We made a list of all new movies out in theaters in February 2024, from this month’s most anticipated releases to hidden gems and festival films!
February 2024 is coming, and with it are many new movies to watch in theaters! So what are we going to see this month? There are definitely many anticipated films and some festival hits, but also some exciting restorations and limited releases to add to your watchlist.
We collected all of February 2024’s upcoming releases, to help you choose some movies to watch this month! You’ll find all the films in the list below, in order of release and divided by those you’ll be able to see in U.S. theaters and in U.K. cinemas. We also added global release dates where available. Enjoy!
FEBRUARY 2024 MOVIES: IN U.S. THEATERS
FEBRUARY 2, 2024 MOVIES
ARGYLLE
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Global Release: February 2
Matthew Vaughn’s new movie has a stellar cast, helmed by Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays an introverted spy novelist named Elly Conway. But one day, Elly and her beloved cat come face to face with the actual world of espionage, when one of her novels actually uncovers the activities of an eerie underground syndicate. The great Sam Rockwell plays an actual spy who’s allergic to cats, and the rest of the cast includes Henry Cavill, John Cena, Ariana DeBose, Sofia Boutella, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Samuel L. Jackson, and Dua Lipa. Need we say more?
BUSHMAN (1971) 4K RESTORATION (LIMITED)
Director: David Schickele
U.S. Release: February 2 in New York, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, with more cities to follow.
This new 4K restoration of David Schickele’s Bushman (1971), a milestone in Black representation, is really important as it’s be the first time the film will be available to a wide audience. Newly restored in 4K, the film takes place in 1968, when a Peace Corps veteran named David Schickele enlists his friend Paul to star in a comedy about a well-educated Nigerian immigrant in San Francisco. The film is a snapshot of late 1960s culture and dynamics.
DEPARTING SENIORS
Director: Clare Cooney
U.S. Release: February 2
U.K. Release: TBA
A high school senior named Javier develops psychic abilities as a result of being bullied. Needless to say, he must put his stills to use, as a killer is on the lose, targeting his schoolmates.
THE JUNGLE BUNCH WORLD TOUR
Directors: Laurent Bru, Yannick Moulin & Benoit Somville
U.S. Release: February 2
U.K. Release: February 9
The Jungle Bunch has to save the day in the jungle, after a mysterious super-villain covers it with a toxic pink foam that explodes on contact with water! To find the antidote, they must look all around the world, racing through Europe, Asia, the Middle East and more.
LOVE… RECONSIDERED (LIMITED)
Director: Carol Ray Hartsell
U.S. Release: February 2 (New York), February 9 (LA)
U.K. Release:
One of the first new movies of February 2024 is a rom-com! It’s about a 30-something woman named Ruby (Sophie von Hasselberg), who lives in New York and is not exactly happy with her lift. After a meetcute with a wealthy business owner, her life “moves” to the Hamptons and is changed forever.
DISCO BOY (LIMITED)
Director: Giacomo Abbruzzese
U.S. Release: February 2 (New York), February 9 (LA)
U.K. Release:
Giacomo Abbruzzese’s Disco Boy captivated audiences at many festivals last year, and for good reason. The film revolves around a a young Belarusian man who illegally crosses the border into France and looks for a sense of belonging. But the true reason to watch it is Franz Rogowski (Undine, Passages), who holds the entire film together with a mesmerizing performance. Read our review of Disco Boy!
FITTING IN
Director: Molly McGlynn
U.S. Release: February 2
U.K. Release: TBA
Maddie Ziegler is the lead in a film we absolutely fell in love with at SXSW last year. Fitting In (previously titled Bloody Hell) is about a 16-year-old named Lindy who gets diagnosed with MRKH syndrome, a condition that has to do with the uterus and reproductive system. In what is partly a coming of age story, this affects her sex life, but also her ideas of womanhood, sexuality and motherhood. And, surprisingly, director Molly McGlynn also manages to imbue the film with the right dose of humor. Don’t miss it! Read our review of Fitting In.
HOW TO HAVE SEX
Director: Molly Manning Walker
U.S. Release: February 2
U.K. Release: out now on Mubi!
Cannes fell in love with Molly Manning Walker‘s How to Have Sex at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, where the film won the Un Certain Regard Prize. Now, after being screened at Sundance 2024, the movie is coming to theaters. The writer-director-cinematographer (Scrapper) brings us a film about consent that revolves around three British teenage girls who spend the summer on a Greek island and discover many truths about sex, relationships, and growing up. A must watch, helmed by a superb Mia McKenna-Bruce. Read our review of How to Have Sex!
