Fans of dramas, mysteries, and action movies will suffer no shortage of excitement in December, as the last month of the year will bring about several great releases featuring A-list actors such as Brendan Fraser, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Daniel Craig.
The Whale (9 December)
Even before hitting the theaters, “The Whale”, directed by Darren Aronofsky, is already generating a lot of buzz. Featuring crowd-favorite Brendan Fraser, the movie is about a severely obese middle-aged man trying to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter (Sadie Sink), fixing the mistakes of his past which led to him leaving his family and binge eating out of guilt resulting in his weight gain. At its debut in Venice earlier this year, the film received a six-minute standing ovation., however the movie has also received a lot of criticism for the use of a prostethic suit.
Avatar: The Way of Water (14 December)
The long-awaited sequel to 2009’s “Avatar” will arrive in mid-December and is practically guaranteed to become one of the biggest movies of the winter season. Directed by James Cameron, returning cast members include Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, and Joel David Moore, with Sigourney Weaver returning in a different role. New additions to the cast will include Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, and Brendan Cowell. Set more than 10 years after the events of the first film, the second Avatar movie tells the story of the Sully family, the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they have to endure.
Babylon (23 December)
Coming to the cinemas just before Christmas, epic period comedy drama “Babylon” will tell the story of movie stars trying to tackle the challenges of the era when Hollywood transitioned from silent films to sound films back in the 1920s. Both written and directed by Damien Chazelle, known for films such as “Whiplash” and “La La Land”, “Babylon” will feature a truly star-studded cast including Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, and Li Jun Li. After seeing the trailer for the movie, a number of critics noted the film’s uncensored nudity, profanity, and drug-use, evoking comparisons with the atmosphere of blockbusters such as “The Wolf of Wall Street”, a movie in which Robbie also starred in.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (23 December, Netflix)
After making its successful theater debut in November, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” is set to hit Netflix at the end of December. The mystery film, written and directed by Rian Johnson is a sequel to 2019’s “Knives Out”. Daniel Craig reprises his role as detective Benoit Blanc as he takes on a new case. The movie will see billionaire Miles Bron (played by Edward Norton) invite friends to his private island for a murder-mystery party where one of them will die, leaving it to detective Blanc to connect the dots and find out the truth. Other stars in the movie include Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., and Jessica Henwick.
Cover credit: A24
