admin Andrew Haigh—the celebrated writer-director of Weekend (2011), 45 Years (2015), and the series Looking and The North Water—is back with a new queer drama, this one adapted from the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada. All of Us Strangers stars Andrew Scott as Adam, a London screenwriter who begins an affair with his mysterious neighbor, Harry (Paul Mescal), while at the same time attempting to reckon with his troubled childhood in the suburbs—where, the film’s logline reads, “his long-dead parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) are both living and look the same age as the day they died thirty years before.” Exciting and mysterious stuff! —M.M.
The Color Purple
Directed by Blitz Bazawule and (re-)adapted for the screen by Marcus Gardley, this coming-of-age period drama based on Alice Walker’s 1982 novel (and its Tony-winning reimagining for Broadway) tells the story of Celie—an African American woman living in the South and doing her best to navigate abuse, poverty, and racism during the early 1900s—for the second time on the big screen. The incredibly starry cast includes Fantasia, Halle Bailey, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson, H.E.R., and Ciara. —E.S.
Ferrari
The director Michael Mann—unsurpassed purveyor of stylized action cool—may be 80, but his upcoming Ferrari, a mid-century set epic about Enzo Ferrari and his attempt to rescue his namesake motorsport company from bankruptcy, is an excitingly ambitious undertaking. Filmed in Italy with Adam Driver in the lead role and Penélope Cruz as his sparring wife Laura, this promises to depict incredible Formula 1 and Mille Miglia set pieces, and is well timed to capitalize on F1’s exploding popularity. Mann makes popcorn films for grown ups—serious and satisfying even when they’re built for fun. —T.A.
Leave the World Behind
Sam Esmail is the hyper-talented creator of Mr. Robot and the director of the first season of the undersung paranoid thriller Homecoming for Prime. With Leave the World Behind, he’s adapting a brilliantly disquieting novel by Rumaan Alam, in which a weekend-home domestic drama is shadowed by end times. He has a gonzo cast to help him: Julia Roberts (incredible in Homecoming), Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la Herrold. Seems impossible to go wrong. —T.A.
