UPDATE: I’ve expanded the list to 38.
After a summer of IP runoff and franchise fatigue, the fall movie season is weeks away to rescue cinephiles from the dog days of multiplex mediocrity. Hollywood spent the past few months churning out algorithm-approved sludge, with even the most fervent defenders of escapism finding themselves worn down by the monotony of sequels, reboots, and streaming “content.” We are now entering the corridor of prestige, where the films actually matter again.
It’s not just that better films are on the way—it’s that the filmmakers we’ve been waiting on for years are finally returning. This fall is positively filled with marquee auteurs, many of whom are highly regarded . We’re talking PTA, Bigelow, Baumbach, Lanthimos, Park, Safdie, Guadagnino, Jarmusch, del Toro, and more.
Curiously, the two most anticipated films of the season—Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” and Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme”—are bypassing the fall festival circuit entirely. Neither will be at Venice, Telluride, or TIFF; maybe NYFF can nan ‘Marty,’ but I remain skeptical. I’m also excluding films that already screened at Sundance and Cannes (“Sirat,” “The Secret Agent,” “Nouvelle Vague,” etc.), choosing instead to focus on fall premieres.
Here, then, are World of Reel’s 25 Most Anticipated Fall Movies—a preview of the season that might just save 2025 cinema.
1. “One Battle After Another” (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Anderson’s latest is set in modern-day California, starring an ensemble that includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn. The project is loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s “Vineland,” the film is lengthy (160 minutes) and pricey ($150-175M). It’s skipping festivals entirely, a sign that Warner Bros feels it doesn’t need the validation.
2. “Marty Supreme” (Josh Safdie)
Post-“Uncut Gems,” Safdie has gone solo—Benny is busy with “The Smashing Machine”—and the result could be an aggressive, hyper-realized New York story starring Timothee Chalamet as a ping-pong wizard. Early word compares it to Scorsese’s “After Hours” mixed with “Catch Me If You Can.” Again, no fall fests. Expect A24 to go heavy on the awards campaign regardless.
3. “Jay Kelly” (Noah Baumbach)
Baumbach’s follow-up to the divisive “White Noise” is said to be a return to the dramedy he does best. George Clooney plays an actor dealing with an existential crisis who goes on an unplanned euro road trip with his manager (Adam Sandler). Word from the tests is that Sandler delivers an Oscar-worthy performance. Hopefully, Baumbach is back in artistic groove.
4. “After the Hunt” (Luca Guadagnino)
Scripted by Nora Garrett, this campus-set sexual politics thriller stars Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Edebiri. Guadagnino directs it, and early cuts screened reportedly make it out to be a #MeToo thriller that’ll result in heavy post-screening conversation. Venice and NYFF bound.
5. “Bugonia” (Yorgos Lanthimos)
A remake of the 2003 Korean cult thriller “Save the Green Planet,” Lanthimos reunites with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons for what’s being described as “his weirdest film yet.” That’s saying something. Debuts in Venice competition. On the inside, Plemons has been getting Oscar buzz for his performance. It’s headed to Venice and Telluride.
6. “No Other Choice” (Park Chan-wook)
Another pitch black statement from the Korean master behind “Oldboy” and “The Handmaiden.” A remake of Costa Gavras’ “The Ax.” This is a project Park has been trying to make the last 15 years — the story involves a man who gets laid off by his company and seeks revenge. It’ll most likely be South Korea’s official Oscar submission.
7. “A House of Dynamite” (Kathryn Bigelow)
Bigelow returns with her first film since “Detroit,” released eight years ago, and this one will again tackle politics, but inside the White House as a missile crisis intensifies and the likes of Idris Elba and Rebecca Ferguson try to save the world. Netflix is producing Bigelow’s comeback vehicle, which comes with a heft of expectations.
8. “Frankenstein” (Guillermo del Toro)
A long-gestating passion project for del Toro, this adaptation reportedly leans heavily into the gothic, the grotesque, and the romantic. Jacob Elordi is the creature, and Oscar Isaac stars as the creator. It’s long (150 minutes), but sounds very ambitious. Here’s hoping this is one of the better efforts from Guillermo, a master visualist.
9. “The Smashing Machine” (Benny Safdie)
Dwayne Johnson plays real-life wrestler Mark Kerr in a raw performance that has already drawn comparisons to “The Wrestler” and “Foxcatcher.” Early word is that this is one strange film, which shouldn’t surprise many since Benny’s last project was “The Curse.” It’ll be interesting to see how critics respond to this film as it’s set for Venice and TIFF bows.
10. “Ballad of a Small Player” (Edward Berger)
The “All Quiet on the Western Front” director adapts the Macau-set novel about an Englishman in existential freefall, and brings Colin Farrell along for the ride. Berger’s precise style, coming off the success of his Oscar-nominated “Conclave,” could make this a late-year gem. Telluride and TIFF premieres.
