By Ramona Flume and Lucy Spicer
There’s a particular kind of magic that happens once September hits: The air turns crisp, golden hour creeps in earlier every day, cozy sweaters get pulled out of storage, and the holidays always seem to be right around the corner. Everything about the season is marked by change — except, it turns out, one thing. This fall and winter, theaters and streaming services are once again dominated by directors whose careers have been impacted by Sundance Institute. With 36 new releases from Institute-supported filmmakers — including Taika Waititi, Susanne Bier, Jesse Eisenberg, and Timo Tjahjanto — scheduled between September and January, the influence of Sundance Institute can be felt throughout the year end’s most anticipated titles.
But before you check out this stacked lineup of genre-hopping films — from Martin McDonagh’s 1970s-set dark comedy and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune finale to an Oasis tour doc and a Practical Magic sequel — let’s rewind and revisit these filmmakers’ earlier indie gems. Because knowing where someone started out makes it that much more fun to see where they’ve landed. Keep reading to get the scoop on this season’s must-sees, paired with the Sundance Institute–supported projects that made us fans of these directors years before.
BEFORE YOU SEE ONSLAUGHT...
A 12-hour countdown begins when three lab-engineered super soldiers break out of a classified desert Army base and vanish into the night in this beat-the-clock thriller from director Adam Wingard. The only thing standing between the genetically modified killers and a quiet trailer park community is Celeste (Adria Arjona), a sniper that will do anything to protect her daughter. Coming to theaters September 4.
...WATCH THE GUEST
Still mourning their eldest son’s death in Afghanistan, the Peterson family opens their home to David (Dan Stevens), a soldier claiming to be their boy’s best friend from the war. He settles in fast, charming everyone — but a sudden string of suspicious deaths makes teenage daughter Anna (Maika Monroe) start to question his story. Adam Wingard’s cult thriller, written by Simon Barrett, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE THE WORK IN PROGRESS...
This year marks the 250th anniversary of America. And former labor secretary Robert Reich considered the occasion by asking a question he thinks is central to our country: “What do we owe each other as members of the same society?” Reich teamed up with documentarian Ian Cheney to capture unscripted conversations (between 100 strangers across six states over the course of six months) about democracy, community, and what lies ahead for the United States. The resulting film is a profound look at the modern American psyche — and how powerful the act of listening can be. Coming to select theaters September 4.
...WATCH PICTURE A SCIENTIST
For generations, women in science have endured a culture that wasn’t designed for them — sidelined, undermined, silenced, and in some cases sexually harassed by the very colleagues meant to be their peers and mentors. Biologist Nancy Hopkins, chemist Raychelle Burks, and geologist Jane Willenbring pair their firsthand accounts of discrimination in the field with rigorous, data-backed research that makes a plain case: Science only gets stronger through diversity. Directors Ian Cheney and Sharon Shattuck’s documentary was supported by the 2019 Sundance Institute | Sandbox Fund. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE PRACTICAL MAGIC 2...
The Owens sisters are back — and so is that pesky curse. Twenty-five years after we last watched them fly off their rooftop, Sally and Gillian (Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman) find themselves back in the family business with their beloved aunts (Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest) and a new crop of witches in tow (Joey King and Maisie Williams). Directed by Susanne Bier, this long-awaited sequel promises plenty of magic, mischief, and midnight margaritas. Coming to theaters September 11.
...WATCH OPEN HEARTS
Cecilie (Sonja Richter) watches her fiancée, Joachim (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), get paralyzed in a car crash just days before their wedding. While keeping vigil at his bedside, Cecilie strikes up a relationship with Niels (Mads Mikkelsen), a doctor at the hospital, only to learn that his wife was the one who caused the tragic accident. That discovery doesn’t keep their intense love affair from unfolding, and the tangled relationship sends both families spiraling. Danish director Susanne Bier’s award-winning Dogme 95 drama screened at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE THE UPRISING...
Set amid the real-life 1381 rebellion, writer-director Paul Greengrass’ new historical drama follows a lowly farmhand (Andrew Garfield) who rallies the common people into an insurrection against King Richard II’s oppressive rule. Tensions and violence boil over during what would become known as the Peasants’ Revolt, with Jamie Bell and Cosmo Jarvis co-starring as rebel leaders John Ball and Wat Tyler. Coming to theaters September 10.
