As we enter the final quarter of 2024, a number of fresh Australian documentaries, family films, comedies and dramas have premiered at film festivals. Now they’re making their way into cinemas.
Here’s what we’re looking forward to for the last quarter of 2024 and the new year holiday season. We’ve included release dates, distributors and a few key details – with more Australian films to be added as schedules become available.
Our anticipated highlights include Ian Darling’s blue and sparkling Bondi Icebergs documentary The Pool, Adam Elliot’s acclaimed animation Memoir of a Snail, family treats like Runt and Magic Beach, and the intriguing Robbie Williams biopic Better Man.
Australian films coming to cinemas
SEPTEMBER
Kid Snow (Madman, 12 September)
KID SNOW
Drama feature
Director: Paul Goldman
Writers: John Brumpton, Stephen Cleary, Shane Danielsen
Producers: Lizzette Atkins, Bruno Charlesworth, Megan Wynn
Stars: Billy Howle, Tom Bateman, Phoebe Tonkin, Mark Coles Smith
Synopsis: Outback Australia, 1971. Kid Snow, 30, a washed-up Irish fighter in a raucous travelling tent-boxing show, is offered a rematch against the man he fought ten years ago. It’s his chance to turn the page on a tragedy that changed his life forever. But when the feisty single mother Sunny, crosses Snow’s path he is forced to contemplate a future beyond life on the road. Featuring an original score from Peter Knight and acclaimed musician Warren Ellis.
Runt (StudioCanal, 19 September)
RUNT
Family drama comedy
Director: John Sheedy
Writer: Craig Silvey
Producer: Jamie Hilton, Craig Silvey
Stars: Jai Courtney, Lily LaTorre, Celeste Barber, Deborah Mailman, Jack Thompson, Genevieve Lemon, Matt Day, Jack LaTorre
Synopsis: Craig Silvey’s beloved best-selling novel leaps onto the big screen in a charming new Australian family movie. Runt is the heartfelt and hilarious tale of eleven-year-old Annie Shearer and her best friend Runt, an adopted stray dog with remarkable abilities. In a bid to save their family farm, the two aspire to compete in the Agility Course Championships at the prestigious Krumpets Dog Show in London, while overcoming hurdles, obstacles and nefarious villains.
ScreenHub: Runt review – rollicking family fun
OCTOBER
Memoir of a Snail (Madman, 17 October)
MEMOIR OF A SNAIL
Animated feature
Writer-director: Adam Elliot
Producers: Adam Elliot, Liz Kearney, Robert Connolly, Robert Patterson
Stars: Sarah Snook, Eric Bana, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jacki Weaver, Magda Szubanski, Dominique Pinon, Tony Armstrong.
Synopsis: From Academy Award® winning animator Adam Elliot comes this bittersweet memoir of a melancholic woman called Grace Puddle – a hoarder of snails, romance novels and guinea pigs. Grace’s life is plagued with misfortune and loss, until she befriends an elderly eccentric woman called Pinky. Through an enduring and colourful friendship, Pinky teaches Grace many life lessons and ultimately the courage to let go of the things that clutter her home and her mind.
ScreenHub: Memoir of a Snail MIFF review: triumph of the human thumb-print
Like My Brother (Madman, 17 October)
LIKE MY BROTHER
Documentary
Director: Danielle Maclean and Sal Balharrie
Producer: Tony Wright and Sal Balharrie
Synopsis: This coming of age story follows Rina, Freda, Juliana and Jess on their journey from the Tiwi to Melbourne and back again as they dare to dream, taking up opportunities as they present, to play football at an elite level. While each girl has unique desires – to have fun, to be a leader, to be a teacher, to make a father proud, their obstacles are environmental and psychological – the tyranny of distance, young motherhood, addiction to sugar, navigating drugs and alcohol, gambling, homesickness and balancing the expectations of family. And while offers from the big smoke are great, and those in power down south think the girls should jump on and off planes and be hungry for success, those at home harbour and share the girls fears.
He Ain’t Heavy (Bonsai, 17 October)
HE AIN’T HEAVY
Drama
Writer-director: David Vincent Smith
Producer: Jess Parker
Cast: Leila George, Sam Corlett, Greta Scacchi
Synopsis: A desperate woman kidnaps and enforces rehab on her violent brother in a last-ditch effort to save their lives. The feature film was born from Vincent Smith’s proof-of-concept short I’m Not Hurting You, which premiered at Sydney Film Festival and screened at numerous local and international film festivals.
