It’s finally the month of the Oscars, and while you catch up on the best films of last year, there’s also a wealth of promising new films to check out in theaters. From horror to action to documentaries to the top Sundance winner to a Polish cannibal horror mermaid musical, there’s something for everyone. We should also note that, for those looking to repertory options, Josef von Sternberg’s newly restored final film Anatahan will start rolling out this week.
Matinees to See: Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2/3), Youth in Oregon (2/3), The Space Between Us (2/3), David Brent: Life on the Road (2/10), The Great Wall (2/17), Land of Mine (2/17), Kiki (2/24)
15. XX (St. Vincent, Karyn Kusama, Roxanne Benjamin, Sofìa Carrillo, and Jovanka Vuckovic; Feb. 17)
Synopsis: An all-female horror anthology.
Why You Should See It: After the anthologies V/H/S and The ABCs of Death ran their course, it’s time to put horror in the proper hands. XX offers four tales in the genre, all directed by females: Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), Karyn Kusama (whose The Invitation was one of 2016’s best films), Roxanne Benjamin (Southbound), and Jovanka Vuckovic (former editor of Rue Morgue magazine). With a cast including Natalie Brown, Melanie Lynskey, Breeda Wool, and Christina Kirk, reactions from Sundance indicate a hit-or-miss quality, but we’re there to see St. Vincent’s first effort behind the camera.
14. Imperial Dreams (Malik Vitthal; Feb. 3)
Synopsis: A 21-year-old reformed gangster’s devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
Why You Should See It: In the three years since the Sundance Film Festival premiere of Imperial Dreams, life has greatly changed for John Boyega. He’s shot two Star Wars films, he’s in the middle of shooting a Pacific Rim sequel, and worked with James Ponsoldt and Kathryn Bigelow on new features. After being in distribution limbo, Malik Vitthal’s drama will now get a Netflix release this week and it looks to be a strong drama, which audiences already have embraced as it won the Audience Award in its Next section after its Sundance premiere.
13. A United Kingdom (Amma Assante; Feb. 10)
Synopsis: Prince Seretse Khama of Botswana causes an international stir when he marries a white woman from London in the late 1940s.
Why You Should See It: Belle director Amma Asante has returned with another historical drama, A United Kingdom, starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. Premiering back at TIFF and now set for a release this month from Fox Searchlight, we said in our review, “the production is near flawless in period look and coherence towards what’s a rather complicated political issue consisting of numerous moving pieces. We understand why Britain looks to divide Khama’s family and why he’s desperate to stop them.”
12. Kedi (Ceyda Torun; Feb. 10)
Synopsis: A profile of an ancient city and its unique people, seen through the eyes of the most mysterious and beloved animal humans have ever known, the Cat.
Why You Should See It: Shaping up to be the Citizen Kane of cat movies, Kedi follows a few of the hundreds of thousands of Turkish cats in Istanbul. Judging from the trailer, and positive acclaim from its year-long festival run, this will be the most adorable film of 2017.
11. The LEGO Batman Movie (Chris McKay; Feb. 10)
Synopsis: Bruce Wayne must not only deal with the criminals of Gotham City, but also the responsibility of raising a boy he adopted.
Why You Should See It: The self-awareness that was utterly absent from Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is thankfully showing up in The Dark Knight’s latest adventure. Before Justice League and his stand-alone movie, another take on the superhero is coming shortly. Led by Will Arnett‘s angsty, hilarious, and lonely Caped Crusader, the perfecting voice cast includes Alfred (Ralph Fiennes), Dick Grayson/Robin (Michael Cera), Barbara Gordon/Batgirl (Rosario Dawson), The Joker (Zach Galifianakis), and Gotham’s mayor (Mariah Carey). We imagine this will be the best DC film of the year.
10. War on Everyone (John Michael McDonagh; Feb. 3)
Synopsis: Two corrupt cops set out to blackmail and frame every criminal unfortunate enough to cross their path.
Why You Should See It: We’ve been waiting for a long time to see War on Everyone, the next film from The Guard and Calvary writer-director John Michael McDonagh, but finally — after a Berlin premiere at the start of this year — it will be landing in theaters this week. Starring Michael Peña and Alexander Skarsgård, we said in our review, “Steering into the frame to the sound of ’70s rock music while giving chase in their muscle car to a fully-costumed, on-foot mime, the impeccably dressed, utterly corrupt police duo of Bob Bolaño (Michael Peña) and Terry Monroe (Alexander Skarsgård) initially appear to be running full-speed towards an even wackier version of the Starsky & Hutch movie we got in 2004. Audiences familiar with the work of director John Michael McDonagh (The Guard, Calvary), however, will know something else must be in store with War on Everyone, even if McDonagh himself has made no mystery of the slightly broader canvas he’s working on this time around.”
9. The Lure (Agnieszka Smoczynska; Feb. 1)
Synopsis: In Warsaw, a pair of mermaid sisters are adopted into a cabaret. While one seeks love with humans the other hungers to dine on the human population of the city.
Why You Should See It: The Polish cannibal horror mermaid musical you’ve been waiting for is now in theaters. Following a Sundance premiere last year, Agnieszka Smoczynska‘s The Lure was picked up by Janus Films (which indicates a likely Criterion release). We said in our review, “Still, there is far too much here not to recommend. This is nothing if not brazen and intriguing filmmaking, and should be sought out and discussed, despite its shortcomings.”
8. Dark Night (Tim Sutton; Feb. 3)
Synopsis: The lives of six strangers intersect at a suburban Cineplex where a massacre occurs.
