Most anticipated films of 2019: Must-see movies for the coming year | Feature Article

Looking back over my list of films to look forward to in 2018, it’s interesting to see where I was right to be excited. Some lived up to expectations (‘Widows’, ‘Lean On Pete’, ‘Annihilation’), some exceeded expectations (‘Suspiria’, ‘Love, Simon’, ‘First Man’), some… less so (sorry, ‘Boy Erased’). Well, it’s the time of year to start speculating about what’s ahead, so here’s barely a slither of films to look forward to in the year ahead.

'HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD'

January1

‘How to Train Your Dragon’ is a masterpiece. ‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’ is just short of a masterpiece. If this third and final film lives up to its enormous expectations, this might be that rarest of beasts in this age of sequels and franchises – a perfect trilogy.

Click here to read our theatrical review of ‘How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’.

'IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK'

February22

Barry Jenkins crafted the best film of the decade with his Oscar-winning masterpiece ‘Moonlight’. That’s all I need to be excited for his follow-up, an adaptation of the novel by beloved American novelist James Baldwin that’s been praised to the heavens in the United States.

'CAPTAIN MARVEL'

March7

‘Wonder Woman’ proved that a superhero film centred on a female superhero could work, so Marvel are (finally) stepping up with the beloved Brie Larson in the title role. Also period-set superhero films are always heaps of fun.

'US'

March14

Jordan Peele delivered one of the great modern horror films with his Oscar-winning debut ‘Get Out’, so this "new nightmare", starring Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke and Elisabeth Moss, is a must-see without knowing a single thing about it.

'AD ASTRA'

May23

We at SWITCH argue constantly about James Gray’s last film ‘The Lost City Of Z’, but I adored it and I’m writing this list, so his next film ‘Ad Astra’ is going on it. Plus, it’s science fiction film shot by ‘Dunkirk’ cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema and stars Brad Pitt and Ruth Negga, so...

'ROCKETMAN'

May30

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ left an awful taste in my mouth, but I’m far more hopeful for Dexter Fletcher’s other rockstar biopic (at least he’s credited as director on this one). It’s being pitched as a biographical fantasy of sorts on legendary pop star Elton John, and Taron Egerton has been threatening to break out properly for a while. Hopefully this will do the job.

'GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS'

May30

I flat-out adore Gareth Edwards’ ‘Godzilla’, and ‘Kong: Skull Island’ was a lot of fun, so I have high hopes for this one. Plus the Comic-Con trailer was stunning.

'ONE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD'

July25

I’ll be honest, I have trepidations about this one, Quentin Tarantino’s take on the infamous Charles Manson murders. It could be superb or it could be exploitation of the worst kind. Let’s hope it’s the former.

'MIDSOMMAR '

August8

Yet another director who delivered a horror classic on his first go, Ari Aster isn’t wasting time in delivering his follow-up to his extraordinary ‘Hereditary’. This one sounds like it has overtones of ‘The Wicker Man’ and stars Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper from ‘The Good Place’ and the sublime Florence Pugh, but really, I’m here for Aster. I will follow him. I will follow him wherever he may go.

'IT: CHAPTER 2'

September5

The critical and commercial success of the first part of this adaptation of Stephen King’s masterpiece was a complete surprise, and I would be lying if I didn’t say that I’m crossing everything in the hopes this second and final chapter brings it to a rousing, horrifying finale.

'THE NIGHTINGALE'

2019?

I featured this on last years’ list, but we now finally get to see Jennifer Lee’s follow-up to ‘The Babadook’. This one hit Cannes like a freight train, described as equally sublime and harrowing.

'THE LIGHTHOUSE'

2019?

The highly-anticipated second feature from Robert Eggers, whose rapturously-received debut ‘The Witch’ is now regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made (and was my favourite film of 2016). After Peele, Aster and Lee, Eggers is the fourth director of a remarkable horror debut delivering their second feature this year. Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe play lighthouse keepers in Maine in the early 1900s, and it’s apparently linked with ocean mythology.

'JOJO RABBIT'

2019?

Taika Waititi writing and directing a film about a young boy in Nazi Germany where his imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler, played by Taika Waititi. Do I need to say anymore?

'LITTLE WOMEN'

2019?

The second film from ‘Lady Bird’ writer/director/perfect being Greta Gerwig, adapting Louisa May Allcott’s beloved book, starring Saoirse ‘Lady Bird’ Ronan, Emma ‘Harry Potter’ Watson, Florence ‘Lady Macbeth’ Pugh, Eliza ‘Sharp Objects’ Scanlen, Timothee ‘Call Me By Your Name’ Chalamet, Laura ‘Living Goddess’ Dern and Meryl ‘Meryl Streep’ Streep.

'YOU ARE MY FRIEND'

2019?

The idea of ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ director Marielle Heller and living legend Tom Hanks together is enough to put this on anyone’s radar. That he’s playing beloved television personality Mister Rogers is enough to make you want to pass out from excitement.

'THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD'

2019?

Comic genius Armando Iannucci is responsible for the best political satires of this century, so it’s an intriguing prospect to see him take on Charles Dickens’ enormous tome, especially with such an exemplary cast, including Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Ben Whishaw and Peter Capaldi.

And that’s far from all – Marvel also have ‘Spider-Man: Far from Home’ and ‘Avengers 4’, Disney have their not-live-action live-action remake of ‘The Lion King’ and the sequel no-one saw coming, ‘Mary Poppins Returns’, and Pixar have ‘Toy Story 4’. Beloved animation studio Laika return with ‘Missing Link’, and hopefully everything will still be awesome in ‘The Lego Move 2: The Second Part’. There’s also Todd Phillips’ baffling villain origin film ‘Joker’, Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Welcome to Marwen’, the teen hit ‘The Hate U Give’ and the endlessly delayed ‘The New Mutants’.

We also have new films from Terrence Malick (‘Radegund’), Sebastian Schipper (‘Roads’), Martin Scorsese (‘The Irishman’), Dee Rees (‘The Last Thing He Wanted’), Rian Johnson (‘Knives Out’), Bong Joon-Ho (‘Parasite’), Justin Kurzel (‘True History of the Kelly Gang’), David Miçhod (‘The King’), Claire Denis (‘High Life’), Pablo Larrain (‘Ema’), Richard Linklater (‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette?’), James Crowley (‘The Goldfinch’) and Harmony Korine (‘The Beach Bum’).

And then there’s all the films we haven’t heard about yet - the unexpected gems that’ll appear out of the festival circuit to take the world by storm. We’ll be frantically keeping up with it all here at SWITCH, so be sure to follow us to see how right (and wrong) I was about all these films in the next twelve months.

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