SCRAMBLED (LIMITED)
Director: Leah McKendrick
U.S. Release: February 2
U.K. Release: TBA
Nellie Robinson (Leah McKendrick) is the eternal bridesmaid. Her life consists of attending weddings and baby showers, and going on bad dates. One day, she starts to feel the years passing by and she decides to freeze her eggs. But this is the first step towards a journey to ultimately, unexpectedly find… “the one” – which might actually be herself, after all.
THE PROMISED LAND (BASTARDEN)
Director: Nikolaj Arcel
U.S. Release: February 2
U.K. Release: February 16
After a successful run at Venice and more festivals, The Promised Land (Bastarden) hits theaters worldwide on February 2. The film is set in a 18th century Denmark run by a Feudal system. Mads Mikkelsen plays a war hero named Captain Ludvig Kahlen, who has just returned home and wishes to tame an uninhabitable, arid land and build a colony there in the name of the King. His aim? Gaining a noble title. But though the King is happy with his plan, his neighbor – the ruthless Frederik De Schinkel – isn’t. And so, a battle of pride and, eventually, violence begins between the two men, in what ultimately explores how far someone is willing to go to stay true to their principles. Read our review of The Promised Land!
SHE IS CONANN (LIMITED)
Director: Bertrand Mandico
U.S. Release: February 2 (New York)
U.K. Release: TBA
Bertrand Mandico’s queer 35mm epic fantasy She is Conann is coming to theaters in North America, after its world premiere at Cannes. According to the official synopsis of the movie, this sci-fi trip “blurs realities and flips genders,” celebrating films like Fellini Satyricon, The Night Porter, The Hunger, and Fassbinder’s movies.
TÓTEM
Director: Lila Avilés
U.S. Release: January 26 (NY), February 2 (LA)
U.K. Release: December 1, 2023
TÓTEM follows a 7-year-old girl named Sol. The film takes place at her father’s surprise birthday party, which she’s helping her aunts prepare. But as more and more people arrive, we see the world through Sol’s eyes, as she grows more and more aware of her dad’s mysterious absence.
FEBRUARY 7, 2024 MOVIES
PERFECT DAYS
Director: Wim Wenders
U.S. Release: February 2
U.K. Release: February 26
It’s no wonder star Kōji Yakusho won the Best Actor Award at Cannes for his performance in this film. What Yakusho does in Perfect Days is nothing short of extraordinary, and the film itself is a Wim Wenders movie in the very best sense of the word. Perfect Days revolves around a middle-aged man named Hirayama, who is content with the simple life he leads. We follow him in his car, as he listens to his favorite tapes driving to work, which consists of cleaning public toilets in Tokyo. But behind his calm facade is a history that soon reemerges, in a powerful meditation on the meaning of life, or lack thereof. Read our review of Perfect Days!
FEBRUARY 9, 2024 MOVIES
AIR FORCE ONE DOWN
Director: James Bamford
U.S. Release: February 9
U.K. Release: TBA
A rookie Secret Service agent is on her first assignment on Air Force One, but terrorist hijack the plane and try to derail it. It’s up to her to save the President’s life and avert a global crisis.
DRIFT
Director: Anthony Chen
U.S. Release: February 9
U.K. Release: March 29
Cynthia Erivo plays a young refugee who arrives at a Greek island, on her own and with no money, and has to survive while dealing with her traumatic past. A friendship with a tour-guide (Alia Shawkat) helps both find the resilience they need to keep going.
ENNIO: THE MAESTRO
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
U.S. Release: February 9
U.K. Release: out now on digital and on demand
If you’re a film fan, you’re probably familiar with Ennio Morricone, whether you know him from his Spaghetti Western scores or for his countless other works, in a career that spanned nearly sixty years. And yet, we guarantee that this documentary from Giuseppe Tornatore has a lot to teach you about the composer, a man whose life was completely unlike what you’d imagine it to be. With in-depth interviews with Morricone himself and a detailed look at his entire life, Ennio: The Maestro moves, enlightens, and makes one want to live life to the fullest. Read our review of Ennio: The Maestro!
