As the summer movie season approaches its end, it's almost time for the next big phase in any given cinematic calendar – fall festival season, where several prestigious projects premiere and start building buzz for the upcoming Oscar season. And despite the fact that actors won't be present to help with promotion until the strike ends, there are still several promising titles coming in the next couple of months.
With so many titles premiering at three separate major festivals, it can be a bit overwhelming to keep track of everything. But based on both the talent in front of the camera involved, intriguing premises and the return of beloved filmmakers, we've compiled the titles that we believe have the most potential.
The Boy and the Heron
Beloved animation auteur Hayao Miyazaki has finished his final film (for real this time), and while it's already made its premiere in Japan, The Boy and the Heron is set to make its domestic premiere as the opening night film at September's Toronto International Film Festival. Thus far, little remains known about the plot, as Miyazaki made the shocking decision in his home country to release the film without trailers, stills, or any promotional material whatsoever.
However, the few who have already seen it have detailed a semi-autobiographical take on Miyazaki's early life, with the plot focusing on a teenage boy raised in Pacific War-era Japan and his adventures into a magical world after meeting a talking heron. Viewers have also hinted that Miyazaki, now 82, made the film as a love letter to his grandson before he passed on. His previous directorial effort, The Wind Rises, already felt firmly like a "goodbye" film, so get ready for the waterworks to flow as his real swansong approaches.
The Holdovers
Indie filmmaker darling Alexander Payne ventured out of his comfort zone with 2017's Downsizing, ditching his trademark low-key character-driven aesthetic for high-concept sci-fi satire. Alas, the result was a shocking misfire and the biggest bomb of his career, but thankfully the trailer for his new film, The Holdovers, promises a welcome return to his roots.
Even more intriguingly, Payne has reunited with his Sideways muse, Paul Giamatti, who plays a cantankerous teacher at a prep school. Over the winter break, he's assigned the thankless task of supervising the students unable to return home, soon forming an unexpected bond with a particularly rebellious boy.
The trailer is incredibly promising, with several laugh-out-loud funny moments, a seemingly meaty role for the still underappreciated Giamatti, and a fresh throwback vibe to 70s comedies like Harold and Maude. The Holdovers is set to have its world premiere at Toronto, with a likely earlier bow at the Telluride Film Festival and a full release on October 27, and hopes remain high that this could be a comeback for Payne.
Maestro
After proving to the world that he had surprisingly strong chops behind the camera with his 2018 reimagining of A Star Is Born, Bradley Cooper is finally ready to unveil his sophomore directorial effort, Maestro. The film is a biopic focused on the life of world-renowned composer Leonard Bernstein (played by Cooper). While further details are sparse, it's believed to focus mainly on his marriage to Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan).
Already the talent on display is incredibly intriguing, with both Cooper and Mulligan having done some of their best acting work in the last decade, and Cooper proved with A Star Is Born that he could bring new gravitas to a tale as old as time. And with a focus on a creative figure as widely beloved as Bernstein, it's not hard to imagine it as a major Oscar player if it lives up to the hype. Maestro is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival later this month, and it'll release on Netflix later in the year.
Poor Things
With such an offbeat and absurdist filmography as Yorgos Lanthimos has (The Lobster, The Favourite, The Killing of a Sacred Deer), it's easy to get intrigued by any new project of his. His latest work, Poor Things, which sees him reteaming with Emma Stone and Favourite screenwriter Tony McNamara, certainly looks like the kind of dark and quirky delight he could knock out of the park.
The film, based on the book of the same name, focuses on a recently deceased young woman, Bella (Stone), bought back to life by a mad scientist (Willem Dafoe). Eager to learn more about herself and the world around her, Bella escapes from her master with help from a sleazy lawyer (Mark Ruffalo), and the two travel across several different continents.
The film's trailer immediately got us hooked, with immaculate production design and Lanthimos' trademark surreal visual style in spades, and the performances from the cast, particularly Stone and Dafoe, seem just oddball enough to work. Poor Things will premiere at the Venice Film Festival and see a wide release on December 8.