10 films you'll want to see out of NYFF 2023

2023-09-29 18:19

New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center is in its 61st year, and Mashable is

New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center is in its 61st year, and Mashable is on the ground viewing and reviewing its most enticing titles. But even if you're not going to be attending this autumnal Manhattan tradition for cinephiles, you may well want to know which movies should be on your radar.

Whether you're crushing on Andrew Scott, entranced by Emma Stone, obsessed with Hayao Miyazaki, or craving the latest from David Fincher, this list is for you. And if you're just looking for something to shake off the chill in the air, we've got you covered. Plenty of hot titles are coming soon to a theater near you.

1. All of Us Strangers

Two of the internet's hottest boyfriends have teamed up for a sure-to-tearjerk love story. Fleabag's Andrew Scott and Aftersun's Paul Mescal star in director Andrew Haigh's drama adaptation of Taichi Yamada's novel Strangers. And seriously, bring tissues.

Scott is at the film's center, playing a screenwriter who's reflecting on his grief over losing his parents when he was a child. What begins as fumbling through keepsakes leads him back to his childhood home, where something incredible awaits. Meanwhile, in London, he sparks an exciting relationship with a lonely neighbor (Mescal). But can their love survive some seriously rocky spiritual terrain? — Kristy Puchko, Film Editor

Starring: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, and Jamie Bell

How to watch: All of Us Strangers opens in theaters Dec. 22.

2. May December

A far more damning bond plays at the center of this drama, which is already gaining Oscar buzz on its cast alone.

Academy Award-winner Natalie Portman stars as actress Elizabeth Berry, who is researching the complicated role of a woman who lives in a "moral gray area." That'd be Julianne Moore's Gracie Atherton-Yoo, who became notorious in tabloids for getting pregnant by a seventh-grade boy at the age of 36. Twenty years later, she's out of jail, married with children — to the man she met when he was a child himself. Could Elizabeth's probing spark new pain in old wounds?

Director Todd Haynes has built his reputation on complex relationship dramas like Far From Heaven, Carol, and Velvet Goldmine. But here with May December, he tackles a touchy subject that could prove explosive. However, critics out of the film's world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival have been raving. Can May December live up to the hype? — K.P.

Starring: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton

How to watch: May December opens in select theaters Nov. 17, then debuts on Netflix Dec. 1.

3. All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt

Garnering praise since its Sundance premiere last January, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt is the heralded directorial debut of writer/helmer Raven Jackson. The poet/photographer/filmmaker has A24 behind her as she brings her mesmerizing exploration of Black womanhood in Mississippi over decades to theaters.

Even in the film's first trailer, you can see Jackson's background in poetry and photography, creating a cinematic world that is gorgeous, alive with color, rippled with texture, and vibrant in emotion. We can't wait to see this on the big screen. — K.P.

Starring: Charleen McClure, Moses Ingram, Reginald Helms Jr., Zainab Jah, Sheila Atim, and Chris Chalk

How to watch: All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt opens in theaters Nov. 3.

4. Anatomy of a Fall

Who knows what truly goes on in a marriage? Winner of this year's coveted Palme d'Or prize out of the Cannes Film Festival, Anatomy of a Fall explores this curious question in a legal drama that begins with a strange death that throws a spouse under suspicion.

German actress Sandra Hüller stars in French director Justine Triet's stunner, playing an author, mother, and recent widower who's under suffocating scrutiny after her husband's unusual death. While critics have been cheering the film through Cannes and TIFF (and will likely continue to through NYFF), what might surprise moviegoers is how ferociously funny this thriller is. Amid a murky tale that brings up resentments, infidelities, and biphobia, Triet masterfully brews tension in the courtroom and in the accused's remote cabin, where her young son (Milo Machado Graner) is growing doubtful of her. But Triet also has a sharp sense of humor that urges audiences to bark with laughter, in awe of this riveting film

Plus, you'll never think of 50 Cent's "P.I.M.P" the same way ever again.* — K.P.

Starring: Sandra Hüller, Samuel Theis, Swann Arlaud, and Milo Machado Graner

How to watch: Anatomy of a Fall opens in limited theaters Oct. 13.

5. The Boy and the Heron

Japanese animated film master Hayao Miyazaki has given us such splendid cinema as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Howl's Moving Castle. With The Boy and the Heron, he presents a liberal adaptation of Genzaburo Yoshino's novel How Do You Live?, a book he adored as a child.

