Culture Fix’s Big 2018 Film Preview

Our final post of 2017 looks forward to the big film releases of 2018. We’ve searched through thousands of upcoming titles to bring you the cream of the crop. Don’t expect a list of the big superhero releases – because quite frankly, we can’t anymore. So here are our picks of the upcoming indies, mid-budget pieces, horrors and other interesting pieces of cinema coming 2018. Dates are UK unless specified.



All the Money in the World
5 January 2018
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christopher Plummer & Michelle Williams


“The story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.” This story has all the makings of a great film, plus the hasty reshoots to remove original star Kevin Spacey make for a fascinating curiosity piece. 


Devil’s Gate
5 January 2018
Director: Clay Staub
Cast Milo Ventimiglia, Bridget Regan, Amanda Schull


This indie horror follows a detective tracking the case of a missing woman in the small town of Devil’s Gate. Surely that’s what happens if you name your town Devil’s Gate?


Hostiles
5 January 2018
Director: Scott Cooper
Cast: Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike


A violent Christian Bale western sounds like the perfect way to kickstart 2018.


Winchester
2 February 2018
Cast: Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Sarah Snook
Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig

Time for some grade A hagsploitation, where Dame Helen Mirren plays the titular firearms heiress, haunted by the victims of the weapons that made her fortune.

Annihilation
23 February 2018
Cast: Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac
Director: Alex Garland

Ex Machina’s Alex Garland steers this creature feature which pits Natalie Portman’s biologist up against the results of an environmental disaster.


i, Tonya
23 February 2018
Cast: Margo Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney
Director: Craig Gillespie


This look at the turbulent life of professional ice skater Tonya Harding looks like high camp heaven.


Red Sparrow
2 March 2018

Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Mary-Louise Parker


Expect glossy thrills in Red Sparrow which sees Jennifer Lawrence re-team with the director behind the first Hunger Games film. Potential high camp heaven when a ballerina is recruited to be a Russian spy.

Death Wish
2 March 2018
Director: Eli Roth
Cast: Bruce Willis, Elisabeth Shue, Dean Norris


Colour us curious about this Death Wish remake. Whilst the casting of Willis is dull and uninspired, we’re intrigued about Eli Roth taking the director’s chair.

Claire’s Camera
9 March 2018
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Shahira Fahimy
Director: Sang-soo Hong


This small-scale drama shot during the 2016 Cannes Film Festival explores the relationship between a teacher and a writer. We all know Isabelle is kween.


The Strangers: Prey at Night
9 March 2018
Director: Johannes Roberts
Cast: Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, Martin Henderson

The Strangers was one of the most terrifying films of the noughties and a follow-up has been talked about for years now. This is now a reality with the Johannes Roberts’ directed sequel hitting theatres on March 9th – with huge shoes to fill.


Love Simon
16 March 2018
Cast: Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Garner
Director: Greg Berlanti


Nick Robinson is one of the most exciting young stars working and his role as a closeted gay teen in this PG-13 comedy has us excited.


Mary Magdalane
16 March 2018
Cast: Rooney Mara, Tahar Rahim & Joaquin Phoenix
Director: Garth Davis

We like a good old fashioned biblical epic and Mary Magdalene looks set to tick all the right boxes. Tahar Rahim looks set to be the sexiest on-screen Judas of all time.


The Square
16 March 2018
Cast: Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West
Director: Ruben Östlund


Ruben Östlund’s social satire is set to be an edgy, visually exciting addition to the director’s impeccable filmography.


Dear Dictator
16 March 2018
Directors: Lisa Addario, Joe Syracuse
Cast: Michael Caine, Odeya Rush, Katie Holmes


“When political turmoil forces a British-Caribbean dictator to flee his island nation, he seeks refuge and hides with a rebellious teenage girl in suburban America, and ends up teaching the young teen how to start a revolution and overthrow the “mean girls” in her high school.” Michael Caine as a dictator, taking on high school mean girls? What’s not to like?


