The Most Anticipated Movies from the 2024 New York Film Festival Lineup

Fall in New York means many things. It means that it's time to drag those jackets out from under-the-bed storage, it means it's time to watch You've Got Mail and it means that it's time for the New York Film Festival. This year's festival, the 62nd NYFF, will run from Sept. 27, 2024 - Oct. 14, 2024, with thousands of people watching films at Lincoln Center for over two and a half weeks. New York is the final major film festival of the fall season and unlike Venice, Telluride and Toronto, is located in a major American metropolis, which means the lineup here is finally available to the general public living in the USA.

The New York Film Festival is set apart from its fellow fall festivals by being the only one not to award prizes and by being the least concerned with "world premiere" status. What that means for festival goers, and those following along from afar, is that the movies picked for NYFF are selected purely on merit AND we've already got reviews on most of the titles headed to the festival. Since most of NYFF's titles have already played at Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, etc., it becomes a lot easier to pick which movies you want to buy tickets for. There also aren't secret stinkers lurking in the mix that no one has seen yet. Last year's NYFF showcased the likes of eventual Oscar winners Anatomy of a Fall, Poor Things, The Boy and the Heron and The Zone of Interest.

Related: The 9 Best Movies from the 2024 Tribeca Festival

So what Oscar hopefuls await you in the 2024 lineup and which movies are we most excited for? Here's a rundown of the most highly anticipated films playing New York Film Festival this year:

14 most anticipated movies from NYFF 2024

1. All We Imagine As Light

After a strong premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this summer, All We Imagine as Light is now making the rounds at the fall festivals having hit up Toronto and Telluride before arriving at NYFF. The first Indian movie to compete in Cannes' main competition since 1994, the feature from Payal Kapadia follows to nurses living in Mumbai who travel to the seaside. Its already established itself as one of the top international contenders of the year and will likely get yet another boost from the NYFF audience.

2. Anora

While winning the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, hasn't always meant commercial success in the US, with Anatomy of a Fall, Triangle of Sadness and Parasite in recent years, we're on a bit of a hot streak. Sean Baker (who previously crafted masterpieces like The Florida Project and Tangerine) won the Palme this year for Anora, a dramedy about a Russian-American stripper (Mikey Madison) who falls in love with a young Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn). Playing a host of fall festivals, Anora has been amassing praise around the world and was a runner-up for the TIFF People's Choice Award. It is easily one of the most highly anticipated films for New York cinephiles.

3. Apocalypse in the Tropics

In 2020, Petra Costa's documentary The Edge of Democracy was nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. That film followed the rise of Brazilian right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro following the arrest of former leftist president Lula de Silva and the impeachment of his successor Dilma Rousseff. Since the making of that documentary, Bolsonaro has since been ousted by de Silva in a more recent election, but Costa is still fascinated by Bolsonaro's rise and especially it's connection to evangelical Christianity in Brazil. This follow-up doc delves deeper into the politics of the country in light of more recent developments.

Related: The 25 Best Movies of 2023

4. Blitz

The director of 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen is bringing his latest film to NYFF this year. The World War II drama, starring Saoirse Ronan and Harris Dickinson, follows a young boy and his mother in London during the blitz. On paper everything about Blitz seems tailor-made for the Academy, but it's one of the few films at NYFF that people still haven't seen. It premieres in early October at the BFI London Film Festival before serving as the closing night film at NYFF. An exciting unknown to add to the mix.

5. The Brutalist

With an over 3..5 hour-long runtime and a 15 minute intermission built into the movie, The Brutalist seemed poised to be one of those awards season behemoths audiences avoid like the plague. However, after rave reviews at both Venice and TIFF, The Brutalist is arriving at NYFF as a leading Oscar contender and the event film of the season. After all, what other movie lets you take a bathroom break and buy Twizzlers half way through without missing a moment of the plot. The gorgeously directed Brady Corbet epic stars Adrien Brody as a Jewish architect, attempting to rebuild his life in America post-World War II. The cinematography and score are also breathtaking.

