As 2022 comes to a close, not only are some of the biggest blockbusters and most critically acclaimed films of the year coming out, but we've also got a whole new year right around the corner, ready to provide us with 12 more heaping months of movie goodness. 2021 has already been a massive year, with movies like Top Gun: Maverick, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and a ton of MCU movies, amongst many, many others. But 2022 ends with a bang, as we get major titles like Avatar: The Way of Water, Babylon, and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story. And the first few months of 2023 are already proving that the new year is going to also be an equally great year at the movies.
So as the year winds down, let's take a look at some of the upcoming winter movies to get excited about in the next few months.
Violent Night (December 2)
What better way to kick off the holiday season than with David Harbour playing a Santa Claus that kicks ass? Stabbing bad guys with ornaments, strangling them with tinsel, and delivering some seasons beatings, this Santa gives the criminals on his naughty list a grenade down the pants instead of coal. In Violent Night, Santa takes on a team of mercenaries trying to steal millions from a wealthy family. Written by the team behind the Sonic the Hedgehog movies and directed by Dead Snow’s Tommy Wirkola, Violent Night could become a new holiday classic.
Emancipation (December 2 in theaters, streaming on Apple TV+ on December 9)
Will Smith’s first film since winning his Best Actor Oscar for King Richard (and his first since that…memorable ceremony), Emancipation is based on the true story of a slave who escaped to freedom, and had images of his whipped back published in 1863 to show the horrors of slavery. Smith plays Peter, who must run from a Louisiana plantation, through the dangers of the surrounding swamp, and to the safety of Lincoln’s soldiers so he can save himself and his family. Smith and director Antoine Fuqua have both rarely taken on such heavy subject matter before, and it will be interesting to see how audiences react to Emancipation’s dark story—especially after Smith’s Academy Award spat.
The Eternal Daughter (December 2)
Joanna Hogg's last two films, The Souvenir and The Souvenir Part II, only lightly touched on the dynamic between a mother and her daughter, but her latest, The Eternal Daughter goes all-in on the concept. Framed almost as a ghost story, The Eternal Daughter stars Tilda Swinton stars as a mother and daughter who go to a secluded hotel for a little vacation. The mother has a history with the disconcerting old hotel, while the daughter is attempting to learn more about her mother in order to write a screenplay about her. The Eternal Daughter feels just as personal as The Souvenir films did, but with a more haunting approach than we might expect from Hogg.
Spoiler Alert (December 9)
Based on Michael Ausiello’s book of the same name, Spoiler Alert is a love story of sorts, seen through the eyes of Ausiello (Jim Parsons), as his partner of many years Kit Cowan (Ben Aldridge) goes from receiving his diagnosis of terminal cancer to his eventual death in eleven months. Spoiler Alert is directed by Michael Showalter, who has explored unlikely romances before, with 2017’s Oscar-nominated film, The Big Sick, and most recently directed Jessica Chastain to her first Oscar with The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Could Spoiler Alert become a late-breaking award contender, or with its tragic ending, could it be just too bleak for audiences?
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (December 9)
As Christoph Waltz stated on the red carpet, it’s easy to dismiss yet another Pinocchio movie (especially after Disney’s own live-action update to their classic version earlier this year), but when you hear it’s coming from Guillermo del Toro, well, that's a whole different story. Del Toro announced his take on Pinocchio over a decade ago, and as one would expect, his version of the story is darker than your standard fairy tale adaptation. But del Toro has often played with fantasy conventions, which makes him the perfect fit to put his own spin on this story, and with a cast that includes Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, Ron Perlman, and Finn Wolfhard, Pinocchio is certainly going to be one of the best animated films of the year.
Empire of Light (December 9)
2022 has been packed with films about the magic of movies, from Bardo to The Fabelmans, and joining that collection is Sam Raimi’s latest film, Empire of Light. Coming off his Best Director nomination for 2019’s 2017, Empire of Light is Raimi’s first film he’s both directed and written solo. Empire of Light follows a group of employees at a cinema on the English coast, including Hilary (Olivia Colman), a woman who has had a recent absence from the theater, and Stephen (Micheal Ward), the new employee with whom Hilary strikes up a friendship.
