Blockbuster November: Sci-Fi Thrillers, Oscar Contenders and 12 of the best films to watch

HOLLYWOOD – The month is set to deliver a cinematic feast, blending eagerly awaited sequels with several high-profile dramas poised for awards season glory. From a dark Stephen King adaptation to a heavenly romantic comedy and the return of a beloved detective, here are the top films hitting theaters and streaming services this November.

1. Wicked: For Good

The sequel to the 2024 blockbuster is set to cast another spell on the box office. This revisionist prequel to The Wizard of Oz sees Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba) and Ariana Grande (Glinda) return, featuring new songs not in the Broadway show. Grande notes that her new song allows viewers to see Glinda “decide, ‘I’m going to change the course of Oz. I’m going to become deeply, truly good and make a safe space for people’.”

Release: Internationally from 17 to 21 November

2. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Daniel Craig returns as the eccentric detective Benoit Blanc in the third installment of Rian Johnson’s whodunnit series. Set in a country church in upstate New York, the film features a star-studded cast including Josh Brolin, Glenn Close, Thomas Haden Church, and Andrew Scott. Critics suggest the film is the “funniest and most playful” yet, blending a “Gothic atmosphere and deeper themes” with a perfectly balanced line of old tropes and modern wit.

Release: 26 November (US Cinemas), 28 November (UK Cinemas), 12 December (Netflix internationally)

3. Zootopia/Zootropolis 2

Nine years after the original Disney hit, this sequel revisits the world of talking animals and police detectives, the sly fox (Jason Bateman) and the eager rabbit (Ginnifer Goodwin). Writer/Co-director Jared Bush promises to answer an intriguing question: why were there no reptiles in Zootopia? The story will delve into the city’s “literally thousands of years of history” to explain the historical absence.

Release: 26 November internationally

4. Nuremberg

James Vanderbilt’s historical drama recounts the start of the Nuremberg war crime trials. The film focuses on the intense psychological chess match between chief US psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, played by Rami Malek, and the unrepentant Hermann Göring, played by Russell Crowe. Deadline calls it a “remarkable feat of film-making and acting,” praising the thrilling confrontation between the two Oscar-winning stars.

Release: 7 November (US), 14 November (UK/Ireland)

5. Hamnet

Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) adapts Maggie O’Farrell’s novel about the family tragedy that is believed to have inspired Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Hamlet. The “emotionally pulverising drama” stars Jess Buckley as Agnes (Shakespeare’s wife) and Paul Mescal as the ambitious Will. The film explores profound grief and the complex experience of both having and losing a child.

Release: 26 November (US)

6. Jay Kelly

Director Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story) delivers a bittersweet comedy-drama starring George Clooney as a charming Hollywood superstar who faces a crisis of confidence after his mentor dies. Clooney gives “one of his finest performances” opposite Adam Sandler, who is tipped as “Oscar-worthy” as Jay’s long-suffering manager. The film perceptively balances Hollywood in-jokes with observations on celebrity culture and family ties.

Release: 14 November (US/UK Cinemas), 5 December (Netflix internationally)

7. The Running Man

Director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) delivers a dark, new version of the Stephen King/Richard Bachman novel, promising a version “far more faithful to the book” than the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film. Glen Powell stars as a desperate family man who agrees to participate in a deadly, televised game show where he is hunted by trained killers. Wright suggests the film is “disturbingly relevant to where we’re at today.”

Release: Internationally from 6 to 14 November

8. Die, My Love

From acclaimed director Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) comes this unsettling psychological thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson as a passionately devoted couple whose idyllic countryside life descends into a nightmare after the birth of their baby. When Pattinson’s character begins working away, Lawrence’s character spirals into frustrated fury, resulting in an intimate and unsettling portrait of a woman unravelling.

Release: 7 November (US, Canada, UK, Ireland)

9. Eternity

This romantic comedy features a high concept: a newly deceased woman (Elizabeth Olsen) must choose whether to spend eternity with her dependable late husband (Miles Teller) or her dashing first love (Callum Turner) in the afterlife. Critics call the film “chaotic and winsome,” providing a “swoon-worthy” and smart take on romantic love.

Release: 26 November (US), 12 December (UK/Ireland)

10. Sentimental Value

The creative team behind the beloved The Worst Person in the World—director Joachim Trier and star Renate Reinsve—reunites for this Norwegian comedy-drama. Reinsve plays a successful actress whose fraught relationship with her egotistical father (played by Stellan Skarsgård), an ailing film director, is complicated when he tries to cast her in his revival project and, upon her refusal, hires Hollywood star Elle Fanning. Critics praise the film as “graceful and limber, thoughtful and surprising,” offering a “rich and humane look at existence” and the endless nuance of family life.

Release: 7 November (US)

11. Left-Handed Girl

Co-written, produced, and edited by Oscar-winner Sean Baker (Anora), this vibrant, iPhone-shot family drama is the solo directorial debut of his long-time collaborator, Shih-Ching Tsou. It centers on a single mother (Janel Tsai) who moves her two daughters back to Taipei. The film is described as an “assured and lovely portrait of difficult motherhood and painful daughterhood,” gracefully toggling between different perspectives with deep compassion for its characters.

Release: 14 November (US/UK Cinemas), 28 November (Netflix internationally)

12. The Secret Agent

Director Kleber Mendonça Filho (Bacurau) delivers a sprawling, stylish, and sometimes surreal political thriller set during Brazil’s brutal military dictatorship in the 1970s. Wagner Moura stars as a mild-mannered academic who attracts the attention of two hitmen after standing up to a greedy politician, forcing him to hide during the chaos of Carnival week in Recife. The film is a “vicious and vivid” thriller that “brilliantly captures the fear and sheer ridiculousness of a lawless state,” blending political commentary with a surreal, human take on the genre.

Release: 26 November (US)