Fall is the perfect time for curling up with a good book—or maybe a good movie. (We’re not monsters.) Even better if you can hit two birds with one stone, of course, and this after all is Literary Hub, so here we present the literary movies and TV shows—adaptations, documentaries, and other book-adjacent fare—we’re most looking forward to this season.
SEPTEMBER:
Lynley
BritBox, September 4
Literary bona fides: based on the Inspector Lynley series by Elizabeth George
From our September streaming guide: It’s a classic set-up: two detectives, different as can be—one straight-laced and posh, one rebellious and working class—team up to solve crimes. (A previous adaptation, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, ran from 2001-2008.) The newest version, directed by Ed Bazalgette (once known as the lead guitarist of The Vapors) is set to premiere with four 90-minute episodes.
Preparation for the Next Life
In theaters, September 5
Literary bona fides: based on Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish (2014)
Lish’s PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novel, in which an illegal immigrant and an Iraq war veteran fall in love in New York City (where else?), has been adapted for the big screen by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok and director Bing Liu (Minding the Gap). Dwight Garner called the book “perhaps the finest and most unsentimental love story of the new decade,” and Cathleen Schine described it as “a love story, a war story, a tale of New York City in which familiar streets become exotic, mysterious, portentous, foul, magnificent. Some of it reads like poetry. All of it moves with a breathless momentum.” Early reviews suggest the film is just as unsentimental and just as haunting: an outsider story for the ages.
Highest 2 Lowest (streaming debut)
Apple TV+, September 5
Literary bona fides: based on Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low (1963), which was based on Ed McBain’s King’s Ransom (1959)
From our September streaming guide: Spike Lee’s star-studded latest—featuring Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, John Douglas Thompson, Dean Winters, LaChanze, Princess Nokia, and Ice Spice—has a distant literary history, but a literary history all the same: it’s based on a Kurosawa film which was itself based on a 1950s police procedural about a rich man faced with a moral dilemma. Reviews from its run in theaters are good, and Spike Lee is always worth the price of admission.
Dr. Seuss’s Red Fish Blue Fish
Netflix, September 8
Literary bona fides: based on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss (1960)
The first of three Dr. Seuss properties cropping up on Netflix this fall, calibrated (by the looks of it) primarily to entrance your children while you get some work done.
The Girlfriend
Prime Video, September 10
Literary bona fides: based on The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances (2017)
From our September streaming guide: Robin Wright directs and stars in this psychological thriller, alongside Laurie Davidson, who plays her son, and Olivia Cooke, who plays his new, extremely suspicious girlfriend. I haven’t seen very much about it, which isn’t a great sign, but Wright is a good one, so perhaps it’s a wash.
The Hardacres
BritBox, September 10
Literary bona fides: based on The Hardacre series by C.L. Skelton
From our September streaming guide: This rags-to-riches drama from the creators of All Creatures Great and Small, set in 1890s Yorkshire, has been out in the UK for a year; it’s now coming to us (US) via BritBox. A second season has been ordered, if you’re anxious!
The Long Walk
In theaters, September 12
Literary bona fides: based on Stephen King’s The Long Walk (1979)
The first of three Stephen King adaptations this fall (the answer to your question is no, they will never end), is the deeply depressing-looking The Long Walk, in which a bunch of young men sign up to walk (and be filmed doing it) for an indefinite amount of time—if you fall behind, you get executed, but if you’re the last one walking when all your friends are dead, you win money! The Long Walk is the first novel King ever wrote, begun when he was a freshman in college, and remains too resonant for me, folks. Directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by JT Mollner, and starring primo nepo baby Cooper Hoffman along with David Jonsson.
The History of Sound
In theaters, September 12
Literary bona fides: based on “The History of Sound” and “Origin Stories” by Ben Shattuck, published in The History of Sound (2024)
Paul Mescal fans have much to appreciate this season, beginning with The History of Sound, in which two young men, Lionel (Mescal) and David (Challengers‘ Josh O’Connor), fall in love in 1917 at the Boston Music Conservatory, and after being separated by war, find themselves reunited again by music. Early reviews are mixed, but Ben Shattuck himself wrote the screenplay, which bodes well for this viewer. Oliver Hermanus directs.
