It’s November, which means we’re about to be bombarded with awards season contenders, and this year, we’ve got an embarrassment of riches on the release calendar. We’ve got a Mr. Rogers biopic starring Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), a sequel to a wildly popular Disney film (Frozen II), a historical drama starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones (The Aeronauts), a crime thriller written by Lena Waithe with Daniel Kaluuya (Queen & Slim), an acclaimed festival darling written by and starring Shia LaBeouf (Honey Boy), just to name a few. And guess what? Not a single one of those made it into our top five most anticipated movies of November. Read on to see what Rotten Tomatoes users and our fans on social media are looking forward to this month.
2,245 Want-to-See Votes
#1 pick by our Facebook and Twitter fans, #3 pick by our Instagram fans
Opens November 8
Given the popularity of Stephen King adaptations and the iconic nature of The Shining, it shouldn’t be too shocking to see Doctor Sleep at the top of our list this week. But with so much good stuff coming out in November, we have to admit it’s a little bit surprising. Based on the eponymous 2013 novel, the film follows a grown-up Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) as he investigates an evil cult responsible for kidnapping children who share his extrasensory gift. Reviews for the film have been positive overall so far, calling the sort-of-sequel a more contemplative type of horror film that nevertheless features plenty of callbacks to The Shining and a few chills of its own.
1,369 Want-to-See Votes
#1 pick by our Instagram fans, #3 pick by our Facebook and Twitter fans
Opens November 1 (limited); available to stream November 27 (Netflix)
While The Irishman is technically getting a limited theatrical release, most folks will have to wait until the film becomes available on Netflix later in the month. Honestly, that might be for the better, considering its 3.5-hour runtime. Martin Scorsese’s epic drama brings together Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and Harvey Keitel to recount the exploits of Frank Sheeran, an enforcer for the Buffalino crime family who may or may not have been partially responsible for the famous disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa in 1975. The announcement of the film came with a big to-do about the computerized de-aging that would be utilized, but those who have seen it say it’s not an issue at all, and Scorsese has delivered yet another masterpiece. It’s already Certified Fresh, and you can bet a lot of people are going to stream it when it drops on the 27th.
#2 pick by our Instagram and Twitter fans, #4 pick by our Facebook fans
Opens November 27
Rian Johnson endured a fair amount of criticism from certain corners of the internet after the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but Knives Out is decidedly more within his wheelhouse, and the critics who have seen the film already say it’s a return to form for him. Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Michael Shannon headline an ensemble cast in this classic whodunit about a peculiar detective is enlisted to unravel the mystery behind the murder of a wealthy crime novelist, who was killed while the whole family was gathered for his 85th birthday. This was the second-most anticipated film for our Instagram and Twitter followers, and it’s also already Certified Fresh.
3,479 Want-to-See Votes
#2 pick by our Facebook fans, #4 pick by our Instagram fans
Opens November 1
In much the same way that last year’s Halloween served as a franchise reset, Terminator: Dark Fate purports itself to be a direct follow-up to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, effectively negating the timelines in any of the sequels that followed the iconic 1991 film. Linda Hamilton is back as Sarah Connor in a story that somewhat mirrors T2: an evil A.I. in the future sends a formidable robotic killing machine back in time to assassinate the young woman who will eventually grow up to lead a human resistance, while the humans also send back a protector to save her. Critics say the soft reset feels familiar in mostly all the right ways, even though it doesn’t take many chances or pack quite the same punch that the first two Terminator films did. Nevertheless, it garnered the most Want-to-See votes of any movie this month and rallied enough support from our Facebook and Instagram fans to make it into the top five.
2,152 Want-to-See Votes
#4 pick by our Twitter fans, #5 pick by our Facebook and Instagram fans
Opens on November 15
Last up, we have a biopic of sorts, as Matt Damon and Christian Bale team up to take down the Ferrari racing team in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1966. They play American car designer Carroll Shelby and British driver Ken Miles, respectively, while Logan and Walk the Line director James Mangold takes the helm behind the camera. The prestige cast, exotic setting, and remarkable true story at its core all point to an Oscar hopeful, and critics who have seen the film so far say it successfully balances the narrative’s action-oriented elements with enough compelling human drama to make it worth a watch.