Set during World War II, The Boy and the Heron follows young Mahito Maki (Soma Santoki) as he faces not only a family tragedy but a life-rattling move to the countryside. There, among lush landscapes of flora and fauna (including herons), the boy escapes into a world of color, mystery, and awe-inspiring animated spectacle. However, as the film deals with death and loss, audiences are being advised this cartoon might be too much for younger kids.* — K.P.

Starring: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, and Takuya Kimura

How to watch: The Boy and the Heron will open in theaters Dec. 8.

6. Foe

The pairing of Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal should be enough to convince you to watch Foe, but in case you're (somehow) not sold by the star power of two Academy Award nominees, you'll definitely be drawn in by the film's haunting story.

Ronan and Mescal play Henrietta and Junior, a married couple enduring the climate apocalypse 40 years in the future. When stranger Terrance appears at their rural farmhouse, he turns their world upside down with the revelation that Junior must depart on a space mission to help save mankind. What follows is part twisty psychological thriller, part marital drama, and part apocalyptic science fiction, all anchored by three captivating performances.* — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, and Aaron Pierre

How to watch: Foe opens in theaters Oct. 6, and will be streaming on Prime Video at a later date.

7. Strange Way of Life

If you're in Pedro Pascal withdrawal after binge-watching The Last of Us and The Mandalorian, we have got a Western for you. Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, this short film has sparked intense interest, not only because it boasts the internet's favorite beau of 2023, but also because it casts him as a cowboy in a queer romance with Ethan Hawke.

The trailer teases Old Hollywood influences, from a Hitchcock-like score to imagery plucked from Howard Hawks's Red River, but the heat and love of melodrama is pure Almodóvar. And Pascal is perfect for it.* — K.P.

Starring: Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke

How to watch: Strange Way of Life will opens in select theaters Oct. 4, with a nationwide rollout to follow on Oct. 6.

8. The Killer

Director David Fincher has brought audiences some of the most electrifying crime thrillers of the modern age with Se7en, Zodiac, and Gone Girl. This fall, he returns with a tantalizing new offering that promises action, adventure, and assassins.

Based on the graphic novel series written by Alexis Nolent and illustrated by Luc Jacamon, The Killer centers on a professional hitman who — after a fatal near-miss — goes to war with his former employers. But hey, it's not personal. It's just business, a bloody, bloody business. If this promising premise, plus this heralded filmmaker, aren't enough to excite you, take a look at that cast.* — K.P.

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, Sophie Charlotte, and Tilda Swinton

How to watch: The Killer opens in select theaters Oct. 27, before premiering on Netflix Nov. 10.

9. Priscilla

Last year, Baz Luhrmann gave us an epic biopic about the king of rock and roll, and now Sofia Coppola is entering the ring with her portrait of another famous Presley — Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny). Based on Priscilla Presley's 1986 memoir Elvis and Me, Coppola's Priscilla unfurls the relationship between Elvis (Saltburn's Jacob Elordi) and Priscilla over the years, from the day they met at a party through their turbulent marriage.

The film's bittersweet trailer promises a melancholic love story loaded with incredible visuals, a killer soundtrack, and that specific type of broken yearning only Sofia Coppola can do. It's sexy. It's sad. It's Priscilla's story finally getting the spotlight.* — Yasmeen Hamadeh. Contributing Writer

Starring: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Dagmara Domińczyk, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, and Dan Abramovici

How to watch: Priscilla opens in theaters Nov 3.

10. Poor Things

If you loved The Favourite, mark your calendar for Poor Things, which reunites director Yorgos Lanthimos, screenwriter Tony McNamara, and leading lady Emma Stone. Based on Alasdair Gray's 1992 novel of the same name, Poor Things is a Frankenstein-like story centered on Bella Baxter (Stone), a young woman brought back from the dead by an eccentric scientist (Willem Dafoe).

From the looks of its trailer, this curious sci-fi tale seems to be a coming-of-age story where the naive Bella strives to chase romance, freedom, and experience, relishing every moment of her second shot at life. Lanthimos's unique vision promises this one will be visually exhilarating. And an ensemble that pitches Stone against Dafoe and a seemingly besotted Mark Ruffalo has us already crushing on Poor Things. They had us at "Ow!"* — K.P.

Starring: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, Margaret Qualley, Christopher Abbott, and Hanna Schygulla

How to watch: Poor Things opens in theaters Dec. 8.

*Connotes a blurb that has appeared in a previous Mashable list.