...WATCH BLOODY SUNDAY
Director Paul Greengrass revisits one of the darkest days of the Troubles, when a civil rights march in Derry, Ireland, turned deadly. James Nesbitt stars as Ivan Cooper, the Protestant MP who organized the demonstration, believing it could be conducted without incident. But as British officers order paratroopers into the crowd, the day spirals out of control, ending with soldiers opening fire on unarmed marchers. Shot in a raw style with handheld cameras, the film, which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Award: World Cinema, brings the tragedy back to life with startling immediacy. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE OASIS: DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER...
Decades of feuding, one sold-out world tour, and a whole lot of “Wonderwall” — this documentary follows Liam and Noel Gallagher as they patch things up in front of fan-filled arenas during their supersonic Oasis Live ’25 run. Directors Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern deliver backstage footage, unscripted rehearsals, and the oft-warring brothers’ first joint interview in over a decade to paint a fuller picture of their infamous fallout, their highly anticipated reunion, and why their music still hits. Coming to theaters September 11.
...WATCH MEET ME IN THE BATHROOM
Directors Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern drop viewers into the early 2000s rock resurgence scene in downtown New York, in a city not yet reshaped by the creatively suffocating influence of social media or skyrocketing rents. Meet Me in the Bathroom, which was adapted from Lizzy Goodman’s oral history and premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, traces the lo-fi rise of seminal bands like The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Moldy Peaches through rare live recordings, grainy home videos, and candid audio confessions from the artists themselves. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE HEART OF THE BEAST...
When their plane goes down over the Alaskan backcountry, retired Special Forces officer James Belmont (Brad Pitt) and his loyal military dog, Odin, are left to fend for themselves against brutal cold, unforgiving terrain, and the increasingly slim odds of ever making it out alive. As supplies dwindle and the wilderness closes in, their survival hinges on the unbreakable bond between man and dog. Directed by David Ayer. Coming to theaters September 25.
...WATCH HARSH TIMES
Jim Davis (Christian Bale), a war vet grappling with severe PTSD, is counting on an LAPD job to finally bring stability to his life — and a hopeful future with his girlfriend, who’s back in Mexico. But when the department turns him down, his plans fall apart, and he starts spending his days getting high and drifting into small-time crime with his best friend, Mike (Freddy Rodríguez), who’s under pressures of his own. A last-chance offer from Homeland Security seems like a potential lifeline, but instead Jim spirals further, pulling Mike into an increasingly reckless and dangerous fallout. This directorial debut from David Ayer was supported by the 1997 Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE PRIMETIME...
Robert Pattinson plays journalist and Dateline NBC correspondent Chris Hansen in this dramatized deep-dive into the chaotic 2006 rise of To Catch a Predator — the show that turned live TV stings into a national (and highly controversial) obsession. Director Lance Oppenheim’s characters dig into the murky ethics behind the TV cameras, including the real-life reckoning set off by the shocking events that occurred when a prominent Texas lawman got caught in the show’s crosshairs. Coming to theaters September 25.
...AND YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING...
Nathan Fielder is known for making people question what’s real, staging scenarios so uncomfortable that his audience loses sight of where the performance ends. So what happens when he sets his sights on Elizabeth Holmes, the convicted fraudster and disgraced founder of Theranos? Fielder and co-director Lance Oppenheim secured rare, up-close access to Holmes in the weeks before she reported to federal prison, and they spent three years continuing to document a story that resists easy classification — making us wonder what’s confessional and what’s a con. Coming to theaters October 16.
...WATCH SOME KIND OF HEAVEN
At The Villages, a sprawling Florida retirement mecca with more than 150,000 residents, director Lance Oppenheim introduces us to a few folks who can’t quite find their place within the palm-fringed perfection. Each person is chasing a version of eternal, sun-soaked nostalgia and happiness that the cheerful planned community promises (whether it’s a happy marriage or financial security), but can’t necessarily deliver. Shot in a dreamlike visual style, Some Kind of Heaven, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, offers an intimate and honest glimpse into what the twilight years really look like. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE THE STUNT DRIVER...
Ken Carter, a daredevil stuntman known as the “Mad Canadian,” was Canada’s answer to Evel Knievel. Director Michael Dowse’s new 1970s-set comedy chronicles the real-life buildup to Carter’s most audacious stunt: launching a rocket-powered car off a 90-foot ramp to clear a mile-long stretch of the St. Lawrence River. Jay Baruchel stars as the fearless daredevil who was dead set on silencing his doubters (including Ben Foster as an instigating Knievel) and making history in this stranger-than-fiction true story. Coming to select theaters September 25.
