Annual Top Films Lists

Through the Looking-Glass…Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2018: #2. Claire Denis’ High Life

Published on January 12, 2017

High Life

Director: Claire Denis
Writer: Claire Denis, Zadie Smith, Nick Laird, Jean-Pol Fargeau

Arguably the higher profile project from Claire Denis is her English language debut, High Life, an ambitious sci-project co-written by novelists Zadie Smith and Nick Laird. We had originally pegged this for a 2017 release, but it looks like 2018 will be its fate, a story about a father and daughter isolated in deep space. The film stars Robert Pattinson, Mia Goth, and Patricia Arquette (in a role which almost went to Michelle Williams) and promises to be a delectable mix of elements sewn together from one of cinema’s greatest contemporary auteurs (plus another original score from Denis’ favored composer Stuart Staples and the Tindersticks).

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Patricia Arquette, Mia Goth

Production Co./Producer(s): Arte France Cinema, Alcatraz, Apocalypse, Pandora.

U.S. Distributor: Rights available.

Release Date: We would imagine High Life to be a glitzy grab for the Cannes Main Competition in 2018 (a fitting return to the platform, seeing as Denis last appeared here with her 1988 debut Chocolat), but if her other project pushes production back on this, then Venice would be the next best bet (where Denis competed in 1990, 2004, and 2009).

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Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.