The Moogai (Causeway Films, 31 October)
THE MOOGAI
Horror, First Nations
Writer-director: Jon Bell
Producers: Kristina Ceyton, Samantha Jennings, Mitchell Stanley
Stars: Shari Sebbens, Meyne Wyatt, Tessa Rose
Synopsis: A malicious spirit enters the home of a young Indigenous couple with a newborn baby and the mother must protect them at any cost. Based on his award-winning short of the same name, writer-director Jon Bell’s striking feature debut arrives from SXSW, Sundance, SFF and MIFF.
ScreenHub: The Moogai SFF review: beware the boogeyman
Audrey (Rialto, 7 November)
AUDREY
Comedy drama
Director: Natalie Bailey
Writer: Lou Sanz
Producers: Diya Eid, Dan Lake, Shannon Wilson-McClinton, Michael Wrenn
Cast: Jackie van Beek, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Josephine Blazier, Hannah Diviney
Synopsis: A dramedy following self-appointed Mother of the Year, Ronnie Lipsick, who is living a life she never wanted, with a derailed career, a husband whose love for life has gone limp and two daughters who she struggles to connect with. When an accident lands her eldest daughter Audrey in a coma, Ronnie gets a second chance at life by taking on her daughter’s identity – only she’s not the only one in the family who sees Audrey’s comatose state as an opportunity.
NOVEMBER
The Pool (Madman, 7 November)
Documentary feature
Director: Ian Darling
Producers: Ian Darling, Mary Macrae
The Pool Synopsis: Bondi Icebergs is the most photographed pool in the world. For nearly a century this spectacular 50 metre stretch of sparkling blue at the southern end of Bondi Beach has occupied a special corner in the hearts of millions. Icebergs is at once a meeting place, a resting place, a workout place and a place of romance and ritual. We come to understand that for those who seek it out, and return, it is a symbol of inclusivity, healing and resilience.
Aquarius (Madman, 14 November)
Documentary feature
Director: Wendy Champagne
Producer: Sam Griffin
Synopsis: The story of a radical 10-day Festival in 1973 held in the northern NSW town of Nimbin, where the participants face down police interference, internal chaos, drugs and personal drama to create a living blueprint for survival on earth.
DECEMBER
Better Man (Roadshow, 26 December)
BETTER MAN
Musical biopic
Director: Michael Gracey
Writers: Oliveer Cole, Simon Gleeson, Michael Gracey
Producers: Jules Daley, Michael Gracey, Craig McMahon, Paul Currie
Stars: Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Damon Herriman, Kate Mulvany, Anthony Hayes, Steve Pemberton and Alison Steadman.
Synopsis: Better Man offers an introspective look into the experiences that shaped Robbie Williams, both on and off stage.
The Correspondent (Maslow Entertainment, 26 December)
THE CORRESPONDENT
True story/political drama
Director: Kriv Stenders
Writer: Peter Duncan
Producer: Carmel Travers
Stars: Richard Roxburgh, Rahel Romahn, Julian Maroun, Mojean Aria, Fayssal Bazzi, and Yael Stone, with John Bell and Anna Volska as Lois and Juris Greste.
Synopsis: Award-winning journalist Peter Greste reports on the Arab Spring uprising, becoming entangled in a deadly game of rivalries. Imprisoned for seven years despite his innocence, he survives on wits alone before release in 2015.
JANUARY 2025
Magic Beach (Madman, 16 January 2025)
MAGIC BEACH
Animated family feature
Director: Robert Connolly
Producer: Robert Connolly
Animators: Susan Danta, Pierce Davison, Jake Duczynski, Emma Kelly, Anthony Lucas, Simon Rippingale, Marieka Walsh, Eddie White, Lee Whitmore, Kathy Sarpi.
Synopsis: Alison Lester’s much-loved illustrated children’s book Magic Beach is reimagined for the screen through a unique mix of live action entwined with extraordinary animated stories from ten leading Australian animators.
ScreenHub: Every Australian film we know about for 2024 so far
Other Australian films on the radar with dates TBC
In Vitro (Madman)
The Surfer (Madman)
Wolf Creek 3 (Roadshow)
Spit (Transmission)
The Fox (Causeway Films)
To add to this list, send through schedule updates and hot tips about Australian films to editor [at] screenhub.com.