Looking Through Water
In theaters, September 12
Literary bona fides: based on Bob Rich’s Looking Through Water (2015)
Michael Douglas and his son Cameron Douglas star, as is the Douglas way, in this family drama about three generations of grumpy men trying to bond over fishing. The trailer includes the line “I’m 75 years old, I just wanna fish,” which made me laugh. Michael Stahl-David, David Morse, and Walker Scobell also star.
The Summer Book
In theaters, September 19
Literary bona fides: based on Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book (1972)
I’m shocked they made this wonderful, plotless, gentle little book into a film—I would have called it nigh impossible, or at least fruitless, though I would also call it one of the best summer novels of all time—but it looks as though they’ve done it justice. Can’t wait to see Glenn Close as the grandmother.
The Lost Bus
In theaters, September 19; Apple TV+, October 3
Literary bona fides: based on Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by Lizzie Johnson (2021)
Washington Post staff writer Johnson’s work of reportage on California’s 2018 Camp Fire has been turned into a high-stakes thriller about a school bus driver (Matthew McConaughey) trying to navigate a bus full of kids and their teacher (America Ferrera) through a deadly wildfire. Ok!
Waltzing with Brando
In theaters, September 19
Literary bona fides: based on Waltzing with Brando: Planning a Paradise in Tahiti by Bernard Judge (2011)
Billy Zane stars as Marlon Brando—a role he was born to play, look at him—in Bill Fishman’s adaptation of a memoir by architect Bernard Judge, whom Brando hired to build a compound on an uninhabited island in Tahiti in the ’70s. Should be fun.
Slow Horses (Season 5)
Apple TV+, September 24
Literary bona fides: based on Mick Herron’s Slough House series
From our September streaming guide: If you’re watching, you’re watching, and if you’re not, go start at the beginning.
The Man in My Basement
In theaters, September 12; Hulu, September 26
Literary bona fides: based on Walter Mosley’s The Man in My Basement (2004)
From our September streaming guide: Mosley co-wrote this adaptation of his 2004 psychological thriller with Nadia Latif, who also directs; a great sign. Set in Sag Harbor, the movie begins when Charles (Corey Hawkins), out of work and struggling, answers the door to find a strange man (Willem Dafoe) with an offer: let him rent out his basement for a ridiculous sum. Of course he accepts, and soon “finds himself led down a terrifying path that confronts his family’s ghosts and locks the men in a terrifying puzzle, at the heart of it race, the source of their traumas and the root of all evil.”
One Battle After Another
In theaters, September 26
Literary bona fides: inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland (1990)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s second Pynchon adaptation, after 2014’s Inherent Vice, is not a faithful take but a full re-imagining of the story of past, let’s call them actions, coming back to haunt a family. Leonardo DiCaprio, along with Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti in her film debut. So it’s obviously stacked, and the trailer looks great; I have high hopes.
OCTOBER:
Orwell: 2+2=5
In theaters, October 3
Literary bona fides: being an all-too timely documentary about George Orwell
Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) directs and produces this documentary about George Orwell, focusing on his life and his work on his final novel, 1984, and the ways in which it has remained important and prescient to this day. At Deadline, Matthew Carey writes that the film “makes it startlingly clear the degree to which we are living in Orwellian times. The parallels between the nightmare of 1984—where Big Brother dictates every facet of life—and Trump’s America have not been properly acknowledged. This film does that.” And at Slate, Sam Adams calls it “dazzling and terrifying, a guide to a political movement that has been gathering steam for decades and shows no signs of letting up. It’s also a profoundly pessimistic movie, but it’s galvanizing in its understanding that the struggles we now face have been fought before, and some of them were won.”
