Butter

Butter tells the story of a young orphan who discovers that she has a talent for butter carving in an Iowa town where her adoptive family resides. She finds herself competing against an ambitious wife, played by Jennifer Garner, in the annual competition. The ensemble comedy, written by Jason Micallef and directed by Jim Field Smith, stars Yara Shahidi, Ty Burrell, Ashley Greene, Olivia Wilde, Alicia Silverstone and Hugh Jackman. It received a last-minute slot at the Telluride Film Festival.

In Darkness

Sony Pictures Classics snagged U.S. rights to Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness, based on the true story, In the Sewers of Lvov by Robert Marshall, earlier this year. The movie tells the story of a thief who hides a group of Jews in the city's sewers during the Nazi occupation.

The Artist

Director-screenwriter Michel Hazanavicius’s black-and-white silent film about Hollywood’s silent movie days drew raves at the Cannes Film Festival. THR critic Todd McCarthy wrote that it succeeded “in the important matter of approximating the general spirit and flavor of some late silent pictures, notably their energy, brio and direct emotional appeal.”

FILM REVIEW: The Artist
 

Shame

Michael Fassbender re-teams with Hunger director Steve McQueen in the story of a sex-obsessed New Yorker. Carey Mulligan co-stars as Fassbender’s sister.

The Descendants

Sideways director Alexander Payne's first feature-length film since 2004 stars George Clooney as a man having to take charge and reconnect with his kids when his wife falls into a coma.

We Need To Talk About Kevin

We Need to Talk About Kevin had people talking at its Cannes Film Festival premiere in May with a theme that echoed the Columbine shootings. Tilda Swinton stars in director Lynne Ramsay's coolly cerebral drama about a mother and her murderous son.

Oscilloscope will distribute the picture Stateside in time for awards consideration.

FILM REVIEW: We Need to Talk About Kevin

The Kid With a Bike

This crowd-pleaser from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne centers on a young boy scarred by abandonment issues, learning to experience the unfamiliar sensations of love and trust.

THR’s Kirk Honeycutt said of the picture, “There isn’t a single unearned emotion in this tremendously moving drama."

FILM REVIEW: The Kid With a Bike

Albert Nobbs

Period drama meets questions of sexual identity in this Rodrigo Garcia-directed drama. Glenn Close stars as a woman passing herself off as a man so she can work in late 19th century Ireland. Close won an Obie award for playing the role in the 1982 Off-Broadway stage production.

A Separation

Asghar Farhadi's Nader and Simin, A Separation — about the breakup of a family set against the politician tensions in Tehran — is a "tensely involving Iranian drama with niche potential," reviewed The Hollywood Reporter's Deborah Young. The film won the Berlin Film Festival's top prize for best film, the Golden Bear. The ensemble cast also won the best actor and actress Silver Bears, beating out higher-profile competition.

The Island President

Directed by Jon Shenk, The Island President documentary centers on the efforts of Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed in tackling climate change. As the first democratically-elected president of the country, Nasheed faces a crisis of vast proportions.

George Harrison: Living in the Material World

The upcoming BBC documentary, directed by Martin Scorsese, is based on the life of Beatles member George Harrison. The film follows Harrison's story from his early life living in Liverpool, the success of the Beatles, his experiences in India and the influence of the culture on his music. Interviews with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Olivia and Dhani Harrison, Eric Clapton, Phil Spector and Tom Petty are also featured in the doc. In the U.S., HBO will air the film in two parts on Oct. 5 and 6.

A Dangerous Method

Early reviews out of the Venice Film Festival, where it made its world premiere are in, with The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy calling the David Cronenberg film "precise, lucid and thrillingly disciplined." Sony Pictures Classics' period drama stars Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen as Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein, respectively — with a scheduled U.S. theater release on Nov. 23.