Why You Should See It: Sure to be one of the most controversial films of the year, we said in our review, “In many ways, writer-director Tim Sutton‘s third feature, Dark Night, exists in the same world as his first two films, Pavilion and Memphis. As we follow a collection of young men and women drifting through a long day in the American suburbs, many of the themes from his earlier work shine through — boredom as punctuated by anger, lust, and artistic ambition, to name a few. Where the day will end we already know, thanks to the film’s blunt title, a not-so-subtle reference to the 2012 shooting at a showing of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado.”
7. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (Macon Blair; Feb. 24)
Synopsis: When a depressed woman is burglarized, she finds a new sense of purpose by tracking down the thieves alongside her obnoxious neighbor.
Why You Should See It: After working with Jeremy Saulnier in all of his films thus far, Macon Blair premiered his directorial debut at Sundance this year where it picked up the Grand Jury Prize. We said in our review, “He’s got a confident hand here, utilizing his two leads to the maximum along with his own screenplay, which takes most scenes in an unexpected direction. No character is one thing in this film. And for as ridiculous as some of the engages get, most of it feels truer to life than one might expect. Consider one scene in which Ruth and Tony confront the group that now has her laptop. Initially tense, the moment releases into something a bit funny, weird, and refreshing.”
6. A Cure for Wellness (Gore Verbinski; Feb. 17)
Synopsis: An ambitious young executive is sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from an idyllic but mysterious “wellness center” at a remote location in the Swiss Alps but soon suspects that the spa’s miraculous treatments are not what they seem.
Why You Should See It: The nearly 2.5-hour runtime may be daunting, but if it means the return of Gore Verbinski to the horror genre, we’re there. After his Johnny Depp collaborations with the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, Rango, and The Lone Ranger, the director is back with the creepy-looking horror starring Dane DeHaan, Mia Goth and Jason Isaacs. Earning comparisons to Shutter Island and the films of David Fincher and Park Chan-wook, hopefully this’ll be a bright (dark) spot this month.
5. My Life as a Zucchini (Claude Barras; Feb. 24)
Synopsis: Orphans in a children’s home discover happiness when they have a gang of friends and learn how to fall in love.
Why You Should See It: Earning an Oscar nomination, perhaps edging out Pixar, Sweden’s Best Foreign Language Film entry is one to seek out. Scripted by Céline Sciamma (Girlhood), it tells the story of a boy who becomes orphaned after accidentally killing his alcoholic mother. Fear not though as it’s not as depressing as that logline suggests, with Barras crafting a deeply felt tale of healing, even if it feels a tad too short at just over an hour. We said in our review, “Orphanages conjure up images of the hard-knock life and servings of gruel. This tough, deeply moving, Céline Sciamma-penned, 66-minute stop-motion gem from France shows the flipside. Sure, harsh realities are inevitably encountered — sometimes in a more uncompromising fashion than you’ll ever see in what is ostensibly a children’s film — but Claude Barras’ feature-directing debut has heart enough to show.”
4. Get Out (Jordan Peele; Feb. 24)
Synopsis: A young African-American man visits his Caucasian girlfriend’s mysterious family estate.
Why You Should See It: A secret screening at Sundance this year turned out to be one of the best films of the festival. We said in our review, “Resisting a deep racial analysis in the vein of I Am Not Your Negro, master satirist Jordan Peele’s horror comedy Get Out requires an audience ready to hoot, holler, yell, and laugh along. In large part, his directorial debut is a success, a rare studio comedy/thriller with a surface-level social agenda. The true test of a film like this is rather simple: are we with it or do we resist? The answer is largely the former and Get Out has a great of fun satirizing our “post-racial” society in a horror comedy of manners, though it never actually tackles the depressing realities of the issue.”
3. Lovesong (So Yong Kim; Feb. 17)
Synopsis: The relationship between two friends deepens during an impromptu road trip.
Why You Should See It: It’s hard to imagine many more films featuring better (mostly unspoken) chemistry than what Riley Keough and Jena Malone have in Lovesong. We said in our review, “Tender and haunting, So Yong Kim’s Lovesong is a carefully observed, nuanced character study beautifully written, directed and edited. Much of the action, like in her pervious features In Between Days, Treeless Mountain and For Ellen occurs at the edge of the frame. Exploring the bounds of motherhood, childhood and maturity, Lovesong is an impressive and observant feature in which Kim allows the relationships the breathing room they require for authenticity.”
2. John Wick: Chapter Two (Chad Stahelski; Feb. 10)
Synopsis: After returning to the criminal underworld to repay a debt, John Wick discovers that a large bounty has been put on his life.
Why You Should See It: If you’ve seen John Wick, then I can make this quick. Following up one of the slickest action films of the last century, Keanu Reeves is back in the role he was born to play, and judging from early reactions, it’s one of the few sequels to actually improve upon its predecessor. Yeah, we’re thinking he’s back.
1. I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck; Feb. 3)
Synopsis: Writer James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.
Why You Should See It: One of the most affecting, incendiary documentaries I’ve seen in the last year, I Am Not Your Negro is an essential watch. Named one of our top 25 films of last year (when it got a qualifying run), we said, “Inspired by James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript Remember This House, Raoul Peck creates a sweeping commentary on race through the lens of Civil Rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson and featuring an archive of interviews with Baldwin, Peck’s cinematic essay juxtaposes the author’s observations and travels with contemporary materials that offer a warning from the past as unresolved racial tensions bubble up, even in a supposed post-racial Obama era.”
What are you watching this month?