2024's most anticipated movies, Golden Globes predictions, and more from the week in film

After the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023, studio release schedules got a little hectic. Major films that were expected last year, like Dune: Part 2, got pushed back to 2024 instead. Which means that this year, the film calendar is actually pretty packed. We’ve got classic January horror movies like Night Swim, three different flicks in Sony’s Spider-Man universe with Venom 3, Madame Web, and Kraven The Hunter, and new entries in the Ghostbusters, Planet Of The Apes, Despicable Me, Mad Max, and John Wick franchises. Oh, and if you’re already making plans for the holidays next year, make sure you slot in some time for Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu. Here are the most anticipated films to look out for in 2024.

There are only so many Oscar nomination slots to go around, which means that every year there will be some noteworthy contenders who will get shut out. The reasons for this vary widely, and aren’t always the same from year to year. Some films aren’t high-profile enough. Some might be too controversial, or too risque. Some are the types of films or genres the Academy tends to disregard, like science-fiction or horror. Others simply miss the cutoff by a small margin. The double-edged sword of horror films like is that the audience has a version of the film in their head even before the projector lights up and the movie starts. If you’ve seen a trailer for Night Swim, you have a very clear idea of what this movie is, and that means two things for first-time director Bryce McGuire. First, it means that there are clear expectations for the kind of film he’s expected to make, and clear rhythms he’s expected to play with. Second, it means that if he’s clever and gutsy enough, he can manipulate those expectations and rhythms to great effect, playing with his audience in ways both creepy and amusing.

To begin the new year with something new, Hulu has added some under-the-radar movies as well as a few big-budget favorites from the past few years to its streaming library. Deliver Us is a religious horror film about a woman about to give birth to twins: a Messiah and the Antichrist. In the vigilante action film The Baker, Ron Perlman stars as the aging titular character trying to protect his granddaughter from gangsters. Abigail Breslin stars in the period drama Miranda’s Victim based on the true story of Trish Weir and the origin of the Miranda rights. Also coming to Hulu in January 2024 is Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland in Uncharted, the thrilling documentary Beyond Utopia, plus All Fun And Games, The System, Rare Objects, Self Reliance, King Richard, and more.

After wrapping up a great year of horror cinema in 2023, the genre shows no signs of resting on its laurels in 2024. A promising new crop of scary movies is preparing to unleash fresh visions of terror this year, ranging from high-concept slashers to classic titles with new twists to, of course, sequels for some of the most beloved franchises in the game.

This year’s 81st Golden Globe Awards ceremony may not look any different to viewers watching at home, but behind the scenes it’s another story. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the notoriously small and scandal-plagued group that used to select the winners, has been disbanded in favor of a more racially and ethnically diverse collection of . That means there will be a totally new voting body this year, with different tastes and perspectives than in years past. In other words, the winners will be even harder to predict than usual. It’s shocking that the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 has inspired such lackluster adaptations of the harrowing affair, in which a rugby team and their friends and family are stranded in the snow-covered Andes mountains for 71 days. Survive!, a low-budget Mexican production from 1976, played up the exploitative schlock value which was popular in disaster flicks of the era. 1993’s formidable yet faulty , from director Frank Marshall, used an American-heartthrob-cast and leaned heavily into melodrama and sensationalism. The latest take on the tragedy, Spanish director/co-writer J.A. Bayona’s , seeks to restore honor to those brave men and women who battled insurmountable odds.