For its 18th annual outdoor theater production, the Getty Villa has reached beyond the surviving canon of ancient Greek and Roman plays. Taking center stage is a forgotten figure from the classical world, Memnon, the mythological king of the Ethiopians, who came to the aid of the Trojans at a point in the Trojan War when the Greeks were on the brink of destroying Troy.
A new play by Will Power (“Fetch Clay, Make Man”), “Memnon” tells the tale of the revered African warrior, who was a popular subject of the ancients but whose story was mislaid over the millenniums. Memnon is briefly mentioned in Homer’s “The Odyssey” and his image figures prominently on vase paintings. His death was recounted in the “Aethiopis,” the lost epic that offered a complete telling of the Trojan War in verse. But it was Homer’s version that would outlast all other sources for stories on that epic conflict.
This world premiere production of “Memnon,” a collaboration between the Getty Villa and the Classical Theatre of Harlem, represents an act of cultural recovery. Director Carl Cofield conceived the idea of the play with Power, and the resulting work reminds us that the classical world was more culturally and racially diverse than is often credited.
The tone of “Memnon,” written in iambic hexameter, is direct, spare and cast in a tense of tragic inevitability. Thematically, Power occasionally tips his hand that the play is the product of a 21st century imagination. Identity politics sometimes strikes an all-too-explicit note. But the proud, regal, calmly commanding voice of Eric Berryman’s Memnon puts the audience under a spell.
In terms of plotting, “Memnon” doesn’t manifest the structural ingenuity of a play by Sophocles, who understood that no matter to what extent fate controls the outcome of a story, it is in those moments when a protagonist is exercising free will that an audience is mostly deeply engaged. Oedipus may not have been able to outrun the oracle revealing that he would kill his father and marry his mother. But how he responds to the horror of his unwitting actions is what makes his tale so eternally meaningful.
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Dramatically, “Memnon” feels as if a section of “The Iliad” were being theatrically illustrated. The context of the story eclipses Memnon’s personal investment. It’s as if he had the misfortune to stumble into somebody else’s all-too-welcoming tragedy.
The play begins where “The Iliad” leaves off, after the death of Hector. King Priam (Jesse J. Perez) is grieving the loss of his heroic son. Polydamas (Daniel José Molina), trusted Trojan adviser, recaps the disasters that have befallen Troy before urging Priam to call on his nephew, Memnon, the renowned fighter, for military assistance. Priam is averse to this plan, but Helen (a self-possessed Andrea Patterson), whom many are blaming for the disastrous decade-long war, makes clear that it’s either Memnon or humiliation and death.
Memnon makes a rock star entrance, strutting onto the stage like the long-awaited headliner of an all-star bill. But by the time he arrives, he seems like a figure in a story much larger than his own. That’s understandable, but he is kept at a distance. The outline of his destiny is clear and his moral qualities are exemplary. But the inner workings of his mind remain opaque.
Andrea Patterson as Helen and Eric Berryman as Memnon.
(Craig Schwartz/Craig Schwartz Photography)
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Memnon has an impossible decision to make, whether to come to the defense of the Trojans in what looks like a futile effort or betray an ally and family member in dire need. There’s a radiant nobility to his loyalty — all the more so for the way he’s treated like an outsider, too potent to dismiss yet too exotic to fully trust. But Memnon’s deliberations seem abstract. We don’t know enough about him to agonize with him. The backstory concerning Priam’s reluctance to ask him for help only introduces more confusion.
The fundamental question of honor versus self-preservation is complicated by the inscrutable plans of the gods. Helen and Nestor (Perez, in a more animated performance than his straightforward Priam) make appeals to Zeus from opposing sides of the battle when Memnon undertakes to fight the one-man Greek war machine known as Achilles (Jesse Corbin). The issue ultimately comes down to whether Memnon will resist or succumb to fate, but that dilemma needs more character nuance to electrify us.
Jesse J. Perez as Nestor and Jesse Corbin as Achilles.
(Cassia Davis/J. Paul Getty Trust)
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But the story has a freshness and Berryman’s majestic performance imbues his incomplete character with the charisma of an Othello too wise for irrational vengeance. Corbin’s beefcake Achilles may have destiny momentarily on his side, but it’s Berryman’s Memnon that leaves the most lasting heroic impression.
