“Sentimental Value” dir. Joachim Trier (2025)

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Angelika Film Center via NEON – Opens Nov. 14

In his first English-language film in 10 years, Joachim Trier delivers a 2025 Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix winning tender family drama. Delivering career-defining performances, the film stars Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas.

“It’s a movie that sneaks up on you like great fiction, blending theme and character in a way that allows it to live in your mind after you see it, rolling around what it means to both the people in it and your own life.” – Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

For fans of: “The Worst Person in the World,” rainy airports, Elliott Smith 

Norwegian, English

“Tokyo Story” dir. Yasujirō Ozu (1953)

Metrograph via Janus Films – Opens Nov. 2

Ozu’s quietly devastating postwar classic follows an elderly couple’s visit to their grown children in Tokyo and remains one of film’s most empathetic studies of generational distance and impermanence.

“Often topping lists of the best films of all time, and a great influence on many great directors of the last half century, not least for its purity of expression, this remains one of the most approachable and moving of all cinema’s masterpieces.” – Wally Hammond, Time Out

For fans of: “The Farewell,” “Ikiru,” strained family dynamics, slow train rides, calling your parents

Japanese with English subtitles

“Hamnet” dir. Chloé Zhao (2025)

BAM, Nitehawk Cinema via Focus Features – Opens Nov. 26

Following wins at the 93rd Academy Awards for both Best Picture and Best Director, Zhao adapts Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel into a meditative Shakespearean tragedy, presenting a haunting reflection on art born from grief.

“Zhao’s passion for the material can be felt in virtually every frame. She honors the source material while putting her own poetic stamp on it, exploring unconditional love and unforgettable loss in a way that feels raw, empathetic, and devastatingly human.” – Scott Menzel, AwardsBuzz

For fans of: literary adaptations, having your heart torn out of your chest

English

“La Chinoise” dir. Jean-Luc Godard (1967)

Metrograph via Kino Lorber – Opens Nov. 7

Before May ’68 erupted in the streets of Paris, Godard imagined it within a singular apartment through a visually stunning dark comedy that follows a group of radical students as they attempt to live out Maoist ideals.

“Maybe Andy Warhol didn’t make the quintessential Pop Art masterwork. Maybe Jean-Luc Godard did.” Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

For fans of: “The Dreamers,” primary colors, “don’t criticize my manifesto,” radical chic 

French with English subtitles

“Peter Hujar’s Day” dir. Ira Sachs (2025)

Film at Lincoln Center, Film Forum via Janus Films and Sideshow – Opens Nov. 7

Set over a single day in December 1974 in New York City with Ben Whishaw as Peter Hujar and Rebecca Hall as Linda Rosenkrantz, Ira Sachs’ latest film is a contemplative portrait of the late photographer: his world, his friends and the creative intimacy of downtown life. 

“At 76 minutes, the film could have been little more than a minor experiment, but director Ira Sachs takes the limited dramatic circumstances as an opportunity for remarkable invention.” – Zachary Barnes, The Wall Street Journal 

For fans of: small truths revealed in darkrooms, quiet contemplation

English

“Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” dir. Sepideh Farsi (2025)

IFC Center via Kino Lorber – Opens Nov. 5

Sepideh Farsi immerses her audience in the life and musings of Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona. Through a series of phone calls and Hassona’s own photographs, the intimate documentary conveys the horrors of daily life in Gaza.

“Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk is ultimately less a documentary exposé than a piece of raw unfiltered evidence, bearing witness to a tragedy that continues to unfold as this review is being written.” – Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

For fans of: cinéma vérité, civil rights documentaries, the indomitable human spirit

English, Arabic with English subtitles

“Nouvelle Vague” dir. Richard Linklater (2025)

IFC Center, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Film at Lincoln Center, Nitehawk Cinema via Netflix – Opens Oct. 31

Linklater marries his long-perfected “hangout” spontaneity to an inside look into Jean-Luc Godard’s French New- Wave classic “Breathless,” with his newest film starring Guillaume Marbeck as Jean-Luc Godard, Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg and Aubry Dullin as Jean-Paul Belmondo. 

“(Nouvelle Vague) apes the joie de moviemaking and the jazzy looseness of the original to an absolutely amazing degree, replicating an off-the-cuff feeling that’s more than a second-hand buzz. It’s the most blissful time spent in the dark you can imagine.” David Fear, Rolling Stone

For fans of: “Pierrot le Fou,” Criterion Channel binges that last until 3 a.m., “Dazed and Confused”

English, French with English subtitles

“Teenage Wasteland” dir. Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine (2025)

Film Forum – Opens Nov. 26

From the directors of “Boys State” and “Girls State,” this new documentary paints a portrait of activism examining a group of American teens who uncovered and exposed a toxic waste scandal in Upstate New York in the early 1990s. 

“The directors tell a story of teenage tenacity but also one of adults grappling with the grit and hopes of their younger selves. That could have been overly sentimental. It’s not.” – Lisa Kennedy, Variety

For fans of: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” youthful revolution

English

“Die My Love” dir. Lynne Ramsay (2025)

BAM via Mubi – Opens Nov. 7

Adapted from Ariana Harwicz’s acclaimed novel, Ramsay’s long-awaited return is a raw portrait of postpartum depression and isolation in rural France, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson.

“Ramsay unleashes her most galaxy-brained concepts with a full-bodied commitment that should be the envy of filmmakers with similar ambitions.” – Marshall Shaffer, Slant Magazine

For fans of: motherhood as a gothic horror subgenre, surrealism, supporting women’s rights (and wrongs), atmospheric drama

English

“Trouble Every Day” dir. Claire Denis (2001)

Metrograph via The Film Desk – Opens Nov. 7

Claire Denis’ cult classic returns to theaters with a sensual and deeply unsettling blend of eroticism and horror. The critically polarizing film follows a scientist and the woman he is in love with, bound by a violent hunger that defies explanation.

“It’s the kind of public self-exorcism a director can only get away with once in a career. And even at its most overdetermined, it still reflects its maker’s signature love for intractable contrasts and unresolved ambiguities.” – Max Nelson, Film Comment 

For fans of: “Titane,” doomed intimacy, late-night red lighting, Denis Villeneuve, “Possession,” blood as metaphor, post-punk 

French with English subtitles

Series and Festival Highlights:

Noirvember Series: spotlighting classic and modern films in the film noir genre

Quad Cinema – Nov. 3 to 27

Showing “Blue Velvet,” “The Long Goodbye,” “Out of the Past,” and “The Big Sleep”

Village East by Angelika – Nov. 5 to 26

Showing “Double Indemnity,” “The Maltese Falcon,” “Chinatown,” “Touch of Evil”

DOC NYC

IFC Center – Nov. 12 to 30

“DOC NYC celebrates documentary filmmaking by connecting artists and audiences through powerful stories and diverse voices.” (www.docnyc.net/) 

New York Short Film Festival (NYSFF)

Cinema Village – Nov. 7 to 13

“Taking place November 7-13, 2025, at the iconic Cinema Village in Manhattan, this milestone edition (of the NYSFF) promises an unforgettable showcase of creativity, innovation, and storytelling.” (www.cinemavillage.com)