Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated American Independent Films of 2019: #30. David Lowery’s Green Knight

Published on February 8, 2019

Green Knight

David Lowery has been working in an almost film per year orbit since the release of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, but Green Knight comes across as a different beast, perhaps not Disney level but a sizeable indie project nonetheless. With no casting announcements made as of yet, and still very much in pre-production, the fantasy epic retelling of the medieval tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was unveiled back in November with Toby Halbrooks and James M. Johnston producing. Look for the talents of cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo and production designer Jade Healy to also join the fold.

Gist: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of the most famous tales in early English literature. As the story goes, chivalrous and loyal Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur’s Round Table, accepts the challenge of beheading the Green Knight and must wait a year and a day to receive a blow in return. In the end it was a test of his loyalty to the king.

Release Date/Prediction: With A24 mixing up their future release slate with acquisitions and more in-house projects, there won’t be any need to drop this in 2019. It all depends on how quickly the team moves in post (if there are any additional special effects or if this goes Tarkovsky with the setting) and if Venice and TIFF make competitive bids to premiere the project.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).