The staging by Cofield, associate artistic director of the Classical Theatre of Harlem, turns Troy into a modern urban combat zone. Scaffolding against a background of chain link fences brings that battle closer to home (courtesy of Riw Rakkulchon’s scenic design and Yee Eun Nam’s projections). Celeste Jennings’ costumes make a boldly contemporary impression while retaining an archaic fierceness.
The expanse of the Getty Villa Outdoor Theatre may be underutilized. The muscular choreography by Tiffany Rea-Fisher (performed by chorus members Holly Hwang Belshaw, Kat Files and Jenna Kulacz), seems a touch too constricted for such a large playing area.
But the focus is perhaps where it should be — on Power’s poetic words. “Memnon” deserves praise not only for resurrecting a too little-known mythological figure but also for being as at home in the ancient world as in our own.
WTOP’s Jason Fraley throws his own stunned support behind the must-see new thriller “Strange Darling,” written and directed by JT Mollner.
WTOP’s Jason Fraley reviews the new thriller ‘Strange Darling’ (Part 1)
Stephen King called it a “clever masterpiece.” Mike Flanagan added, “Sublimely brilliant. You must go in blind.”
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Allow me to throw my own stunned support behind the must-see new thriller “Strange Darling,” written and directed by JT Mollner, who is now officially a filmmaking force to be reckoned with in the horror genre.
The film opens by claiming it’s based on a true story of “the final known killings of the most prolific and unique American serial killer of the 21st century.” Films such as “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974) and “Fargo” (1996) have taught us that this is often apocryphal, but it’s an effective tease as we enter rural Oregon to track a fateful one-night stand that goes terribly wrong in the grand finale of a bloody rampage across the Pacific Northwest.
The film works as well as it does because of the complex performances by its two lead actors. Willa Fitzgerald previously starred in Flanagan’s miniseries “The Fall of the House of Usher” (2023) and her performance here is truly harrowing, transcending the label “scream queen” with chilling shrieks. You’ll also recognize Kyle Gallner from the horror flick “Smile” (2022) and here his mustached loner is creepy right from the opening frames.
The coolest casting coup is Barbara Hershey, who had a run of ’80s classics in “The Right Stuff” (1983), “The Natural” (1984), “Hoosiers” (1986), “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1987) before her resurgence in horror films like “Black Swan” (2010) and “Insidious” (2010). She joins Ed Begley Jr. (“St. Elsewhere”) as a nice old couple making Sunday breakfast and doing puzzles before hell arrives at their doorstep.
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These actors weave in and out of a nonlinear script brilliantly presented out of order as Mollner intentionally rearranges his scenes to subvert audience expectations. He first drops us into the middle of the story in Chapter 3, then leaps ahead to the penultimate Chapter 5, rewinds back to the setup of Chapter 1, races ahead to Chapter 4, doubles back to Chapter 2, and finally drops the dramatic conclusion of Chapter 6, followed by a brief Epilogue.
The genius fractured narrative is clearly inspired by Quentin Tarantino, right down to catchy titles for each chapter (“Here Kitty, Kitty”). There’s a similar energy to the proceedings, including an enclosed space like the buried-alive sequence in “Kill Bill: Vol. 2” (2004) and a roaring car chase that recalls “Death Proof” (2007). As for the Pacific Northwest setting, I found it to be reminiscent of John Hyams’ underrated thriller “Alone” (2020).
Homages aside, Mollner deserves credit for his own creative voice. He’s a 16-year “overnight success” since his first short film “The Red Room” (2008) before getting the horror rub from Dee Wallace (“The Hills Have Eyes,” “The Howling,” “Cujo”) in his short “Flowers in December” (2015). His feature directorial debut “Outlaws & Angels” (2016) starred Luke Wilson at Sundance, using Kodak film stock and old-school Panavision cameras and lenses.
Similarly, “Strange Darling” rebukes contemporary digital cameras to shoot on 35-mm film for a gritty throwback feel. You’ll be wonderfully surprised by the end credits to see who is behind the camera as actor Giovanni Ribisi (“Saving Private Ryan”) makes his debut as a cinematographer, while also executive producing. Together, Ribisi and Mollner demonstrate a strong visual eye, even in mundane moments such as overhead shots of breakfast plates.
