Fresh films coming to cinemas in February
It may be the shortest month of the year, but February is bursting with must-see movies to watch in cinemas. Popcorn Podcast has gathered 11 of the greatest films to hit the big screen across Australia this month, so grab your popcorn and get going!
Brendan Fraser gives an award-winning performance in The Whale
The Whale (Feb 2)
Brendan Fraser is back with a bang! The 1990s adventure star makes his big-screen return with Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama The Whale. Based on Samuel D Hunter’s 2012 play of the same name, the film revolves around Charlie (Best Actor Oscar front-runner Fraser), a reclusive English teacher living with obesity who attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Stranger Thing’s Sadie Sink). Also starring Best Supporting Actress-nominee Hong Chau, who we recently saw in The Menu, this moving tale of mental health struggles and healing father-daughter wounds is sure to conjure some tears – and applause.
Listen to Popcorn Podcast’s bonus review of The Whale
Ben Aldridge, Kristen Cui and Jonathan Groff play a family in peril in Knock At The Cabin
Knock At The Cabin (Feb 2)
The director behind The Sixth Sense, Signs and more recently Old, brings us what’s being hailed as his scariest in years. M Night Shyamalan’s adaptation of Paul Tremblay’s novel The Cabin At The End Of The World presents the dilemma: when faced with the apocalypse, would you save your family or humanity? A vacationing couple and their daughter are taken hostage by armed strangers who demand that the family make that terrible choice to avert the destruction of the world. The horror-thriller stars Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Rupert Grint and Nikki Amuka-Bird.
Listen to Popcorn Podcast’s Knock At The Cabin movie review
Magic Mike (Channing Tatum, centre) takes his last sexy spin on the stage
Magic Mike’s Last Dance (Feb 9)
Ladies and gentlemen, the show is about to begin. The final film in Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike trilogy takes us to London as a wealthy socialite lures a broke bartending Mike with an offer that’s almost too good to be true. The socialite in question is played by the one and only Salma Hayek Pinault. Will the chemistry between Tatum and Hayek Pinault be off the charts, or will we be thankful this is the chiseled millennial’s last dance?
Vicky Krieps is Austrian royalty in Corsage
Corsage (Feb 9)
Written and directed by Austrian filmmaker Marie Kreutzer, this biographical drama is a fictional account of one year in the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria as the royal figure, known for her beauty, turns 40 and is officially deemed a spinster. The BAFTA-winner for Best Film Not in the English Language is a feast for the eyes with the elegant Vicky Krieps (Bergman Island) showcasing costume designer Monika Buttinger’s gloriously extravagant period dresses.
Ben Aldridge and Jim Parsons (from left) star in the moving Spoiler Alert
Spoiler Alert (Feb 9)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) and Ben Aldridge (Knock At The Cabin) partner up for a sweet, but sad, romantic-comedy about a relationship burdened with a terminal cancer diagnosis. This is a movie for the soft-centred romantics; but if you were looking for a Valentine’s Day movie, you might want to take a raincheck – unless tears are a turn-on.
The Son stars Hugh Jackman as a father struggling to connect with his child
The Son (Feb 9)
Three years ago, Florian Zeller made his directorial debut with the feature adaptation of his play Le Père. His film, The Father, won Best Adapted Screenplay at the 93rd Academy Awards and saw Anthony Hopkins win Best Actor as the oldest nominee of the award. The Son is based on Zeller’s 2018 play Le Fils, which explores the life of Peter (Hugh Jackman), a busy man with a new partner, Beth (Vanessa Kirby), and their baby. Their life is thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) turns up with teenage son Nicholas (Zen McGrath). Australia’s Hugh Jackman won’t be getting the Hopkins treatment this time as his stellar performance was snubbed from the 2023 awards race.
Listen to Popcorn Podcast’s The Son movie review
Jonathan Majors’ Kang is unlike any villain the MCU has seen before
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Feb 16)
Is a monthly film round-up complete without a Marvel blockbuster? Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne, Hank Pym, Janet van Dyne and Scott's daughter, Cassie, are accidentally sucked into the Quantum Realm where they find themselves on an adventure that passes the limits of what they thought possible. Peyton Reed’s third Ant-Man film reunites the cast from Ant-Man and the Wasp, but introduces Kathryn Newton (Freaky) as an eighteen-year-old Cassie. Jonathan Majors (Devotion) returns as Kang The Conqueror after his MCU debut in season one of Loki. And with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty releasing in 2025, Majors seems set to challenge Josh Brolin’s Thanos as the most terrifying big bad the Marvel Universe has ever seen.
Listen to Popcorn Podcast’s NO SPOILER Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania review
Eden Dambrine, Émilie Dequenne and Gustav De Waele in Close
Close (Feb 16)
Leo and Remi are two thirteen-year-old best friends who are as close as brothers until their seemingly unbreakable bond is suddenly torn apart. Belgium filmmaker Lukas Dhont's second film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and is nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards next month.
Sean Mununggurr and Robert Taylor in We Are Still Here. © Jackson Finter 2021
We Are Still Here (Feb 16)
The Australian-New Zealand co-production We Are Still Here is a multi-protagonist drama that spans 1000 years of the past, present and future. The film, comprised of eight stories by and about First Nations people, sheds light on the strength and love Indigenous people from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the South Pacific draw on to overcome the trauma they continue to face.
Rooney Mara in Women Talking
Women Talking (Feb 23)
Sarah Polley’s Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay-nominated film is not the most comforting or comfortable watch. Based on Canadian author Miriam Toews's 2018 novel – loosely inspired by the true story of women in a remote Mennonite colony who were drugged and raped between 2005 and 2009 – the drama explores the trauma of sexual assault and how faith survives such horror.
There’s no surprise it won the SAG and Critics’ Choice award for Best Acting Ensemble, with a cast that includes Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Judith Ivey, Rooney Mara, Frances McDormand and Ben Whishaw.
Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio star as father
Aftersun (Feb 23)
The fourth (and final) film on our list this month penned and directed by a woman is Charlotte Wells’s feature directorial debut, Aftersun. In this gentle and nostalgic drama, Sophie looks back on a holiday she took with her father 20 years ago, filling in the gaps with memories real and imagined. Paul Mescal plays the father of 11-year-old Sophie (break-out actress Frankie Corio) in his first leading role in a feature film. The Normal People Emmy-winner received his first Oscar nomination for this performance, going up against the likes of Brendan Fraser (The Whale) and Austin Butler (Elvis) for the most prestigious acting accolade.