...WATCH FUBAR
Michael Dowse’s scrappy, shoestring mockumentary premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and has since earned cult-classic status in Canada, drawing comparisons to This Is Spinal Tap — albeit on a smaller, more homegrown scale. Improvised almost entirely and featuring real bystanders who thought the cameras were rolling for an actual documentary, the film focuses on two Calgary headbangers named Terry Cahill (Dave Lawrence) and Dean Murdoch (Paul Spence) who let a fictional crew record their everyday lives of beer, mullets, and heavy metal — until Dean’s cancer diagnosis puts their hard-partying friendship to the test. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER...
Latif (Mahershala Ali) is a devout Muslim and a contract killer, a paradox he’s made an uneasy peace with — until his wife’s death upends the fragile life he’s built for his three children. Writer-director Bassam Tariq puts this Houston-set action thriller in motion as Latif tries to walk away from killing for good, only to find his past isn’t finished with him yet. Coming to select theaters September 25.
...WATCH THESE BIRDS WALK
What started as a portrait of renowned Pakistani philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi became something else entirely: an unvarnished look at the runaway boys under the care of his Edhi Foundation, an extensive social welfare organization that operates shelters and orphanages for at-risk Pakistani youths. Directors Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq forgo interviews and voiceovers for raw observational footage in their cinema vérité glimpse into the daily lives (full of beauty and pain) of these street kids. The film received developmental support from Sundance Institute ahead of its 2013 SXSW premiere. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE VERITY...
When bestselling novelist Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) is left incapacitated after an accident, struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) is hired to complete her unfinished series. After moving into the family’s remote estate, Lowen uncovers a hidden manuscript that blurs the line between memoir and horror story, hinting at disturbing family secrets and questions about Verity’s psyche. The deeper the ghostwriter digs, the closer she gets to Verity’s husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett) — unaware they’re both being watched. Based on the novel by Colleen Hoover and directed by Michael Showalter. Coming to theaters October 2.
...WATCH THE BIG SICK
Based on the real love story of the film’s screenwriters, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, The Big Sick stars Nanjiani as a fictionalized version of himself, an aspiring stand-up comedian who secretly dates Emily (Zoe Kazan) while his traditional Pakistani family endeavors to coax him into an arranged marriage. When Emily gets sick and needs to be put into a medically induced coma, Kumail must navigate awkward — and often humorous — culture clashes as he gets to know Emily’s family. Showalter’s award-winning film premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE WINTER OF THE CROW...
It’s 1981, and a visiting British professor (Lesley Manville) has just landed in Warsaw for a lecture when Poland’s military suddenly declares martial law. Borders close, phone lines go dead, tanks and armed militia fill the streets — and after the academic witnesses a political killing, she finds herself being hunted by the secret police.This tense cat-and-mouse thriller from director Kasia Adamik is adapted from a short story by Nobel Prize–winning author Olga Tokarczuk. Coming to theaters October 9.
...WATCH BARK!
Professional dog walker Lucy (Heather Morgan) starts identifying a little too closely with her clients when she shirks all human speech and mannerisms and begins to bark and behave like a dog instead — much to the confusion of her husband, Peter (Lee Tergesen), who enlists a veterinarian (Lisa Kudrow), a discredited psychiatrist (Vincent D’Onofrio), and anyone else who might have an explanation for the strange psychological turn of events. Kasia Adamik made her feature directorial debut with this offbeat comedy about a woman’s subconscious search for unconditional love, which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE LA BOLA NEGRA...
Inspired by an unfinished Federico García Lorca text and Alberto Conejero’s play La piedra oscura, this sweeping drama from directing duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi moves across three chapters of Spanish history — linked together by desire and hidden pasts. In 1932, Carlos (Milo Quifes) is cast out of his father’s elite social circle because of whom he loves. Five years later, a young soldier, Sebastián (Guitarricadelafuente), falls into a forbidden romance with a prisoner he’s been ordered to watch. And in 2017, writer Alberto (Carlos González) inherits something unexpected that sends him digging into the past. Coming to select theaters October 16.
...WATCH LA MESÍAS
What starts as a strange internet clip turns into a family reckoning in La Mesías. Enric (Roger Casamajor) hasn’t spoken to his sister Irene (Macarena García) in years, but a viral music video featuring their younger sisters — performing as a wholesome-looking Christian pop group — drags them both back into a childhood they’d rather forget, shaped by a mother whose religious devotion tipped into fanatical obsession. Now, Enric is on a mission to rescue his sisters from a fate too close to his own. Created by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, this psychological thriller series was the first-ever Spanish episodic project to screen at the Sundance Film Festival, where the pilot had its U.S. premiere in 2024. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE MUSK...
