Crime movies to watch out for in 2018

You Were Never Really Here

With Joaquin Phoenix in the lead, Jonny Greenwood composing the score and early hype that it could well be the best film of the year, you’d be forgiven for assuming that You Were Never Really Here was the latest from The Master and Inherent Vice helmsman Paul Thomas Anderson. But it isn’t. Said to be as brutal as it is oblique, as harrowing as it is touching, You Were Never Really Here is directed by We Need to Talk About Kevin’s Lynne Ramsey and caused quite the stir at the few 2017 film festivals it appeared at.

A bearded, intense and sinewy Phoenix as a muscle-for-hire type whose speciality is tracking down missing kids… What’s not to love about that, eh? But this tale of the search for the missing daughter of a politician involved in a child sex-trafficking ring is no Liam Neeson-esque action fluff piece. By all accounts, it’s nearer Taxi Driver in tone and quality. And we can’t wait.

Released? March

Soldado

2015’s US feds vs. Mexican drug cartel thriller Sicario was easily one of the year’s best movies. Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin were excellent in it, but it was Benicio Del Toro as the ruthless black ops hitman Alejandro Gillick that really stole the show. A brilliant movie, but not one that necessarily screamed, ‘sequel!’, when word hit that a follow-up had been greenlit, it came as a slight surprise to everyone. But not an unwelcome one.

The original cast is back, save for Blunt. Get Out’s Catherine Keener steps in to replace her, Stranger Things’ Matthew Modine also ably assists. Soldado sees Gillick and Brolin’s shady CIA operative heading south of the border to start an inter-cartel war, down Mexico way. And we’re fairly certain it’ll be muy bueno.

Released? June

White Boy Rick

’71 director Yann Demange tackles the gripping true story of Richard Wershe Jr, a man recruited by the FBI to become an undercover informant for them during the so-called ‘War on Drugs’. The set-up goes badly wrong for everyone involved, not least of all Wershe who ends up serving life in jail after finding himself becoming a big-time drug trafficker.

Set in the grim world of Detroit in the 1980s, Matthew McConaughey takes on the main role, but it’s the supporting players that really catch the eye. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Eddie Marsan, Bruce Dern and Piper Laurie all assist in bulking out the cast.

Released? August

The House That Jack Built

A serial killer film from Lars von Trier… Now there’s a disturbing thought. The director of The Idiots and Antichrist is a controversial figure at the best of times. Not a huge amount of the story is known as yet, but the bones of the thing see Matt Dillon as Jack, a serial murderer who views his history of killings as more of a portfolio. His destruction and victims are his ‘art’. And coming from the man behind the two Nymphomaniac films, we can rather safely assume that this will be anything but easy watching. Uma Thurman co-stars.

Released? November

Hard Powder

Kraftidioten. Ever heard of it? Well, no. Us neither. At least we’d never heard it called that, anyway. That’s its Norwegian title. In English it’s called In Order of Disappearance and we were only aware of the movie’s existence because it’s on Netflix. It’s a cutting and violent black comedy and well worthy of two hours of your time. Hard Powder is its English language remake, starring Liam Neeson.

The big Irishman is back doing what he does best, taking down the ruthless criminals that have harmed his family. Only this time he’ll be wearing a hat and gloves, because the action will take place in a bitingly cold ski town. It’s tempting to want to write off Hard Powder as yet another Taken rip-off, but it’s retaining the same director (Hans Petter Moland) as the original, so we’re hopeful it’ll have more than a little something about it.

Released? TBC

Apostle

2018 looks like a fine year for anyone that gets revved up by vengeance. Not only do we have Hard Powder and You Were Never Really Here to look forward to, we’ve also got the Eli Roth-directed Death Wish remake hitting multiplexes in March. And a smaller, but infinitely more interesting 19^th century-set tale called Apostle.

The Guest star Dan Stevens is out to track down his sister who has been kidnapped/brainwashed by Michael Sheen’s manipulative cult leader. He finds them – and plenty of weird goings-on – on a remote island. The biggest draw here? This comes from writer/director Gareth Evans, the man who brought us this century’s finest action films, The Raid and The Raid 2. Apostle should debut directly on Netflix.

Released? TBC

Which of our picks has you the most excited? Or is there a snazzy-looking crime flick due out that we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments below…