FLOAT
Director: Sherren Lee
U.S. Release: February 9
U.K. Release: TBA
Andrea Bang, Robbie Amell, Michelle Krusiec, Andrew Bachelor, Rukiya Bernard, and Sarah Desjardins all star in this new rom-com. Float is about a young woman named Waverly who is about to start her medical residency in Toronto but ends up dealing with unexpected events and making the decision to head to a Canadian town instead. There, she meets a lifeguard, and the two hit it off. But what will happen when summer ends?
HERE (LIMITED)
Director: Bas Devos
U.S. Release: February 9 in New York at Film at Lincoln Center
U.K. Release: TBA
Stefan is a construction worker who lives in Brussels. He’s about to go back home to Romania to see his mother, and he’s contemplating staying there too. As he prepares to leave, he uses the leftovers from his fridge to make soup to use as farewell gifts to friends and family. But he unexpectedly meets a Belgian-Chinese woman who makes him completely change his plans.
LISA FRANKENSTEIN
Director: Zelda Williams
U.S. Release: February 9
U.K. Release: March 22
Focus Features describes Lisa Frankenstein as a “coming of RAGE story.” It comes from director Zelda Williams and Jennifer’s Body writer Diablo Cody, and it’s about a misfit teenager who just so happens to have a crush on a corpse. The movie is about their journey to find love and happiness, with the occasional murder and missing limb!
MARMALADE
Director: Keir O’Donnell
U.S. Release: February 9
U.K. Release: February 12 on digital
This an edge-of-the-seat romance film follows a two men in prison who couldn’t be more different, and who become friends and decide to escape. As all of this happens, one of them (Joe Keery’s Baron) tells the other (Aldis Hodge’s Otis) his meeting with the love of his life, Marmalade (Camila Morrone). Together, the two of them had a “Bonnie and Clyde” scheme to rob a bank.
MOLLI AND MAX IN THE FUTURE
Director: Michael Lukk Litwak
U.S. Release: February 9
U.K. Release: TBA
When Harry Met Sally meets Futurama in Molli and Max in the Future, which is about a woman (Zosia Mamet) and a man (Aristotle Athari) who meet in space several times over the course of twelve years. It won’t be for everyone, but if you like quirky films with a dose of absurdism, check it out!
THE MONK AND THE GUN (LIMITED)
Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji
U.S. Release: February 9
U.K. Release: TBA
Bhutan’s Official Selection for Best International Feature at the Oscars is from Pawo Choyning Dorji, director of the fantastic Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom. The Monk And The Gun captures the time when Bhutan became a democracy, and one of the youngest in the world at that. But at the same time, the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan was also the last country to get appliances like the internet and television. The Democracy was the change that happened right after that, and the film explores the “wonder and disruption” caused by the advent of this new form of government.
OUT OF DARKNESS
Director: Andrew Cumming
Global Release: February 9
What’s really great about this feature debut is that it uses a language, called TOLA, that was invented by poet, historian and multi-linguist Dr. Daniel Andersson. In the movie, six people inside a small boat arrive at a desolate landscape that they hope will become their new home. But this is all happening 45,000 years ago, which means their biggest preoccupations are finding shelter and surviving in the caves of the mountains. But one day, they realize they are not alone.
POPULAR THEORY
Director: Ali Scher
U.S. Release: February 9
U.K. Release: TBA
Erwin is a 12 yr old genius, but the cost is complete isolation from her classmates. She doesn’t have any friends but she really wants to win the State Science Fair, and so she teams up with a fallow outcast named Winston, who also goes to her school and is very talented in chemistry. Their aim? Creating a chemical that will make them popular, and adding it to their classmates’ chewing gum sticks.
WILLIE AND ME
Director: Eva Hassmann
U.S. Release: February 9
U.K. Release: TBA
A German housewife in a loveless marriage finds solace in the music of Willie Nelson. One day, he announces his farewell concert, and she heads to Las Vegas to attend it, leaving her husband behind and rediscovering her past in the process.
THE TASTE OF THINGS
Director: Tran Anh Hung
U.S. Release: February 9 (limited), February 14 (nationwide)
U.K. Release: February 14
It’s the late 19th century in France, and Dodin Bouffant (Benoît Magimel) is a famous chef who lives with his personal cook Eugénie (Juliette Binoche), who is also his lover. The film is a showcase of culinary marvels that’s really an exploration of their relationship. But Eugénie is refusing to marry Dodin, so the latter decides to do something crazy: cook for her.
