Pike), father (Richard E. Grant), and sister (Alison Oliver), this black comedy takes on a more lurid vibe.
tbd Sly
Documentary - directed by Thom Zimny
Streams on Netflix starting November 3
Thom Zimny (Western Stars) directs this retrospective of Sylvester Stallone's nearly 50-year film career. Combining archival footage, interviews with fellow actors, filmmakers, and critics, and a new interview with Stallone as he packs up his art-filled Beverly Hills mansion, the documentary from Zimny and editor Annie Salsich gets to the heart of what makes Stallone a legendary Hollywood star.
tbd Wish
Animation/Musical/Family - directed by Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn
In theaters November 22 (limited early screenings start November 18)
The latest feature from Walt Disney Animation is set in the kingdom of Rosas where 17-year-old Asha (Ariana DeBose) makes a wish and is answered by a little star of boundless energy. Together, Asha, Star, and Asha's goat Valentino (voiced by Alan Tudyk) must face-off against King Magnifico (Chris Pine), the ruler of Rosas and keeper of wishes. Chris Buck (Frozen) and Fawn Veerasunthorn (Raya and the Last Dragon) direct this Thanksgiving family entertainment.