11. “Father Mother Sister Brother” (Jim Jarmusch)
Jarmusch returns to his usual minimalism for a four-part tale set across different American towns. Expect deadpan philosophy, Cate Blanchett in a wig, and Adam Driver lurking somewhere around there. Did Cannes make the right decision in rejecting the film? We’ll find out soon enough, but Jarmusch rarely lets us down.
12. “Wizard of the Kremlin” (Olivier Assayas)
Adapted from Giuliano da Empoli’s best-selling novel, Assayas’s film is already stirring talk for its portrayal of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle — Jude Law plays Putin, Paul Dano is his puppetmaster. Assayas is hit and miss, but his best films (“Irma Vep,” “Carlos”) are true keepers.
13. “The Testament of Ann Lee” (Mona Fastvold)
From the same team that brought us “The Brutalist.” Amanda Seyfried stars as the controversial religious figure who founded the Shaker Movement and was proclaimed by her followers to be the “female Christ., Directed by Fastvold and co-written/co-produced by her longtime creative and romantic partner, Brady Corbet. It’s a bold swing, and early word suggests it might be greeted with intense polarization.
14. “Hamnet” (Chloé Zhao)
Zhao directs Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley in this historical meditation on grief and creativity, adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s novel. Its absence from Venice, where Zhao won the Golden Lion just five years ago, is suspect. Ditto the no-show at NYFF. Still, this is one of the more Oscar buzzed titles of the fall, and Zhao probably wants to prove herself after “Eternals.”
15. “Deliver Me From Nowhere” (Scott Cooper)
A Bruce Springsteen biopic centered around the making of his chilling “Nebraska” record. Cooper drove Jeff Bridges to Oscar glory with “Crazy Heart. Will he do the same with Jeremy Allen White as The Boss? Expect a stripped down Americana character study. A Telluride world premiere is basically sealed for this one.
16. “In the Hands of Dante” (Julian Schnabel)
After a year-long battle with producers, Schnabel returns with his latest in full, uncut form. The 150-minute epic, starring Oscar Isaac, is based on Nick Tosches’s genre-blurring, time-hopping novel that weaves together two narratives. Also stars Jason Momoa, John Malkovich, Gerard Butler, Al Pacino, and Martin Scorsese.
17. “Wake Up Dead Man” (Rian Johnson)
The third Benoit Blanc mystery, this time with an Old Testament tone. The cast is stacked again, with Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Cailee Spaeny, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner and Andrew Scott. Johnson has teased a darker, less meta installment this time arounda A TIFF world premiere awaits.
18. “Dead Man’s Wire” (Gus Van Sant)
Bill Skarsgård and Dacre Montgomery star in “Dead Man’s Wire,” a thriller, based on a true story, tackling a former real estate developer who takes the mortgage banker who did him wrong hostage. This is the great Gus Van Sant’s first film in over seven years, and that’s reason enough for it to be included here.
19. “The Fence” (Claire Denis)
Denis, arguably, France's most globally acclaimed living female director, is back with a Cameroon-set film. Over the course of one night near a construction site in Senegal, a group of workers are confronted by a man seeking justice for his brother’s death at the site. Much like her 2018 film, “High Life,” Denis latest will have to opt for a TIFF world premiere.
20. “The Lost Bus” (Paul Greengrass)
The latest thriller from director Paul Greengrass with Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey front and center. Set in the middle of California’s 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in state history, the film aims to replicate the high tension of Greengrass’ best films (“United 93,” “Bloody Sunday”). Apple is producing. A TIFF world premiere awaits.
21. “Roofman” (Derek Cianfrance)
Cianfrance (“Blue Valentine”) is back with his first film in over nine years. Based on the trailer, it might be his most commercial one yet. The film stars Channing Tatum as Jeffrey Manchester, a former military man who spent the late ’90s robbing dozens of McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S, and finding shelter overnight at Toys r Us.
22. “The Running Man” (Edgar Wright)
A full reimagining of Stephen King’s novel, not a remake of the Schwarzenegger film. Said to be Wright’s most violent work yet, Glen Powell plays Ben Richards, a wrongly accused man forced to survive a deadly, dystopian game show set in 2025, while being hunted by professional killers on live TV. It’s tested well in recent weeks, and Wright (“Baby Driver”) knows how to shoot action.
23. “Rental Family” (Hikari)
A down-on-his-luck American actor living in Tokyo, played by Brendan Fraser, takes on work as a “rental family member,” a bizarre but very real Japanese service in which actors are hired to play roles in the lives of lonely clients. Hikari, the wiz behind Netflix’s “Beef,” will try to find success in cinema, and land Fraser a second consecutive Oscar nod. Don’t be surprised if this wins TIFF’s people’s choice award.
24. “The Christophers” (Steven Soderbergh)
Soderbergh’s third film of 2025 was shot this year, and is being described as a “dark comedy” following the estranged children of an artist who hires a forger to complete his unfinished works so they can be discovered and sold after his death. The film has an eccentric ensemble that includes Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, Jessica Gunning, and James Corden.
