HOLIDAY MOVIES 2022
The films we’re most looking forward to this season
The holiday season tends to bring a rush of Serious Movies — prestige projects with Academy Awards buzz all over them — sprinkled with a handful of just-for-fun romps. 2022 is no exception, and those venturing out to the multiplexes this season will find everything from a Steven Spielberg origin story to a cannibal love tale to a Whitney Houston biopic — oh, and a longawaited sequel to the highest-grossing movie of all time.
Here’s a guide to some of the season’s most anticipated titles, with something for everyone. Note that release dates are always subject to change.
“The Fabelmans”: Steven Spielberg looks back at his own youth in this family drama, about a boy growing up in Arizona who dreams of becoming a filmmaker. Written with playwright Tony Kushner, with whom Spielberg previously collaborated on “West Side Story,” “Lincoln” and “Munich,” the film stars Michelle Williams and Paul Dano. (Nov. 23)
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”: Back in 2019, Daniel Craig as the wonderfully taffy-voiced detective Benoit Blanc lightened up the Serious Movie Season in “Knives Out”; now he and writer/ director Rian Johnson are back, with a new cast (including Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kate Hudson and Leslie Odom Jr.). Expect silliness, in the best of ways. (Nov. 23 in theaters, on
Netflix on
Dec. 23)
“Strange
World”:
Disney pretty much always has a family movie on tap for Thanksgiving weekend, and this year’s version is an adventure featuring a family of explorers, voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Gabrielle Union and Lucy Liu. (Nov. 23)
“Bones and All”: The latest sensual odyssey from Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me By Your Name,” “Suspiria,” “I Am Love”) is a romantic cannibal tale starring Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell and Mark Rylance. It was an award winner at the Venice Film Festival earlier this fall. (Nov. 23)
“Women Talking”: Actor-turned-director Sarah Polley’s latest feature (and it’s been a while; her last, “Stories We Tell,” was among my favorites of 2012) is an adaptation of Miriam Toews’
bestselling novel,
which took place in an isolated religious community. Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley and Frances McDormand lead the ensemble cast. (Dec. 2)
“Emancipation”: Can Will Smith’s career recover from The Slap at the Oscars early this year? He’s the star of this historical drama from Antoine Fuqua
(“Training Day”), about an enslaved man fleeing the Louisiana plantation on which he grew up. (Dec. 2 in theaters, on Apple TV+ on Dec. 9)
“Empire of Light”: Sam Mendes takes a break from
blockbusters (“Skyfall,” “Spectre,” “1917”) to tell a quiet, small-scale love story, taking place in the 1980s at an old movie house in a British seaside town. Olivia