14 Weird and Wonderful Movies Heading Your Way Soon

Chris Tilly
Movies
Movies

Fantastic Fest finished at the tail-end of last week, and FANDOM wrote full reviews for most of the big titles. But we also watched a bunch of smaller, but no less awesome, flicks. So, the following is a round-up of all the movies we liked and loved at the festival, many of which will be heading to a movie or TV screen near you very soon.

Downsizing

Release Date: U.S. — December 22; U.K. — January 19

In this high-concept sci-fi comedy, Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig play a couple who decide to ‘downsize’ by taking advantage of a new process that reduces humans to just five feet high. But they find that the smaller they get, the bigger their problems become. Full review…

Bodied

Release Date: TBA

Bodied features some AMAZING battle raps.

Bodied is quite simply a blast. Produced by Eminem, it plays like a comedy version of 8 Mile, with the hilarious Calum Worthy playing Adam, a skinny, geeky white guy entering the world of underground rap battles. The jokes come thick and fast, attacking rap’s attitude towards race, gender and violence, and often at the expense of white privilege and the shameless re-appropriation of African-American culture. The cast is spot-on, with Jackie Long and Shoniqua Shandal particular stand-outs as rappers Adam befriends. There are some issues with the end of the film, the message mixed and the movie seriously contradicting itself. But until then Bodied is brilliant.

Brawl in Cell Block 99

Release Date: U.S. — October 6; U.K. — October 20

Vince Vaughn plays a boxer-turned-mechanic-turned-drug-dealer who gets sent to prison and must fight a series of scary guys inside to protect his family outside. A brutal thrill-ride, our full review is here…

Super Dark Times

Release Date: U.S. — Out Now; U.K — TBA

Super Dark Times is very reminiscent of Stand By Me.

It’s a good time to be a Stephen King fan, with the movie adaptations of It and Gerald’s Game (which we also reviewed at Fantastic Fest) doing justice to his books, and Stranger Things paying homage to the great man in masterful fashion. Super Dark Times is an example of the latter, the film clearly inspired by Stand By Me, but nevertheless spinning off in its own twisted direction. It kicks off with kids being kids, a bunch of teens riding their bikes around their small town, getting into trouble, and making each other laugh. Then something terrible happens, and everything changes. The accident drives a wedge between the friends, guilt and paranoia eats away at them, and the film stops being funny, and turns pretty nasty. Honest and real, the teen actors are all uniformly great, while the slow-build to the film’s devastating finale will have you on the edge of your seat.

Wheelman

Release Date: October 20 (Netflix)

Frank Grillo — aka Crossbones in the Captain America movies — plays a getaway driver working a bank robbery that goes very wrong. With his family in danger, he faces a race against time to track down whoever betrayed him. Cracking action-thriller — our full review is here…

Gilbert

Release Date: TBA

Forget what you previously thought about Gilbert Gottfried.

Some know Gilbert Gottfried from Aladdin. Others from Problem Child. Others still from his losing the Aflac duck gig. And almost everyone knows THAT voice. But what about the guy behind the screech? Gilbert is an intimate portrait of a comedian who couldn’t be less like his public persona. We meet his wife, his sisters, and his young children. We hear stories about him from the likes of Jay Leno, Bob Saget, Whoopi Goldberg, Arsenio Hall and Patton Oswalt, most revolving around jokes made in very poor taste. We spend time with a guy who is quiet, shy, subdued and reserved, but also endlessly interesting. And we also find out if that voice is real. All-in-all, a surprisingly moving doc.

Mom and Dad

Release Date: TBA

Nic Cage is on fire in this horror-comedy about a mysterious hysteria affecting the parents in a small town, causing them to kill their own children. It’s bloody. It’s gory. It’s funny. And it’s a joy watching Cage turn it all the way up to 11. Full review…

Thelma

Release Date: TBA

Eili Harboe is terrific as Thelma.

This atmospheric, genre-defying flick from Norway plays out like a Scandinavian version of Carrie or Raw, and revolves around a teenage girl departing her ultra-conservative family home to start university in Oslo. Once there strange things start to happen, from inexplicable seizures, to events that may or may not be supernatural. And they all seem to coincide with Thelma’s burgeoning crush on a beautiful fellow student. The movie is most definitely a slow-burn, but when the shocks come they are horribly memorable. Thelma is more than just a horror film, however. There’s also romance and sci-fi, while the film is best when dealing with the drama of the lead character’s spectacular and disturbing journey of self-discovery.

The Death of Stalin

Release Date: U.S. — TBA; U.K. — October 20

Veep creator Armando Iannucci’s latest films deals with the build-up to Stalin’s death, the circus that surrounded it, and the fall-out that followed, with politicians competing to take his place. The star-studded cast features Steve Buscemi, Michael Palin, Jason Isaacs and Jeffrey Tambor, while in spite of the serious subject, the film is very, VERY funny. Full review…

Gemini

Release Date: TBA

Lola Kirke plays Zoe Kravitz's personal assistant in Gemini.

Gemini is a sexy film noir that’s drenched in neon; one that also explores the mysterious relationship between celebrity and personal assistant. Zoe Kravitz plays Heather, the star in question, while Lola Kirke is her PA Jill, the former relying on the latter for pretty much everything in her life. But there’s a strange tension between the pair, one that intensifies when Heather asks Jill if she can borrow her gun. A mystery slowly and methodically unfolds from there, but Gemini is less concerned with answering the questions it asks, and more about holding a mirror up to the entertainment industry and celebrity life in LA.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer 

Release Date: U.S. – October 20, U.S. – November 3

Yorgos Lanthimos’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed The Lobster stars Colin Farrell as a brain surgeon whose friendship with a teenage boy precipitates the revealing of a dark secret from his past. The Killing of a Sacred Deer isn’t an easy watch, but it is a powerful one. Our review…

The Endless

Release Date: TBA

Justin and Aaron. Playing Justing and Aaron.

Brothers Justin and Aaron were once part of a religious cult, but escaped 10 years previously, and now scrape by through a series of dead-end jobs. But a package from their past brings back old memories, and inspires them to head back to see their former brothers. It’s a journey that’s weird, frightening, funny and exhilarating. Because in The Endless, nothing is what it seems. Directed by Aaron Moorehead and Justin Benson (who also wrote the script), the filmmaking duo also take on the lead roles. And like their previous films Resolution and Spring, The Endless deals with big themes like life and death, the passage of time, and most of all, the stories we tell to each other, and to ourselves.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women

Release Date: U.S. — October 13; U.K — November 10

This unusual biopic tells the tale of psychologist William Moulton Marston, who invented the lie detector, and together with his wife, formed a relationship with a female student that lasted for most of their lives. And helped to inspire the creation of Wonder Woman. Our review…

Radius

Release Date: TBA

Diego Klattenhoff plays an injured amnesiac in Radius.

Radius is a sci-fi thriller with a killer hook. One that we won’t spoil here, though the clue is very much in the title. Written and directed by husband-and-wife team Steeve Leonard and Caroline Lebreche, the film kicks off with a car crash, the film’s protagonist waking up with amnesia, and then witnessing everyone around him dying. He meets another confused soul and they try to make sense of the situation together. Though the bond they form might have devastating consequences for the human race. Radius is a slick, stylish thriller that’s filled with twists and turns, and features a genuinely devastating denouement.

Chris Tilly
Freelance writer. At this point my life is a combination of 1980s horror movies, Crystal Palace football matches, and episodes of I'm Alan Partridge. The first series. When he was in the travel tavern. Not the one after.