November cinema releases include a highly anticipated sequel, musical, and more.

Three Christmas movies can start your holiday season this November, with Red One starring Dwayne Johnson as the first film, and then Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. But the month sees two highly anticipated films finally releasing, with Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2, which looks to build upon the Greek mythology of the first film and increase the bloody battles in the Colosseum. Wicked is the other massive release for this month. The musical is based on the Broadway music stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in a sequel to the cinematic classic, The Wizard of Oz. 

Here are all the new films coming to Australian cinemas in November 2024.

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NOVEMBER 7

Audrey

Jackie van Beek (Nude Tuesday) leads this Australian comedy as Ronnie, self-appointed Mother of the Year, who has given her daughter Audrey everything. So when Audrey selfishly falls into a coma, Ronnie has no choice but to keep their dreams alive by assuming her identity.

Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom

Momonga, now known as the Sorcerer King Ains Ooal Gown, rallies the Sorcerer Kingdom and its undead army to join the fight alongside the Sacred Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy in hopes to defeat the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth.

Red One

Dwayne Johnson reunites with the director of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle for this Christmas flick, co-starring Chris Evans, Lucy Liu and J.K. Simmons. After a villain kidnaps Santa from the North Pole, an E.L.F (Extremely Large and Formidable) operative (Johnson) must partner with the world’s most accomplished tracker (Evans) to find Santa and save Christmas.

The Unseen Sister

Qiao Yan (Liying Zhao) is a big star in China, acclaimed for her performances and popular with audiences. But she is tiring of her gilded life and feels ready to break with her manager/business partner Shen Haoming (Jue Huang). Her long-lost sister (Zhilei Xin) suddenly turns up in Beijing, soon after Qiao Yan has fallen victim to an anonymous attempt at extortion. Qiao Yan finds herself losing control of events as she’s plunged into memories of her distant childhood in a village in Yunnan Province (South-west China, close to the border with Myanmar) and her fraught relationships with her mother and father. Before long she has to juggle decisions about her career with escalating events which threaten to overwhelm not only her emotional stability but also her entire sense of her personal identity.

Sasquatch Sunset

A year in the life of a unique family. It captures the daily life of the Sasquatch with a level of detail and rigor that is simply unforgettable.

The Piano Lesson

Samuel L Jackson, John David Washington (Tenet), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), and Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton) star in this screen adaptation of the stage play by August Wilson (Fences, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom). The story follows the lives of the Charles family as they deal with themes of family legacy and more, in deciding what to do with an heirloom, the family piano.

It will be streaming on Netflix from November 22.

Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story

It’s the story of Jelena Dokic’s survival, of her overcoming extraordinary odds, and of her ultimate triumph in the face of poverty, bullying and extreme brutality. It’s about how she survived as a refugee, twice. How she survived on the tennis court as she ascended to become world No.4. But most importantly, how she survived the unimaginable abuse by Damir Dokic, her violent father and manager. The man whose love she craved most. It’s a story of growing up – never being alone, but always lonely. 

NOVEMBER 14

Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point

On Christmas Eve, a family gathers for what could be the last holiday in their ancestral home. As the night wears on and generational tensions arise, one of the teenagers sneaks out with her friends to claim the wintry suburb for her own.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

The absolute worst kids in the history of the world are taking over their local church Pageant – and they just might unwittingly teach a shocked community the true meaning of Christmas.

Gladiator 2

Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.

Memory

Sylvia is a social worker who leads a simple and structured life. This is blown open when Saul follows her home from their high school reunion. Their surprise encounter will profoundly impact both of them as they open the door to the past.

NOVEMBER 21

Stranger Creatures

Two estranged brothers are forced back into each others lives when they’re tasked with scattering the ashes of their recently deceased mother in the country town where she grew up.

Goodrich

A father seeks the help of his adult daughter to raise his young twins after his second wife leaves him.

No Other Land

Made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective, this documentary shows the destruction of the West Bank’s Masafer Yatta by Israeli authorities and the unlikely friendship that blossoms between Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham.

Wicked

After two decades as one of the most beloved and enduring musicals on the stage, Wicked makes its long-awaited journey to the big screen as a spectacular, generation-defining two-part cinematic event this holiday season.

NOVEMBER 28

Heretic

Two young religious women are drawn into a game of cat-and-mouse in the house of a strange man.

Your Monster

After her life falls apart, soft-spoken actress Laura Franco finds her voice again when she meets a terrifying, yet weirdly charming Monster living in her closet in this rom-com horror.

Green Border

In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so called “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union are trapped in a geopolitical crisis cynically engineered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. In an attempt to provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage to the EU. Pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, a newly minted activist who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian family intertwine.

Sharko

In his prime, Mark was the best rugby league player in the world. Known for his size, speed, skill and toughness, he was a predator in a sea of sharks. Mark changed the sport and carried his teams and country to the doorstep of greatness, while remaining a mystery to his biggest fan, his son. Luke tells the story through the in-depth lens and skewed perspective revealing a shared personal history scarred by pain and loss. As he learns more about his father’s past, both the hardships and the glory, he comes to a realisation about the man he idolised above all else.

Moana 2

After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana journeys to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she has ever faced.

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What films are you most excited to see in cinemas this month? Let me know in the comment section below. Is there anything missing from this list? If so, let me know, and I’ll add it!

You can also check out what’s coming to streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and more on our ‘What’s Streaming’ page.

[Descriptions & cinema dates gathered from Flicks.com.au & IMDB]