The soundtrack is gloriously mischievous with Z Berg’s female cover of Nazareth’s “Love Hurts” with symbolic lyrics such as “love scars” that are both melancholic and meta considering the male voice on the track is Keith Carradine. Not only did he sing “I’m Easy” in “Nashville” (1975), his brother was the late David Carradine (“Kill Bill”), who had a child with Hershey and whose shocking manner of death hauntingly echos in “Strange Darling.”
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If the film has one flaw it’s the late scene of a male cop making misogynistic quips to his female partner, though I suppose the entire film is a commentary on genre and gender, so maybe that’s the point. Driving down the road in the final shot, the color slowly drains from the image like blood draining from a body, but it lasts a little too long before the end credits arrive. The unblinking final gaze of Ti West’s “Pearl” (2022), still takes the cake.
Don’t worry, that’s just some necessary nitpicking by a film critic who has to point out super minor issues in order to justify his otherwise overwhelming praise for a vibrant instant classic without simply saying, “No notes.” Without a doubt, “Strange Darling” is one of the best horror-thrillers I’ve seen in years, maybe one of the best that you’ll ever see, and certainly one of the most unpredictable. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s truly electric.
WTOP’s Jason Fraley reviews the new thriller ‘Strange Darling’ (Part 2)
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A still from ‘Rebel Ridge’
| Photo Credit: Netflix
For all the films in Netflix’s growing ‘Rebel’ catalogue, Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge feels the most tame. It’s an unsuspecting thriller that creeps up on you, unspooling its tension, for the perfect release. Best known for crafting brutal, grounded thrillers like A24’s Green Room, Saulnier manages to catch us off guard yet again, but this time his protagonist isn’t a hapless underdog, but an intelligent predator biding his time.
We’re introduced to Terry Richmond, played with commanding authority by Aaron Pierre. A former Marine with expertise in mixed martial arts and jiu-jitsu, Terry finds himself at the mercy of small-town Louisiana cops who are anything but lawful. What begins as a bicycle ride into town turns into a bureaucratic nightmare after Terry is wrongfully detained by two corrupt officers. They confiscate $36,000 from him — money intended to bail out his cousin — leaving him at the mercy of a broken system that grinds people down just as efficiently as it protects itself.
Rebel Ridge (English)
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Cast: Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman
Runtime: 131 minutes
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Storyline: A former Marine confronts corruption in a small town when local law enforcement unjustly seizes the bag of cash he needs to post his cousin’s bail
Saulnier’s films often revel in the “wrong person at the wrong place” trope, but this time, the person in question is anything but helpless. Terry is a study in controlled menace, a Jason Bourne type who’s more than capable of flipping the script on his captors. With his steely gaze and velvet-voiced charisma, Pierre embodies a calm that belies the storm underneath. It’s riveting to watch him shift between quiet de-escalation and sudden bursts of (restrained) violence, each move carefully calculated, but more importantly, non-lethal. The moment the cops realise what the acronym “MCMAP” stands for, it’s gratifying to watch them know that they’re in for more than they bargained for.
A still from ‘Rebel Ridge’
| Photo Credit:
Netflix
Yet Rebel Ridge isn’t content to be just another action-packed showdown. A majority of the film’s tension-building is derived not from high-octane chases or slick disarmaments, but from the tension woven into the very fabric of small-town corruption. Every roadblock Terry faces is cloaked in legal jargon and weaponised policy. The film methodically exposes how local law enforcement manipulates the justice system, how asset forfeiture — a legal loophole that lets cops seize property without due process — is weaponised against the vulnerable. Terry’s predicament becomes emblematic of this systemic rot, a damning portrait of a legal system where power is wielded arbitrarily.
In this way, the film finds an unexpected rhythm. This isn’t a title that relies on showy action scenes or gratuitous violence — there’s no outlandish slow-mo gun ballet à la John Wick. Saulnier wrings suspense from paperwork, from the ticking clock of legal deadlines to a court system stacked against the protagonist. The sweaty, claustrophobia of rural Louisiana enhances the film’s pervasive sense of isolation, a theme Saulnier loves to explore.
