The Best Movies of 2018
January 12: The Post
This awards-season favorite, which had a limited release in December, is now playing in theaters nationwide. Meryl Streep plays Katharine Graham, the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, who goes head-to-head with Nixon’s government concerning Vietnam War secrets.
January 12: Proud Mary
This action film stars Taraji P. Henson as a hit woman for an organized crime family in Boston. So think Cookie from Empire but with a license to kill. Expect several excellent one-liners and ass-kicking scenes galore.
January 19: Phantom Thread
Larger cities got to check out Phantom Thread in December, but everyone can see it after January 19. Daniel Day-Lewis gives another showstopping performance as a 1950s couture designer whose entire lifestyle changes after meeting a young woman named Alma (Vicky Krieps).
January 26: Forever Girl
A country star returns home in this charming, Nicholas Sparks–adjacent film starring the supremely talented Jessica Rothe (who broke out after last year’s horror-comedy Happy Death Day).
February 2: Winchester
This supernatural horror film stars Helen Mirren as Sarah Winchester, the real-life widow who built and barricaded herself inside the Winchester Mystery House upon suspicion she was being haunted. Spooky stuff.
February 9: Permission
Your favorite Dan Stevens brings his dreamy self to this romantic comedy about a couple who decides to open up their relationship before tying the knot.
February 9: Fifty Shades Freed
Ana and Christian are now married, moving into a huge-ass house, and still having lots of kinky sex on the reg. What could go wrong? (Answer: Ana’s off-the-rails former boss, that’s what!) The trilogy is almost over, people.
February 16: Black Panther
Chadwick Boseman and Lupita Nyong’o star in this superhero live-action film about the Black Panther (Boseman), who goes to war with an old enemy to save his native, technologically advanced country, Wakanda.
February 23: Annihilation
After her husband mysteriously goes missing on an expedition, a woman (Natalie Portman) ventures to the dangerous territory where he was last seen to find him. Portman is an incredible action-film actress, so we’re excited to check this one out.
February 23: Game Night
Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams) are just your average suburban couple who host a game night every week. However, things go haywire when Max’s brother suggests they swap their board games for a murder mystery—in which he gets kidnapped. As the film unfolds, Max and Annie hilariously start to realize this murder mystery is the real deal…and Max’s brother might not be who he seems.
March 2: Red Sparrow
After she suffers a career-ending injury, a former ballerina receives intelligence training from a secret school and becomes a deadly assassin. Jennifer Lawrence stars.
March 9: A Wrinkle in Time
This intergalactic epic centers around a young girl, Meg (Storm Reid), who is helped by three space queens to find her missing scientist father (Chris Pine): Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey). Yes, my friends, all of that star power in one movie.
March 16: Tomb Raider
Alicia Vikander steps into Lara Croft’s adventure tank top in this Tomb Raider reimagining, which details our heroine’s first expedition to clear her father’s name.
March 23: Midnight Sun
Last year we had Everything, Everything, a bizarre romantic drama about a young girl who physically couldn’t go outside. Now we have Midnight Sun, a Bella Thorne vehicle with the same plot save for one detail: She can go outside, just not during the day. She’s “extremely sensitive” to the sun, which means she stays inside until it goes down. We’re not sure why this is such a movie trend, but we’ll see it regardless.
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March 30: Mary Magdalene
The Biblical story of Mary Magdalene is told with a fresh vision in this upcoming epic, starring Rooney Mara in the titular role and Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus Christ.
April 6: Blockers
John Cena and Leslie Mann star in this cheeky comedy about parents who try to stop their teenage kids from losing their virginity on prom night. It seems a little standard, sure, but Mann’s presence elevates it drastically.
April 6: A Quiet Place
Real-life couple Emily Blunt and John Krasinski star in this supernatural thriller about a family who lives in complete silence out of fear of a malignant force that hunts anything it hears. This is Krasinski’s third directorial effort but his first foray into horror—and Blunt’s too. We can already feel the tension in movie theaters during this one.
April 6: Chappaquiddick
This historical drama centers on Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke), who drove his car into a tidal channel in Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts on July 18, 1969, killing a 28-year-old campaign strategist named Mary Jo Kopechne. Instead of calling the police immediately, Kennedy consulted his grandfather, who prioritized saving Ted’s political career.
April 20: Overboard
It’s a remake of the 1987 original starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, but with a gender switch: This time Anna Faris plays a down-on-her-luck carpet cleaner who convinces a spoiled rich dude with amnesia that he’s her husband. Slapstick hilarity ensues.