Proud Mary
23 March 2018
Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Neal McDonough, Danny Glover
Director: Babak Najafi


Proud Mary has all the makings of a contemporary blaxploitation film with Taraji P. Henson’s professional hitwoman navigating the Boston crime world.

Madame Hyde
28 March 2018 (FR)
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Romain Duris
Director:  Serge Bozon


This contemporary spin on the Jekyll and Hyde story sees Isabelle Huppert as a teacher struck by lighting – triggering a strange emotional imbalance.


Pacific Rim: Uprising
23 March 2018
Director: Steven S DeKnight
Cast: John Boyega, Tian Jing, Scott Eastwood


We’re not going to lie, we aren’t here for this choppy looking mash-up of monsters fighting robots, but we’ve only got one Scott Eastwood film to look forward to in 2018 and I’m afraid this is it. 


A Quiet Place
6 April 2018
Director: John Krasinski
Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe


Krasinski directs this horror that follows a family living a silent existence through fear of an unknown force which attacks based on sound.

Wonderstruck
6 April 2018
Cast: Julianne Moore, Millicent Simmonds
Director: Todd Haynes


Haynes and Moore re-team for Wonderstruck for this duelling narrative tale about two children, fifty years apart, but sharing a mysterious connection.


The Leisure Seeker
13 April 2018
Director: Paolo Virzi
Cast: Helen Mirren, Donald Sutherland

One for the golden oldies, Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren join forces in this gentle comedy about a couple that hit the road in their trusty RV.

How to Talk to Girls at Parties
11 May 2018
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning
Director: John Cameron Mitchell


Nicole Kidman as an alien exploring seventies London. Yes please.


The Nun
13 July 2018 (USA)
Director: Corin Hardy
Cast: Taissa Farmiga, Bonnie Aarons, Demián Bichir


Hoping to do for nuns what Annabelle did for dolls, The Nun is the latest spin-off in the Conjur-verse. It follows Bichir’s priest as he travels to Rome to investigate the death of a nun. Give us those Vatican chills baby!


Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
27 July 2018
Director: Ol Parker
Cast: Lily James, Christine Baranski, Meryl Streep


We’re incredibly concerned that all signs about this Mamma Mia sequel/prequel point to the fact that Meryl’s Donna seems to have died. Despite this potential devastation, we’re at least optimistic about Cher’s cameo and some more catchy ABBA tracks.


The Predator
3 August 2018
Director: Shane Black
Cast: Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Yvonne Strahovski


Shane Black puts his own spin on 1987’s Predator without an Arnie in sight.

Boy Erased
28 September 2018 (USA)
Director: Joel Edgerton
Cast: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Xavier Dolan


Edgerton is making a name for himself as talented filmmaker and his take on the tale of the forced conversion of a baptist leader’s gay son, should make for a rousing piece.

The House with a Clock in Its Walls
19 October 2018
Director: Eli Roth
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Kyle MacLachlan


The second Eli Roth feature to be hitting us in 2018 is a more family friendly affair that sees a young orphan named Lewis Barnavelt aid his magical uncle in locating a clock with the power to bring about the end of the world.

Halloween
19 October 2018
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Nick Castle
Director: David Gordon Green


David Gordon Green and writer Danny McBride take Halloween in an alternative direction by bringing back the franchise’s iconic heroine, Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. Little is known about the plot, but safe to say with Green at the helm and Jamie Lee Curtis back at the forefront, this is going to be an unforgettable Halloween picture. 


No Set Release Yet


Suspiria
2018
Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton
Director: Luca Guadagnino


Not to make sweeping generalisations, but Guadagnino is probably the most exciting filmmaker working at the moment. His fresh spin on iconic horror property Suspiria is due to be a visual feast – and seeing Guadagnino work in the horror genre sounds like pure heaven.


The Death & Life of John F. Donovan
2018
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Kit Harrington, Jacob Tremblay
Director: Xavier Dolan


Xavier Dolan’s highest profile feature to date follows the correspondence between a young actor and since departed television star.


