The best films to see in cinemas in November: from ‘Anora’ To ‘Wicked’

An A24 horror flick in which Hugh Grant plays a demented cultist with a rictus smile and a nasty line in traumatising young Mormon evangelists? Sign us up. Like a posh pupa metamorphosing into an evil moth, Grant has seemingly arrived at his final form: the big-screen villain he was meant to be. Heretic, the latest to show just how mean the ’90s heartthrob can be, is the handiwork of A Quiet Place writing duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and should be a great reason to extend Halloween by a few extra days this year.

In cinemas Nov 1

Already a Palme d’Or winner and now with Oscars firmly in its sights, Sean Baker’s comic thriller is a serious star turn for Mikey Madison. The LA native, formerly best known as the barbecued Manson family member at the end of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, plays a New York sex worker hired for a weekend of escort work by the hapless son of a Russian oligarch. The chaos that ensues plays like Safdie brothers film on helium. You do not want to miss it. 

In cinemas Nov 1

Steve McQueen is working on an epic scale in this wartime drama that follows young evacuee (newcomer Elliott Heffernan) as leaps from a train and makes his way back to the heavily bombed East End and his worried mum (Saoirse Ronan) and grandpa (Paul Weller, somehow making his screen debut). Expect thunderous set pieces and endless perils as the youngster navigates a world that’s trying to cling to some sense of order and not always succeeding. 

In cinemas Nov 8 and on Apple TV+ Nov 22

Everyone’s favourite furry Londoner – sorry Matt Berry – is back for a long and eagerly awaited third big-screen outing. Paddington 2’s Paul King has clocked off to tackle Wonka and other juicy Hollywood projects, but not before giving the seal of approval to newbie director Dougal Wilson. His debut sends Paddington back to his homeland of Peru with the Brown family and Mrs Bird in tow. Mysteries, treasures and Antonio Banderas await – not to mention a 100 percent uptick in good vibes for anyone who watches it. 

In cinemas Nov 8

Barry Keoghan is a bad(-ish) dad in this magical-and-social realist drama set in the scrappy fringes of London and Kent. It’s director Andrea Arnold’s old Fish Tank turf, but her latest is a more fantastical take on growing up in a hardscrabble, neglectful environment. This month is a showcase for young British acting talent (see also the wonderful Elliott Heffernan in Blitz) and Bird introduces another gifted newcomer in Nykiya Adams as an adrift 12-year-old who encounters a mysterious character called Bird (Franz Rogowski) and together, strikes a strange but powerful bond.  

In cinemas Nov 8

A Pittsburgh family’s piano becomes a powerful motif for Black identity and heritage in August Wilson’s 1987 stage play. It was made into a 1995 TV film and Netflix have given Malcolm ‘son of Denzel’ Washington the keys to a new adaptation this month. Malcolm’s brother, Tenet star John David Washington, plays the family’s sharecropper son who wants to sell the instrument to buy a symbolic piece of land, while his sister (Danielle Deadwyler) fights to keep it. 

In cinemas Nov 8 and on Netflix Nov 22

The month’s big kahuna is Ridley Scott’s sequel to his Best Picture winner from 2000. The story reflects the 24 years that have passed since Russell Crowe triumphed in the Colosseum, with Commodus’s son Lucius (Paul Mescal) now grown up and thirsting for revenge against the Roman general  who sent him into slavery. A few OGs (Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi) and some A-list newbies (Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn) furnish this old-school epic with one of the casts of the year.

In cinemas Nov 15

Cynthia Erivo is just an Oscar away from EGOT status, and while she probably won’t win it for playing Wicked’s misunderstood witch Elphaba – the Academy hasn’t really ‘done’ musicals since Chicago – this two-part fantasy adventure will consolidate her status as a major A-lister. Crazy Rich Asians’ John M Chu is the director charged with translating the magic of the 2003 Broadway show to the multiplex, with Ariane Grande (as Glinda the Good), Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible) and Jeff Goldblum (the Wizard) heading to Oz with him. Part two lands in November 2025.

In cinemas Nov 22

Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow play conscience-racked cardinals in an entertaining potboiler set in the immediate aftermath of a Holy Father’s death. As a conclave of powerful priests cloisters itself away in the Vatican agonising over the election of a new Pope, schemes and stratagems play out – all in the spirit of a 1970s conspiracy thriller. As if it needs it, Isabella Rossellini brings even more acting firepower to the papal party as a Sister horrified by the sight of the patriarchy in action. 

In cinemas Nov 29

The first Moana was the best Disney animation since 1994’s The Lion King. Can the sequel match it? The fact that it was originally earmarked for a Disney+ release doesn’t immediately scream masterpiece, and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s absence as songwriter could be significant, but in a year of animated mega-hits (Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4) don’t be surprised to see this one go cosmic too. Dwayne Johnson returns to voice cocky demigod Maui, as Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho) sets off on a new Pacific adventure – this time with a crew to help. 

In cinema Nov 29