If you’re expecting a typical hero-villain showdown, Rebel Ridge has a little surprise for you. Terry isn’t just negotiating smart, self-preserving deals to minimise confrontations with the crooked chief of police; his primary battle is with the entrenched power structures that allow such abuse to flourish. The true horror isn’t the threat of police brutality (although there’s plenty of that), but the fact that the violence is merely a symptom of a larger, deeply entrenched disease.
A still from ‘Rebel Ridge’
| Photo Credit:
Netflix
What’s also refreshing about Rebel Ridge is how it leans into its protagonist’s strengths without undermining the tension. He’s not a PTSD-ridden vagrant or a punk rocker trapped in a neo-Nazi stronghold. He’s highly capable, almost supernaturally so. But that competence doesn’t lessen the stakes as Saulnier isn’t interested in glorifying his martial prowess. Instead, it becomes a tool to expose deeper truths about how power is abused. Terry may be capable of disarming a room full of officers, but even with his skills, he’s still at the mercy of a system that’s been designed to hold him back. He’s a scalpel against a tank — lethal in his own right but fighting a battle that’s been rigged from the start.
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Pierre’s performance is magnetic, simmering with emotional depth. Terry is a man who thrives in the shadows, whose every gesture conveys a world of unspoken threat and Pierre embodies that fantastically. It’s easy to see why the likes of Barry Jenkins — who previously cast Pierre in The Underground Railroad — are drawn to his particular brand of intensity.
In the end, Rebel Ridge is a taut, cerebral thriller that forces you to lock in, lest you mistake it for a casual, ambient dinner-time watch. It entirely engages the mind even as it ratchets up the tension, offering the kind of intelligent, finely crafted suspense that has been all too rare for Netflix as of late.
Rebel Ridge is currently available to stream on Netflix
Hollywood’s pipeline may be slowed due to the aftereffects of strikes we’re still dealing with, but our snapshot of the best films of the season is as packed as ever. Big-budget musicals, dark supervillain sequels, big-budget musicals that are dark supervillain sequels, international charmers and sharp indie standouts all crowd the calendar. Cautionary tales of personal transformation jockey with euphoric ones; Oscar-winning legends compete for eyeballs with first-time visionaries; and gladiators do battle with other gladiators. We asked our film writers for their personal must-sees.
‘My Old Ass’ (Sept. 13)
Maisy Stella in the move “My Old Ass.”
(Amazon Studios)
One summer night before she leaves for college, an 18-year-old girl does mushrooms and finds herself face-to-face with the 39-year-old version of herself. That plot description doesn’t exactly suggest a heartfelt tearjerker of a movie. (Neither does the title.) But that’s exactly what director Megan Park’s feature debut is: a short, sweet gem of a coming-of-age story that will leave you looking back at your adolescence with rose-colored glasses. Aubrey Plaza plays the older version of the protagonist, though it’s newcomer Maisy Stella — whom you might know as the younger sister from the viral sibling singing duo Lennon & Maisy — whose performance you’ll leave talking about. The film, which was produced by Margot Robbie, slayed at Sundance last year and was quickly snapped up for a reported $15 million after a bidding war. If we had to call it now, we’d say Barbie has another hit on her hands. — Amy Kaufman
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‘A Different Man’ (Sept. 20)
Adam Pearson, left, and Sebastian Stan in the movie “A Different Man.”
(Matt Infante / A24)
Pitched somewhere between the body horror of David Cronenberg and the meta surrealism of Charlie Kaufman, writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s darkly satirical psychological thriller is hard to describe and even harder to shake. Sebastian Stan stars as an aspiring actor born with facial disfigurements who undergoes an experimental procedure to transform his appearance, only to find himself losing the role he was born to play — himself — to a man with the same deformity (played by “Under the Skin’s” Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis). The A24 film, which earned strong buzz at this year’s Sundance and co-stars Renate Reinsve (“The Worst Person in the World”), ambitiously takes on complex themes of identity and societal preconceptions about beauty and disability. Most of all, it is just plain different. — Josh Rottenberg
‘The Substance’ (Sept. 20)
Demi Moore in the movie “The Substance.”