Steve
October 3, Netflix
Literary bona fides: based on Max Porter’s Shy (2023)
Max Porter has adapted the screenplay for Steve from his own novella Shy, about the head teacher of a reform school (Cillian Murphy) who finds the walls closing in on all fronts, professional and personal. Tim Mielants—who also led last year’s adaptation of Small Things Like These—directs. “I just adore Max’s writing and the thing his writing does for me, which Claire Keegan’s writing does as well—and it’s something I’ve always chased down in writing—is something that has an actual visceral effect on you, an emotional effect,” Murphy told Deadline. “Max gave me [Shy] in a proof edition before he finished it, and again it just broke my heart. They’re the sorts of things I love as a reader and as a performer, so I really wanted to do something with him.” Should be good.
Maigret
PBS Masterpiece, October 5
Literary bona fides: based on Georges Simenon’s Jules Maigret novels
Benjamin Wainwright stars as Parisian Chief Inspector Jules Maigret in the first contemporary television adaptation of Simenon’s classic series, the second best-selling detective series of all time (after Sherlock Holmes). This adaption “reframes Maigret as an unconventional young detective with something to prove the Police Judiciaire, relentless in his investigations, chasing and a matchless knowledge of Paris and its inhabitants,” according to PBS. “Faithfully and lovingly married to Madame Maigret [(Stefanie Martini)], Maigret heads the elite police unit known as La Crim, responsible for investigating all serious crime in and around Paris.”
Dr. Seuss’s Horton!
Netflix, October 6
Literary bona fides: based on Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who! (1954)
More Seuss IP for the children.
Boots
Netflix, October 9
Literary bona fides: inspired by Greg Cope White’s The Pink Marine (2015)
Inspired by former Marine Greg Cope White’s memoir, Boots is a coming-of-age story that follows a new recruit—the closeted Cameron (Miles Heizer)—along with his straight best friend Ray McAffey (Liam Oh) in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1990, when it was “illegal” to be gay while serving in the military. This was legendary producer Norman Lear’s last project before he died in 2023. It’s also supposed to be funny.
Kiss of the Spider Woman
In theaters, October 10
Literary bona fides: based on Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman (1976)
JLo is literally the girl of your dreams in Kiss of the Spider Woman, which concerns, in reality, two men (Diego Luna as Valentín and Tonatiuh as Molina) in an Argentine prison in the ’80s, and also concerns, in the fantasies that Molina spins about his favorite actress in order to keep them both sane, Ingrid Luna, also known as the Spider Woman. Also, in case you are unfamiliar with Spider Woman lore (there’s a stage production and an earlier adaptation), it’s a musical!! Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Chicago, Kinsey, Dreamgirls) adapted the screenplay and directs, so I’m expecting the razzle dazzle.
Soul on Fire
In theaters, October 10
Literary bona fides: based on John O’Leary’s On Fire, The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life
William H. Macy, John Corbett and Joel Courtney star in this adaptation of John O’Leary’s book, which is in part a memoir of his experiences after being trapped in a house fire at 9 years old and suffering burns all over his body. Sean McNamara directs from a script adapted by Gregory Poirier.
Fairyland
In theaters, October 10
Literary bona fides: based on Alysia Abbott’s Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father (2013)
Sofia Coppola produced Andrew Durham’s adaptation of Abbott’s memoir, in which Abbott finds herself living with her gay, bohemian dad (the poet Steve Abbott) in 1970s San Francisco after the death of her mother. Emilia Jones, Scoot McNairy, Cody Fern, Maria Bakalova, Nessa Dougherty, Adam Lambert, and Geena Davis star.
The Woman in Cabin 10
Netflix, October 10
Literary bona fides: based on The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware (2016)
Keira Knightley stars in this adaptation of Ware’s best-selling thriller, in which a travel journalist on a cruise definitely sees a woman being thrown overboard, except that no such woman ever existed and no one seems to know what she’s talking about. Guy Pearce, Art Malik, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings and Hannah Waddingham also star (whew).
Ballad of a Small Player
In theaters October 15, Netflix October 29
Literary bona fides: based on The Ballad of a Small Player by Lawrence Osborne (2014)
Edward Berger directs this stylized, amped up gambling drama, set in Macau, which, if the trailer is any indication, features many scenes of Colin Farrell screaming at inanimate objects (a genre to which I am not insensitive). Will there be too many? We’ll have to watch to find out.
