Song Sung Blue
This new musical drama, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, tells the true story of Mike and Claire Sardina, a pair of musicians from Milwaukee who fall in love and form a tribute band to American singer Neil Diamond. Their personal and professional idyll is threatened by a series of personal crises, primarily related to health.
Both Jackman and Hudson have earned widespread praise for their performances. While audiences already know Jackman can sing like a superstar, Hudson is expected to be a genuine surprise. And yes, the film itself lives up to its title, delivering a bittersweet experience. Let’s hope the bitter part is not too overwhelming.
Opens January 8
The Secret Agent
This 1970s-set period saga by Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho follows Armando, played by Wagner Moura of “Narcos” fame, an academic forced to flee the authorities in military dictatorship-era Brazil as he tries to find his son and escape the country. Political corruption, national trauma and Armando’s own personal trauma — or should we call him by his alias, Marcelo — turn the mission into a true via dolorosa.
If that’s not enough, the film is among the most talked-about and critically acclaimed of the year, winning, among other honors, the director and actor prizes at the most recent Cannes Film Festival, with strong buzz around possible Oscar nominations or even wins. Yes, it runs 158 minutes. But when it’s this good, who cares?
Opens January 15
Hamnet
Another film expected to feature prominently in the upcoming Oscars, at least in the acting categories thanks to Jessie Buckley’s much-discussed lead performance, is “Hamnet,” based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel. The story centers on the tragedy that shaped the lives of William Shakespeare, played by Paul Mescal, and his wife Agnes, played by Buckley, after the death of their 11-year-old son Hamnet — an event that would later fuel Shakespeare’s creation of his masterpiece, “Hamlet.”
Agnes, however, is the emotional heart of the film by Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao of “Nomadland,” who returns to prestige filmmaking after the painful stumble of Marvel’s “Eternals.”
Opens January 22
Mercy
Chris Pratt may well be the busiest actor in Hollywood. Unsurprisingly, some of the big-budget, high-profile films he has made in recent years have been duds, particularly “The Tomorrow War” and “The Electric State.” Will “Mercy,” set in the near future and centered on a detective accused of murdering his wife who must prove his innocence within 90 minutes before an AI-driven justice system, meet the same fate?
The director’s identity does not inspire much confidence: Timur Bekmambetov, a Russian filmmaker whose career includes only one truly solid action film, 2008’s “Wanted,” starring Angelina Jolie. On the other hand, the premise feels strikingly relevant, and Pratt brings undeniable star power even to films that do him no favors. We’ll wait and see.
Opens January 22
No Other Choice
This is the new film by Park Chan-wook. That alone should be enough. The South Korean master behind the towering and hugely influential “Oldboy,” along with numerous other brilliant and twisted works — seek out his unconventional and near-perfect vampire film “Thirst” — is, broadly speaking, a safe bet.
If you need more, here it is: described as an unrestrained black comedy and social satire in the vein of Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite,” the film follows Yu Man-soo, played by Korean superstar Lee Byung-hun of “Squid Game,” an exemplary employee at a paper manufacturing company who enjoys a comfortable bourgeois life with his family.
That idyll collapses when he is fired, and in an escalating chain of events, Man-soo tries to claw his way back to respectable salaried employment anywhere he can. Based on the novel “The Ax” by American writer Donald E. Westlake, the film has become one of the year’s most talked-about and decorated titles, winning the audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival, earning three Golden Globe nominations and generating strong Oscar buzz. In short: do not miss it.
Opens January 29
Ruth
The new film by Haredi director Esti Bitton-Shoshan follows Ruth and Shmuel, a young couple from the Haredi world whose lives are put to the test when a major tragedy strikes. What tragedy, exactly? Don’t ask. Really.
The film explores their struggle to cope with the unthinkable and the profound impact on their relationship and inner lives, now riddled with existential questions. Starring Meshi Kleinstein and Aury Alby, with music by Dudu Tassa, which earned an Ophir Award nomination, it is one of the most intriguing Israeli films on the near horizon — even if it will not be among the lightest.
Opens February 5
Wuthering Heights
Emerald Fennell’s overtly sexual and sexually charged take on Emily Brontë’s classic novel stirred waves when its first trailer dropped, making clear that after 24 film and television adaptations, this version foregrounds the story’s erotic elements more than ever.
And who are we to complain? When the stars are the undeniably hot Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, when Fennell is such a provocative and fascinating filmmaker — even according to this writer, who did not much care for her first two films — and when corset-heavy, desire-soaked period romances have never gone out of fashion. Exactly. We are future viewers and nothing more.
Opens February 12
David
More than a quarter-century after “The Prince of Egypt,” another biblical animated musical arrives, this time centered on the mythic figure of King David. The film recounts his story from the battle with Goliath to his wars alongside King Saul against the Amalekites.
More troubling episodes, such as the deaths of Saul and Jonathan and the affair involving Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite, were understandably left out. With a solid budget of $60 million and respectable reviews, averaging 76 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, it looks like a modest hit that is likely to find particular success in Israel, especially with its Purim release. Bonus fact: in the original English version, Israeli singer Miri Mesika voices David’s mother.
Opens February 26
Scream 7
The seventh installment in the successful slasher franchise arrives 30 years after the original film. Don’t expect it to be revolutionary: the formula is by now firmly set, and over time even the franchise’s self-aware wit has looped back into irony-free territory.
Still, genre fans will rejoice. Those seeking additional intrigue can look to the turbulent production, including the firing of actress Melissa Barrera after she expressed strongly anti-Israel views less than a month after October 7, Jenna Ortega’s exit from the cast and the departure of the original directors and their would-be replacement. Somehow, after all that chaos, the film came together, directed by none other than Kevin Williamson, the screenwriter behind the original “Scream,” and starring franchise icons Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox. Has the crown been restored to its former glory?
Opens February 26
La grazia
As with Park Chan-wook, there is little need to elaborate when it comes to Paolo Sorrentino. Those who know, know. Those who don’t should. Still, a few words: Sorrentino is among the great Italian directors, and even when his work is uneven, his films are always visually striking and unforgettable. If you doubt it, ask the Oscar he won in 2013 for “The Great Beauty,” not one of his best films, incidentally.
His new film, starring his frequent collaborator Toni Servillo, follows a fictional Italian president, a widower nearing the end of his term, who is confronted with two parking requests that spiral into a moral and personal conflict. Or, as Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone put it in “The Godfather Part III,” “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
Opens March 5