(Christine Tamalet / Mubi)
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“Everybody’s a dreamer / And everybody’s a star / And everybody’s in movies / It doesn’t matter who you are.” The opening lines to the Kinks’ classic song “Celluloid Heroes,” about the ephemeral nature of fame, comes to mind when watching Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance,” a body-horror film that manages to be both primal and compassionate, bludgeoning and insightful. Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore, never better) has a star on Hollywood Boulevard, but it has faded and fallen into disrepair, much like the career of its honoree. She’s on the wrong side of 50, has been fired from her retro-style exercise show and is so desperate that she’s considering submitting to a back-alley rejuvenation regime. Soon, Elisabeth has a clone, Sue (Margaret Qualley), young and taut. For the science to work, Elisabeth and Sue must switch places every seven days. But there wouldn’t be a movie if that went off without a hitch, and as the situation begins to deteriorate, Fargeat amps up the gore and gruesomeness to epic levels. It’s truly ugly. And that’s the point. Because, as Ray Davies noted behind the mic, “Success walks hand in hand with failure on Hollywood Boulevard.” — Glenn Whipp
‘Megalopolis’ (Sept. 27)
Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel in the movie “Megalopolis.”
(Lionsgate)
Was it just a dream or did Francis Ford Coppola debut his long-gestating passion project (and first movie in 13 years) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival? He did! I’m not making that up. And I can’t wait to see it again, in all its radical craziness. “Megalopolis” isn’t well-served by synopses that call it a “city poem” or yoke its wild ambitions to ancient Rome’s power struggles or municipal intrigue. Those things are true, fine, but let’s stop trying to make this movie into another crime epic like “Godfather.” It is very much its own beast, loosely about a gifted architect (Adam Driver) and the many people around him who either help or hinder his vision. You’re going for the deep ensemble, which includes Giancarlo Esposito, Kathryn Hunter, Laurence Fishburne, Dustin Hoffman and Aubrey Plaza, the latter playing some kind of dazzling media creation named Wow Platinum. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (Oct. 4)
Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix in the movie “Joker: Folie à Deux.”
(Niko Tavernise / Warner Bros. Pictures)
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I have remained relatively neutral about the first “Joker” since it came out in 2019, even when the gritty Batman villain origin story became a box-office smash and won two Oscars. But the fact that the Warner Bros. sequel is actually a romance-driven jukebox movie-musical — complete with Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn — is a helluva choice, one that I have to see to believe. Director Todd Phillips, I will most definitely be seated for this comic-book-based song-and-dance, especially since I’ve been waiting for Joaquin Phoenix to sing onscreen again since his brilliant turn as Johnny Cash in “Walk the Line.” I’m excited to witness his maniacal vocal stylings on haunting covers of well-known songs, which I’ll probably never be able to hear in quite the same way again. — Ashley Lee
‘The Apprentice’ (Oct. 11)
Sebastian Stan, left, and Jeremy Strong in the movie “The Apprentice.”
(Pief Weyman / Apprentice Productions)
Don’t be fooled by the title — this is not a big-screen reboot of the hit NBC reality show in which contestants competed for a top spot in Donald Trump’s real estate empire. In fact, the tagline of this film could very well be “The movie Donald Trump doesn’t want you to see.” Although the former president and current Republican presidential nominee has not seen the film, he is fighting to keep this fictionalized account of his early days in real estate and his relationship with infamous attorney Roy Cohn out of theaters. “The Apprentice,” which scored favorable reviews out of Cannes, is a less-than-flattering portrait of Trump, and has a scene in which he assaults his first wife, Ivanka. Starring Sebastian Stan (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) as Trump and Jeremy Strong (“Succession”), it will definitely pour more fuel on an already volatile election season. — Greg Braxton
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‘We Live in Time’ (Oct. 11)
Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield in the movie “We Live in Time.”