Frankenstein
In theaters, October 17, Netflix, November 7
Literary bona fides: based on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
First he tackled Pinocchio, and now Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited Frankenstein adaptation finally, ahem, lives. “For years, del Toro has built his myths in films like Pan’s Labyrinth and Crimson Peak with the dusty and elaborate furniture of the gothic,” writes John Bleasdale in Time Out. “His baroque vision fuses personal and societal dysfunction with myths of otherness. Here, given the opportunity to bring his childhood favorite to life, Del Toro throws everything he can at the screen. Frankenstein is loud, bombastic, sublime and silly. This is a universe in which towers totter above precipices, cellars drip hollowly and women wear impossible dresses in the snow.”
Oscar Isaac stars as Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as the monster, Felix Kammerer as William, Mia Goth as Elizabeth, and Christoph Waltz as an arms dealer, just helping out. It also is supposedly one of the most faithful to Shelley’s original novel, which appeals after decades of a green guy with neck bolts. There are many bad Frankenstein adaptations, but this, I have all confidence, will not be one of them.
The Twits
Netflix, October 17
Literary bona fides: based on Roald Dahl’s The Twits (1980)
Margo Martindale and Johnny Vegas are the voices behind Mrs. and Mr. Twit in this fun-looking adaptation of Dahl’s beloved story, which he famously said he wrote in an attempt to “do something against beards.” Natalie Portman, Emilia Clarke, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Ryan Lopez, Jason Mantzoukas, Timothy Simons, Alan Tudyk, and Nicole Byer round out the cast.
Hedda
In theaters, October 22, Prime Video, October 29
Literary bona fides: based on Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen (1891)
Nia DaCosta adapted and directs this modern and very sexy-looking adaptation of Ibsen’s masterpiece of regret and self-actualization. Tessa Thompson produces and stars, which usually brings me to the movies, along with Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman, Nicholas Pinnock, and Nina Hoss. My most anticipated of the season.
Regretting You
In theaters, October 24
Literary bona fides: based on Regretting You by Colleen Hoover (2019)
The Hoover train and the Dave Franco-ssance continue apace; this adaptation also stars Allison Williams, Mckenna Grace, Mason Thames, Willa Fitzgerald, Scott Eastwood, and Clancy Brown. Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) directs.
Talamasca: The Secret Order
AMC, October 26
Literary bona fides: set in Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe
Nicholas Denton stars in this new Rice-verse project as Guy Anatole (a new character, not one from the books), who is drafted into the Talamasca, a secret baddie-hunting society, in this six-episode season. Should be fun, and full of crossovers, and honestly I’m here for anything that Elizabeth McGovern deigns to deliver.
Down Cemetery Road
Apple TV+, October 29
Literary bona fides: based on Down Cemetery Road by Mick Herron (2003)
Apple is reaching back into the Mick Herron bag after the success of Slow Horses (see above); Down Cemetery Road, Herron’s debut novel and the first in his Zoë Boehm series, was adapted by Morwenna Banks and stars Ruth Wilson as Sarah Tucker, resident of a leafy suburb, who after a mysterious explosion that leaves two dead and a little girl missing, calls in Oxford PI Zoë Boehm (Emma Thompson) to help her crack the case.
It: Welcome to Derry
HBO, October TBD
Literary bona fides: based on Stephen King’s It (1986)
What could the It franchise use? If you said “a prequel,” you probably have a financial stake in it. Anyway, Welcome to Derry is set in 1962, when a new family arrives in town to find…well, you know. Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Taylour Paige, James Remar, and Stephen Rider star, and Bill Skarsgård is back as Pennywise.
NOVEMBER:
Dr. Seuss’s Sneetches
Netflix, November 3
Literary bona fides: based on Dr. Seuss’s The Sneetches (1961)
Dr. Seuss IP #3!
All Her Fault
Peacock, November 6
Literary bona fides: based on All Her Fault by Andrea Mara (2021)
Sarah Snook stars in this mystery thriller series that I will absolutely not be watching because it concerns a woman coming to pick her son up from a playdate, only to find him missing. Jake Lacy, Sophia Lillis, and Michael Peña also star; Dakota Fanning, Abby Elliott, Jay Ellis and Thomas Cocquerel are series regulars.