FEBRUARY 13-14, 2024 MOVIES
GLORIA GAYNOR: I WILL SURVIVE
Director: Betsy Schechter
U.S. Release: February 13
U.K. Release: TBA
The first music documentary of the month is about legendary icon Gloria Gaynor, telling the story of her life and career and the hardships she overcame.
BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Global Release: February 14
A celebration of the life and music of the legendary Bob Marley, exploring his life and career and the adversities he had to overcome. It was produced in partnership with the Marley family, and the cast includes Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley and Lashana Lynch as his wife Rita. The film hits theaters on February 14: what better day to celebrate love than Valentine’s Day?
MADAME WEB
Director: SJ Clarkson
Global Release: February 14
Dakota Johnson is Madame Web in one of the most anticipated films of the month, though fans don’t know what to expect from this Marvel origin story. At the center of it all is Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who has clairvoyant abilities, and who forges a relationship with three powerful women. Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, and Adam Scott are also in the cast.
FEBRUARY 16, 2024 MOVIES
BLEEDING LOVE
Director: Emma Westenberg
U.S. Release: February 16
U.K. Release: TBA
Ewan and Clara McGregor play estranged father and daughter in Bleeding Love, a film about a road trip that takes place after an incident happens to one of them. As they make their way to Santa Fe, New Mexico, they are forced to confron their past together.
GOD & COUNTRY
Director: Dan Partland
U.S. Release: February 16
U.K. Release: TBA
God & Country is bound to provoke debate among moviegoers, as it looks at the implications of Christian Nationalism on both politics and Christianity itself. The documentary asks: What happens when a faith built on love, sacrifice, and forgiveness becomes all about politics, money, power, and hyper-nationalism?
LAND OF BAD
Director: William Eubank
U.S. Release: February 16
U.K. Release:
Liam Hemsworth, Russell Crowe, Luke Hemsworth, Ricky Whittle and Milo Ventimiglia all star in this new edge-of-your-seat action movie. The film is about a Delta Force team who is ambushed in enemy territory. A rookie officer (Liam Hemsworth) refuses to abandon them, and their only hope is an Air Force drone pilot (Russell Crowe). But can he make it in time?
LIGHTS OUT
Director: Christian Sesma
U.S. Release: February 16
U.K. Release: TBA
Frank Grillo (The Purge Franchise, Boss Level), Mekhi Phifer, Jaime King, Dermot Mulroney and Scott Adkins star in a thriller about a homeless veteran who meets a chatty ex-con by chance. The pair form an unlikely friendship that leads them to a dangerous journey in the world of crime, as they try to get their redemption.
MONOLITH
Director: Matt Vesely
U.S. Release: February 16
U.K. & Irish Release: February 26
Do you like claustrophobic thrillers that take place in one location? If you do, you’ll enjoy this SXSW 2023 “Midnighter,” revolving around a disgraced journalist who investigates on a conspiracy theory. But as the puzzle begins to take shape, she realizes that her own story might have something to do with it.
NO WAY UP
Director: Claudio Fäh
U.S. Release: February 16
U.K. Release: TBA
Phyllis Logan, Colm Meaney, Sophie McIntosh, Will Attenborough and more star in a film about a trip with friends that goes wrong when the plane, which was headed to Cabo, Mexico, crashes in the Pacific Ocean. Ava and the other survivors find themselves trapped in the airlocked cabin, and, as if that wasn’t enough, sharks are there too!
ONLOOKERS (LIMITED)
Director: Kimi Tasekue
U.S. Release: February 16 at Metrograph (NY), followed by at home release on February 23
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Kimi Tasekue returns with a film that captivated audiences all over the world at many film festival. The movie is set in Laos, where the directors observes how tourists react to the locals. The film is a meditation of our everyday role as observers of other people’s lives and tackles many important themes, with a gorgeous backdrop.
FEBRUARY 23, 2024 MOVIES
ABOUT DRY GRASSES (LIMITED)
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
U.S. Release: February 23
U.K. Release: TBA
Turkey’s official entry for Best International Feature at the 96th Oscars is a film set in East Anatolia. A man struggles with his job, in what’s supposed to be his final year as an art teacher in an elementary school. His frustration grows when a young girl in his class accuses him of behaving inappropriately. The only thing that keeps our teacher, Samet, afloat is a friendship with another teacher, Nuray, which might grow into something else, thanks to her ability to put him in his place for his narcissistic behavior. This philosophical film did very well at film festivals last year, and Merve Dizdar even won Best Actress at Cannes.