The Whale (December 9)
While the reception to The Whale has mostly been mixed, everyone agrees that it’s great to have Brendan Fraser back in a role that will likely lead to Oscar gold. Fraser plays Charlie, a 600-pound man who stays at home and binge eats as a way to block out his pain. Over the course of a few days, The Whale shows Charlie attempting to reconnect with his daughter (Sadie Sink), and try to make her life better for the future. Darren Aronofsky primarily puts the focus on Fraser’s wonderful performance that is genuinely touching, even under his many prosthetics, and is the rare Aronofsky film that strives for optimism, even despite the lows we see Charlie have to face.
Avatar: The Way of Water (December 16)
Thirteen years ago, Avatar became the highest-grossing film of all-time, proof that James Cameron simply doesn’t miss, even after the 12-year gap since Titanic achieved this same goal. Now, after years of delays and incessant discussions about the legacy of Avatar, Cameron will finally release the second film in the Avatar series, Avatar: The Way of Water. Of course, Cameron will be pushing the limits of special effects in film, and will also see the introduction of new characters played by Kate Winslet, Edie Falco, and Jermaine Clement. But will our burning Avatar questions be answered? Can Jake Sully Sivako (rise to the challenge in Na’vi, obviously)? Will he right the mighty Ikran over the Hallelujah Mountains? Only a few more weeks until we find out!
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (December 16)
The last two films from director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman and The Revenant, ended up earning him back-to-back Best Director Oscars, and while his latest film, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, might not win him a third in a row, it's certainly an interesting direction for the director. Iñárritu's latest follows a journalist and documentarian who returns home to Mexico and starts having an existential crisis. Bardo is Iñárritu's first film he's shot completely in Mexico since his 2000 debut, Amores perros. In a year where many filmmakers are going deeply personal with their films, it will be interesting to see how Bardo fares against these other films when Bardo comes to Netflix.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (December 21)
Considering 2011’s Puss in Boots made over half a billion dollars, and how omnipresent the Shrek franchise was throughout the 2000s, it’s sort of shocking it took over a decade for Puss in Boots to get a sequel. But Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek Pinault return for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, as Puss in Boots (Banderas) tries to restore the eight of his nine lives. Much like The Bad Guys, The Last Wish takes a more dynamic approach to its animation, and with a cast that adds Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, John Mulaney, and Harvey Guillén, hopefully we’re not waiting another decade for more adventures of Puss in Boots.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (December 23)
While we’ve certainly had a fair share of musical biopics in recent years, Whitney Houston is certainly an icon deserving of such a film. I Wanna Dance With Somebody certainly seems impeccably cast, with Naomi Ackie seemingly embodying Houston, while Stanley Tucci as Clive Davis and Ashton Sanders as Bobby Brown are both inspired choices. But the creative team behind the film also has an interesting history with films based on true stories, as director Kasi Lemmons directed 2007’s Talk to Me, and most recently, 2019’s Harriet, while screenwriter Anthony McCarten is an old pro at this, having written The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour, Bohemian Rhapsody, and The Two Popes. Could Houston’s story end up being a surprise late-in-the-game Oscar contender?
Babylon (December 23)
With a career that has included maniacal music teachers (Whiplash), modern-day musicals (La La Land), and a trip to the moon (First Man), director Damien Chazelle has already done quite a bit in his career so far, yet his most grandiose story might be his latest, Babylon. Centering around Hollywood’s turn from silent films to sound films in the 1920s, Babylon also features Chazelle’s largest cast, with Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Tobey Maguire, and tons more filling out this expansive story. Even when he’s heading to space, Chazelle’s films have felt relatively small in their focus, so it will certainly be interesting to see Chazelle play with such a large canvas with Babylon.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (December 23)
It seemed almost impossible that Rian Johnson could make a whodunit that was better than his 2019 film Knives Out, yet with that film's sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Johnson has done the unthinkable. This time around Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) follows a wealthy group of "disruptors" to Greece as they prepare to play their own murder mystery. To divulge anything else about Johnson's twisty story would be "foul play," as Blanc would put it, but Glass Onion is one of the funniest, most engaging films of the year—one that you'll want to rewatch as soon as the credits roll.
The Pale Blue Eye (December 23 in theaters, January 6, 2023 on Netflix)
Christian Bale reunites with director Scott Cooper (Out of the Furnace, Hostiles) once more for The Pale Blue Eye, a gothic horror film about a series of murders at the United States Military Academy in 1830. Bale plays Detective Augustus Landor, who is assisted by Edgar Allen Poe (Harry Melling) to help solve this mystery. The Pale Blue Eye’s cast for this dark murder mystery is impressive, including Gillian Anderson, Toby Jones, Timothy Spall, Lucy Boynton, and more, but most importantly, Robert Duvall is playing a guy named Jean-Pepe, so that’s worth admission alone.