Death by Lightning
Netflix, November 6
Literary bona fides: based on Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard (2011)
Michael Shannon stars as James Garfield in this historical mini-series from executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and Matthew Macfadyen is Charles Guiteau, his greatest admirer, who also happened to murder him. The rest of the cast is similarly stacked, featuring Betty Gilpin, Nick Offerman, Bradley Whitford, Shea Whigham, Paula Malcomson. The series was adapted from Millard’s book by showrunner Mike Makowsky, who was inspired after “reading it in one sitting, because it was one of the most insane true stories I had ever heard.”
He added: “I found it unspeakably tragic and moving, but also weirdly funny in a very dark way. It’s a tone that I tend to chase in the work that I take on, but there is a very deeply ingrained situational absurdity to roughly all of the proceedings that I was just so stunned by. As soon as I finished the book, I knew that I needed to adapt it and that in its best incarnation, it could speak to people in ways that other period shows might not.”
Die My Love
In theaters, November 7
Literary bona fides: based on Ariana Harwicz’s Matate, amor (2012); translated by Carolina Orloff and Sarah Moses as Die, My Love (2017)
Lynne Ramsay directs this adaptation from a screenplay she co-wrote with playwrights Enda Walsh and Alice Birch. Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson star as Grace and Jackson, who move from New York to rural Montana, but after they have a baby, Grace begins to suffer from postpartum depression and then psychosis that drag the film into fever dream surreality. Heavy stuff, but Stephanie Zacharek calls it “the most complex, unsettling, and bleakly funny performance Lawrence—who has been a fine, persuasive, charming actor since the beginning—has given,” and assures us that it’s actually “a kind of black comedy, bitterly funny even as it wrings unbidden emotions from us. It’s gorgeous to look at, a kind of back-to-the-land reverie, complete with wildflower-dotted fields and happily bizzing bees, that also feels like a kind of cosmic hell.” LaKeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek, and Nick Nolte round out an impressive cast.
Peter Hujar’s Day
In theaters, November 7
Literary bona fides: based on Peter Hujar’s Day by Linda Rosenkrantz (2021)
Peter Hujar’s Day is the biopic writ small: so small that it’s only one day, and not even really one day, but one conversation, in which photographer Peter Hujar (Ben Whishaw) tells his friend, the writer Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) about what he did the day before. The movie is, of course, based on an actual conversation between Hujar and Rosenkrantz in December 1974; she’d asked him to write down everything he did the day before, and then he came over to her apartment to talk about it. She recorded the conversation, and the transcript was first published in book-form in 2021. Ira Sachs’s (Passages, Keep the Lights On, Love Is Strange) adaptation is, at its heart, just a staging of this conversation—but from early accounts, sounds like it’s a great one. The talkies are back!
Nuremberg
In theaters, November 7
Literary bona fides: based on The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai (2013)
Rami Malek stars in this historical drama as Douglas Kelley, who acted as chief psychiatrist at Nuremberg Prison during the Nuremberg trials; in this film, he interviews Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) in an attempt to determine if he is “fit” to stand trial, and finds himself drawn into a strange battle of wits. James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, The Amazing Spider-Man) adapted and directs. Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, Wrenn Schmidt, Lydia Peckham, Richard E. Grant, and Michael Shannon (can’t have a movie like this without Michael Shannon) also star.
The Running Man
In theaters, November 7
Literary bona fides: based on The Running Man by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) (1982)
That’s right, there are not one but two ambulation-based Stephen King adaptations coming out this fall. This one concerns a game show in which one man (Glen Powell as “The Runner”) has to evade the scores of Hunters attempting to find and kill him. On TV! William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Emilia Jones, Michael Cera, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson, Colman Domingo, and Josh Brolin also star. Should be fun.
Sarah’s Oil
In theaters, November 7
Literary bona fides: based on Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America by Tonya Bolden (2014)
Cyrus Nowrasteh directs this biopic about underage oil magnate Sarah Rector, inspired by Bolden’s book about her. Zachary Levi, Naya Desir-Johnson, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Garret Dillahunt star.
