Five films to look forward to in 2018

2017 was awful for the movie business, but a good year for movies. And if 2018 doesn’t end in the apocalypse everyone’s expecting, it’ll be an historic year for cinema. It will be the year of the auteur: Scott, Spielberg, Sorkin, Wes and Paul Thomas Anderson, Guillermo del Toro, Richard Linklater, Martin McDonagh and Greta Gerwig. Here are five movies to kick off a sumptuous 2018. 

Molly’s Game (15)

The directorial debut from legendary screenwriter Aaron Sorkin explores the story of Molly Bloom – the host of many high-stakes, high-status poker games. She is apprehended by the FBI for an alleged connection with the Russian mafia, and is desperate to clear her name. This is a cracking debut to start the year.

Molly’s Game is released nationwide on 1^st January 2018. 

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (15)

Martin McDonagh has a habit of making a film, then stepping into darkness with a Tarantino-esque pause before stepping forward again. Unlike a slightly disappointing Seven Psychopaths, Three Billboards looks like a return to the pitch-black humour that made In Bruges so perfect. It follows a distressed mother, Mildred (Frances McDormand) mourning the murder of her daughter and blaming the police department for not doing enough to find the killer.  

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is released nationwide on 12^th January 2018.

Last Flag Flying (15)

Adapted from Darryl Ponicsan’s recent sequel to The Last Detail (turned into a Hal Ashby cult-classic in 1973, starring Jack Nicholson), the auteur-conversationalist Richard Linklater delivers a tragicomic road trip with three Vietnam veterans. Although weighted with sorrow, Last Flag Flying is incredibly funny and predicts the tumultuous events we are now made to endure. 

Last Flag Flying is released nationwide on 26^th January 2018.

Phantom Thread (15)

After the hazy tedium of Inherent Vice, the unique and genreless filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson appears to have returned to his former aesthetic glory with Phantom Thread. Following the relationship between respected dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis, in his final performance before retiring) and his muse Alma. From the trailer, Phantom Thread looks like Anderson at his most pure. 

Phantom Thread is released nationwide on 2^nd February 2018.

Lady Bird (15)

Holding a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Lady Bird looks to be the most anticipated indie of 2018. Greta Gerwig has graced our screens with her natural and brilliant performances, as well as co-writing some of Noah Baumbach’s best films. Now, with her directorial debut – following an unconventional Californian teenager who calls herself “Lady Bird” (Saoirse Ronan) – Gerwig is set to dazzle us from behind the camera.

Lady Bird is released nationwide on 16^th February 2018.

Euan Franklin