The 11 Must-See Movies of December

Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Silence (December 23rd)

Two Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) travel to 17th-century Japan to find their mentor (Liam Neeson). Once their they face violence and other horrors in the name of Christianity.

There’s no doubts about Martin Scorsese’s status as a legend. With the body of work he’s amassed he’s entered the pantheon of greats. Silence has been a project close to the director’s heart since the 1990s, but time and a lack of financing prevented it from being made earlier. Like Passengers, it too swapped casts more than once, with Daniel Day-Lewis, Gael Garcia Bernal and Benicio Del Toro initially cast. Scorsese enjoys keeping audiences (and critics) guessing with prolonged shooting and release schedules. As we saw with The Wolf of Wall Street, questions arose as to whether Silence would be edited in time for its late December release dates. A trailer wasn’t even released till over a week ago, with many critics organizations hitting awards deadlines before seeing it. It’s assumed that this rapid fire release won’t impede its Oscar chances, though early reviews are very mixed. Scorsese’s films have die-hard support built in, so regardless of any criticism this will be an awards darling to watch out for.

Next: A Monster Calls