25. “La Grazia” (Paolo Sorrentino)
Sorrentino’s latest Roman fantasia reunites him with acting muse Toni Servillo. Not much is known about the story, but it’s set to open the Venice Film Festival, and the Italian filmmaker has proven his worth over the years with such films as “The Great Beauty” and “The Hand of God.”
26. “Nuestra Tierra” (Lucrecia Martel)
Martel (“Zama”) has been working on this documentary for 15 years, and has described the film as deeply complex—interweaving historical documents stretching back centuries, grappling with colonial violence, indigenous rights, and narrative form. She’s one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of her generation. The Venice screening will be an event.
27. “Orphan” (Laszlo Nemes)
Nemes, best known for “Son of Saul,” is back in Venice competition with another historical film. Set in 1957 Budapest, and after the uprising against the Communist regime, “Orphan” tackles a young boy’s journey when a man appears from his mother’s past and he discovers the true story of her survival during World War II.
28. “Cover-Up” (Laura Poitras)
Tackling maverick journalist Seymour Hersh, Poitras, who won the Golden Lion for “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” returns to the Lido, albeit out of competition, with a film that lionizes Hersh’s six-decades of fearless reporting. NYFF has selected the doc for its Main Slate, which bodes well for its quality.
29. “Rose of Nevada” (Mark Jenkin)
Jenkin, the British filmmaker known for his handcrafted, analog aesthetic and hauntingly atmospheric storytelling, returns with a sci‑fi‑tinged drama set in a remote Cornish fishing village, where a boat lost at sea 30 years ago mysteriously reappears. George MacKay and Callum Turner star.
30. “Anemone” (Ronan Day-Lewis)
The buzz on this one revolves around the film marking the return of Daniel Day-Lewis to the screen after an eight-year hiatus. Directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis, in his feature debut, the film delves into the complex dynamics between estranged brothers, exploring themes of familial trauma and reconciliation. With a strong trailer, a premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival and a theatrical release on October 10, “Anemone” is will be closely watched.
31.“Song Sung Blue” (Craig Brewer)
Brewer’s most promising feature since “Dolemite Is My Name” has him leaning back into music-driven storytelling. Lightning and Thunder, played by Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman, a Milwaukee husband and wife Neil Diamond tribute act, experience soaring success and devastating heartbreak in their musical journey together. No festival appearance for this one, which is set to release in December.
32. “Is This Thing On?” (Bradley Cooper)
World premiering at NYFF, Bradley Cooper’s third outing as director after “A Star Is Born” and “Maestro” finds him working on a smaller canvas. Loosely inspired by English comedian John Bishop, the dramedy stars Will Arnett as a newly separated finance worker who stumbles into stand-up and discovers a surprising talent for it. Laura Dern plays the estranged wife who, after catching his act by chance, reenters the picture in complicated fashion.
33. “The Voice of Hind Rajab” (Kaouther Ben Hania)
Following the Cannes-acclaimed “Four Daughters,” Ben Hania turns her eye toward another politically charged film. The story of Hind Rajab, the Palestinian girl whose desperate calls for help went viral, could prove one of the season’s most searing and urgent works. It’s already being touted by some oddsmakers as a major contender for the Golden Lion.
34. “Late Fame” (Kent Jones)
Jones makes his long-awaited return to narrative filmmaking with an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s posthumously published novella. Scripted by Samy Burch (“May December”), the drama stars Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee in a story about an aging poet rediscovered decades after his prime, forced to confront the hollowness of belated recognition. World premiering in Venice’s Orizzonti section on August 30.
35. “Steve” (Tim Mielants)
Cillian Murphy reteams with Mielants (“Small Things Like These”) for this adaptation of Max Porter’s novel “Shy,” which Porter himself scripted. World premiering at TIFF, the film unfolds over a harrowing day in the life of a reform school teacher (Murphy) trying to keep his crumbling institution afloat while privately unraveling.
36. “The Stranger” (François Ozon)
Ozon takes on Albert Camus’s landmark 1942 novel with a black-and-white adaptation set to world premiere in Venice competition. Benjamin Voisin stars as Meursault, the detached French-Algerian whose killing of an Arab man spirals into a trial that scrutinizes his indifference. Ozon has long toyed with provocation, but here he’s confronting one of French literature’s most enduring—and politically charged—texts.
37. “Sacrifice” (Roman Gavras)
Anya Taylor-Joy stars as Joan, a zealot driven by a volcanic prophecy who, with her followers, storms a glamorous charity gala on a volcanic island, taking three hostages (Chris Evans, Vincent Cassel, Ambika Mod). Action, absurdist comedy, and social satire await in Gavras’ “Athena” follow-up, which is oddly only screening at TIFF.
38. “Christy” (David Michôd)
Sydney Sweeney stars as Christy Martin, the trailblazing 1990s boxer who became the first woman to sign with Don King and the only female boxer on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Michôd’s biopic delves into Martin’s journey as a young gay woman in conservative West Virginia, using boxing as a means of self-expression and survival. “Christy” will premiere at TIFF.
Stay tuned for Venice and TIFF dispatches.