(Peter Mountain / Studiocanal)
Do I need to say anything more than this is an A24 movie starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield? Really? OK. Watch the trailer and learn that they’re playing characters who A) have an adorable daughter, B) seem to have had a “meet cute” involving Alma (Pugh) running over Tobias (Garfield) with her car, and C) are eventually dealing with some kind of serious illness as there’s a cut to Alma sitting in a doctor’s office with her head shaved. If a trailer alone makes you cry, what hope do you have for surviving the film intact, particularly given that it’s directed by John Crowley, who did such a lovely job on the Oscar-nominated, big-hearted “Brooklyn”? “I’m guilty of looking ahead instead of right in front of me,” Tobias says at one point, except he’s choking out the words because … how can he not? He’s sobbing. Are you ready for this? (I’m not.) — Glenn Whipp
‘Anora’ (Oct. 18)
Mikey Madison, right, and Mark Eydelshteyn in the movie “Anora.”
(Neon)
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When Sean Baker won the Palme d’Or for “Anora” from a Cannes jury headed by Greta Gerwig, it felt as if an entire generation of American independent filmmakers had fully come of age. While retaining a sensibility of scrappy, playful creativity, Baker has also matured in his vision to come up with something like a clear-eyed fantasy: a realist fairy tale. Mikey Madison gives a vivid performance as a stripper in Brighton Beach, New York, who falls into a whirlwind romance with the son of a super-rich Russian oligarch. Impulsively, they get married in Las Vegas. It all seems to be a dream come true until word reaches his parents, who will do anything to force an annulment. There has always been something anthropological about Baker’s filmmaking in works like “Starlet,” “Tangerine” and “The Florida Project” as he explores otherwise unseen subcultures. With “Anora” that feeling remains, but the movie pushes further to become a rich blend of emotions and tones, veering with reckless abandon from raucous comedy to startlingly vivid compassion and, ultimately, understanding. — Mark Olsen
‘Salem’s Lot’ (Max; October TBA)
Lewis Pullman, left, Makenzie Leigh and Bill Camp in the movie “Salem’s Lot.”
(Justin Lubin / Warner Bros. Pictures)
After a period of worrying if the movie version of Stephen King’s 1975 vampire novel would even see the light of day (or the dark of a living room) or get deleted by a team of Warner Bros. bean counters, it can be confirmed that it is definitely coming to Max this Halloween season. Even sight unseen, there’s a lot this project has going for it. Director-screenwriter Gary Dauberman has a natural way with King’s flow (he’s the one who cracked the two-part blockbuster adaptation of “It”), and the cast includes Lewis Pullman, Alfre Woodard and Bill Camp. But we’ll take the word of King himself, who moved the needle on the film’s indeterminate future when he posted on X: “Between you and me, Twitter, I’ve seen the new SALEM’S LOT and it’s quite good. Old-school horror filmmaking: slow build, big payoff. Not sure why WB is holding it back; not like it’s embarrassing, or anything. Who knows. I just write the f— things.” — Joshua Rothkopf
‘Blitz’ (Nov. 1)
Elliott Heffernan and Saoirse Ronan in the movie “Blitz.”
(Parisa Taghizadeh / Apple TV+)
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It would not be a stretch to call Steve McQueen one of our greatest living historical filmmakers. The prizewinning visual artist made his feature debut in 2008 with “Hunger,” an unnervingly visceral portrait of hunger-striking Irish Republican prisoners, and though he’s since fashioned well-regarded contemporary fictions, his finest work has applied his crisp, modern aesthetic to the freedom struggles of the past. Consider the searing “12 Years a Slave,” set against the brutal backdrop of plantation life in antebellum Louisiana; “Small Axe,” a suite of five exquisite films about the Windrush generation of U.K. African Caribbean immigrants; and, most recently, “Occupied City,” a finely detailed document of Amsterdam under the Nazis. In other words, if there is a director who can find new relevance in the oft-told tale of the German bombing of London during World War II, it’s undoubtedly McQueen. — Matt Brennan
‘Conclave’ (Nov. 1)
Ralph Fiennes in the movie “Conclave.”
