2021 Holiday Movie Preview: 16 Films To Watch In December

By Rachel West. 13 Dec 2021 12:42 PM

From family-friendly fare and high-stakes adventures to riveting dramas and movies destined for awards season, there are plenty of films to see this holiday season.

20th Century

Kimberley French/Netflix

Prime Video

NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX

Claire Folger/Amazon

Sony Pictures

YANNIS DRAKOULIDIS/NETFLIX

Searchlight Pictures

Universal Pictures

Walt Disney Studios

Warner Bros.

MGM

Sony Pictures

A24

Michael Kubeisy/Mongrel Media

Peter Mountain/MGM

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1 of 16

‘West Side Story’
20th Century
Watch: In theatres December 10

Steven Spielberg adapts the award-winning 1957 musical about forbidden love with Ansel Elgort and newcomer Rachel Zegler in the leads. Rita Moreno, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Anita in the original film, will make an appearance is Spielberg’s version.
‘The Unforgivable’
Kimberley French/Netflix
Watch: On Netflix December 10

Sandra Bullock stars as a woman released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime to re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past in this Netflix drama. Bullock co-stars alongside fellow Oscar winner Viola Davis, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Jon Bernthal.
‘Being The Ricardos’
Prime Video
Watch: In select theatres December 10, on Prime Video Canada December 21

Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem step into the shoes of TV superstars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in the latest drama from writer-director Aaron Sorkin. Based on real-life events, “Being The Ricardos” focusses on a five-day period in September 1952 while filming the “I Love Lucy” episode “Fred And Ethel Fight” which say the famous couple face a scandal that could end their career, and another that might end their marriage.
‘Don’t Look Up’
NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX
Watch: In select theatres December 10, on Netflix December 24

Jenifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio lead an all-star cast that includes Meryl Streep, Mark Rylance, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Ariana Grande, Tyler Perry, and Ron Perlman in the comedy-drama about two low-level astronomers who go on a massive media tour to warm humankind of an approaching comet that will destroy Earth.
‘The Tender Bar’
Claire Folger/Amazon
Watch: In select theatres December 17, on Amazon Prime Video December 17

George Clooney heads back to the director’s chair for “The Tender Bar”. Tye Sheridan stars as a boy growing up on Long Island who seeks out father figures among the patron who frequent his uncle’s (Ben Affleck) bar.
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
Sony Pictures
Watch: In theatres December 17

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) seeks help from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) but it doesn’t go so well in “Spider-Man: No Way Home”. Unleashing a multi-verse of villains and possibilities, Peter is forced to learn what it truly means to be a superhero.
‘The Lost Daughter’
YANNIS DRAKOULIDIS/NETFLIX
Watch: In select theatres December 17, on Netflix December 31

Maggie Gyllenhaal directs Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris and her husband Peter Sarsgaard in this adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel. Colman plays Leda, a woman who confronts her own past full of complicated maternal feelings while on a beach vacation on a Greek island.
‘Nightmare Alley’
Searchlight Pictures
Watch: In theatres December 17

The most star-studded cast of 2021 turns up for Guillermo del Toro’s story about a manipulative carnival conman. Filmed in and around Toronto, Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, David Stratharin, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Toni Collette, Clifton Collins Jr., and Ron Perlman are all a part of the Oscar-winning director’s adaptation of the 1946 best-selling novel.
‘Sing 2’
Universal Pictures
Watch: In theatres December 22

Bono makes his voice acting debut as Clay Calloway, a reclusive rock star lion who Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) and friends must convince to join the opening of their new musical revue. Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Reese Witherspoon, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, Halsey, Bobby Cannavale, Pharrell Williams and Chelsea Peretti all lend their voices to the animated sequel.
‘The King’s Man’
Walt Disney Studios
Watch: In theatres December 22

The third entry in the “Kingsman” franchise brings it all back to the beginning. Viewers will get to see how the Kingsman agency was formed in the early 20th century to stand against a group plotting a war to wipe out millions. Ralph Fiennes, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Stanley Tucci, Daniel Bruhl and Aaron Taylor-Johnson co-star in the action-packed prequel.
‘The Matrix: Resurrections’
Warner Bros.
Watch: In theatres December 22

Neo once again gets to choose between the blue pill and the red pill in “The Matrix: Resurrections”. Canadian co-stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss as well as Jada Pinkett- Smith reprise their roles from the original franchise as they’re joined by some new faces including Yahya Abdul-Mateen II who takes on the role of Morpheus. Not much is known about the plot this time around as Lana Wachowski returns to direct with Christina Ricci, Priyanka Chopra, Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Groff and Jessica Henwick co-starring in the film.
‘Licorice Pizza’
MGM
Watch: In theatres December 25

Alana (Alana Haim) and Gary (Cooper Hoffman) navigate life, love and growing up in the San Fernando Valley in 1973 in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest. Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper and Anderson’s wife, Maya Rudolph also co-star in the film opposite Hoffman, the son of the late acting legend and frequent Anderson collaborator Philip Seymour Hoffman.
‘A Journal For Jordan’
Sony Pictures
Watch: In theatres December 25

If you are looking for a holiday tearjerker, this is it. Denzel Washington directs Michael B. Jordan in the real-life story of 1st Sgt. Charles Monroe King who – before his death in combat - authors a journal for his young son to tell him how to live a good life despite growing up without a father.
‘The Tragedy Of Macbeth’
A24
Watch: In theatres December 25

Joel Coen adapts one of Shakespeare’s finest plays with Denzel Washington as the mighty Scottish Lord Macbeth, with Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth and Brendan Gleeson as King Duncan in the black-and-white drama.
‘American Underdog’
Michael Kubeisy/Mongrel Media
Watch: In theatres December 25

The true story of how NFL MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warne went from stocking grocery store shelves to becoming a football star comes to life in the biopic “American Underdog” starring Zachary Levi, Anna Paquin, and Dennis Quaid.
‘Cyrano’
Peter Mountain/MGM
Watch: In theatres December 31

Edmond Rostand’s classic play gets a new big screen adaptation from “Atonement” director Joe Wright and with Peter Dinklage in the lead as wordsmith Cyrano de Bergerac. Too self-conscious to woo Roxanne (Haley Bennett) himself, Cyrano helps young Christina (Kelvin Harrison Jr) win heart through a series of love letters.

2021 Holiday Movie Preview: 16 Films To Watch In December

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