February gives us the Korean debut of a Japanese master, the latest slice
of horror from Shyamalan, a documentary deep dive into a cult French
filmmaker and more.
Knock at the Cabin - Feb 3rd, cinemas
Knock at the Cabin sees director
M. Night Shyamalan adapt Paul Tremblay's book 'The Cabin at
the End of the World' with co-writers Steve Desmond and
Michael Sherman. The movie sees a holidaying married gay couple and
their young daughter taken hostage by four people who claim they need them
to perform an act that will avert an oncoming apocalypse. Will it end in a
twist?
Attachment - Feb 9th, Shudder
Gabriel Bier Gislason, the son of Academy Award-winning Danish
filmmaker Susanne Bier, makes his directorial debut with Jewish themed
folk-horror Attachment. The movie stars Josephine Park as Maja, a struggling Danish
actress who moves to London's Hasidic Jewish community when her English
lover Leah (Ellie Kendrick) falls ill. Struggling to win over
Leah's mother (Sofie Gråbøl), Maja begins to suspect something
sinister is at play.
Blue Jean - Feb 10th, cinemas
Writer/director Georgia Oakley makes her feature debut with this
BAFTA nominated 1988 set drama. Rosy McEwen plays Jean, a lesbian PE teacher whose secret
sexuality is threatened by her attraction to a pupil as the British
government pushes its homophobic Section 28 act.
Orchestrator of Storms - Feb 14th, Arrow
Genre buffs Dima Ballin and Kat Ellinger take a deep dive
into the life and career of cult French filmmaker Jean Rollin. The film aims
to shine a light on an auteur who is beloved by horror fans for his series
of melancholic vampire dramas but who has failed to earn mainstream
respect.
Nostalgia - Feb 17th, cinemas/Curzon Home Cinema
Director Mario Martone's Nostalgia was selected as
Italy's submission for this year's Academy Awards but ultimately failed to
make the final list. Based on the novel by Ermanno Rea, the film
stars Pierfrancesco Favino as a middle-aged Italian man who returns
to his hometown of Naples after living in Egypt for four decades. Back on
home turf, his criminal past catches up with him.
The Son - Feb 17th, cinemas
A prequel to his acclaimed drama
The Father, writer/director Florian Zeller's The Son is adapted
from his stage play of the same name. The film stars Hugh Jackman as
a man whose life is disrupted by the arrival of his ex-wife (Laura Dern) and his now teenage son (Zen McGrath). Vanessa Kirby and
Hugh Quashie also star, with Anthony Hopkins reprising his role from
The Father.
Next Exit - Feb 20th, VOD
Directed by Mali Elfman (daughter of composer Danny),
Next Exit gives road movies like
It Happened One Night and The Sure Thing a
sci-fi spin. Set in a near future America where the theory of life after
death has been proven to be real by a scientist (Karen Gillan), the
film stars Katie Parker and Rahul Kohli as two troubled
strangers who share a journey across the country to a special clinic where
they plan to be euthanised.
The Strays - Feb 22nd, Netflix
Written and directed by actor Nathaniel Martello-White (whom you may
have seen in Steve McQueen's
Small Axe: Mangrove), The Strays stars Ashley Madekwe as the
vice-principal of an exclusive school in the English suburbs. When two
figures (Bukky Bakray, Jorden Myrie) from her past make a surprise
appearance, her contented life becomes threatened.
Missing - Feb 24th, cinemas
After serving as editors of the "screenlife" thriller
Searching, Will Merrick and Nick Johnson have now written and directed
a similarly themed thriller in Missing. In similar fashion to Searching, the film stars Storm Reid as a teenager who takes to the internet
to solve the mystery of her mother's (Nia Long) disappearance.
Broker - Feb 24th, cinemas
One of the finest filmmakers working today, Japan's
Hirokazu Kor-eda made his European debut with his previous film
The Truth. He now makes his South Korean debut with Broker. The film revolves around the Korean phenomenon of "baby boxes," where
unwilling parents can drop off unwanted infants. When a young mother changes
her mind after dropping off her infant, she joins with two baby box
employees on a journey to find suitable parents for her child.