November film releases: Myths & Matters of the HeartNovember arrives with cinematic voltage, where monsters stalk, predators seduce, and fantasies bloom across fractured worlds. ![]() Image supplied This month’s slate spans dystopian thrillers, animated awakenings, romantic reveries, and gender-diverse provocations. Whether you seek myth, menace, or metamorphosis, these films invite you to confront the strange, the tender, and the transformative. 7 NovemberGuillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is inspired by Mary Shelley’s seminal 1818 novel of the same name. “I’ve lived with Mary Shelley’s creation all my life,” says del Toro. “For me, it’s the Bible. But I wanted to make it my own, to sing it back in a different key with a different emotion.” “Mary Shelley’s masterpiece is rife with questions that burn brightly in my soul: existential, tender, savage, doomed questions that only burn in a young mind and only adults and institutions believe they can answer,” del Toro explains. “For me, only monsters hold the secrets I long for.” read more. In Predator: Badlands, on a savage alien planet, a young outcast Predator named Dek joins forces with Thia, a rebellious android, to hunt the ultimate apex creature — only to discover that in this world, even hunters can become prey. It marks the ninth instalment in the Predator franchise and the third directed by Dan Trachtenberg, following Prey and the adult animated Sci-fi horror Predator: Killer of Killers. “All I hope for the film, all I ever hope for with any film, is that the folks watching will form a connection to these characters and feel something for them. With Predator: Badlands, this hope is especially meaningful because the movie revolves around characters you would never expect to love,” says Trachtenberg. Read more. I Wish You All The Best centres on Ben, a non-binary teenager who is abruptly kicked out of his home after coming out to his parents. In a cinematic landscape still grappling with how to portray gender diversity with nuance and care, the film stands as a landmark of emotional truth and cultural visibility. It’s a quietly radical film written and directed by Tommy Dorfman, “Supporting this film and seeing it, sharing it with family and friends who are transphobic, is an act of love to the LGBTQ+ community right now and an act of resistance against the milieu of anti-trans legislation moving through our political systems today. So, while I wish the world were more evolved by now, I am grateful to offer Ben’s story to audiences who need it more than they might’ve just a few seasons ago,” says Dorfman. Read more. 14 NovemberIn the visceral survival thriller Coyotes, a fractured family must survive a brutal pack of coyotes and their own buried tensions as a wildfire rages through the Hollywood Hills. Directed by Colin Minihan, it stars Kate Bosworth and Justin Long. Read more. The Four Horsemen are back in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, along with a new generation of illusionists performing mind-bending twists, turns, impossible surprises, and real-time magic unlike anything captured on film, as they attempt the biggest heist in history while delivering a dose of epic karmic payback. This new exhilarating chapter in the global motion-picture franchise is for longtime fans and for brand-new audiences discovering the magic for the first time. The Horsemen receive a new message from The Eye — the secretive global society of magicians dedicated to stealing from the rich to give to the poor — and take on their biggest heist yet on the world stage. The story crisscrosses the globe, from New York, France, and Antwerp to South Africa, the Arabian Desert, and Abu Dhabi, as the magicians evade capture while plotting to extricate a priceless jewel from a corrupt diamond magnate engaged in blood money laundering and market manipulation. The film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman, and Rosamund Pike, with newcomers Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, and Ariana Greenblatt joining the illusion-packed ensemble. Read more. PAW Patrol Christmas – When Santa catches a cold and can’t deliver presents, Rubble and the pups race to the North Pole to stop Mayor Humdinger from stealing Christmas in this festive hour-long animated adventure. Read more. The Running Man is a bold reimagining of the dystopian action thriller originally adapted in 1987, now co-written, produced, and directed by Edgar Wright. In a dystopian future where survival is televised, one man defies a deadly game show to protect his family, exposing the system’s darkest truths. Wright’s electrifying reimagining of Stephen King’s novel stars Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, and Emilia Jones. Read more. 21 NovemberA romantic anniversary getaway turns sinister when Liz is left alone in a remote cabin, forced to confront a dark presence and the haunting secrets buried within in Keeper. Directed by Osgood Perkins (Longlegs, The Monkey) and starring Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland, this intimate horror unfolds as a two-character psychological descent. Read more. Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, Wicked: For Good is the highly anticipated sequel to Wicked (2024), completing the cinematic adaptation of the beloved stage musical by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman. Elphaba embraces her exile and Glinda ascends in Oz’s glittering regime; the two witches must confront betrayal, legacy, and the cost of friendship. Starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, and Jeff Goldblum. Read more. In Sisu Road To Revenge, Aatami Korpi returns, gold in hand and vengeance still burning, as he battles ruthless new enemies across war-torn landscapes in Jalmari Helander’s explosive sequel to the cult Finnish action hit. Filmed in Estonia with a doubled budget and starring Jorma Tommila, Stephen Lang, and Richard Brake, the sequel promises even more stylised carnage and bleak humour. Read more. Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution marks a pivotal moment in anime storytelling. It’s a visceral, emotional culmination of one of anime’s most harrowing arcs and a bold leap into the chaos of the next. It centres around a cursed veil that traps civilians in Shibuya on Halloween, prompting Gojo to intervene—only to fall into a trap set by powerful curse users. Read more. 28 NovemberBird Boy, directed and written by Joel Soisson, is more than a heartwarming tale of a boy and his ostrich — it’s a cinematic meditation on belonging, resilience, and the healing power of connection. Set against the sweeping landscapes of South Africa, the film follows August, a troubled orphan who finds solace and purpose in raising a giant ostrich named Koobus. Their bond, tested by separation and adversity, becomes a metaphor for the universal longing for family, identity, and home. Read more. In Disney’s animated buddy-cop sequel Zootropoia 2 detectives Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde go undercover to unravel the mystery of a reptilian newcomer whose arrival turns the mammal metropolis upside down. Directed by Jared Bush (Encanto) and featuring voices like Jason Bateman, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Ke Huy Qua. Read more. Christmas Karma is Gurinder Chadha’s Bollywood-inspired musical twist on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, an Indian Tory Scrooge confronts ghosts, prejudice, and London’s cost-of-living crisis in a festive tale of reckoning and redemption. The film stars Kunal Nayyar, Eva Longoria, Hugh Bonneville, and Charithra Chandran, with music blending rap, bhangra, gospel, and classic carols. Read more. In Anniversary, a close-knit family unravels as a radical movement called “The Change” sweeps across the country, igniting a provocative thriller of loyalty, ideology, and emotional fracture. Directed by Jan Komasa (Corpus Christi), the film stars Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler, Zoey Deutch, McKenna Grace, and Dylan O’Brien. Read more. In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life with (Miles Teller) and her first love (Callum Turner), who died young and has waited decades for her to arrive in Eternity. Read more. Read more about the latest and upcoming films. About Daniel DercksenDaniel Dercksen has been a contributor for Lifestyle since 2012. As the driving force behind the successful independent training initiative The Writing Studio and a published film and theatre journalist of 40 years, teaching workshops in creative writing, playwriting and screenwriting throughout South Africa and internationally the past 22 years. Visit www.writingstudio.co.za View my profile and articles... |