(Focus Features)
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned: In the past few weeks I have watched the trailer for “Conclave” so many times it could be considered gluttony. For pain or pleasure I do not yet know — the movie doesn’t premiere until Nov. 1. But whether it’s “Angels & Demons,” “The Two Popes” or “The Young Pope,” I’m a sucker for a Vatican drama. Especially one starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati and Sergio Castellitto, with Isabella Rossellini thrown in as a feisty sister. Directed by Oscar winner Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”), “Conclave” is adapted from Robert Harris’ novel of the same name. Its plot is simple: In Vatican City, the pope is dead and Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes) is tasked with overseeing the election of a new one. But before the black smoke can be replaced by white (indicating a new pope), all manner of intrigue, scandal and shocking secrets will be revealed. It may not have priest-assassins or the detonation of an anti-matter device, but as Stanley Tucci might have said in “The Devil Wears Prada,” give me a full cassock skirt and a sea of zucchettos and I’m in. — Mary McNamara
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‘Emilia Pérez’ (Nov. 1; on Netflix Nov. 13)
Zoe Saldana, left, and Karla Sofía Gascón in the movie “Emilia Pérez.”
(Netflix)
On paper it seems more Mad Lib than movie: acclaimed French auteur Jacques Audiard making a Mexican-set melodrama about a ruthless crime boss who transitions to being a woman, in a film that won a joint best actress prize at Cannes for co-stars Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Karla Sofía Gascón. And it’s a musical, with electrifying song and dance numbers. “Emilia Pérez” coalesces in unpredictable ways, making perfect sense even as its audacious ambitions should seem out of reach. The performances truly are astonishing, with Saldana and Gomez in particular showing previously unseen sides and Gascón both tender and fearsome. It takes a filmmaker with Audiard’s specific skills, an unerring sense of story, finely tailored style and vision, to hold it all together. A story about finding and becoming the person you most want to be, “Emilia Perez” is truly more than the sum of its parts. — Mark Olsen
‘All We Imagine as Light’ (Nov. 15)
Kani Kusruti, left, and Divya Prabha in the movie “All We Imagine as Light.”
(Petit Chaos)
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Payal Kapadia’s drama swept into Cannes near the festival’s tail end and quickly upturned prize expectations, leaving with the Grand Prix, an award previously won by “The Zone of Interest,” “BlacKkKlansman” and “Inside Llewyn Davis.” The movie’s lovely satisfactions shouldn’t be overhyped: After an initial section of urban ennui (gorgeously photographed like a Wong Kar-wai movie by cinematographer Ranabir Das) in which two Mumbai nurses grapple with romantic unhappiness, the movie takes a right turn as they head out of town to a jungly beachside community where anything seems possible. Hollywood has told this story before, it can be fairly said, and Kapadia channels those pleasures of sisterly solidarity and getting your groove back while also adding a subtle layer of spiritual awakening. It’s the kind of international title that could connect with anyone hoping to dream bigger. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘Gladiator II’ (Nov. 22)
Paul Mescal in the movie “Gladiator II.”
(Aidan Monaghan / Paramount Pictures)
Released in the bygone era of AD 2000, the original “Gladiator” may now feel a bit like ancient history itself, but in its time, director Ridley Scott’s epic was a bona fide blockbuster, earning more than $460 million worldwide and five Oscars, including best picture, and turning Russell Crowe into a movie star. Now, after years of fits-and-starts development, the 86-year-old Scott returns to the arena, with Paul Mescal stepping into the sandals of Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and nephew of the tyrannical Commodus, originally played by Joaquin Phoenix. After his home is invaded by a Roman army led by Pedro Pascal’s general Marcus Acacius, Lucius is forced to fight as a gladiator under the tutelage of Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a former slave who opposes the rule of the young twin emperors Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn). We’ll see you in the Colosseum. — Josh Rottenberg
‘Wicked’ (Nov. 22)
Ariana Grande, left, and Cynthia Erivo in the movie “Wicked.”
(Universal Pictures)
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Set before Dorothy’s arrival in “The Wizard of Oz,” this vibrant movie-musical centers on the two women who become Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West, and the change in their friendship when society pits them against each other. While the film adaptation of this stage musical phenomenon has been in intermittent development since shortly after it opened on Broadway in 2003, I’m thrilled that the Universal project is finally coming to fruition with director Jon M. Chu (“In the Heights” and “Crazy Rich Asians”). And I’m ready to marvel at Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s performances of Stephen Schwartz’s songs, which span comical numbers, soaring anthems, heartbreaking ballads and bittersweet duets. That we’ll have to wait a year for the second half of a two-part rollout is quite fine with me. — Ashley Lee