Even before its release, Elon Musk called director Alex Gibney’s new four-hour-long documentary about him a “hit piece” — along with some other choice words — and even reportedly offered his ex-girlfriend $40 million to stay out of it. (She declined.) It was a preemptive strike that only sharpens the film’s central questions: Did the richest man on the planet ever live up to his carefully crafted genius mythology? Or has the world been manipulated by an unchecked businessman with a bottomless bankroll? Coming to theaters October 16.
...WATCH GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE PRISON OF BELIEF
Lawrence Wright’s book on Scientology gets the documentary treatment from Alex Gibney in this Peabody-winning film. The hard-hitting exposé traces the arc of L. Ron Hubbard, from science fiction writer to founder of a global religion, before diving deep into the modern-day organization’s reputation and allegations that it operates as an oppressive pay-to-play cult. The doc, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, is grounded in the firsthand accounts of former members who describe how they got pulled into the church — and what it took to finally get out. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE KLARA AND THE SUN...
In a not-so-distant future, a cheery Artificial Friend named Klara (Jenna Ortega) is delivered to the home of Josie (Mia Tharia), a sick teenager in need of some company. The two form an immediate bond, and Klara’s childlike presence gradually softens the strained relationship between Josie and her grieving mother (Amy Adams), opening her own new-to-the-world views in the process. Based on the bestselling novel by Kazuo Ishiguro and directed by Taika Waititi. Coming to theaters October 23.
...WATCH HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE
Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) has moved through multiple foster homes, but this latest one, helmed by kind Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and grumpy Hec (Sam Neill), might be different. When a sudden tragedy befalls the household and Ricky is told he’ll be moving house once more, he and Hec escape into the bush, prompting a national manhunt. Written and directed by Waititi (based on the book Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump), this heartfelt comedy-drama premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE FATHERLAND...
In the summer of 1949, novelist Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) returns to Germany for the first time since fleeing the Nazis, driving across a postwar country split between Western and Soviet control, to accept a Goethe Prize in both Frankfurt and Weimar. His daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller) comes along for the ride, and as both sides of the divided nation try to claim Mann as their own, their journey — shot in stark black and white by director Paweł Pawlikowski — stirs up painful emotions and old wounds between father and daughter. Coming to select theaters October 23.
...WATCH IDA
Novice nun Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) is days away from taking her vows when she’s sent to meet her only living relative — her aunt Wanda (Agata Kulesza), a hardened former communist prosecutor who upends the orphaned Anna’s world when she reveals she was actually born as Ida Lebenstein to Jewish parents killed in the war. The pair embark on a road trip across the Polish countryside to find answers at their family’s burial site, uncovering darker stories of wartime betrayals along the way. Set in 1962 and shot in black and white, director Paweł Pawlikowski’s haunting cinematic masterpiece screened at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE A TALENT FOR MURDER...
Reclusive crime novelist Patricia Highsmith (Helen Mirren) hasn’t written a word about Tom Ripley (from her famous series) in years, and she’s not about to start again for her publisher’s errand boy, Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich), who’s shown up uninvited at her Swiss Alps retreat. But when Edward agrees to a twisted bargain, the silver-tongued writer decides she will start that new book — as soon as Edward plots the perfect murder for her. Director Anton Corbijn builds their beguiling battle of wits and escalating schemes into a slow-burning psychological thriller. Coming to theaters October 23.
...WATCH A MOST WANTED MAN
Philip Seymour Hoffman gives one of his final performances as Günther Bachmann, a cynical, hard-drinking spy chief running a quiet counterterrorism op in Hamburg. The rumpled spymaster reels in a desperate refugee (Grigoriy Dobrygin) in a daring plan to acquire a prime potential informant — a financier (Homayoun Ershadi) suspected of bankrolling terrorists — but rival agents who disagree with Bachmann’s methods risk blowing the operation. Director Anton Corbijn’s tense adaptation of John le Carré’s novel, co-starring Rachel McAdams and Willem Dafoe, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE EVEREST: THE OTHER SIDE...
Ski mountaineers and partners Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson set out to achieve the impossible: climb up one side of Mount Everest and ski down its brutal north face. Oscar-winning directors (and personal friends of the couple) Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin spent years following the pair’s shared dream, capturing home video moments of the couple and their family while preparing for their feat, as well as vertigo-inducing footage from their climb that was made to be seen in IMAX theaters. Coming to theaters October 30.
...WATCH MERU
Not for the faint of heart, this documentary by Chin and Vasarhelyi includes footage of Chin and renowned climbers Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk as they make two attempts to summit Meru Peak in the Himalayas via the infamously difficult “Shark’s Fin” granite route, a feat that had never been recorded before. Featuring staggering footage of the mountain and the fearless men compelled to climb it, Meru premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE QUEEN AT SEA...