High Life
2018
Director: Claire Denis
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Mia Goth, Juliette Binoche


A father and daughter attempt to survive isolation in deep space. We’re just going on the premise of Juliette Binoche in space and we’re hooked already.


The Other Side of the Wind
2018
Director: Orson Welles
Cast: John Huston, Robert Random, Peter Bogdanovich


The excitement of being able to include a new Orson Welles film in a list of upcoming releases is unreal. This story of John Huston’s filmmaker returning from exile in Europe to create his comeback should make for fascinating viewing. Expect this one on Netflix in 2018.


Radegund
2018
Director: Terrence Malick
Cast: August Diehl, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Nyqvist, Bruno Ganz


Malick’s film about an Austrian conscientious objector in WW2 hits cinemas 2018.


We Have Always Lived in the Castle
2018
Director: Stacie Passon
Cast: Sebastian Stan, Alexandra Daddario


Shirley Jackson’s sumptuous gothic novel gets its first big screen adaptation. It explores an isolated family (which has already lost four members to poisoning) who use rituals and talismans to keep itself away from hostile townspeople.


The Old Man and the Gun
2018
Cast: Robert Redford, Casey Affleck & Sissy Spacek
Director: David Lowery

An elderly bank robber, who had managed to escape from prison over a dozen times in his life before moving to a retirement community, looks to spice things up with another heist. Whilst all these light-hearted pensioner gigs don’t exactly signal that Redford is going to deliver another All Is Lost, we’re nonetheless excited to see him on screen, whatever the context.




The Outsider
2018
Stars: Jared Leto, Tadanobu Asano, Kippei Shîna
Director: Martin Zandvliet

Jared Leto stars in this epic set in post-WWII Japan and centred on an American former G.I. who joins the yakuza.


Waco
2018 (TV)
Stars: Taylor Kitsch, Michael Shannon
Director:John Erik Dowdle


Dowdle impressed with the Canon-esque No Escape so we’re excited to see this tale of the FBI and ATF seizing religious leader, David Koresh’s Branch Davidian compound in Waco.


Mustang
2018
Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
Cast: Matthias Schoenaerts, Connie Britton, Bruce Dern


Matthias Schoenaerts stars as Roman Coleman, a violent convict, who is given the chance to participate in a rehabilitation therapy program involving the training of wild mustangs. We demand a montage of Matthias riding horses set to Mustang Sally.


Kursk
2018
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Cast: Colin Firth, Matthias Schoenaerts, Max von Sydow


The film follows the 2000 K-141 Kursk submarine disaster and the governmental negligence that followed. As the sailors fight for survival, their families desperately battle political obstacles and impossible odds to save them.


Rapid Eye Movement
2018
Director: Peter Bishai
Cast: Francois Arnaud


Francois Arnaud stars as a radio DJ challenged with staying awake for eleven days or else he is murdered by a deranged caller. This indie thriller has an exciting premise and Arnaud is always incredibly watchable.


Boundaries
2018
Director: Shana Feste
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Bobby Cannavle, Vera Farmiga


Plummer stars as an elderly man kicked out of his nursing home for pot-dealing who ropes his family into taking him on a cross-country roadtrip. This sounds like inoffensive family fun.


Promise at Dawn
2018
Director: Eric Barbier
Cast: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Pierre Niney


“From his childhood in Poland to his adolescence in Nice to his years as a student in Paris and his tough training as a pilot during World War II, this tragi-comedy tells the romantic story of Romain Gary, one of the most famous French novelists and sole writer to have won the Goncourt Prize for French literature two times.” With Gainsbourg and Niney involved it’s a certainty that we will receive two impeccable performances.

Daguerrotype
2018
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Constance Rousseau, Olivier Gourmet


This Gothic period drama is helmed by horror maestro Kiyoshi Kurosawa, so we’re intrigued to see this blend of French period stylings and Japanese horror thrills. 

