Movies to watch in November, from 'Wicked' to 'Gladiator II'

Ariana Grande stars in the movie musical 'Wicked' (2024)

Ariana Grande stars as Glinda the Good Witch in the movie adaptation of 'Wicked,' Broadway's second highest-grossing musical ever

(Image credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy)

By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US

published 8 November 2024

Election Day has come and gone. And whatever your feelings on the results, one thing is certain: It is always a good time to go to the movies. Whether you seek solace or celebration, November's releases have something for everyone.

'Emilia Pérez'

Jacques Audiard's musical was the darling of this year's Cannes festival, securing both the Jury Prize and Best Actress. The latter award was split between the film's four stars, Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz. Based on Audiard's opera of the same name, which was adapted from Boris Razon's 2018 novel "Écoute," the story is set among Mexico's drug wars and follows a cartel leader who dreams of transitioning into a woman. "Emilia Pérez" is "the kind of unabashedly earnest, declamatory work that sounds on paper like the silliest thing ever made," said Bilge Ebiri at Vulture, but "no matter how unlikely the story or complicated the characters, no matter how bizarre the concept, if it gets your toes tapping, it's won you over." (Nov. 1 in theaters; Nov. 13 on Netflix)

Denzel Washington produced this adaptation of August Wilson's 1987 stage play "The Piano Lesson," a "rich and resonant evocation of African American history," said Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian. A family tale set in 1930s Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression, the movie is a "beautifully acted piece of work — though with a startling, even slightly baffling element of the supernatural," Bradshaw added. Denzel's son Malcolm Washington makes his feature directing debut, and his other son John David Washington stars as Boy Willie. (Nov. 8 in theaters; Nov. 22 on Netflix)

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The holiday season can be hectic and stressful. Give yourself permission to go see a truly stupid movie. "Red One" should be exactly the ticket, especially if you are a curmudgeon who hates the Christmas spirit (this film swaps the ole yuletide spirit for the "new American spirit," said Variety: "vulgar" and "violent"). In this Santa Claus action flick — yes, you read that right — Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans star, respectively, as Santa's bodyguard and a hacker who is enlisted to help find Santa after he is kidnapped. It "might as well have been engineered to run in loops on cable, if that were still a thing," said Alison Willmore at Vulture. "It's a new movie that's meant to feel like something you've already seen." (Nov. 15 in theaters)

It has been more than 20 years since Ridley Scott's triumphant "Gladiator" swept the Oscars, and the 86-year-old director's hotly anticipated sequel is dropping at long last. "Gladiator II" takes place 20 years after the first film ended and stars Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal, with Mescal playing Maximus' son Lucius (Maximus was played by Russell Crowe in the original). Like his father, Lucius is enslaved and forced to fight as a gladiator for the entertainment of a wealthy Roman emperor and hordes of bloodthirsty spectators. "Paul Mescal is a great action star without sacrificing his indie grit, a worthy heir to the throne," said AwardsWatch's Erik Anderson on X. "Denzel Washington eats every line and costume without ever overplaying." (Nov. 22 in theaters)

"Wicked" is the first of a two-part film adaptation of the musical "Wicked," based loosely on a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. The musical is Broadway's second highest-grossing ever (behind only "The Lion King") and the fourth longest-running. Set in the Land of Oz pre-Dorothy's arrival from Kansas, "Wicked" is a prequel of sorts, detailing a reluctant friendship between green-skinned outsider Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), aka the eventual Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda (Ariana Grande-Butera), a popular blonde who later becomes Glinda the Good Witch of the North. The two meet as roommates at Shiz University in the musical's first act, and the rest will soon be cinematic history. (Nov. 22 in theaters)

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Anya Jaremko-Greenwold has worked as a story editor at The Week since 2024. She previously worked at FLOOD Magazine, Woman's World, First for Women, DGO Magazine and BOMB Magazine. Anya's culture writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Jezebel, Vice and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among others.