BRING HIM TO ME
Director: Luke Sparke
U.S. Release: February 23
U.K. Release: TBA
A mild-mannered Driver (Barry Pepper) works for a mob boss, who one day asks him to collect a young new crew member known as Passenger (Jamie Costa), one week after a violent robbery. But it’s actually an ambush, where Driver will have to face his loyalties and fight for his life.
DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS
Director: Ethan Coen
U.S. Release: February 23
U.K. Release: TBA
Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls is one of the most anticipated releases of February 2024. Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp, and Matt Damon star in a comedy about a free spirit who’s devastated about a breakup a girlfriend, and a friend of hers who desperately needs to loosen up. The two women embark on a road trip to Tallahassee but soon meet a group of criminals.
DRUGSTORE JUNE
Director: Nicholaus Goossen
U.S. Release: February 23
U.K. Release: TBA
Esther Povitsky plays wannabe-influencer June, whom we follow as she deals with normal challenges like parental pressures, but also some unexpected ones, from an ex-boyfriend who insists she’s stalking him to two detectives who think she robbed the local pharmacy.
GOLDEN YEARS (LIMITED)
Director: Barbara Kulcsar
U.S. Release: February 23 in select theaters, March 26 nationwide
U.K. Release:
Alice and Peter are celebrating their much awaited retirement with a party. But Alice’s best friend Magalie dies right after the party, and Peter decides to invite her widower, Heinz, to join them on their retirement cruise. A trip that was meant to infuse fresh life into their marriage soon turns into something else when Alice and Peter drift apart even further. One day, after an excursion, Alice decides to stay on the island and embarks on a journey of her own across Southern Europe. The film is all about finding happiness outside preconceived notions of gender, marriage, and adulthood.
THE INVISIBLE FIGHT (LIMITED)
Director: Rainer Sarnet
U.S. Release: February 23
U.K. Release: TBA
After being screened at Fantastic Fest, Locarno, and Sitges, The Invisible Fight is coming to US theaters. According to the official synopsis, the movie is an “explosive, entertaining blend of kung fu, heavy metal, and Orthodox Christianity”. It’s set in 1973, when a young soldier is the only survivor of a massacre that took place at the USSR-China border, at the hands of flying kung fu warriors. Armed with some Black Sabbath music, our protagonist decides to become a kung fu warrior too, and this leads him to a very unorthodox teacher: a monk at the local Eastern Orthodox monastery. Needless to say, he will learn a lot more than what he set forth to accomplish.
IO CAPITANO
Director: Matteo Garrone
U.S. Release: February 23
U.K. Release: April 5
Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano was highly successful in Italy after its Venice premiere, so much so that it was Italy’s submission for the 2024 Oscars. The film is about the journey of a teenage boy and his cousin who leave Dakar, Senegal to go to Europe. It’s a veritable odyssey with so many challenges, and they encounter anything from the dangers of the sea to the Libyan detention centers.
ORDINARY ANGELS
Director: Jon Gunn
U.S. & Canada Release: February 23
U.K. Release: TBA
Sharon (Hilary Swank) is a fierce but struggling hairdresser in small-town Kentucky. One day, she finds a new sense of purpose when she meets a widower named Ed (Alan Ritchson), who lives for his two daughters. Since his youngest is waiting for a liver transplant, Sharon decides to help them. Inspired by a true story!
RED RIGHT HAND
Directors: Eshom Nelms & Ian Nelms
U.S. Release: February 23
U.K. Release: TBA
Orlando Bloom, Garret Dillahunt, and Andie MacDowell star in this action-thriller. At the center of it is a man named Cash (Bloom) trying to live an honest life, while looking after his niece, who’s recently lost her parents. One day, Odim County kingpin Big Cat (MacDowell) forces Cash to work for her again, and so begins a nightmarish journey that blurs all lines of morality.
STOPMOTION
Director: Robert Morgan
U.S. Release: February 23
Global Release: May 23 (Shudder)
A stop-motion animator finds it hard to control her demons when she loses her overbearing mother. She begins to feel the loneliness and she pours it all onto her art: she decides to make a macabre new puppet movie. But her puppets suddenly start to feel alive, and Ella’s own imagination might end up destroying her. Aisling Franciosi shines in this horror debut from Robert Morgan.