Amanda (Juliette Binoche) has just moved closer to her aging parents when a shocking discovery about her mother Leslie’s (Anna Calder-Marshall) care throws their family into crisis. As Leslie’s advanced dementia blurs the line between what she wants and what she can consent to, Amanda and her stepfather, Martin (Tom Courtenay), find themselves on opposite sides of a wrenching fight over what’s best for their loved one. Written and directed by Lance Hammer. Coming to select theaters October 30.
...WATCH BALLAST
Writer-director Lance Hammer’s austere feature debut surveys the wreckage left behind in the wake of a man’s suicide in a quiet Mississippi Delta township. The tragedy pulls three reluctant, grieving people into one another’s orbit — the man’s twin brother (Michael J. Smith Sr.), the mother of his child (Tarra Riggs), and his young son (Jim Myron Ross) — as they’re forced to rebuild their lives together. This stark, understated film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic and the Excellence in Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE GHOST SOLDIER...
In William Eubank’s new thriller, ex–Green Beret and weapons engineer Henry “Fitz” Fitzgerald (Jim Caviezel) has swapped combat for a quiet life off the grid in Wyoming. But when a massive investment firm sends dirty officers and mercenaries to seize the rural region’s water supply in a massive land grab, Fitz activates his military training (and a stash of his prototype weapon designs) to fight the corporate takeover and save his community. Olivia Thirlby, Garret Dillahunt, and Shea Whigham co-star. Coming to theaters November 6.
...WATCH THE SIGNAL
Road-tripping college kids Nic, Jonah, and Haley (Brenton Thwaites, Beau Knapp, and Olivia Cooke) track a taunting hacker to an isolated desert cabin — and wake up in a sealed underground compound in this 2014 Sundance Film Festival selection. An eerily composed Dr. Wallace Damon (Laurence Fishburne) claims the quarantined trio have been exposed to an alien organism and are being held for their own safety. Nic, with strange markings on his skin and his companions nowhere to be found, makes a break for it — and stumbles into something far stranger than a cover-up beyond the facility’s walls. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE WILD HORSE NINE...
With Chile on the brink of upheaval in 1973, CIA agents Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) are sent from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi), in Martin McDonagh’s latest film. Surrounded by the island’s towering moai monoliths, the two longtime partners confront old baggage and conspiracy theories on their remote covert mission — until Chris befriends two rebellious local students (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas) and puts the entire operation at risk. Coming to theaters November 6.
...WATCH IN BRUGES
Writer-director Martin McDonagh’s debut feature, In Bruges, follows hit men Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) after a hit gone wrong forces them into hiding. Ken is charmed by the scenery of the picturesque Belgian town where they’ve been sent to await further instructions. Ray is haunted by what he’s done. When their boss (Ralph Fiennes) issues a chilling command, loyalty and guilt collide in a bleak, blackly comic finale. The beloved comedy–crime caper premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE BITTER CHRISTMAS...
Writer-director Pedro Almodóvar braids together two timelines in this bittersweet comedy-drama. In one thread, it’s 2004 and grief-stricken advertising director Elsa (Bárbara Lennie) is unraveling during a long holiday weekend as severe anxiety and work burnout chip away at her composure. In the present day, a creatively blocked filmmaker, Raúl (Leonardo Sbaraglia), mines the lives of his own inner circle for a new screenplay. The alternating stories ultimately converge as the lines between what’s real and what’s fiction start to blur. Coming to select theaters November 13; expanding November 25.
...WATCH THE FLOWER OF MY SECRET
Behind her pseudonym and her bestselling love stories, Leo Macías (Marisa Paredes) is falling apart. Her marriage is ending, her publishers want stories she can no longer write, and her sense of self is beginning to fracture. But a chance connection with an editor (Juan Echanove) sets her on an unlikely road toward rediscovery. Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, this poignant drama screened at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival and is considered a turning point toward the filmmaker’s more mature work. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE EBENEZER...
This isn’t your typical remake of A Christmas Carol. Director Ti West delivers his own Gothic take on Dickens’ tale, with Johnny Depp as the cold-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge, forced to relive his darkest regrets under the watch of three menacing spirit guides. Rupert Grint and Ian McKellen co-star in this unsettling spin on the holiday classic. Coming to theaters November 13.
