The Cannes Film Festival showcases smaller, more independent upcoming movies, and with the 2022 event now wrapped up, so many more anticipated movies have been added to cinephiles' radars. However, the year is barely half over, and tons of exciting movies are still scheduled for release.
But outside of the superhero genre and other blockbuster event movies, few have gotten the attention they deserve. Redditors have called to attention a bunch of movies that they think should be more highly anticipated, and they range from small South Korean mystery movies to legacy comedy sequels to vulgar body horrors.
Women Talking
Redditor Frajer is seemingly a fan of the upcoming movie's writer and director, noting that they want to see "Women Talking by Sarah Polley." Women Talking is Polley's first theatrical release since 2011's Take This Waltz, and it's shaping up to be another riveting drama.
The movie follows eight Mennonite women who conduct a secret meeting after there have been countless rapes in the colony. The movie stars three-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Frances McDormand, and Women Talking could see her win her fourth, making her the Actress with the most wins ever.
Clerks 3
User Nowhereman136 mentions that they are dying to see Clerks III, "Kevin Smith's second sequel to the 1993 film." Clerks is the seminal 1994 film that was made on a micro-budget of $17,000, and the black-and-white comedy full of vulgar humor has become a cult classic.
And even though comedy sequels tend to get a bad reputation, Clerks II is one of the best legacy sequels ever made, as it reunited all these beloved characters after 12 years, and it was just as funny. Now, Clerks III is shaping up to be the second legacy sequel in the series, and it's pulling out all the stops. The gang is returning to both the Quick Stop convenience store from the first movie and the Mooby's fast-food chain from the sequel, so it'll be the first film in the series to take place in more than one location.
Banshees Of Inisherin
Redditor Nbacourtside wants to see the upcoming Irish drama, Banshees of Inisherin, more than any other. They note, "Banshees of Inisherin really excites me since it's reuniting Martin McDonagh and Colin Farrell together plus adding on Barry Keoghan."
The Redditor is referring to the actor and director's long working relationship. McDonagh and Farrell worked together on the cult classic crime dramedy In Bruges, and the fourth-wall-breaking black comedy Seven Psychopaths. However, while it hasn't been announced that Banshees of Inisherin is a black comedy, it'd be surprising if the movie doesn't feature that humor. That unique brand of violent and pitch-black comedy runs through all of McDonagh's work.
Decision To Leave
While Knives Out 2 is the most anticipated upcoming murder mystery release in 2022, Puzzled-Journalist-4 is more excited for the murder mystery movie Decision to Leave to get a wide release. Speaking highly of the director, the Redditor claims, "Park Chan-wook is one of a kind."
As the 2022 Cannes Film Festival has just come to an end, one of the most talked-about movies to be screened there was Decision to Leave, and though it didn't win the Palme d'Or, Chan-wook did win Best Director. The filmmaker is one of the most visionary South Korean directors of all time, and while he has made several great movies over the past 20 years, Decision to Leave is the most excited many have been about his work since Oldboy.
Beast
It's easy to think that Beast is about the iconic villain in Split, especially seeing as the follow-up, Glass, had a just as simple title named after a villain and that M. Night Shyamalan was fully invested in further building the universe. However, that isn't the case here and it's instead a terrifying-looking monster movie, which, ironically, isn't completely outside of Shyamalan's wheelhouse.
Redditor DarknessEscape puts it best by explaining, "Beast with Idris Elba just looks like it's going to be a great thriller." The film follows a father and daughter on a safari, and all is well until it turns pear-shaped and becomes an all-out survival horror. And the trailer sees the best of Elba's both sides; the action side and the dramatic side.
Hellraiser
The Hellraiser franchise has way too many reboots and sequels, but the upcoming reboot is doing something completely new that could breathe fresh life into the series. Turok1134 can't hold their excitement for the reboot in, "The new Hellraiser movie, directed by David Bruckner (The Ritual, The Night House) might be the most I've ever been excited for a horror movie."
It's the first time in years the series has had any effort put into it with resources behind it. Along with the established director, the upcoming horror flick, which is exclusive to Hulu, will introduce a female Pinhead. And while the gender flip has unsurprisingly led to many complaints (as it usually does) it's actually much closer to the character's original depiction.
Crimes Of The Future
User LauraPalmersMom430 is most excited for Crimes of the Future and thinks the movie deserves more anticipation. The Redditor is not wrong, as it marks director David Cronenberg's return to what made him so revered in the first place; body horror. Like Decision to Leave, Crimes of the Future was also screened at Cannes, only it didn't get quite the same reception.
Instead of winning Best Director or any other award, David Cronenberg's new movie had Cannes attendees walking out. And while that could be more to do with them not being able to handle the body horror of the film, one of the most hard-to-watch body horrors of the 21st century, Titane, won the Palme d'Or just last year. The Redditor might be excited about the movie, but the walkouts are certainly cause for concern.
Killers Of The Flower Moon
When debating which movies deserve more attention, MidichlorianAddict refers to a not-so-unknown upcoming movie, the Martin Scorsese-directed Killers of the Flower Moon. The Redditor claims, "I can’t wait to see Killers of the Flower Moon. Leonardo DiCaprio and Scorsese are a match made in heaven." There are so many reasons to be excited for the movie, as it's Scorsese's first-ever attempt at directing a western, and it's reuniting the incredible director and actor duo, who haven't worked together since 2013's The Wolf of Wall Street.
But it's hard to argue that Killers of the Flower Moon deserves more anticipation, as Scorsese's name alone gets most cinephiles excited for it even though nobody even knows what the movie is about. And while word on the movie might be quiet right now, $200 million has been sunk into the film and it will be exclusive to AppleTV+, so marketing will undoubtedly ramp up and it'll be all anybody can talk about in the coming months.
Prey
To many fans, 2018's The Predator was the final nail in the franchise's coffin, as there hasn't been a half-decent film in the franchise in a long time. But that doesn't stop Nowhereman136 from still being excited for the upcoming Prey, which, as the Redditor explains, is "Dan Trachtenberg's Predator sequel set in 1719 Camanche Nation."
Trachtenberg directed 10 Cloverfield Lane, and as the movie is a terrifying mystery that instills claustrophobia, there's no better director to bring the Predator series back to life than him. And along with the directing choice, Prey is an interesting concept, as it takes place 300 years in the past. But it could very well be a "fool me once..." situation, as fans were excited for The Predator based on the fact that celebrated writer and director Shane Black was behind the camera, and that film was panned.
Amsterdam
Redditor BonzoBananza thinks the upcoming Amsterdam deserves more attention, noting, "I'm honestly excited for Amsterdam by David O. Russell." As murder mystery movies have made a huge comeback in recent years, Amsterdam is a 1930s-based murder mystery flick, and the third in the genre still to be released this year.
And as O. Russell has been known for his casts full of A-listers, Amsterdam has an all-star ensemble cast that's impressive even by the director's standards. The movie stars Christian Bale, Anya-Taylor Joy, John David Washington, Margot Robbie, and so many more.