VESELKA: THE RAINBOW ON THE CORNER AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD
Director: Michael Fiore
U.S. Release: February 23
David Duchovny narrates this documentary about the beloved Ukrainian restaurant in New York’s East Village and its founders and owners, Tom and Jason Birchard. What makes us excited about the movie is that Grammy Award-winning saxophonist David Sanborn will also be the featured soloist in the film.
FEBRUARY 2024 MOVIES: IN U.K. CINEMAS
FEBRUARY 2-16, 2024 MOVIES
AMERICAN FICTION
Director: Cord Jefferson
U.K. Release: February 2
U.S. Release: December 15, 2023
Jeffrey Wright is superb in Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, a film that took the world by storm after its TIFF premiere, even more so considering it’s a debut. Wright plays writer Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, whose editor asks him to write a “Black” novel – to which he responds, of course, that he’s Black, which means that all of his novels are Black. But Monk soon understands what his editor means when he listens to a reading by a prominent author. Upset, he decides to write an extremely clichéd, terrible “Black” novel on purpose, under a pseudonym. Needless to say, everyone loves it. American Fiction is, at the same time, an absolutely hilarious satire of our current world and an extremely timely watch with something to say. Read our review of American Fiction!
MIGRATION
Directors: Benjamin Renner
U.K. Release: February 2
U.S. Release: December 2023
The Mallard family is having a disagreement. The dad, Mack, is happy staying at their New England pond forever, while the mom, Pam, would like to explore the world and show it to their kids. One day, a migrating duck family shows up at their pond with amazing tales of their adventures, and the Mallards decide to embark on a trip themselves, to tropical Jamaica via New York City. Of course, things don’t go according to plan, but our ducks will learn a few things nonetheless.
THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Director: Jonathan Glazer
U.K. Release: February 2
U.S. Release: December 15, 2023
Jonathan Glazer’s latest is not an easy film to watch, but it’s also a movie you can’t miss. The Zone of Interest revolves around a character inspired by a real-life, ruthless Auschwitz commandant named Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), who lived right next to the camp with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) and their children. The film shows us just this: the merry, carefree lives of a wealthy couple, living their best lives despite what’s happening all around them. It makes for an astonishing watch and also an eerie one, even more so due to fantastic sound design that never for one second lets us forget where we are. Read our review of The Zone of Interest!
GASSED UP
Director: George Amponsah
U.K. Release: February 9
U.S. Release: TBA
It’s London, and a group of young men in a moped gang are desperate to make ends meet. The film follows their lives after they’ve turned to petty theft. Starring Stephen Odubola, Taz Skylar and singer Mae Muller.
OCCUPIED CITY
Director: Steve McQueen
U.K. Release: February 9
U.S. Release: December 25, 2023
In her review of Occupied City, our writer Clotilde writes that she has never seen anything like it, and calls it “a stunning film of monumental proportions”. Steve McQueen’s latest is a documentary about the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam and its effects on the city we see today. But what’s truly impressive about it is that it does it all at the same time, while also looking at the biggest issues facing our current day, from Covid to the war in Ukraine and more.
THE SETTLERS (LOS COLONOS)
Director: Felipe Gálvez Haberle
U.K. Release: February 9
U.S. Release: January 12
The Settlers (Los Colonos) is set at the turn of the 20th century in la Tierra del Fuego, where three horsemen are on a mission to secure a man’s property. But they soon realize that their actual mission is to murder the indigenous population. A brutal, essential watch from director Felipe Gálvez. Read our review of The Settlers (Los Colonos)!
YOUR FAT FRIEND
Director: Jeanie Finlay
U.K. Release: February 9
U.S. Release: December 8 (limited)
Your Fat Friend was shot over six years, during which we follow we see Aubrey Gordon go from anonymous blogger Yrfatfriend to New York Times bestseller. Why? Because she aims to change the way that we view fat people and the fat on our own bodies. The official synopsis of the movie calls it “a film about fatness, family, the complexities of change and the messy feelings we hold about our bodies.” Read our review of Your Fat Friend!