...WATCH V/H/S
Hired to break into a remote house and steal a specific videotape, a crew of petty thieves finds a corpse surrounded by flickering screens and a stack of unmarked cassettes instead. They begin to play the tapes (a found-footage carousel of horror — with different directors, including Ti West, lending their vision to each individual segment) and the nightmarish discoveries unfold: a couple stalked at their desert motel, trick-or-treaters stumbling onto a real exorcism, a woman with an alien tracking device implanted in her arm. This horror anthology, which has spawned eight sequels so far, premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE MINOTAUR...
At the outset of the Ukraine war, a Russian executive, Gleb (Dmitriy Mazurov), is pressured by authorities to supply a quota of his own employees for the military draft. And at home, he learns his wife (Iris Lebedeva) is having an affair. The political and the personal collapse in tandem, as Gleb buckles under the weight of escalating tensions and jealous obsessions. When his wife’s lover disappears, a police investigation pulls the distant couple back together. This adaptation of Claude Chabrol’s 1969 film The Unfaithful Wife was directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev. Coming to select theaters November 20.
...WATCH THE RETURN
When their estranged father (Konstantin Lavronenko) resurfaces after over a decade, two brothers are pulled into what’s meant to be a bonding trip into the Russian wilderness. But the man’s cold demeanor, harsh discipline, and unexplained detours breed suspicion — especially in the younger brother, Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) — leading to a fraught confrontation on a remote island that derails their reunion. This debut feature from writer-director Andrey Zvyagintsev screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE PAPER TIGER...
Set in Queens, New York City, in 1986, James Gray’s new crime drama follows brothers Gary (Adam Driver), a slick former police officer turned entrepreneur, and Irwin (Miles Teller), a quiet engineer trying to hold onto a stable life with his wife (Scarlett Johansson). When Gary loops Irwin into a shady waterfront deal tied to the Russian mob, Irwin’s sons witness something they shouldn’t, suddenly putting the whole family in danger and forcing Gary to fight for their survival. Coming to select theaters November 13; expanding November 20.
...WATCH LITTLE ODESSA
Hit man Joshua Shapira (Tim Roth) hasn’t set foot in his family’s Brooklyn neighborhood since his father, Arkady (Maximilian Schell), banished him after his first murder — but a new mob contract forces him back into the fold. Word of his return reaches his brother, Reuben (Edward Furlong), who tracks him down with grim news: Their mother, Irina (Vanessa Redgrave), is dying. Torn between visiting her and completing his assignment to kill an Iranian jeweler, Joshua finds his two worlds colliding with brutal, lasting consequences for his fractured family in James Gray’s debut feature that screened at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE FOCKER-IN-LAW...
Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is finally on the other side of the interrogation table. His son, Henry (Skyler Gisondo), has fallen in love with the adorable Olivia (Ariana Grande) and announces his plans to propose. Harmless, right? Well, Greg goes from suspicious to full panic mode when Olivia reveals she is an ex-FBI hostage negotiator who can out-strategize the whole family (Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, and Beanie Feldstein), on and off the polygraph. Expect cringe-inducing chaos and a desperate face-off as Greg tries to protect his spot in the family’s hallowed circle of trust in this holiday comedy directed by John Hamburg. Coming to theaters November 25.
...WATCH SAFE MEN
Struggling musicians Sam (Sam Rockwell) and Eddie (Steve Zahn) get swept up in a case of mistaken identity when local gangsters assume they’re a pair of elite safecrackers. Under pressure from mob boss Big Fat Bernie Gayle (Michael Lerner) and his right hand, Veal Chop (Paul Giamatti), the two try to bluff their way through jobs neither of them knows how to do — all while Sam pursues a romance with Hannah (Christina Kirk), the daughter of a rival crime family. Things get even messier once the real professionals show up. Written and directed by John Hamburg in his feature debut, this crime comedy premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE HERSHEY...
Before he was a household name, Milton Hershey was an entrepreneur who had faced his share of losses — but held an unshakable belief that success was on the horizon. This biopic from director Mark Waters traces his winding path from broke to booming, buoyed by his wife, Catherine “Kitty” Hershey (Alexandra Daddario), whose loving devotion helps Milton (played by Finn Wittrock) build his legendary chocolate empire — and the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania. Coming to theaters November 25.
...WATCH THE HOUSE OF YES
Bringing your new fiancée home for Thanksgiving is stressful enough — try doing it when your twin sister thinks she’s Jackie Kennedy. Marty (Josh Hamilton) braves the fates and introduces his sweet, unsuspecting betrothed, Lesly (Tori Spelling), to his wildly unhinged family: a checked-out mother, a mischievous brother angling to make a move on Marty’s new girl, and Jackie-O (Parker Posey), whose obsession with the JFK assassination (and her own brother) runs disturbingly deep. As an ill-timed power outage hits, the evening curdles into psychological carnage, ending in a shocking finale. Director Mark Waters’ darkly comedic debut premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, where Parker Posey won a Special Jury Prize for Acting. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE VIOLENT NIGHT 2...
