Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, The Rock and Gal Gadot, Dany Boon... The stars are all turning up on Netflix's end-of-year listings. Let's review them.
In just a few years, Netflix has become a major player in the entertainment industry, a giant that is making the most powerful studios and channels tremble. First, with its various flagship series, from “The Crown” to “Money Heist”, and then by developing an extensive catalogue of original feature films. Every week, the platform is enriched with new releases and that's not about to stop. This weekend was “Tudum”, a global presentation for fans, where Netflix ramped up the announcements for its upcoming dramas for the end of 2021 and for 2022. Up to Christmas and even beyond, many films will also be added to the listings. Here are the most hotly anticipated.
8 rue de l'Humanité (20/10)
It's 2020, and France is experiencing its first Covid-19 lockdown. The streets of the capital have fallen silent, and some Parisians have headed for the provinces to get through this ordeal in the countryside. In the 11th arrondissement, seven families in the same building have stayed put. Among them, a desperate bar owner, a scientist in search of a vaccine, a panic-stricken hypochondriac, a sports coach trying to stay in shape... We're counting on the imagination of Dany Boon, at the helm of this comedy co-written with Laurence Arné in the midst of lockdown, to offer an original and joyful testimony of this period.
The Harder They Fall (3/11)
This western, inspired by the life of the legendary African-American cowboy Nat Love, has a four-star cast (Idris Elba, Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, Regina King). When a former slave-turned-outlaw discovers that his sworn enemy, Rufus Buck, has escaped from prison, he gathers his gang, determined to track him down and finally get revenge. A first film where fighting and bloodshed is on the cards.
Red Notice (12/11)
Interpol issues a red alert to track down the world's most wanted art thief. An FBI profiler (Dwayne Johnson) is forced to team up with a high-flying con man (Ryan Reynolds) who betrays him at every opportunity to capture this sexy and ruthless criminal. She is played by Gal Gadot, the sculptural Wonder Woman, in “badass” mode. A trio of Hollywood stars, an explosive action comedy shot all over the world and the reunion of three action heavyweights: Red Notice ticks all the boxes for success.
Bruised (24/11)
At 55 years old, Halle Berry jumped at the chance. Back in front of the cameras for the first time since being a Bond girl, this project does not lack punch. In “Bruised”, she plays a former wrestler fighting to regain custody of her son and get a fading sports career off the ground again. Will this drama, expected to be moving and intense, be the female equivalent of Mickey Rourke's “The Wrestler”? We hope so.
The Power of the Dog (1/12)
It has been twelve years (“Bright Star”, 2009), since the great New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion (the first woman to win a Palme d'Or in 1993 with “The Piano”) has directed a feature film. And we can say that this Netflix western, with a solid international cast (Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons...), is one of THE cinematographic creations of this year-end! The story of Phil and George Burbank, two brothers who live in perfect harmony on their huge Montana ranch in the 1920s. But when George secretly marries Rose, a widow, he incurs the wrath of his eldest son. The latter then resorts to the utmost cruelty to break up this marriage...
The Unforgivable (10/12)
It's business as usual for Sandra Bullock and Netflix. After taking us on a desperate, blindfolded escape in the hit fantasy thriller “Bird Box” (2018), the star returns, this time as an ex-con determined to find her sister, whom she was forced to leave. An eagerly-awaited drama, bordering on a thriller.
Don't Look Up: Cosmic Denial (24/12)
The end of the world is coming! At least that's what two poor, timid and clumsy astronauts think, as they embark on a vast operation to warn humanity that a giant asteroid is heading straight for the Earth... When “Armageddon” meets “The Dinner Game”, or almost: there's a promise of a combination of disaster movie and comedy! This film by Adam McKay (“The Other Guys”, “Vice”) has probably the best cast ever seen on a platform: Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as the panicked astronauts, Meryl Streep as a jaded First Lady, but also Timothée Chalamet, Cate Blanchett and Jonah Hill. Impressive!
The other films expected in late 2021
As well as these giants, other feature films are announced, including “Tick, Tick...BOOM!”, a biopic with dance and song inspired by the life and career of Jonathan Larson, author of “Rent”, one of the most famous musicals in history. Also worth seeing is “The Hand of God” by Italian director Paolo Sorrentino (“The Great Beauty”, “The New Pope” series) and “The Lost Daughter”, the first film directed by actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, which won Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival.
Films expected in 2022
For the moment, Netflix is still being rather secretive about the schedule of next year's film releases. We do know that Chris Hemsworth will be back for the “Tyler Rake” sequel, which is bound to be as strong as ever, as will Charlize Theron for the second part of “The Old Guard”. Two other sequels are also already generating a lot of excitement: the comedy “Murder Mystery”, starring Dany Boon and Jennifer Aniston, and Enola Holmes' sequel, in which Millie Bobby Brown (“Stranger Things”) will be back in her role as Sherlock Holmes' younger sister.
