The Film Experience

by Nathaniel R

Promotional image from The Good Nurse © Netflix

We already looked at what's next for 2021's most celebrated directors and actors so let's turn our attention to the actresses (our favourite topic on the regular). Whatever will they do for encores? Let's start with the winners...

JESSICA CHASTAIN
She works constantly so she's attached to about 10 projects currently as either actress or producer with her company Freckle Films. Next up though is the true story crime drama The Good Nurse, already in post-production, which is a true story about a woman who was implicated in the deaths of hundreds of patients and will hit Netflix at some point this year. The film is from the talented Danish writer/director Tobias Lindholm (A War, A Hijacking). After that we'll see her reunited with her Take Shelter co-star Michael Shannon for the country music bio miniseries George and Tammy which is currently filming. Once that wraps she'll be co-starring with Jake Gyllenhaal in a sci-fi thriller called The Division, also for Netflix.

From Ariana's Instagram

ARIANA DEBOSE
The Broadway baby triple threat, the first Afro-Latina queer actor to win an Oscar, already had a full dance card before her Oscar win (you'll remember that they actually shot West Side Story THREE years ago so the word was out about these actors awhile back in Hollywood). She has two films in post-production. Those are a Russians vs Americans sci-fi thriller called I.S.S. and Matthew Vaughn's (Layer Cake) spy adventure Argylle which stars Henry Cavill. Her third Post-Oscar movie will be the Spider-Man adjacent film Kraven the Hunter which is already filming. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Kraven and Ariana plays Calypso, who in the comics at least, is a Haitian voodoo priestess who is an enemy to both Daredevil and Spider-Man. As you know Sony is trying to work up to a "Sinister Six" movie so they have to give all of Spider-Man's main bad guys (Kraven being one of them) their own movie first, so Kraven is third after Venom and Morbius. J.C. Chandor (All is Lost, A Most Violent Year) is directing and it's due in theaters in January 2023.

THE OTHER NOMINEES IN ALPHA ORDER

an image from the "Men" trailer

JESSIE BUCKLEY
She's the lead in A24's horror film Men (we already discussed the trailer) which arrives in theaters this May from director Alex Garland (Ex-Machina). She's also completed work on director Sarah Polley's next drama (yay) which is called Women Talking and involves a group of Mennonite women struggling with assault in their community. The film should be a feast for all of us actressexuals since the cast also includes... wait for it... Claire Foy, Frances McDormand, Judith Ivey, Sheila McCarthy, Rooney Mara, and honorary actress* Ben Whishaw. That's SO MUCH TALENT.

*Some male actors are as exciting to watch as actresses but there aren't very many of them.

OLIVIA COLMAN
Colman has been in demand for years now and we're all so blessed for it. She's completed work on three films: Puss in Boots 2 (due in September), Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet (due in December... 2023... that's a long post-production process!), and she's the lead of something called Joyride about a woman ready to give away her newborn (release date TBA). She's currently filming Sam Mendes next Oscar-hopeful Empire of Light, a love story involving a beautiful old cinema set in the 1980s. In other words, 2022/2023 are going to be big years for her, potentially huge if Empire of Light finishes in time for the next Oscar race.

PENELOPE CRUZ
She's already filmed a new Spanish-language drama, actor Juan Diego Botto's feature directorial debut On the Fringe which costars Goya darling Luis Tosar. She's also completed work on a new Italian film, Emanuele Crialese's L'Immensita about a woman and her children set in the 1970s Rome. But it's always hard to know if and when the international titles will play in the US. Her next English language movie is the biopic Enzo Ferrari which stars Adam Driver. Michael Mann is directing and they supposedly start shooting this summer so expect that in 2023. In the meantime she's hilarious in a very atypical role as a provocative auteur in the Spanish comedy Official Competition -- which is very niche since it's all about prestige cinema, the madness of awards and respect, and egomaniacal actors and auteurs, but that's our niche so we can't wait to see it again. The comedy played festivals last year and will come to US theaters sometime this year via IFC Films.

DAME JUDI DENCH
Despite her declining vision she's still constantly working at 87 years of age and we love that... for us. She doesn't need the money so she really must still love her job! She's already finished filming a collaboration with director Richard Eyre (Notes on a Scandal -- which was her best performance!) called Allelujah. It's an ensemble drama set in a geriatric ward threatened with closure. Jennifer Saunders, Russell Tovey, and Derek Jacobi co-star. It's based on the play of the same name by Alan Bennett which was well reviewed. If he sounds familiar that's because some of his plays have already been adapted to cinema including The Madness of King George, The Lady in the Van, and The History Boys.

KIRSTEN DUNST
She has young children and when that's the case we always fear we'll lose her to home life. But thankfully that hasn't happened yet. She's currently filming A24's Civil War from director Alex Garland (who sure keeps busy... see also Jessie Buckley's next movie) about which little is known though it's said to be set in an "action epic" set in near-future America. Karl Glusman, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Wagner Moura are also in the cast. Given that Garland already has Men this year and A24 is sometimes slow to release things we are not expecting this one until 2023.

Aunjanue stars in the short film "Fannie" which you can watch on YouTube

AUNJANUE ELLIS
The reliable character actress has been having a great few years with an Oscar nom and recent Emmy nominations, too. We hope Hollywood stays interested so she can actually win something. She has the lead role in a current short film called Fannie about civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer (click the image above to watch), and she's also a regular in an upcoming TV series called 61st Street about a high school athlete mixed up with Chicago's corrupt justice system. Her next feature film is a Netflix horror film called Demon House about a family in Indiana who believe their home is a portal to hell. Lee Daniels directs and the cast is all-star sensational (as his casts usually are) with Ellis alongside Glenn Close, Rob Morgan, Octavia Spencer, and Andra Day.

NICOLE KIDMAN
The 54 year old goddess never stops working and though we love her more than we can possibly express we worry that she maybe should take six months off or something between all the miniseries and feature films. Relax for a hot minute, Nicole! Like all A-listers she has multiple projects in very very early stages of development that might never happen in addition to two films she's already shot, the Viking drama The Northman (due in theaters on April 22nd) and the superhero film Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom (due May 2023). She's currently filming the Amazon TV series Expats from Lulu Wang (The Farewell) which is about a group of expats living in Hong Kong. No feature films lined up after Aquaman yet though but that should change soon if her past is any indication.

KRISTEN STEWART
We're very excited about her follow up to Spencer which finally has David Cronenberg back behind the camera. It's already completed, actually. It's a sci-fi body horror (natch) called Crimes of the Future. Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux co-star. She's also attached to an untitled William S Burroughs biopic which is supposed to star Ben Foster (who will also direct) though that one has no reported start date. One assumes her team at WMI is fielding offers given that she's hot hot hot right now and there's almost nothing on the docket to follow up that first Oscar nomination.

Which of these projects are you most excited about?