Seen on Screen: Witches, Wizards, Warriors, World War II and Denzel Washington

It’s beginning to look a lot like … Oscar nomination season. Big shiny blockbusters, heavy-hitting dramas and soulful musicals – all with standout performances – are hitting cinemas and streaming services thick and fast this month. There’s Michel Franco’s Memory starring Peter Sarsgaard and Jessica Chastain; Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande putting their own spin on beloved Broadway roles; Luca Guadagnino’s latest starring Daniel Craig; and Saoirse Ronan as a single mum in wartime Britain. And that’s all before we get to Denzel Washington’s juicy role in Gladiator II. We’re nothing short of entertained.

Russell Crowe walked so Paul Mescal could run – and that he does in this grand sequel. The Irish actor plays loyal and loving Lucius in Ridley Scott’s epic follow up to 2000’s Gladiator. We meet him as a young man, living outside Rome with his wife, when an invasion led by General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) leaves our hero a widower controlled by gladiator mogul Macrinus (Denzel Washington). The battle scenes are bloodier, there are CGI sharks and monkeys, and the men in charge – twin emperors Caracalla (Fred Hechinger, The White Lotus) and (Joseph Quinn, Stranger Things) – are delightfully unhinged. See it for Denzel’s performance alone. Read our interview with Mescal and Hechinger.
In cinemas.

Ariana Grande first met OG Broadway Glinda Kristin Chenoweth when she was 10 years old. Playing the Good Witch has been the pop star’s dream ever since. Now we get to see her own comedic take on Popular, with all the hair-flicking sparkle we’ve seen in the trailers. For the uninitiated, this is part one of two Wicked films – part two is coming in late 2025 – by Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M Chu. Tony Award-winner Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba; Jeff Goldblum is the wizard; Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey is suave Fiyero; Michelle Yeoh is the manipulative Madame Morrible; Grande’s boyfriend Ethan Slater is the clown-like Boq; and Marissa Bode plays Elpaba’s younger sister Nessarose.
In cinemas from November 21.

Adapted by Charles Yu from his award-winning 2020 novel of the same name, Interior Chinatown is a madcap 10-part series that explodes Asian stereotypes at every turn. The pilot is directed by Taika Waititi, who knows a thing or two about chaotic hijinks. We follow Willis Wu (Jimmy O Yang), a struggling actor playing stock Asian roles on TV while also working at a Chinese restaurant. After becoming an accidental witness, he’s drawn into a sticky web of family drama and criminal conspiracies with ever-increasing stakes and plenty of wisecracking. Ronny Chieng (The Daily Show) and Chloe Bennet (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) both give scene-stealing performances, but Yang is the heart and soul of the series.
Stream it on Disney+.

Four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan is once again gathering major awards buzz around this fresh new take on the World War II drama from writer-director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Widows). The Irish star plays the single mother of nine-year-old George (Elliott Heffernan), who has been evacuated to the English countryside. As George defiantly sneaks back toward London to reunite with his mum, Ronan’s character desperately sets out to find him and keep him safe. Blitz also marks the screen acting debut of British mod icon Paul Weller (The Jam, The Style Council). Many are predicting Ronan will be a double nominee at the next Academy Awards: for Best Supporting Actress for this film and for Best Lead Actress in The Outrun.
Stream it on Apple TV+ from November 22.

If you can forgive the rather on-the-nose title, Memory is a probing look at how two lost souls attract and repel each other. It stars Peter Sarsgaard – who won Best Actor at Venice Film Festival for his performance as Saul, a middle-aged New Yorker living with early-onset dementia. When he shows up at a high school reunion attended by social worker Sylvia (Jessica Chastain), he winds up following her home and sleeping outside her building. Despite that worrisome introduction, Sylvia is eventually asked to care for Saul and they form a bond that is tested as Saul’s memory loss progresses. Mexican writer-director Michel Franco (Sundown, New Order) specialises in exactly this kind of unsparingly intimate drama, and seeing Sarsgaard and Chastain go toe to toe is reason enough to see this one on the big screen.
In cinemas.

The first season of Lioness was a slow burn, but things are really heating up in season two. Zoe Saldaña’s take-no-prisoners tirades as CIA recruiter and undercover operative Joe have been joyfully meme-able lately, making this espionage series from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan feel more and more like a successor to his nail-biting border thriller Sicario. This season also features more of Nicole Kidman as Joe’s ruthless superior and Morgan Freeman as secretary of state. Australian John Hillcoat directed half of the first season’s run, and Sheridan directed the first two episodes of this season himself. Many of the show’s themes will feel pertinent following the results of the US election.
Stream it on Paramount+.

The Feed’s Vic Zerbst and Jenna Owen co-wrote and co-star in this yuletide Australian comedy. Zerbst’s character Steph is forced to spend Christmas with her family rather than luxuriating in her boyfriend’s more desirable set-up. The plot is animated by the titular dog, whose emergency trip to the vet triggers a far-reaching domino effect. Its supporting cast includes Australian greats Gia Carides (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Tara Morice (Strictly Ballroom). Zerbst spends a fair stretch of the movie wearing an eyepatch, which ups the ante on the silly season’s hectic energy. You might expect something drier and more scathing given the creative core’s viral satirical videos, but this is more approachable.
Stream it on Stan from November 21.

Queer is Luca Guadagnino’s second film released in 2024 since Challengers was delayed by last year’s Hollywood strikes. It’s based on the 1985 novella by adored Beat writer William S Burroughs, and shares a screenwriter with Challengers – Justin Kuritzkes, whose knack for ratcheting up sexual tension works perfectly. Much of the movie’s advance buzz has centred on Daniel Craig’s lead performance as the intense – and intensely awkward – American expat Lee, who becomes fixated on a younger man (Drew Starkey) against the sweaty backdrop of 1950s Mexico City. There’s also the enticing prospect of Guadagnino echoing certain themes from his 2017 breakthrough Call Me By Your Name. Given how autobiographical the source material is, Craig gets to play around with Burroughs’s quirky public persona while investing in a hopeful love story. You can rely on Guadagnino to balance sumptuous visuals with whipcrack twists and turns.
In cinemas from November 27.

This is the latest movie adaptation of one of August Wilson’s legendary plays about 20th-century African American life. The Piano Lesson is directed by Denzel Washington’s son Malcolm Washington, and it stars Denzel’s other son John David Washington (Tenet) as Boy Willie. It’s set in 1930s Pittsburgh and has an impressive cast (Samuel L Jackson included) and plenty of drama for the actors to get their teeth into. The film sticks close to the theatre experience and leans into the supernatural aspects of the story. Boy Willie is hellbent on selling the family’s heirloom piano to buy land, which is a source of tension for the family. Critics are praising Danielle Deadwyler’s performance as Berniece, Boy Willie’s sister, who is firmly against his plans.
Stream it on Netflix from November 22.

Martha Stewart and director RJ Cutler (The September Issue, Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry) have differing opinions on the Netflix documentary that dropped at the end of October. Stewart, the extremely compelling and complex subject of the film, likes the first half but called the soundtrack “lousy”, criticised the camera angles and called for a part two to give more screentime to the aspects of her life that didn’t make the cut. What makes Martha so fascinating is its dive into parts of the celebrity’s life some viewers didn’t know about – including her five months in federal prison and the personal diaries she kept during her divorce. It’s based on hundreds of hours of interviews and archival footage. It’s also spawned countless clips of Martha’s blunt, uncompromising (and somewhat inspiring) attitude to life, and if there is a part two it’ll only serve to feed intrigue around the lifestyle icon.
Stream it on Netflix.

Find more film and TV recommendations in this series.