Women Talking (December 23)
A decade after her last film, the remarkable documentary Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley returns behind the camera with maybe her best film yet, Women Talking. The film focuses on a group of women from a religious colony who have to decide if they want to forgive the men in the community who have drugged and raped them for years, fight them, or run away from the situation. As the title implies, Women Talking is largely centered around the conversations these women have in trying to deduce what their next move should be, but these talks are fascinating and engrossing—easy to do when your cast includes Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, and Frances McDormand. Women Talking isn’t just Polley’s best film in an impressive filmography, it’s also one of the best films of 2022.
A Man Called Otto (December 25 in limited release, January 13 wide)
Fredrik Backman’s book A Man Called Ove became a worldwide smash when it was released in 2012, and has already received a Swedish adaptation, which earned two Academy Award nominations. In the second adaptation of this book, A Man Called Otto, Tom Hanks plays the title character, a notorious neighborhood grump who attempts to kill himself after the death of his wife and a forced retirement. But when a new family moves in near him, Otto surprisingly strikes up a friendship with his new neighbors. Directed by Marc Forster (Christopher Robin, Finding Neverland), A Man Called Otto could be the Hanks-leading performance we need after a year that brought us both Pinocchio and Elvis.
Broker (December 26)
In what is a cinematic match made in heaven, Broker united writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters, Still Walking) with Parasite's Song Kang-ho for another film about found families. While the film largely revolves around a group trying to sell a baby, Broker is one of the warmest and genuinely beautiful films of 2022, a tonal sequel of sorts to Kore-eda's wonderful Shoplifters. Kang-ho is a perfect lead for Kore-eda's story, and the two pair well together in one of the most surprisingly heartwarming films of the year.
White Noise (December 30)
Noah Baumbach, the director of such films as Marriage Story and Frances Ha, has never made a film as over-the-top, broad, and overly comedic as White Noise. Adapting Don DeLillo’s novel of the same name, White Noise follows the Gladney family (led by Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig) as they deal with an “Airborne Toxic Event” that threatens their town, and the repercussions of said event. White Noise is delightfully weird in its exploration of academia, death, consumerism, and the 1980s, and led by two charming performances by Driver and Gerwig. White Noise is a wild swing, an unusual adventure unlike anything we’ve seen from Baumbach before.
M3GAN (January 6)
There’s no better way to start 2023 than with the dancing killer robot prototype child, M3GAN. When the first trailer for M3GAN was released, it immediately became a meme, an absurd idea—fittingly—from the writer of Malignant. M3GAN is a child companion who latches onto her new best friend Cady (Violet McGraw) after her roboticist aunt Gemma (Allison Williams) brings this prototype. Naturally, as often happens with such prototype robot children, M3GAN starts getting a little too attached and starts murdering anyone that gets between her and Cady. Wild that 2023 is just dropping the clear best film of the year right out the gate.
House Party (January 13)
For a while, it seemed as though House Party might end up another casualty of Warner Bros.’ restructuring, as it was pulled from the schedule less than three weeks before its release last year. But the House Party reboot looks like it might finally see the light of day in January. This new take follows Damon and Kevin (Tosin Cole and Jacob Latimore, respectively), who want to be club promoters, but are stuck in their job as house cleaners. This pair decides that they should throw a party at their last job: the mansion of LeBron James. In addition to James, House Party will also feature appearances by Lil Wayne, Scott Mescudi, Snoop Dogg, and Kid N’ Play. But even more exciting is that House Party is written by Jamal Olori and Stephen Glover, who both wrote on the excellent series, Atlanta.
The Son (January 20)
Florian Zeller’s debut film, 2020’s The Father was a critical success, earning six Academy Award nominations and winning two, including Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins. Zeller’s follow-up, The Son, similarly follows the struggles of a family, as Peter Miller (Hugh Jackman) attempts to take care of his son Nicholas (Zen McGrath) from his previous marriage, as he balances his new, growing family and a potential dream job on the horizon. While The Son doesn’t balance its emotional themes as well as The Father, it’s Jackman’s performance as the concerned father that helps this story along, as Jackman effectively showcases the struggle to do what’s right for his family, even when he’s confused and unsure of how to move forward.