Swinging Safari
2018
Director: Stephan Elliot
Cast: Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Julian McMahon

A teenager comes of age in a small Australian town during the 1970s when a 200-ton blue whale gets washed up on a local beach. This looks crass, low-brow entertainment – and we’re totally here for it. Kylie covering Middle of the Road in the trailer is an added bonus.


Burden
2018
Stars: Garrett Hedlund, Forest Whitaker, Andrea Riseborough, Tom Wilkinson
Director: Andrew Heckler

An orphan raised within the KKK tries to break ties and seeks protection from a welcoming black community.


The Price of Success
2018
Director: Teddy Lussi-Modeste
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Roschdy Zem, Maïwenn

Tahar Rahim headlines this French drama about a stand-up comic attempting to cope with the gradual break-up of his family. Rahim is an outstanding talent – not to mention a beautiful man, so we’re all for him headlining more features.

Lizzie
2018
Cast: Kristin Stewart, Chloe Sevigny
Director: Craig William Macneill

This psychological thriller about murderess Lizzie Borden is expected to generate a lot of buzz at Sundance this January. With Sevigny in the title role, colour us excited.


We the Animals
2018
Cast: Raul Castillo
Director: Jeremiah Zagar


Looking’s Raúl Castillo headlines this indie drama – playing Sundance in January – this coming of age piece follows Manny, Joel and Jonah as they tear their way through childhood and push against the volatile love of their parents.


Hold the Dark
2018
Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Jeffrey Wright
Director: Jeremy Saulnier

“After the deaths of three children suspected to be by wolves, writer Russell Core is hired by the parents of a missing six-year-old boy to track down and locate their son in the Alaskan wilderness.”


Eva
2018
Director: Benoît Jacquot
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Gaspard Ulliel, Julia Roy


French film royalty Benoît Jacquot directs Huppert and Ulliel in this drama about a playwright encountering a mysterious woman in a snowstorm.


The White Crow
2018
Director: Ralph Fiennes
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Louis Hofmann, Adèle Exarchopoulos


Ralph Fiennes returns to the director’s chair for The White Crow which explores the story of Rudolf Nureyev’s defection to the West.


The Irishman
2018
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel

Expectations are sky high for Martin Scorsese’s Netflix produced gangster flick which reunites the iconic stars of the genre – with even Joe Pesci coming out of retirement for the project. We hope it justifies the $125 million budget. 


The Beach Bum
2018
Director: Harmony Korine
Cast: Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher

In a dramatic turn of events, McConaughey will play a laid back stoner who lives life by his own rules. McConaughey has been training for the role for forty plus years.


The House That Jack Built
2018
Director: Lars Von Trier
Cast: Riley Keough, Uma Thurman, Matt Dillon

We’re hungry for a new Von Trier mindfuck and the premise of The House That Jack Built has us salivating. We follow a highly intelligent serial killer over the course of 12 years – focusing on the murders that truly develop him as a serial killer.


Dragged Across Concrete
2018
Director: S. Craig Zahler
Cast: Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn, Don Johnson, Udo Kier
Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn star as two brutal cops, suspended and now emerging themselves in the criminal underworld. Zahler’s unflinching Brawl in Cell Block 99 has truly whet our appetite for this brutal crime piece.


Mandy
2018
Director: Panos Cosmatos
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache
Mandy is set in the primal wilderness of 1983 where Red Miller, a broken and haunted man hunts an unhinged religious sect who slaughtered the love of his life. This has the potential to be another must-see Nicolas Cage performance.


The Sister Brothers
2018
Director: Jacques Audiard
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, Carol Kane

A Prophet’s Jacques Audiard directs this English language comedy set in 1850s Oregon where a gold prospector is chased by the infamous duo of assassins, the Sisters brothers.


