Best Movies and Series to Stream in February

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The entertainment world continues to be rocked by the pandemic. While traditionally a big month for television, this February sees relatively few high-profile premieres. (It’s far from a complete desert, however, and includes the return of one of the FBI’s most famous fictional agents.)

Those looking for movies, however, will have plenty of intriguing options, both in the theater and at home. These include both acclaimed films that only played briefly in theaters for the award-winning qualifying races in December, and the first films to come out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Here are a few that look like good bets in the shortest and often coldest month of the year.

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Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar (VOD, February 12)

The last time Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo co-wrote a movie, we had Bridesmaids, a complicated look at female friendship that also featured one of the most memorable poop sequences ever filmed. How much poop will feature on this new team, in which Wiig and Mumolo co-star as a Midwestern couple vacationing in Florida, remains unknown. We do know, however, that the duo will get involved in an evil ploy and be joined by co-stars like Jamie Dornan, Damon Wayans Jr. and Vanessa Bayer.

cherry (Theaters, February 26)

As directors of Captain America: Civil War, Joe and Anthony Russo helped introduce Tom Holland to much of the world by introducing him as the MCU’s Spider-Man. With Cherry, they seem set to help him shake up his boyish image via an adaptation of Nico Walker’s semi-autobiographical novel about an opioid-addicted military vet who turns into a life of crime.

Clarice (CBS, February 11)

For three seasons in the mid-2010s, NBC’s Hannibal gave Thomas Harris’ serial killer Hannibal Lecter a series of his own. Now CBS is giving its favorite FBI agent Claire Starling a chance with Clarice, who picks up soon after the events of Thesilenceofthelambs. Australian actress Rebecca Breeds is reprising the role made famous by Jodie Foster, but, thanks to copyright issues, don’t expect any reference to Lecter. Stream here with a free trial of CBS All-Access.

Fall (Theaters and VOD, February 5)

Viggo Mortensen makes his writer and director debut with this story of a middle-aged gay man forced to deal with a conservative, unsupportive father (Lance Henriksen) as his father begins to sink into dementia. Laura Linney stars as a trained sister in the drama of a film that was warmly received on its Sundance Film Festival debut last year.

The father (Theaters, February 26)

Anthony Hopkins is famous for marking indisputable scenes in his scripts with the letters “NAR”, short for “no action required”. He probably didn’t need the abbreviation for playwright-turned-director Florian Zeller’s feature debut, an adaptation of his own play that features Hopkins as a man succumbing to dementia and the girl (Olivia Colman) doing her best to take care of him as his condition worsens. The film received acclaim at Sundance in January and looks likely to challenge Hopkins in a way that, for example, Transformers: The Last Knight probably not.

Firefly lane (Netflix, February 3)

Released in 2008, the best-selling novel by Kristin Hannah Firefly lane traces the friendship between two women of the Pacific Northwest during decades of turbulence, following them from adolescence to adulthood. Readers have fallen in love, and Netflix is hoping viewers will do the same with this new series starring Kathrine Heigl and Sarah Chalke playing characters whose lives take different paths but continue to intersect anyway. Watch on Netflix.

French release (Theaters, February 12)

What does a woman who has built her life around the money spent when the money disappears do? If she’s Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer), she’s leaving Manhattan for Paris with her adult son (Lucas Hedges) and a cat that can be more than just a cat in tow. It is based on a novel by Patrick deWitt, who previously provided sources for the great western, although it is a bit overlooked, The Sisters Brothers.

A glitch in the matrix (Theaters and VOD, February 5)

What if the world as we know it was actually a computer simulation and we were all just lines of code in a higher reality? It may sound like madness, but not to true believers interviewed by Rodney Ascher, alongside philosophers and others who have explored the implications of the theory. The latest news from the director of Room 237 explores simulation theory, how it has been reflected in films like The matrix and the Truman Show, and how these movies and other pieces of pop culture made some people see the world differently.

Investigation (HBO, February 1)

The bizarre and tragic death of Kim Wall, a Swedish journalist murdered aboard an inventor’s hand-crafted submarine, is the subject of this six-part dramatization by Danish director Tobias Lindholm. It might have inspired a sinister approach, but Lindholm decided not to lean into the real crime clichés by focusing on Wall’s life and the hard work of investigating a murder. Stream here on HBO Max.