Santa Claus (David Harbour) has landed himself on the naughty list — and lost his magic to boot. In this holiday sequel from director Tommy Wirkola we find Old Saint Nick stranded in a run-down mall in New Jersey, powerless and squaring up against a ruthless crime boss (Jared Harris) who is shaking down the neighborhood. Lucky for Santa, he’s got backup nobody messes with: Mrs. Claus (Kristen Bell). Coming to theaters December 4.
...WATCH DEAD SNOW
Bad idea #1: taking treasure that isn’t yours. Bad idea #2: taking it from a mountain overrun by the undead. The med students in this Norwegian cult classic from Tommy Wirkola learn both lessons the hard way, as their cozy mountain getaway spirals into a snowbound bloodbath against reanimated Nazi corpses after finding their hidden stash of gold. Equal parts hilarious and horrifying, this raucous zombie splatterfest, which made its U.S. premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, proves that karma always tracks you down in the end. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE THE DEBUT...
Mild-mannered mom Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore) lands a small bit part in her local community theater’s new musical — and something in her snaps. Suddenly the shy suburban housewife is a full-blown method actor, ready to fight tooth and nail for every line of her supporting role, much to the frustration of the production’s hardheaded director (Paul Giamatti). Writer-director Jesse Eisenberg, Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu, and Bernadette Peters round out the ensemble cast. Coming to theaters December 11.
...WATCH A REAL PAIN
Growing up, they were inseparable. Now, they can barely stand each other. In this Jesse Eisenberg–directed road comedy-drama, quarreling cousins David (Eisenberg as the anxiety-ridden stuffed shirt) and Benji (Kieran Culkin as the unfiltered free spirit) travel to Poland to retrace their late grandmother’s history on a Holocaust heritage tour, but old wounds and personal friction start bleeding into their itinerary. A Real Pain premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where Eisenberg took home the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE INK...
Danny Boyle turns his lens on the birth of British tabloid culture with this snappy origin story. It’s London in the late 1960s, and a brash young Rupert Murdoch (Guy Pearce) buys up The Sun despite the paper’s declining sales, determined to topple the reigning Daily Mirror. He brings in scrappy editor Larry Lamb (Jack O’Connell) to rebuild the publication from scratch, chasing working-class readers with splashy headlines, sex, and scandal. Circulation soars — and the formula that saves the paper changes the future of modern media as we know it. Coming to select theaters December 11.
...WATCH 28 DAYS LATER
Bicycle courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up from a coma to find the hospital and streets of London deserted. Twenty-eight days earlier, animal rights activists had unknowingly unleashed an apocalyptic rage virus on Great Britain when they released infected chimps from a research lab. Jim searches for fellow uninfected individuals, but, in the wake of societal collapse, survivors must be prepared to fight each other as well as the virus. Boyle’s iconic contribution to the zombie film genre screened at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE DUNE: PART THREE...
Denis Villeneuve closes out his epic trilogy with this adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah. Almost 20 years into his reign, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) finds power to be its own kind of prison. He’s haunted by visions of betrayals and rebellion, and surrounded by enemies plotting his downfall. And when his long-lost love, Chani (Zendaya), resurfaces at the heart of a growing conspiracy, he’s forced toward a final reckoning. Coming to theaters December 18.
...WATCH INCENDIES
Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed drama, based on Wajdi Mouawad’s play of the same name, confronts the lingering weight of conflict across generations and how war can twist the fates of a single bloodline. Their mother’s death leaves twins Jeanne and Simon (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin and Maxim Gaudette) with an impossible inheritance: two sealed letters, one for a father presumed dead and one for a sibling they never knew existed. As Jeanne journeys into her mother’s turbulent past, the film unspools a gutting story of wartime survival, sacrifice, and dark family secrets. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE ARTIFICIAL...
In 2023, OpenAI’s board abruptly ousted Sam Altman as CEO. Five days later, he was reinstated. Director Luca Guadagnino turns that chaotic window of firing and rehiring into a captivating comedic drama, capturing the pressure cooker of corporate infighting, employee revolt, and raw power struggles that defined the company’s infamous crisis of leadership. Andrew Garfield stars as Altman, leading an ensemble cast — including Monica Barbaro, Yura Borisov, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, and Mark Rylance — that brings this true story of boardroom high stakes to life. Coming to theaters December 25.
