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Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in ‘Frankenstein’ (Photo Credit: Ken Woroner / Netflix)

Netflix’s 2025 film slate is loaded with sequels, animated offerings, and documentaries. Adam Sandler returns for Happy Gilmore 2, Charlize Theron’s back in action for The Old Guard 2, and Daniel Craig slips back into the role of detective Benoit Blanc for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. The streamer’s documentary lineup includes films on Eddie Murphy, the Air Force’s Thunderbirds, Charles Manson, and the Titan submersible. Animated offerings include a Witcher project, a K-Pop-themed film, the much-anticipated The Twits, and Simu Liu and Craig Robinson voicing the leads in In Your Dreams.

“We’re not just one thing. We’re the best of film, TV, documentaries, stand-up, animation and live events — and we’re doing it in 50 languages. We’re not afraid to make big bets on compelling voices and new ideas...

Exclusive: Netflix has built out their ensemble for the Minka Kelly romantic comedy Champagne Problems with Tom Wozniczka, Flula Borg, Xavier Samuel, Sean Amsing, Thibault De Montalemert and Astrid Whettnall joining the cast of the Mark Steven Johnson directed and written feature.

In Champagne Problems, an ambitious M&a executive travels to France to secure the acquisition of a world-renowned champagne brand before Christmas, but her plans are upended when she falls into a whirlwind romance with a charming Parisian — who turns out to be the founder’s son.

Stephanie Slack and Margret H. Huddleston for Off Camera Entertainment and Johnson are producers.

Wozniczka plays Patrice on AppleTV+’s Slow Horses and also starred on the streamer’s Drops of God. He is repped by Artists First, Cineart and Conway van Gelder Grant. Johnson is repped by Range Media Partners and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof and Fishman.

When Dutch fashion model Rianne Van Rompaey was looking to explore the fissure between her personal and professional lives through film, a mutual friend matched her sensibilities with those of director David Findlay, and the pair came together to make Faces. In this deeply collaborative short Findlay, a filmmaker who’s no stranger to Dn’s pages, takes us on an unsettling, fractured trek through Van Rompaey’s disconcertingly tangible subconscious, housed within an elegantly sumptuous fashion infused 8 minute short. We see Van Rompaey, who plays herself, fight against a domineering mother, the frenetic energy of a crew waiting for their tardy star, demands from a fraught friendship and Findlay’s assured filmmaking absorbs us into each and every second. Faces’ dreamlike quality deftly submerges its audience within the naked truth of Van Rompaey’s feelings and battles between the personas she, and by extension, all of us have to put out to the world.

Edge-of-your-seat action & drama in "The Wages of Fear" - refugees grappling with perilous missions and intense betrayals. Explosive sequences and complex character dynamics keep viewers guessing until the very end - a thrilling ride. A tense, suspenseful story full of twists and turns - a modern day remake that lives up to the hype.

Having directed other French Netflix exclusives like 2021’s Ganglands and 2020’s Earth and Blood, director Julien Leclercq has once again arrived on the streaming platform with a feature that is sure to satisfy those in the action genre. Titled The Wages of Fear (or Le salaire de la peur), this is actually a modern-day remake of a 1953 thriller of the same name which sold over six million tickets in France. The original also won numerous awards, like the Best Film at the 8th British Academy Film Awards and the Golden Bear (an accolade of the highest...

Vincent Maël Cardona, whose 2021 pic “Magnetic Beats” won a prize at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight and a Cesar Award for best first film, is set to direct “De Grâce,” a sprawling crime thriller unfolding in the northern French port city of Le Havre.

The series is being co-produced and commissioned by Arte France, and is produced by Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin at Ego Productions, a Mediawan company. Belgium’s Savage Films is co-producing. Mediawan Rights is representing the show in international markets.

Set to start shooting on location in Le Havre on Aug. 8, “De Grâce” features a strong ensemble cast including Olivier Gourmet (“The Minister”), Margot Bancilhon (“Five”), Panayotis Pascot (“Mon chien stupide”), Pierre Lottin (“Notre-Dame on Fire”), Astrid Whettnall (“Baron noir”), Philippe Rebbot.(“L’amour flou”) and French rapper Gringe.

“De Grâce,” penned by Maxime Crupaux (“Cherif”) and Baptiste Fillon, tells the story of Pierre Leprieur (Gourmet), a native of Le Havre who...

Sing the Body Apoplectic: Giannoli Pays Thanks to the Music

French director Xavier Giannoli borrows an obscure piece of American pop culture for his latest feature, Marguerite, a 1920s Parisian high society dramedy based loosely on the life and career of New England socialite Florence Foster Jenkins. Oblivious to her glaring lack of talent, the wealthy soprano was the source of rampant ridicule, her folly reaching an unmitigated apotheosis following a sold-out Carnegie Hall performance in an instance of truth being stranger than fiction. Resting beautifully on the masterful shoulders of Catherine Frot, an oft-Cesar nominated actress who hasn’t had the deserving international acclaim she’s due, the film’s success hinges delicately on her performance, even with a cadre of supporting players otherwise subjugated to empathetic cliché or predictably reprehensible conduct.

Marguerite Dumont (Frot) has staged a benefit concert at her home, a sprawling chateau outside of Paris.