Missing (January 20)
Five years after the unique mystery of Searching, which was told entirely through computers and phones, the film receives a tonally similar sequel with Missing starring Storm Reid. Missing follows a girl trying to find out what happened to her mother when she ends up missing after a vacation with a new boyfriend in Columbia. Searching was a unique cinematic experience, one that critics and audiences praised at the time, so it will be interesting to see how this concept is updated almost half a decade later, and see how this story might tie into the events of Searching as well.
Shotgun Wedding (January 27)
The trailer for Shotgun Wedding certainly has one of the most shocking turnarounds in quite some time. What starts as a rom-com about a destination wedding between Darcy (Jennifer Lopez) and Tom (Josh Duhamel), takes a sharp shift when the wedding party is taken hostage. Lopez has had success with rom-coms recently, as 2022’s Marry Me was a delight, and c’mon, Shotgun Wedding gives Jennifer Coolidge a giant gun. Let Coolidge do whatever she wants.
Knock at the Cabin (February 3)
Look, you never know what you’re going to get with M. Night Shyamalan. It’s possible you could get the thrilling director who knows how to get under your skin and who made The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, or Split. OR, you could get the guy who takes you to the beach that makes you old, or even worse, the guy who made The Happening and After Earth. But Knock at the Cabin, based on the book of the same name by Paul G. Tremblay, looks like it could be the former, as a family of three is held hostage by four strangers who demand that one of them must die in order to stop the apocalypse. It’s the time of wild concept that Shyamalan could really make work, and with a cast that includes Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, and Rupert Grint, this might be a sign of the good Shyamalan.
Magic Mike’s Last Dance (February 10)
After the ridiculously fun Magic Mike and the even more entertaining Magic Mike XXL, it seems it's time to say goodbye to everyone’s favorite cinematic stripper, played by Channing Tatum. Magic Mike’s Last Dance brings back the original installment’s director, Steven Soderbergh, as Mike puts together a giant show, with the help of a new love interest, played by Salma Hayek Pinault. This third film will apparently end with a 30-minute dance number, which sounds like the perfect way to end this wild trilogy. Fingers crossed we get to hear “Pony” one last time.
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (February 15)
Who amongst us hasn’t read the classic Winnie the Pooh tales from A.A. Milne, or watched the iconic Disney animated films, and thought, “you know what would make this better? If Winnie and Piglet were bloodthirsty monsters hoping to feast on human flesh?” Who needs honey when you’ve got potential victims to chomp down on? Well, that’s what we’re getting with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, a deranged take on Milne’s classic that shows what happens after Christopher Robin abandoned his 100 Acre Woods friends and went to college. Sure, Blood and Honey is likely going to be about its shock value of watching these beloved characters doing horrific things, but it’s hard not to be mildly curious as to how such adorable creatures become the thing of nightmares.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 17)
Beginning the MCU’s fifth phase, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania looks like its going to hit the ground running as the first film to introduce Jonathan Majors’ villain, Kang the Conquerer. The third Ant-Man film also becomes even more of a family affair, as Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), alongside Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne (Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer) have to save Scott’s daughter Cassie (now played by Kathryn Newton), who is in the Quantum Realm. In addition to Kang, we’ll also apparently meet MODOK, and a new villain played by Bill Murray. After the mixed reaction to Phase 4, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania seems like we’re going to start Phase 5 off on the right foot.
Return to Seoul (February 17)
In her debut role, Ji-Min Park gives one of the best performances of 2022 in Return to Seoul, as Freddie, who returns to South Korea for the first time since being adopted as a child and moving to France. Freddie doesn't know why she's decided to return to her home country on a whim, but just being there starts to change her and motivate her to learn about her past. As we see Freddie on subsequent trips back to South Korea, we see just how much a person can change over the years, and how these visits largely influence her life. Davy Chou's stunning film is one of the best movies of 2022, which thankfully, will get a wider release in 2023.
Cocaine Bear (February 24)
Look up. See that title? That insane trailer? What more do you need to know? A bear does a bunch of cocaine, then goes on a murder spree. Done. You’ve already bought your ticket yet? No? Well, the Elizabeth Banks-directed film seems like it’s going to be one of the most ridiculous films of 2023 (yes, even in a year with M3GAN and a murdering Winnie the Pooh), and with a shockingly good cast that features Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Isiah Whitlock Jr., and Ray Liotta in one of his final roles. Go ahead and cancel the Academy Awards now, cause Cocaine Bear is gonna sweep.