The indie movies and original stories we’re looking forward to in 2023

Then, there is Dune: Part twoFall 2023 will be full of big movie releases. From franchises like Marvel Cinematic Universe to major projects. MarvelsA new Hunger Games film, Godzilla’s new movie and the much-anticipated Chicken Run Then you will be able to see the next page. Dawn of the Nugget. But as usual, the biggest films of fall are largely tied to existing IP or familiar stories, whether it’s series installments (Saw X, The Nun IIBiopics, and movies based on real-life events (Priscilla, Ferrari, NapoleonThe book can be adapted into a film (The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Poor Things, the film adaptation of the Broadway adaptation of Alice Walker’s Purple). Film buffs frequently look at this kind of lineup and grouse, “Where are the Original stories?”

This fall, you can also watch a lot of them in the theater or on streaming! Here’s a quick roundup of the movies we’re most looking forward to over the next several months that aren’t remakes, reboots, sequels, spinoffs, adaptations, franchise films, or any other form of brand extension. If you’re looking for unusual or standout stories this fall, here’s our best guess on where you’re going to find them.

Outlaw Johnny Black

Select theaters, Sept. 15,

Image: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Genre: Spoof Comedy
Director: Michael Jai White
Cast: Michael Jai White Byron Minns Anika noni Rose

If you’re like me, you’ve been waiting for another movie in the vein of Black Dynamite Michael Jai White has been helping people for over 15 years. Michael Jai White will help you.

In this Western parody, the co-writer and star of the excellent Blaxploitation comedy returns to the spoof genre. He plays an outlaw who is on the run in a small village under the heel a vicious capitalist. Oh, and he’s also trying to avenge his father. And he’s also in love, but the preacher he’s pretending to be is in love with someone else. It’s the same as Black Dynamite, Outlaw Johnny Black The film is filled with hilarious bits, which test your sense of taste but will always make you laugh. Just make sure Johnny Black doesn’t shoot it first. —PV

No one will save you

On Hulu Sept. 22

20th Century Studios

Genre: Sci-fi horror
Director: Brian Duffield
Cast: Kaitlyn Dever

Booksmart In this science-fiction take on the home invasion thriller, co-star Kaitlyn dever plays an anxious housebound shut-in who is threatened by aliens. The plot is pretty clear. Signs With a bit of DNA, its genetic composition is complete. 10 Cloverfield Lane On the side, without the partner who gaslights the shut-in. Mostly, though, it just looks like a breathless chiller, as Dever’s character tries to use blankets and her bed to fend off a force that’s a bit more powerful than nails and cloth. —The TRUST

The Kill Room

On theaters September 29

Image: Shout! Studios

Genre: Crime comedy
Director: Nicol Paone
Cast: Joe Manganiello, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson

In this quirky film from Friendsgiving director Nicol Paone.

Joe Manganiello (Magic MikeAs a quiet hitman, he is persuaded by a chatty art dealer to join a scheme of money-laundering with his boss Jackson. Going by the pseudonym The Batman, he produces unconventional paintings that become a sudden sensation in the art world, bringing him plenty of attention — not all of it wanted.

Thurman’s daughter Maya Hawke also features as a young artist looking for a breakthrough, and Our Flag Means Death’s Matthew Maher appears as the dealer who connects all the parties. It’s a bit like The Producers The Coen Brothers have a great cast, and the story is fun. —PV

The Creator

On theaters September 29

20th Century Studios

Genre: Sci-fi thriller
Director: Gareth Edwards
Cast: John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan

Also covered The Creator under our “biggest new movies of fall” banner, but we’d feel negligent if we didn’t include it on our list of our most anticipated original movies as well, given how we’re all salivating to see it. Gareth Edwards was the director. Rogue One: Star Wars Story, returns with a Terminator-esque tale about humanity’s war against an AI, and the hunt for a potential weapon against it, which turns out to be a second AI in the form of a child. The first trailer highlights a production design that reminds us all a bit of Denis Villeneuve’s DuneIn its beauty and sharpness. —You can also find out more about TR

The 57-Second Rule

On digital and in theaters Sept. 29,

The Avenue

Genre: Sci-fi thriller
Director: Rusty Cundieff
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Morgan Freeman, Greg Germann