6. Dahomey

Perhaps not the flashiest film in the NYFF lineup, Mati Diop's documentary Dahomey took home the Berlin International Film Festival's top prize, the Golden Bear, this winter, and has played well this fall too. The semi-fictional doc focuses on 26 royal treasures from the African Kingdom of Dahomey (which is now modern day Benin) that were held in a museum in France. The doc focuses on how the artifacts came to be in French possession and how they were later returned to Benin. Dahomey is certainly one of the top documentaries to watch this awards season as well.

7. Happyend

Let me introduce you to your new favorite movie. The hidden gem of 2024 is undoubtedly this Japanese coming-of-age story from Neo Sora. After making his NYFF debut last year with a tribute to his father in the concert doc Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, he's returning with this delightful portrait of five best friends attending a Tokyo high school. Between prank wars, sneaking into clubs and an ongoing battle with the school's new Big Brother-esque surveillance system, Happyend delves into the melancholy nature of friends growing up and apart, while also skewering totalitarianism.Laugh-out-loud funny at moments and snot-nose-crying sad at others, it is one of the best films of the year.

Related: 20 Academy Award Contenders for 2025 You Need to Watch

8. Hard Truths

One of the biggest revelations to come out of this year's TIFF was Mike Leigh's British drama Hard Truths about a middle aged woman filled with rage. Leigh's 1996 film Secrets & Lies earned actress Marianna Jean-Baptiste and Oscar nom, and critics are hailing her work in Hard Truths as even better. If you're in the market for one of the best performances of the year, this seems to be your best bet.

9. I'm Still Here

After playing Venice and TIFF, this Brazilian drama is now heading to NYFF. It's based on the true story of a Labour Party congressman who disappeared during the Brazilian Military Dictatorship of the 1970s. Based on a book by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the son of missing congressman Rubens Paiva, the movie follows the wife and five children left behind when Rubens goes missing. I'm Still Here is a quiet family portrait in some moments and a thriller in others, but its captivating the entire time and Fernanda Torres' performance as the matriarch certainly deserves awards.

Related: The 13 Best Movies at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, Including the People's Choice Award Winner

10. Maria

The spiritual successor to Jackie and Spencer, Maria is the third recent film from Pablo Larrain focused on a misunderstood iconic woman. Angelina Jolie takes on her first meaty role since 2008's Changeling playing opera singer Maria Callas in the final days of her life. Maria premiered at Venice but will be making its way to NYFF with plenty of anticipation. Both Natalie Portman and Kristen Stewart earned Best Actress nominations for their portrayals so it's likely Jolie could land another Oscar nom this year as well.

11. Nickel Boys

While opening NYFF doesn't always mean a film is great, it does mean the film will receive plenty of attention. In the case of this year's festival opener, Nickel Boys, however, it appears NYFF has a winner on its hands. Receiving rave reviews at Telluride, the historical drama based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead snagged the glitzy opening night slot at NYFF. In addition to featuring Daveed Diggs and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in supporting roles, the film stars newcomers Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson as the best friends attending a reform school in Jim Crow era Florida.

12. A Real Pain

Jesse Eisenberg wrote, directed, produced and stars in this Sundance dramedy about a pair of cousins. Eisenberg and Succession's Kieran Culkin are relatives who reunite for a tour of Poland following the death of their grandmother who survived a concentration camp during World War II. Both Eisenberg and Culkin turn in exceptional performances and Will Sharpe and Jennifer Grey are fun as other members of their European tour group.

13. The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Perhaps one of the buzziest entries in this year's Best International Feature Oscar race is the German entry from Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof. If you're wondering why an Iranian film is being submitted by Germany, it's because Rasoulof's criticism of the Iranian government in his filmmaking has repeatedly put him at danger in Iran. After making The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Rasoulof was sentenced to 8 years in prison with flogging and had to flee Iran over the course of a 28-day journey, much of which was on foot. He eventually made it to Germany where he completed post-production on the movie and currently resides.

14. Suburban Fury

One of NYFF's few world premieres is this documentary about Sara Jane Moore. Older viewers may recognize her name as the woman who attempted to assassinate Gerald Ford in 1975. She's since served over 30 years in prison and is only now sharing her story. Documentarian Robinson Devor interviewed Moore and sets her fascinating life story against a backdrop of political unrest in the 1970s. It's one of the few unknowns of the festival and thus one of NYFF's most highly anticipated premieres.

Next, The Best Movies of 2024 (So Far)