Judas and the Black Messiah (Theaters and HBO Max, February 12)

Best known for directing smart TV comedies like High maintenance and Acute, director Shaka King takes a left turn with this immediately acclaimed historical drama about Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), the president of the Illinois Black Panther Party who died at the hands of the Chicago Police in 1969. Lakeith Stanfield stars as William O ‘Neal, the man who joined the Black Panthers as an informant for the FBI. (The “Judas” is not in the title by accident.) Stream here on HBO Max.

Earth (Theaters, February 12)

Spurred on by indescribable loss and a growing sense of alienation, Edee Holzer decides to pack it all up and leave it all behind for a life of isolation in the first film directed by Robin Wright (who also stars). Wright did not choose the easy route for her directorial debut: the film required a lot of location shooting and put her at the center of virtually every scene. However, it does have on-screen support. Demian Bichir plays the role of a man who appears to have withdrawn from civilization for similar reasons.

Mauritanian (Theaters, February 19)

In this courtroom drama with real-world roots, Tahar Rahim plays Mohamedou Ould Salahi, a Mauritanian who recounted his time in detention without charge at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in the book, Guantánamo’s Journal. Jodie Foster and Shailene Woodley co-star as a pair of lawyers trying to win her freedom, an attempt that requires them to outsmart a military prosecutor played by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Minamata (Theaters and VOD, February 5)

Johnny Depp makes a low-key comeback with this film taken from the life of photojournalist William Eugene Smith, famous for his work on WWII, his contributions to Life magazine and – in the chapter that inspired the film – documenting the effects of pollution in the Japanese city of Minamata.

Threatening (Theaters, February 12)

For this story of a Korean-American family leaving California to start a new life in the heart of the country, director Lee Isaac Chung was inspired by his own experiences growing up in Arkansas in the 1980s. Staff could explain why the film so skillfully eschews clichés, capturing the possibilities of starting over in America without underestimating the difficulties. As parents with sometimes contrasting visions, Steven Yeun and Han Ye-ri are the star, joined by Will Patton as the eccentric but helpful neighbor and Youn Yuh-jung, the grandmother who joins them.

Nomadland (Theaters, February 19)

In another film about life on the fringes of the United States that avoids clichés, Frances McDormand plays Fern, a widow from Nevada whose economically precarious situation leads her to travel the country in a van in search of seasonal employment where she can find it. Working from a non-fiction book by Jessica Bruder, Chloe Zhao captures the freedom and fear of living without connection in a film animated by a remarkable performance by McDormand. (Much like Minari, it debuts after a short period of qualifying for the awards in December.)

Punky brewster (Peacock, February 25)

Why revive a cute ’80s sitcom about a brave foster child? Well why not? Soleil Moon Frye looks back at the role that made her famous, but this time Punky is the one who welcomed an adopted daughter, bringing her into the already bustling house she shares with her three children. Freddie Prinze Jr. stars as Punky’s ex-husband. Stream here with a free trial of Peacock.

Saint maud (Epix, February 12)

Rose Glass’ religious-themed horror film received rave reviews last year for slipping from the release schedule when the pandemic shut down theaters. Better than ever, he’s now making his cable debut accompanied by limited theatrical broadcast. Morfydd Clark stars as a palliative care nurse who develops a strange attachment to a terminally ill American dancer (Jennifer Ehle), an atheist whose soul she sets out to save.

Supernova (VOD, February 16)

Tusker (Stanley Tucci) and Sam (Colin Firth) are longtime romantic partners who travel to England’s Lake District, but their trip is not without a goal: Tusker suffers from early-onset dementia and the couple make his better to savor life. they built together before it collapsed. Written and directed by actor-turned-filmmaker Harry Macqueen, the film received great reviews when it played at festivals last year (and with those great tracks and heart-wrenching setup, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise).

United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu, February 26)

Making her acting debut (not counting her work in Cars 3), singer Andra Day plays Billie Holiday in a biopic focused on the singer’s harassment at the hands of the FBI. Trevante Rhodes stars as the agent with whom she develops a complicated relationship in a film directed by Lee Daniels which could be Hulu’s best hope of joining the Oscar race. Watch with a free trial of Hulu.

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