FINDING HER BEAT
Directors: Dawn Mikkelson & Keri Pickett
U.K. Release: February 14
U.S. Release: January 12
Finding Her Beat has just completed its festival run worldwide, where it won many awards. Described as the “feel-good movie of the year”, this documentary is shot in cinema verité style and features LIVE Taiko drumming with local artists and Q&A with filmmakers. It’s a story of women banging their own rhythm on the drum, smashing gender roles, and paving their own road.
EUREKA
Directors: Alonso Lisandro
U.K. Release: February 16
U.S. Release: TBA
Argentine director Lisandro Alonso collaborates with Mads Mikkelsen one more after the acclaimed Jauja. This time, it’s an old-style, monochromatic Western that slowly brings on the colour as we arrive to modern USA. At the centre of it is police officer Alaina, who one day decides to stop answering the radio because she’s tired of her job. And so begins a journey through time and space to South America, that will also involve time travel, hallucinations, speaking with animals and more oddities.
FEBRUARY 22-29, 2024 MOVIES
VANYA (ONE DAY ONLY)
Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego
U.K. Release: February 22
Andrew Scott plays every character in this Chekov “Uncle Vanya” adaptation, and they’re often on the stage at the same time! If you missed the play’s sold-out run in London’s West End or you’re dying to see it again, National Theatre Live is bringing a filmed version of the show to UK cinemas on 22 February. If you want to experience actual theatre magic, don’t miss Vanya.
A WOLFPACK CALLED ERNESTO
Director: Everardo González
U.K. Release: February 23
U.S. Release: TBA
The director of Berlin-winning 2017 documentary Devil’s Freedom returns with a film about gun violence, and how it affects Mexican children. The documentary is filmed in an innovative way, with iPhones attached to the subject’s backs, and with a pulsating soundtrack that helps send the message across and convey the violence. Everardo González is one of the strongest documentarians in Latin America, and his latest is not to be missed.
AMERICAN STAR
Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego
U.K. Release: February 23
U.S. Release: January 26
Ian McShane plays an assassing on his final assignment in Gonzalo López-Gallego’s American Star. The task? Killing a stranger in Fuerteventura. The hiccups? The target is delayed, and our protagonist has to follow protocol and come back. Needless to say, he doesn’t, as he finds himself drawn to the island, the people, and a ghostly shipwreck. Eventually, the target returns, but nothing is the way it used to be.
MEMORY
Director: Michel Franco
U.K. Release: February 23
U.S. Release: January 5
A man creepily approaches a woman at a party, and the following day she finds him soaked in the rain, asleep in front of her house. When she calls someone on his phone, she meets his brother, who explains that Saul (Peter Sarsgaard) has early onset dementia. But things become even more complicated when the woman, Sylvia (Jessica Chastain), realises she knew him from school, and a bond starts to develop between them. Who are we when our memories are taken away? Are we still responsible for our past actions? Can love surpass all barriers, including a terminal illness? Michel Franco asks all these questions and more, in a fantastic, thought-provoking watch with superb performances.
SHOSHANA
Director: Michael Winterbottom
U.K. Release: February 23
U.S. Release: 2024
Shoshana is inspired by real events and set in 1930s Tel Aviv. This political thriller revolves around a man who works in the anti-terrorist squad of the British Palestine Police force, and who falls in love with the titular Shoshana Borochov. The film uses their relationship to examine themes like violence and extremism, and how these things force people to choose sides and alter dynamics between them.
TIGER STRIPES
Director: Amanda Nell Eu
U.K. Release: February 23
U.S. Release: TBA
The 12-year-old Zaffan is first amongst her friends to hit puberty, but she discovers a terrifying secret about her body. She’s ostracised by her school friends but she eventually learns to embrace her true self and fight for freedom. Tiger Stripes was the Cannes Critic’s Week 2023 Grand Prize winner.
HAMLET (ONE NIGHT ONLY)
Director: Sean Mathias
U.K. Release: February 27
This is not a drill: Sir Ian McKellen is coming soon to a cinema near you, for one night only, doing what he does best! The Shakespeare expert returns in a new psychological thriller adaptation of Hamlet, a classic revenge tale reimagined for the modern day.
DEFOE (ONE NIGHT ONLY)
Director: James Ross
U.K. Release: February 29
Jermain Defoe is a natural born goal scorer. Today, he’s a Youth Team coach at his beloved Tottenham Hotspur, and yet his enthusiasm for the sport is unchanged. The documentary explores his professional career and also the personal events that shaped him as a player and as a person.
