25 brilliant new movies you don’t want to miss this winter

No, it’s not a video from the ’70s you found in an alley as a kid and kept hidden under your mattress, but it is somewhat instructional. Scrapper cinematographer Molly Manning Walker assured directorial debut, focused on three British girls on a holiday of self-discovery in Greece, has been hailed coming out of Cannes for its authentic portrayal of adolescent womanhood and the candour with which it navigates sexual coming-of-age and the fuzzy definitions of consent. 

Out in the UK Nov 3

If the movies have taught us anything, it’s that young people should never go backpacking in a foreign country – and especially Australia. In the case of this psychological thriller from Aussie riser Kitty Green (The Assistant), two American women (Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick) decide to traverse the Outback and end up working in a rural bar, where they’re quickly mired in toxic masculinity of the most hazardous variety.  

Out in the UK Nov 3

At once a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel and an extension of the Disney+ series Ms Marvel, the latest MCU entry sees Brie Larson’s superhuman fighter pilot teaming with Iman Vellani’s teen mutant – plus Teyonah Parris as her energy-absorbing WandaVision character, Monica Rambeau – to figure out the connections between their respective powers. Whatever it is, it’ll probably annoy a whole lot of woman-hating fanboys.

Out worldwide Nov 10 

The whodunnit revival gets a subtle new addition in an Alpine mystery that comes with buzz and a Palme d’Or to its name. The ever-excellent Sandra Hüller, best known as an out-of-control professional with a bonkers dad in Toni Erdmann, stars as a writer whose husband falls to his death from their chalet and leaves evidence that points the bony finger of guilt in her direction. As elusive as its chief suspect, Justine Triet’s knotty kinda-thriller will test your inner Poirot to the limit.  

Out in the UK Nov 10

Obviously Paul Giamatti would be make a definitive Ebenezer Scrooge, but Alexander Payne’s yuletide-set drama offers the next best thing to seeing the great man play Dickens’s grinch. He’s Paul Hunham, the sour-faced history teacher at a minor private school who’s charged with babysitting a handful of students over the Christmas holidays. Tart life lessons and sharp laughs ensue in Payne’s homage to ’70s filmmaking. People will tell you that this isn’t a Christmas movie – you must ignore them.

In US theaters Nov 10. Out in the UK Jan 19, 2024

Is Nicolas Cage getting his own version of Being John Malkovich? An existential comedy directed by Norwegian debutant Kristoffer Borgli and produced by Ari Aster, Dream Scenario has Cage playing a nondescript professor who becomes a global celebrity when he starts appearing in everyone’s dreams. Obviously becoming the most famous person in the world overnight has its drawbacks, so expect things to get seriously fraught for the Cagester.

Out worldwide Nov 10

Eight years have passed since the last instalment of the dystopian young-adult franchise, which means there’s a whole new generation looking for an entry point. So you know what that means: prequel time! That also means no Katniss Everdeen, but there is a whole new cast – including Jason Schwartzman, Viola Davis, Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler – playing both younger versions of established characters and early participants in the titular human sport-hunting ritual.   

Out worldwide Nov 17

Todd Haynes’s knotty melodrama casts Far From Heaven’s Julianne Moore as Gracie Atherton-Yoo, a one-time film star whose illegal relationship with a seventh grader once scandalised the nation. Enter Natalie Portman’s actress arriving to research Gracie’s past and take notes on the nature of her enduring relationship with the now-thirtysomething man (Charles Melton). As ever with Haynes, expect playful twists and formal daring in a subversive spin on actorly process and the vagaries of the human heart.

In cinemas worldwide Nov 17. On Netflix Dec 1

Ridley Scott tackles the quart-sized Gaul in a historical epic that plays to all his strengths and takes him back to his early days on The Duellists. His old Gladiator mucker Joaquin Phoenix, of course, is adopting the megalomaniac airs of a different kind of emperor in a story of Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise and fall across huge battles (Austerlitz, Marengo, Waterloo etc), a jagged romance with Josephine (Vanessa Kirby), and quite a lot of hubris (the whole ‘invading Russia’ thing). Here’s where to find out why the dude was so cranky in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Out in the US Nov 17 and the UK Nov 22. 

Disney celebrates its 100th birthday with a musical-comedy written by Frozen’s Jennifer Lee that summons the ghosts of past studio greats like Pinocchio. There’s a wish-granting star in this one, too, and it descends to Earth to bestow powers on Asha (voiced by Ariana DeBose), a 17-year-old girl in the magical kingdom of Rosas, and her pet goat Valentino (Alan Tudyk), and help in their struggle with the evil King Magnifico (Chris Pine). Does Donkey from Shrek have competition as the chattiest quadruped in animation? 

In US theaters Nov 17 and UK cinemas Nov 24