Rio
2018
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michelle Williams

Steven Knight pens this live adaptation of animated parrot film Rio, with Luca at the helm. Not really. Sadly. A financial reporter travels to Rio de Janeiro to visit a wealthy friend, only to get sucked into a plot to fake his friend’s death.


Lucky
2018
Cast: Harry Dean Stanton, David Lynch, Tom Skerritt
Director: John Carroll Lynch

The late Harry Dean Stanton is front and centre in Lucky, in which he plays a ninety year old drifter confronting his own mortality.


The Favourite
2018
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Joe Alwyn, Emma Stone, Olivia Colman


“A bawdy, acerbic tale of royal intrigue, passion, envy and betrayal in the court of Queen Anne in early 18th century England.” You had us at bawdy, Yorgos. 


Destroyer
2018
Director: Karyn Kusama
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan, Toby Kebbell

A police detective reconnects with people from an undercover assignment in her distant past in order to make peace. Kusama’s The Invitation was one of the strongest, tightly-wound genre pieces of recent years so we have high hopes she can repeat this formula with Destroyer.


Love Child
2018
Director: Todd Solondz
Cast: Penelope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez


Sounding typically morose, Todd Solondz’s latest teams Cruz and Ramirez in this tale of Junior, a delusional aspiring Broadway star with an inappropriate obsession with his mother. Sounds suitably concerning.


Based on a True Story
2018
Cast: Emmanuelle Seigner, Eva Green, Vincent Perez
Director: Roman Polanski


Roman Polanski’s latest drama sees a writer go through a tough period after the release of her latest book, as she gets involved with an obsessive admirer.


La Confession
2018
Cast: Romain Duris, Marine Vacth
Director: Nicolas Boukhrief


This classy wartime drama sees Duris’ priest attract the attention of various women in German-occupied France.


Django Lives
2018
Cast: Franco Nero
Director: Christian Alvart


File this under ‘probably not going to happen’ but we can still dream. Franco Nero is down to reprise his famous role for the third time. The gunslinger is hired to be a consultant in Hollywood to explain the Old West to ‘movie folks’.


The Racer and the Jailbird
2018
Cast: Matthias Schoenaerts
Director: Michaël R. Roskam


Matthias Schoenaerts re-teams with Bullhead filmmaker Michaël R. Roskam for this slick love story following a gangster and racing driver.


Bonne Pomme
2018
Cast: Gerard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve
Director: Florence Quentin


Screen titans Depardieu and Deneuve headline this comedy about two down on their luck losers who form an unlikely bond. The pairing of these Gallic icons should make for a treat.


Tout nous sépare
2018
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Diane Kruger
Director: Thierry Klifa


This tale of a wealthy mother and daughter caught in the mix with some no-good street thugs has the potential to be a cathartic thriller – especially with the news that Deneuve gets to handle a shotgun in the film.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
2018
Cast: Zac Efron
Director: Joe Berlinger


We’ll be amazed if this one actually gets off the ground, but we really hope it does. Efron’s been stuck in the sub-par R-Rated comedy world for too long – so seeing him play serial killer Ted Bundy, would be an exciting change of pace for the actor.


Loro
2018
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Cast: Riccardo Scamarcio, Toni Servillo, Chiara Iezzi


There is no shortage of material for Paolo Sorrentino’s biopic about Silvio Berlusconi.


Submergence
2018
Director: Wim Wenders
Cast: James McAvoy, Alicia Vikander, Alexander Siddig


This drama follows a captive soldier (McAvoy) and a deep sea diver (Vikander) reminiscing on their fleeting romance the year before.


Hangman
2018
Director: Johnny Martin
Cast: Al Pacino, Karl Urban, Brittany Snow


There is a place in our hearts for derivative serial killer thrillers and this straight to video schlocker starring Al Pacino looks like just the ticket.


The Perception
2018
Director: Jensen Noen
Stars: Nick Bateman, Eric Roberts

The world’s most beautiful man, Nick Bateman stars in this indie thriller. The plot is currently under wraps – like that’s relevant anyway.