Josh Hutcherson plays a tech journalist who discovers a device that can send a user back in time — you guessed it — by 57 seconds. Of course, the movie is a disaster. It’s an intriguing premise, but what really grabs our eye is that it was co-written by Macon Blair, star of Blue RuinDirector of I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore. —PV

You can work as a freelancer

The movie will be in cinemas on October 6

Relativity Media

Genre: Action Comedy
Director: Pierre Morel
Cast: John Cena, Alison Brie, Christian Slater

John Cena appears to be all over the place these days. The DC Universe! Jackie Chan movies! FortniteThe following are some examples of how to get started: Rocket League! Subway Ads! Being a mermaid at a party Barbie!

The Director Taken’s Pierre Morel, You can work as a freelancer sees Cena playing a former special forces soldier who takes on a security gig for a journalist (Alison Brie) who’s set to interview a dangerous dictator (Narcos’ Juan Pablo Raba). This film seems to have the same fun tone as the Channing Tatum/Sandra Bullock movie The Lost CityThis sounds like fun. —PV

Grand Prix Showdown

The movie will be available in cinemas and online on Nov. 3,

Image: Shout! Studios

Genre: Action Comedy
Director: Orson Oblowitz
Cast: Terrence Howard Dolph Lundgren John Savage

You put Dolph Lundgren in a movie, and I’m there. Terrence Howard in a large hat would be a nice bonus.

Howard plays a movie theater owner whose business is threatened by corporate developers, presumably the same people who are always trying to pave over kids’ clubhouses in dance movies. Lundgren, an action star from a movie, is called in to help him because the show has to go on. That’s a great premise with a promising cast from writer-director Orson Oblowitz, a former cinematographer. —PV

What Remains

Limited release Nov. 3; wide release Nov. 10.

Focus Features

Genre: Dramedy
Director: Alexander Payne
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa

Alexander Payne’s low-key film is a low-key Oscar nominee (Right Side Up), What Remains follows an unpopular teacher (Paul Giamatti) who is tasked with looking after the students who can’t go home during the winter holiday. It’s the first collaboration for Payne and Giamatti since Right Side Up, and promises a significant role for the extremely talented Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Dolemite is my name), who plays the school’s head cook. —PV

Dream Scenario

The movie will be in cinemas on Nov. 10.

Image: A24

Genre: Funny
Director: Kristoffer Borgli
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera

This dark comedy, produced by, is one of the most unusual projects in the 2023 schedule. HereditaryThe following are some examples of how to get started: Midsommar Ari Aster, director and by You’re sick of me’s Kristoffer Borgli stars Nicolas Cage as a man who starts appearing in the dreams of millions of strangers, turning him into a strange sort of star against his will. It’s the latest from A24, which earmarks it as yet another unusual and challenging title from America’s most consistently weird and intriguing distribution house. —Please contact us for more information.

Saltburn

Released in limited theatres on Nov. 24. Wide release Dec. 1.

Image: Amazon Studios

Genre: You can also watch the video below.
Director: Emerald Fennell
Cast: Barry Keoghan Jacob Elordi Rosamund Pike

Emerald Fennell’s spiky 2020 feminist revenge movie Promising Young Woman The film was controversial at the time and is still provocative and acidic. It’s also one of the best cast films of recent times. Saltburn This is her second film, which sounds like a tour of privilege and debauchery. Barry Keoghan, fresh from stealing 2022’s Banshees Of Inisherin, is an Oxford University student in the mid-2000s who’s invited by aristocrat Jacob Elordi to spend the summer at Saltburn, his eccentric family’s huge estate. Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Gran Turismo’s Archie Madekwe, and Carey Mulligan round out a delicious cast. —Oli Welsh

Rebel Moon

Netflix Streaming December 22

Image: Netflix

Genre: Space opera/Sci-fi epic
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Charlie Hunnam

Another one we covered in much more detail in our “biggest new movies of fall” rundown (not to mention in our sneak preview and roundtable interview with Zack Snyder and the other folks behind Netflix’s two-movies-and-maybe-more Rebel Moon project), this one warranted inclusion on our “most anticipated originals” list as well. Snyder, who originally based the film on a Star Wars project, is determined to create an original work unlike any other. We’ll see when Rebel Moon Part One – A Child of FireNetflix will release the film in December. —The TRUST