This month in culture: December 2024

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

Disney+, December 3

Of the making of Star Wars, there appears to be no end. This one, though, looks different. The characters are a group of children on an Amblin Entertainment-style adventure, a coming-of-age story as they try to make their way back home across the universe after something goes wrong on their home planet. The trailer gives strong Spielberg/E.T./Goonies vibes. Taking place around the same time as The Mandalorian, it rounds out its cast with Jude Law as a “new kind of Jedi,” according to the creators.

— Zack Christenson

Nightbitch

In theaters December 6

Based on Rachel Yoder’s hit horror-comedy novel of the same title: Amy Adams stars as an artist turned stay-at-home mom who learns that domesticity contains multitudes. Fearing she may be turning into a dog, her routine life takes a surreal turn as maternal instincts give way to canine habits. Nightbitch offers a satirical fairytale distorting the ideals of motherhood.

— Calla Di Pietro

Y2K

In theaters December 6

The mid-2000s were filled with teen comedies, and it’s been long enough that the kids who grew up watching them are now making their own versions — they tend to lean in the horror-comedy direction. In 2022, we had the incredible, hilarious Bodies Bodies Bodies, and two years later we have Y2K. Also distributed by A24, it’s about a teen New Year’s Eve party where the titular disaster turns all electronics into bloodthirsty killers, and the two leads — friends played by Jaeden Martell and Julian Dennison — have to go on a Butlerian Jihad. Any film with the line, “A Tamagotchi just drilled through a chick’s head,” sounds good to me.

— Ross Anderson

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Netflix, December 11

Nobel Prize-winning Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez’s magical realism comes to the screen in a sixteen-episode series on Netflix. Based on the 1967 book, the tale of the Buendía family unfolds over seven generations in the mythical town of Macondo. Drawing a line through time with the legend of a cursed inheritance, the descendants must navigate madness, love and war. Expect visuals as lush as the original prose and some deceptive cinematography to play at the passage of time. A recommended accompaniment is an old copy of the text that features an illustration of the Buendía family tree, preferably annotated by a precocious student.

— CDP

Kraven the Hunter

In theaters December 13

Did you love Morbius? How about the three Venom movies? What about the incredible Madame Web? Sony is hoping you don’t remember those when they release yet another Spider-Man villain-spin-off movie, Kraven the Hunter. It’s about Kraven, who is the ultimate hunter (?) and his arc of revenge and R-rated violence or something. Sounds very generic, but there are signs of hope. Director J.C. Chandor is a talented filmmaker, responsible for the incredible Margin Call and A Most Violent Year — and it stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, a woefully underappreciated, charismatic action lead (watch Bullet Train if you’re not convinced). On the other hand, it’s been repeatedly delayed — with an original release date of January 13, 2023! — and the trailer doesn’t look great.

— RA

September 5

In theaters December 13

Rejected from the Toronto Film Festival because, according to the Hollywood Reporter, “it might generate controversy related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” this film seems quite prescient. It’s the story of the slaughter of eleven Israeli athletes and their coaches and one West German police officer at the 1972 Munich Olympics, seen through the eyes of the ABC Sports crew there to cover the events. Peter Sarsgaard is in the lead role.

— ZC

Mufasa: The Lion King

In theaters December 20

The origin story we didn’t know we needed and no one asked for, complete with a nepo baby and original songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda. You might not love the sound of it, but if you have kids, you know you’ll be in theaters taking it all in and begrudgingly bopping along to the soundtrack. It’s a fully CGI rendition of the story of Mufasa’s (Simba’s father, remember?) rise to king of the jungle… you know what, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to enjoy it and you’re going to like it. Whether you like it or not.

— ZC

The Room Next Door

In theaters December 20

Based on the novel What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez, Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton are Ingrid and Martha, writers and former friends, who reunite after years apart. Navigating accomplished lives and the extreme circumstances that bring them back together, The Room Next Door shares an unconventional story of hope in the face of adversity. It was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival — the first for a Spanish film and for Pedro Almodóvar.

— CDP

The Brutalist

In theaters December 20

The Academy was concerned that there wasn’t going to be much of an Oscars race this year. It’s been a bad year at the box office and hasn’t been great critically either. But then came The Brutalist. It’s three and a half hours long; it had a relatively tiny sub-$10 million budget, was shot mostly in Hungary, and is about a fictional Jewish architect who moves to the US, having survived the Holocaust, in search of the American Dream. After rave reviews, it’s now getting a US release and is a leading candidate for Best Picture. If you want to see an old-fashioned historical epic, with a real artistic touch, it’s the film for you.

— RA

A Complete Unknown

In theaters December 25

It’s been quite an eventful last twelve months for Timothée Chalamet, with big star vehicles in Wonka and Dune: Part Two, but he’s about to face his hardest challenge yet: playing everyone’s favorite “song and dance man” Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s look at the controversy that occurred when Dylan shifted from acoustic to electric instrumentation at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. A starry supporting cast features Edward Norton (as Pete Seeger) and Elle Fanning (as Dylan’s girlfriend Sylvie Russo) but all eyes will be on ol’ Timmy to see if he has the thespian chops to pull this one off, or if Mangold should have cast a complete unknown as Bobby D.

— Alexander Larman

Babygirl

In theaters December 25

Nicole Kidman serves more icy elite intrigue in Halina Reijn’s erotic thriller, as a high-powered executive and mother who puts her stability and success on the line for seduction. Engaging in an erotic game of cat and mouse with her much younger intern, Kidman raises the stakes to explore the limits of desire. Antonio Banderas joins in this story of privilege, desire and the lengths people will go to get what they want.

— CDP

Nosferatu

In theaters December 25

New versions of the Dracula story are hardly unknown cinematic territory, but when the director is the always interesting Robert Eggers, and the cast includes everyone from Nicholas Hoult and Eggers regular Willem Dafoe to Lily-Rose Depp and, as the eponymous vamp, Bill Skarsgård (well used to evil
after his performance in the It films), this promises to be something a bit special. Based on the legendary 1922 German picture, expect several twists and turns on the traditional tale — and hopefully this will be a proper Christmas chiller with style to spare.

— AL

Doctor Who Christmas special

Disney+, December 25

The Doctor Who Christmas special has been a staple of the British festive period since Russell T. Davies revived the sci-fi series two decades ago. With Davies’s return to the helm and a big-money production deal between the BBC and Disney+, now Americans will have the chance to tune in to this Christmas tradition. Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor will team up with Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan in “Joy to the World.” Not much is known about the episode — but early casting reports indicate it could involve Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s summiting of Everest.

— Matt McDonald

Squid Game, season two

Netflix, December 26

Green light… the South Korean Netflix drama, which centers on rich people inducing poor people to compete in murderous schoolyard games for a cash prize, returns for a second season after a lengthy absence. Since its debut, stars Lee Jung-jae and HoYeon Jung have achieved international stardom, with the former fronting Disney+’s worst-received Star Wars series The Acolyte and the latter, not present this time around, featuring in Alfonso Cuarón’s Disclaimer. Lee’s Seong Gi-hun will reenter the Squid Game this season, as he attempts to bring down the Front Man and the organization behind him. Will he succeed? And will the series capture audiences as well a second time around? You’ll have to wait and see. Red light…

— MM

This article was originally published in The Spectator’s December 2024 World edition.