Free Radicals: Bouchareb Explores a Mother’s Nightmare in Topical Treatment

French director Rachid Bouchareb is no stranger to exploring the actions radicalized children have on their bewildered parents, as evidenced in his eloquent 2008 feature, London River. Whereas his earlier film dealt with the aftermath of disastrous actions, Bouchareb returns to the topical issue of Western recruitment into contemporary terrorist cells, this time centered on drama as it unfolds in The Road to Istanbul. We’ve become accustomed to these types of narratives from the perspectives of perplexed loved ones, desperately searching for explanations as to why friends or family were coerced or brainwashed into such despicable acts of violence, both domestically and abroad. In many ways, this is another statistical composite of such grim realities, but features a performance perfectly administered by actress Astrid Whettnall, who succinctly captures the desperation of a woman caught up in an unexpected nightmare.

Reviewed in today's Berlinale Diary: Heiner Carow's The Journey to Sundevit; Ted Fendt's Short Stay with Meaghan Lydon, Marta Sicinksa and Mike Maccherone; André Téchiné's Being 17, co-written with Céline Sciamma and starring Sandrine Kiberlain, Kacey Mottet Klein, Corentin Fila and Alexis Loret; Ivo M. Ferreira's Letters from War with Miguel Nunes, Margarida Vila-Nova, Ricardo Pereira, João Pedro Vaz and João Pedro Mamede; Philip Scheffner's Havarie; Anne Zohra Berrached's 24 Weeks with Julia Jentsch, Bjarne Mädel, Johanna Gastdorf, Emilia Pieske and Maria Dragus; and Rachid Bouchareb's Road to Istanbul with Astrid Whettnall, Pauline Burlet, Patricia Ide and Abel Jafri. » - David Hudson...

Reviewed in today's Berlinale Diary: Heiner Carow's The Journey to Sundevit; Ted Fendt's Short Stay with Meaghan Lydon, Marta Sicinksa and Mike Maccherone; André Téchiné's Being 17, co-written with Céline Sciamma and starring Sandrine Kiberlain, Kacey Mottet Klein, Corentin Fila and Alexis Loret; Ivo M. Ferreira's Letters from War with Miguel Nunes, Margarida Vila-Nova, Ricardo Pereira, João Pedro Vaz and João Pedro Mamede; Philip Scheffner's Havarie; Anne Zohra Berrached's 24 Weeks with Julia Jentsch, Bjarne Mädel, Johanna Gastdorf, Emilia Pieske and Maria Dragus; and Rachid Bouchareb's Road to Istanbul with Astrid Whettnall, Pauline Burlet, Patricia Ide and Abel Jafri. » - David Hudson...

Films include Shepherds and Butchers with Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il.

The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.

A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.

Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself, in a case...

Films include Shepherds and Butchers, starring Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il and forced to make films.

The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.

A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.

Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself...

La route des lacs (Road to Istanbul)

Director: Rachid Bouchareb

Writers: Rachid Bouchareb, Zoe Galeron, Yasmina Khadra, Olivier Lorelle

Franco-Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb continues a prolific shooting schedule with his latest project, La route des lacs (Road to Istanbul), which tackles an extremely topical scenario regarding terrorist recruits and Isis when a mother discovers her child has joined the dangerous organization. Recently, Bouchareb has been navigating the Us Pacific Southwest with English language items Just Like a Woman (2012) and his 2014 remake of Two Men in Town. For this latest, he pairs with regular co-writers Lorelle, Galeron, and Yasmina Khadra (who penned the exceptional 2012 film The Attack for Ziad Doueiri, which Bouchareb produced), and the film will be headlined by Belgian actress Astrid Whettnall and rising star Pauline Burlet (who appeared in La Vie En Rose as well as Asghar Farhadi’s The Past in 2013). Thus far, this sounds similar to Bouchareb’s 2008 film,...

Exclusive: Oscar-nominated Bouchareb explores plight of parents who lose children to Isis.Elle Driver has boarded Jorge Michael Grau’s earthquake drama 7.19 am and Rachid Bouchareb’s Road to Istanbul [pictured], about a mother who goes in pursuit of her Isis recruit daughter, ahead of the American Film Market (Afm). The company also start pre-sales on Audrey Dana’s comedy If I Were a Boy, in which she stars as a woman who wakes up with a penis, and Harry Cleven’s fantasy romance Angel. Franco-Algerian Bouchareb’s Road to Istanbul stars Belgian actress Astrid Whettnall as a single mother on a quest to find her 18-year-old daughter after she leaves Belgium to join the Islamic State with a Jihadist boyfriend. “My goal is to film the incomprehension of a mother totally caught off guard by the changes in her daughter on reaching legal age… Alone, divorced and abandoned by the authorities, she must try...

Kris De Meester’s adaptation of Dostoevsky’s novel Notes From the Underground is currently in post-production.

Udo Kier has joined the cast of Johnny Walker.

Kris De Meester’s adaptation of Dostoevsky’s novel Notes From the Underground is currently in post-production. Kier will play Fyodor, an evil voice in the head of the film’s main character.

The black comedy is produced by De Meester and executive produced by Christine K. Walker.

It also stars Eric Godon, Astrid Whettnall, Mieke Daneels, Hank Botwinik and Christelle Cornil.