...WATCH CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
In 1983, 17-year-old Elio (Timothée Chalamet) is soaking up the summer at his parents’ villa in northern Italy. After the charming 24-year-old doctoral student Oliver (Armie Hammer) arrives to assist Elio’s father in his research, Elio and Oliver begin to develop feelings for each other that will change both of their lives. Based on the novel of the same name by André Aciman, Guadagnino’s film premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE WERWULF...
Director Robert Eggers heads back to the Middle Ages for a bleak, horrifying take on the classic werewolf myth starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Lily-Rose Depp. Set in an unforgiving English countryside and spoken entirely in period-accurate Middle English, the film centers on a haunted farmer (Taylor-Johnson) hiding a monstrous secret. When a hunting party (led by Willem Dafoe) arrives at their close-knit village to purge the land of predators, hiding the truth gets a lot harder. Coming to theaters December 25.
...WATCH THE WITCH
In his deeply unsettling feature debut, writer-director Eggers combines historical authenticity with ominous superstition to create an increasingly terror-filled folktale set in 17th-century New England. After they’re expelled from their Puritan settlement, an English family builds a farm next to a forest in the hopes of flourishing on their own. But there’s a sinister presence in the woods, and the family — including father William (Ralph Ineson), mother Katherine (Kate Dickie), and eldest daughter, Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy in her first film role) — grows desperate as food turns scarce, leaving them vulnerable to malevolent forces. In addition to premiering at the 2015 Festival, The Witch was supported by Sundance Institute’s Catalyst and Feature Film Program. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE MR. IRRELEVANT...
In Jonathan Levine’s new biographical sports drama, David Corenswet stars as John Tuggle, who was picked dead last in the 1983 NFL draft by the New York Giants and thus nicknamed “Mr. Irrelevant.” Against long odds, he claws his way onto the roster and wins Special Teams Player of the Year during his rookie year — all before an unexpected medical diagnosis changes everything. Isabel May, Michael Shannon, and David Krumholtz round out the cast. Coming to theaters December 25.
...WATCH THE WACKNESS
In the sweaty summer of 1994, Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) is a small-time weed dealer paying his unconventional psychiatrist, Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley), in dime bags instead of cash. As his family’s money troubles come to light, Luke is faced with the harsh realities of growing up. Meanwhile, he starts falling for his classmate Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby), who happens to be Squires’ stepdaughter. Set to a hip-hop-heavy soundtrack, writer-director Jonathan Levine’s bittersweet coming-of-age comedy-drama premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE...
In director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s sweeping fantasy epic based on Tomi Adeyemi’s novel of the same name, Zélie Adebola (Thuso Mbedu) still carries the scars of a mass killing that stripped her people of their magic — and took her mother’s life. When she learns the magic from her homeland, Orïsha, isn’t gone, only buried, Zélie sets off on a perilous quest to bring it back, joined by a rebellious princess and pursued by a vengeful prince who is tasked with hunting her down. Coming to theaters January 15.
...WATCH LOVE & BASKETBALL
In writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s charismatic coming-of-age debut, Quincy (Omar Epps) and Monica’s (Sanaa Lathan) relationship has its ups and downs, but one thing remains constant: basketball. The two first meet as children on the neighborhood basketball court, bonding over their dedication to the game. As their athletic skills grow throughout the years, so do their romantic feelings for each other — though the course of true love never did run smooth. Things are more complicated by the time they’re adults, but a lot can be settled over a game of one-on-one. Love & Basketball premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and was developed with support from Sundance Institute’s 1998 Directors and Screenwriters Labs. Check here for viewing options.
BEFORE YOU SEE THE BEEKEEPER 2...
Adam Clay (Jason Statham) is a former member of the “Beekeepers” — a secretive cabal of trained operatives sworn to protect the United States, operating beyond the reach of government oversight. Now branded a fugitive, he’s forced into action again when his old organization goes rogue and kidnaps the president. In this action-packed sequel directed by Timo Tjahjanto, Clay teams up with former CIA director Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons) and FBI agent Verona Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman) to take down the shadowy network he once belonged to. Coming to theaters January 15.
...WATCH V/H/S/2
This found-footage anthology sequel stacks four standalone terrors inside one story about a pair of investigators who discover a house full of cursed VHS tapes. Among the segments is “Safe Haven,” co-directed by Timo Tjahjanto and Gareth Huw Evans, in which a documentary crew’s visit to an Indonesian cult leads to a violent supernatural reckoning. Rounding out the tapes: a ghost-seeing eye implant, a zombie-outbreak bike ride, and an alien abduction. V/H/S/2 premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Check here for viewing options.
