Nosferatu (Jan 1st, cinemas)
Writer/director Robert Eggers (The Witch; The Northman) remakes FW Murnau's silent horror classic Nosferatu, which was itself an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker's
'Dracula'. Eggers' film stars Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok, a vampire who becomes
obsessed with a young woman (Lily-Rose Depp) in 19th century
Germany.
A Real Pain (Jan 8th, cinemas)
Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain stars Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin as estranged cousins David and Benji. To honour their grandmother's
wishes, David and Benji unite for a tense tour of their ancestral homeland
of Poland.
Babygirl (Jan 10th, cinemas)
Written and directed by Halina Reijn (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Babygirl sees Nicole Kidman play a powerful CEO who embarks
on a sexual affair with a young intern (Harris Dickinson). Kidman
scooped the Best Actress award at this year's Venice International Film
Festival for her performance.
The Girl with the Needle (Jan 10th, cinemas)
Denmark's official Oscar entry is director Magnus Von Horn's The Girl with the Needle. Co-written with Line Langebeck, the film is set in the aftermath of
WWI. Vic Carmen Sonne plays Karoline, a desperate young pregnant
woman who takes the role of a wet-nurse for an underground adoption
agency, unware of the dark side of her workplace.
Wolf Man (Jan 17th, cinemas)
Having resurrected The Invisible Man, director Leigh Whannell turns his attention to another classic Universal monster.
Co-written with Corbett Tuck, Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, Wolf Man sees Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner and Matilda Firth play a family terrorised at a remote farmhouse by a furry, snarling
threat, all while Abbott's Blake begins to undergo physical changes.
Emmanuelle (Jan 17th, cinemas)
Emmanuelle Arsan's 1967 erotic novel Emmanuelle was famously adapted by director Just Jaeckin in 1974 with Sylvia
Kristel in the title role. That film's success spawned a series of sequels
and unofficial cash-ins. Now director Audey Diwan (Happening) and co-writer Rebecca Zlotowski have returned to the
original novel for their take. Noemie Merlant stars in
the title role of a woman who experiences an erotic awakening while on a
business trip to Hong Kong.
Presence (Jan 24th, cinemas)
Directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by David Koepp, Presence sees a family move into an idyllic new home only to discover it's
inhabited by a mysterious...well, presence. If that doesn't sound
particularly novel, bear in mind the movie is shot entirely from the
first-person POV of the ghost.
The Brutalist (Jan 24th, cinemas)
After making an impressive switch from acting to directing
with The Childhood of a Leader and Vox Lux, Brady Corbet has drawn even more acclaim with his third feature, The Brutalist. Co-written with Mona Fastvold, the film spans three decades in the life of László Tóth (Adrien Brody), an architect and Holocaust survivor
who leaves his native Hungary for the US, where his life is changed when
he is hired by a wealthy industrialist (Guy Pearce).
Hard Truths (Jan 31st, cinemas)
Mike Leigh returns to the milieu of working class London for
his latest drama, Hard Truths. The film stars Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Pansy, an
abrasive woman who picks fights with everyone she meets, including her own
family. Conversely, her sister Chantal (Michele Austin) views the world through a rose-tinted lens.
By the Stream (Jan 31st, cinemas)
Despite his prolific output, the acclaimed Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo rarely gets his films into UK/ROI cinemas. It's a welcome chance to
savour his talents on the big screen in January with the release
of By the Stream. The film sees a teacher convince her retired actor uncle to write and
direct a play at her university, only to be dismayed when he begins a
relationship with her boss.