From anticipated big budget flicks to the first-time gems, here are 6 films to watch at this year's LFF!
Decision To Leave (dir. Park Chan-wook)
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While maestro South-Korean director Park Chan-wook has been an active as the director of the acclaimed but underseen miniseries The Little Drummer Girl, Decision To Leave marks the great South-Korean filmmaker’s return to the big-screen since his modern classic The Handmaiden achieved classic status way back in 2016. The hotly anticipated follow-up stars Park Have-il as a detective whose latest investigation becomes complicated when he falls in love with the murder-victim’s widow, played by Chinese actress Tang Wei.
Surprise Film (dir. ?)
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A highly anticipated staple of LFF is their surprise film – a mystery movie that doesn’t unveil itself until you’re already in the screening room. Previous entries include Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and The Safdie’s Uncut Gems. If we were to bet on this year’s feature, we’d guess Todd Field’s Blanchett-starring Lydia Tar biopic TAR or Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical love-letter to movies The Fabelmans. Either way, it’s not one to be missed.
Liquor Store Dreams (dir. So Yun-um)
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Truly one of the gems of 2022, So Yun-um’s debut feature Liquor Store Dreams is a heartfelt documentary that examines the life of two “Liquor Store Babies” – Korean-American children and young-adults whose parents own Liquor Stores – and the complicated relationship between the black and Korean communities in South Central LA. A honest and personal rumination on identity and the importance of solidarity within a community, this is one of the year’s best. (Stay tuned for our exclusive interview with So Yun-um, landing on Wednesday!)
Joyland (dir. Saim Sadiq)
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Another feature-debut we can’t wait to see: Saim Sadiq’s Joyland, a fictional story set in Lahore about a middle-class family in which a wheelchair-bound yet severe patriarch rules over his two sons and daughters-in-law. He wants his kids to give him grandchildren, but all changes when his younger son, Haider, falls in love with Biba, a transgender dancer played by Alina Khan, while working as her backing dancer. Receiving a standing ovation at Cannes this year and winning The Jury Prize, Joyland is a primed to be a sneak-best of 2022.
Pinocchio (Guillermo Del Toro)
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Disney’s live-action Pinocchio is not only the worst major release of the year but a massive slap in the face of the animated classic. We’re hoping that Mexican master of horror Guillermo Del Toro’s stop-motion adaptation of the iconic story will offer new perspectives and, at the very least, a fresh take on the morally questionable wooden boy.
Living (dir. Oliver Hermanus)
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It’s hard to believe than any adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s magnificent Ikiru could possibly reach the same life-altering heights as the Japanese classic, but we’re excited all the same to see Bill Nighy as a stiff working man who, upon finding out he has terminal cancer, decides to take life by the horns.
