We highlight the 10 most interesting new releases hitting UK/ROI cinemas in November.
Words by Eric Hillis (@hilliseric)
The Light Between Oceans (Nov 1st)
Following two failed pregnancies, Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender pass off an infant washed up on the shore of their remote island as their own. It all goes pear-shaped when they encounter the child's real mother (Rachel Weisz) and guilt begins to set in. Derek Cianfrance's film is unashamedly old-fashioned, custom built for Sunday afternoon viewing.
Nocturnal Animals (Nov 4th)
A disillusioned woman (Amy Adams) reassesses her past choices while reading the debut novel of her ex-husband (Jake Gyllenhaal). Fashion designer turned filmmaker Tom Ford's sophomore effort, an adaptation of author Austin Wright's 1993 novel Tony and Susan, is one of the year's best, a beautifully crafted yet delightfully trashy tribute to the power of storytelling.
The White Knights (Nov 4th)
Belgium's Joachim LaFosse quickly follows up his doomed relationship drama After Love with a drama based on the real life case of the 'Zoe's Ark' controversy, which saw French charity workers convicted of child abduction after attempting to remove children from Chad. The great Vincent Lindon stars.
Arrival (Nov 10th)
Amy Adams' other must-see November release sees her cast as a linguist called up by the US military to interpret the language of an alien race that arrives at 12 seemingly random points across the globe. Like the recent Interstellar and The Martian, Arrival is a smart sci-fi drama whose protagonists think rather than blast their way out of trouble, and continues an impressive run for director Denis Villeneuve.
Francofonia (Nov 11th)
Russian Ark director Alexander Sukorov turns his attention, and no doubt his roaming camera, to the world's most iconic museum, Paris's Louvre. The film cuts between various time periods, including the Napoleonic era and the museum's existence under Nazi occupation during WWII to pay tribute to the institution.
The Innocents (Nov 11th)
After the light comedy of 2014's Gemma Bovery, director Anne Fontaine returns to more serious subject matter for a story set in 1945 Poland, focussing on the experience of a young French medical student (Lou de Laage) who joins the Red Cross to assist survivors of the war. There she discovers a group of nuns pregnant with the offspring of the Russian soldiers who raped them.
Dog Eat Dog (Nov 18th)
Paul Schrader adapts a gritty novel by Eddie Bunker (that's the freckle-faced one in Reservoir Dogs kids). Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe are a pair of ex-cons who find themselves on the wrong side of both the law and the mafia following the botched kidnapping of an infant. As you might expect of a recent Schrader film, reviews have been mixed.
Indignation (Nov 18th)
This adaptation of Philip Roth's novel deals with the experiences of a young Jewish man (Logan Lerman) coping with prejudice in a 1950s university. Veteran producer James Schamus makes his directorial debut, and playwright turned actor Tracy Letts is said to steal the show as the college's Dean.
Creepy (Nov 25th)
Kiyoshi Kurosawa follows his tender drama Journey to the Shore with a return to his comfort zone of nerve-wracking terror for a tale of a young couple who begin to fear their socially awkward neighbour may be responsible for a series of unsolved murders.
Paterson (Nov 25th)
Adam Driver plays a bus driver named Paterson from Paterson, New Jersey. He lives a life of routine until a pivotal event leads to disruption. Jim Jarmusch's movie was one of the big hits of this year's Cannes Film Festival, with canine star Nellie winning (sadly, posthumously) this year's Palm Dog award.