19 Most Anticipated of 2019 Part 1: 1-10
19 films directed by women that will debut in 2019. PART TWO HERE.
Always Be My Maybe dir. Nahnatchka Khan
There has been an Asian-American filmmaking wave slowly building over the years and we are finally getting into the thick of it with films like Always Be My Maybe. A Netflix original the film is a romcom starring the always stellar Randall Park and hilarious comedian Ali Wong as childhood friends who reconnect as adults and fall in love despite living very different lifestyles.
I am a major sucker for a good friendship comedy and Animals certainly looks promising. Starring Alia Shawkat and Holliday Grainger the film focuses on two hard-partying friends as they hit their 30s and begin to realize that they might not be fun party girls but co-dependent alcoholics.
Dirty God dir. Sacha Polak
There was a time when Dutch director Sacha Polak was attached to the Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West romance Vita & Virginia. Instead she’s made Dirty God, set in contemporary England and focused on a woman who is the victim of an acid attack (played by real life burn survivor Vicky Knight).
Go Back to China dir. Emily Ting
Another film that makes a part of the new Asian-American wave, Go Back to China follows a socialite who blows through her trust fund and then has to go to China to learn the family business of making and selling children’s toys.
Happiest Season dir. Clea DuVall
Has there ever been a mainstream lesbian romcom before? DuVall’s Happiest Season is a Christmas film about a woman planning to propose to her girlfriend over Christmas only to realize her girlfriend isn’t out to her parents yet. It stars Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis but the most surprising and shocking aspect of the film is that it’s being produced by TriStar. A wide release would be great for DuVall but it would also be huge news because of the subject matter as most films about lesbians usually get small specialty releases if they get released at all. Here’s hoping that Happiest Season breaks that unfortunate record.
Harriet dir. Kasi Lemmons
There has shamefully never been a big screen adaptation of Harriet Tubman’s life (though Viola Davis tried to make one for HBO for years). We are finally getting one from Kasi Lemmons, the pioneering director behind Eve’s Bayou. The film will star Cynthia Erivo as the legendary abolitionist. Dare I hope for Oscars?
The Last Thing He Wanted dir. Dee Rees
I’ll be honest. I don’t particularly like Joan Didion’s writing and I’m not really a fan of Anne Hathaway. But after Mudbound, my favourite film of 2017, anything Dee Rees made would automatically be on my most anticipated list. Based on Didion’s novel of the same name the Netflix original stars Hathaway as a journalist who, after her father’s death, decides to take up his work becoming an arms dealer.
Late Night dir. Nisha Ganatra
I am a huge fan of Mindy Kaling’s writing. After cutting her teeth on The Office as both a writer and a performer she’s proven herself to be one of those charming performers who can be counted on to deliver really good enjoyable light-hearted entertainment. Late Night (which she wrote, produced and starred in) will see take on the world of Late Night television where her character, an initial hasty diversity hire, bonds with the host she’s writing for played by the always hilarious Emma Thompson.
Liberté: A Call to Spy dir. Lydia Dean Pilcher
Based on the true story of Vera Atkins, a British woman who recruited spies, this movie offers an alternative look at WWII and focuses on three real life civilian women who worked as spies during the war. I was a huge fan of the alternative look at WWII provided by the surprisingly amazing Their Finest. Hopefully Liberté, despite the radically different subject matter, will prove just as good.
Little dir. Tina Gordon Chism
I wasn’t a fan of Chism’s first film, Peeples, but honestly the trailer for Little (surely a play on Penny Marshall’s body-swapping comedy Big?) completely sold me. It shows Regina Hall as a cruel and demanding boss who is magically transformed into her 12 year old self (Marsai Martin) who must learn to rely on the assistant she abused when she was an adult (Issa Rae). It just looks hilarious.
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