I Wish You All The Best
In theaters, November 7
Literary bona fides: based on I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (2019)
13 Reasons Why actress Tommy Dorfman’s directorial debut is an adaptation of Mason Deaver’s queer coming-of-age novel, in which teenager Ben De Backer (Corey Fogelmanis) is thrown out of their house after coming out to their parents as nonbinary. Things are bad, but they do get better. Ben takes refuge with his estranged sister (Alexandra Daddario) and her husband (Cole Sprouse, who since you asked is 33 years old), and starts at a new school, where it seems like their luck may be about to change. Early reviews are good!
The Beast in Me
Netflix, November 13
Literary bona fides: concerning novelist problems
Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys seem just about perfectly cast in this cat and mouse thriller, all eight episodes of which will be dumped in our laps for bingeing pleasure in November. It’s not an adaptation, but Danes stars as reclusive author Aggie Wiggs, who hasn’t been able to write since the death of her son. But then some very tantalizing material moves in next door, in the shadowy figure of Nile Jarvis (Rhys), a famous real estate mogul who may or may not have killed his wife. Brittany Snow, Natalie Morales, and David Lyons also star, and Jodie Foster and Conan O’Brien are listed as executive producers.
Train Dreams
In theaters, November 7, Netflix, November 21
Literary bona fides: based on Denis Johnson’s Train Dreams (2011)
One of Lit Hub’s most anticipated adaptations of the year, not because the book needs, or asks for, adapting, really, but just because we all love it so much. Joel Edgerton plays Robert Grainier, and Felicity Jones stars as his wife Gladys. Will it work on screen? Early reviews are promising, but there seems to be quite a bit of voiceover, which is rarely a good sign. Oh well! I’ll be looking for the wolf-girl.
Wicked: For Good
In theaters, November 23
Literary bona fides: based on Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995)
The culture at large has finally stopped talking about Wicked, but not for long. Wicked 2 swoops in this November for all your family holiday needs.
Hamnet
In theaters, November 27
Literary bona fides: based on Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet (2020) novel
We’ve been waiting for Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Hamnet, a novel that imagines the life of William Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes, after losing her only son, for a while now. Our assessment of the trailer is “too much Mescal” (he’s barely in the book!) but sounds like this adaptation is about as devastating as it’s meant to be, considering the source material. (This is another one that I, parent of a young child, will not in fact be watching at all, apologies.)
The Thing With Feathers
In theaters, November 28
Literary bona fides: based on Max Porter’s Grief is the Thing with Feathers (2015)
Tis the season of Max Porter! His biggest hit, Grief is the Thing with Feathers, in which a father’s grief takes the form of an enormous black crow, was already adapted into a play by Enda Walsh (see above) that starred Cillian Murphy (see above that), and now Dylan Southern has turned it into a feature film starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Early reviews are mixed; we shall see.
DECEMBER:
Merrily We Roll Along
In theaters, December 5
Literary bona fides: based on the 1934 play Merrily We Roll Along by by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart
This is not, obviously, the Richard Linklater Merrily We Roll Along, which is literally following the characters (Paul Mescal, Ben Platt, Beanie Feldstein) over 20 years (a la Boyhood) and is therefore not close to being done filming. Rather it is a filmed version of the record-breaking, four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, directed by Maria Friedman, which is getting a theatrical release. Good news for the non New Yorkers!
The Housemaid
Netflix, December 25
Literary bona fides: based on The Housemaid by Freida McFadden (2022)
Sydney Sweeney stars as the titular housemaid in Paul Feig’s adaptation of McFadden’s bestselling thriller, along with Amanda Seyfried as Nina and Brandon Sklenar as her husband Andrew. Looking through keyholes is a perfect Christmas activity.
The New Yorker at 100
Netflix, TBD
Literary bona fides: just what it says on the tin
The New Yorker is 100, so perhaps you would like to watch a documentary about it? Marshall Curry’s The New Yorker at 100 96-minute history is, according to The Hollywood Reporter‘s Daniel Fienberg, “a polished, amusing and generally superficial Reader’s Digest summary of a documentary.” Guess the real drama will have to stay in the group chats.