April 27: Disobedience
Rachel Weisz plays Ronit, a relapsed Orthodox Jew who returns to her home following the death of her rabbi father. There she takes a romantic (and forbidden) interest in a childhood friend, played by Rachel McAdams. Hands up for more female queer love stories onscreen.
May 4: Avengers: Infinity War
The Avengers and Thanos duke it out over some pesky Infinity Stones in part one of this new Marvel chapter, which brings back all of your faves—including the Guardians of the Galaxy characters! Teenage Groot lives on, apparently.
June 8: Ocean’s 8
One of the most anticipated films of the year, this all-female Ocean’s reboot stars Rihanna, Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, and Anne Hathaway—so, in other words, cancel all your plans now. Rob that Met Gala, queens! You’re all doing great.
June 15: On Chesil Beach
A young couple’s fear of intimate relations challenges their relationship in this touching drama based on the novel of the same name. Lady Bird‘s Saoirse Ronan stars.
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June 22: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
A volcanic eruption threatens the lives of the dinosaurs left on the now deserted Jurassic World island, so Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard (sans high heels this time) travel back to save them. Of course, shit goes haywire.
June 29: I Feel Pretty
We’re pretty stoked about this one: Amy Schumer plays Renee, an insecure woman who wakes up one morning believing she’s the most beautiful, capable person on earth. Her life changes with this newfound confidence, but of course it all comes crashing down. Emily Ratajkowski and Michelle Williams also star in this comedy, which seems to have shades of Shallow Hal.
July 20: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
This surprise sequel takes us back in time and tells the story of Donna, who’s portrayed by Meryl Streep in recent years, and Lily James in younger years. Oh, and Cher’s in this thing too. As is the entire original cast, including Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, and Pierce Brosnan.
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August 3: The Spy Who Dumped Me
After finding out one of their exes is a spy, two friends (Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon) embark on an espionage mission of their own in this female-directed comedy romp.
August 8: Barbie
The live-action Barbie film, which was originally supposed to star Amy Schumer and now allegedly features Anne Hathaway, will reportedly drop August 8. It’s a fresh take on the iconic character’s story, though: Here, Barbie is kicked out of Barbieland for not being “perfect enough” and enters the real world.
August 10: Nasty Women
This female retelling of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels stars Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson as two scam artists trying to swindle a tech maverick out of his fortune. Sign us up for this dynamic duo.
September 28: Night School
Kevin Hart and Queen of the World Tiffany Haddish team up in this new comedy about adults who enroll in night school to try and get their GEDs. Hopefully, this script allows these comedy powerhouses to improv and play—that’s when they’re at their strongest.
October 5: A Star Is Born
This is the fourth time Hollywood’s remade this story, which centers on a fading movie star trying to regain his career. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper star (and Cooper directs too). Expect high-levels of camp, drama, and of course some killer pipes from Gaga.
October 19: The Girl in the Spider’s Web
Claire Foy steps into Lisbeth Salander’s computer-hacking shoes in this highly anticipated sequel, which has been seven years in the making. (The American Girl With the Dragon Tattoo film came out in 2011.)
November 2: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
On Christmas Eve a young girl ventures into a mysterious realm and learns the origin of the Nutcracker. This will be the perfect blockbuster to get you in the holiday spirit.
November 2: X-Men: Dark Phoenix
When an evil force threatens to overtake Jean Grey’s mind, Mystique, Beast, Storm, Nightcrawler, and the rest of the X-Men army band together for some routine ass-kicking. Jennifer Lawrence’s blue makeup still confounds me every time, TBH.
November 2: Mary Queen of Scots
Saoirse Ronan plays Mary Queen of Scots in this film, which focuses on when the royal was 16 and returned to Scotland to assume the thrown after her husband died.
December 21: Aquaman
Jason Momoa plays the titular character in this blockbuster, which also stars Nicole Kidman and Amber Heard. Here, Aquaman must rule thoughtfully over his underwater subjects, who want to invade the surface after being enraged by pollution. The only downside: Kidman, who’s just 12 years older than Momoa, plays his mother. Hollywood sexism at work, folks.
December 25: Mary Poppins Returns
Emily Blunt is Mary Poppins in this reboot, which takes place years after the original. Michael and Jane are both adults now, and they call upon Mary Poppins after Michael suffers a personal loss. Meryl Streep stars in this too, as Mary’s eccentric cousin, Topsy Turvy-Poppins.