February brings a slate of films about and made by women centered on the theme of love, in all its follies. Kicking off the month is Oscar hopeful “The Worst Person in the World” (February 4), the third and final film in director Joachim Trier’s “Oslo Trilogy.” A rom-com that defies conventions of the genre, “The Worst Person in the World” follows four years in the life of a young woman trying to discover who she is and what she really wants.
Right in time for Valentine’s Day is Jennifer Lopez-starrer “Marry Me,” directed by Kat Coiro (February 11). The pic sees a superstar singer (Lopez) left at the altar during a ceremony being streamed to millions of households. Desperate to avoid humiliation, she plucks a man from the audience and marries him instead. Romance ensues, but how do a high school math teacher and one of the most famous women in the world make it work?
If all this sounds a little too mushy for you, Felicity Morris has you covered with her new documentary “The Tinder Swindler” (February 2). Available on Netflix, this film follows a group of women who have been conned out of millions by the same man on Tinder. They band together in the hopes of hunting him down and finding justice.
Familial love is explored in another documentary, the Celeste Bell co-directed “Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché” (February 2). Bell explores the legacy of her mother, Poly Styrene, the first woman of color in the U.K. to front a successful rock band that influenced the riot grrrl and Afropunk scenes. Using archival material and diary entries narrated by “Passing” star Ruth Negga, Bell explores who Poly was as an icon and as a mother.
For the love of ideas and political rebellion, February 11 brings “The Unmaking of a College,” directed by Amy Goldstein, a documentary chronicling the longest sit-in in American college history, which took place at Hampshire College in 2019. These students are fighting to save not just their campus, but the radical educational philosophy that has created deep thinkers and artists. Goldstein, an alumna of the school, weaves together footage filmed by the students, as well as interviews with professors, whistleblowers, and alumni including documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
Here are the women-centric, women-directed, and women-written films debuting in February. All descriptions are from press materials unless otherwise noted.
February 1
“Boarders” (Documentary) – Directed by Annika Ranin and Sean Fee (Available on VOD)
Following a group of British skateboarders on their journey towards Tokyo 2020, where skateboarding will make its debut as an Olympic sport, “Boarders” tells the story of skateboarding in the U.K. – from arriving in the early ’70s all the way to its current-day popularity and rise to become an Olympic sport.
February 2
“Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché” (Documentary) – Directed by Celeste Bell and Paul Sng; Written by Celeste Bell, Zoe Howe, and Paul Sng (In Theaters; Available on VOD February 4)
The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey across the world and through her mother’s archives to reconcile their fraught relationship in this new documentary feature, featuring Oscar nominee Ruth Negga as the voice of Poly Styrene.
“The Tinder Swindler” (Documentary) – Directed by Felicity Morris (Available on Netflix)
Modern love is a dangerous game in the world of online dating, and not all that glitters is gold. Notoriously known as The Tinder Swindler, he has seduced and swindled young women for millions and is a fugitive from justice in several countries. One swipe could change your life. This is the ultimate fairytale gone nightmare. Follow three women who decided it was time for payback.
February 3
“Ghosts of the Ozarks” – Written by Tara Perry, Jordan Wayne Long, and Sean Anthony Davis (In Theaters and Available on VOD)
In post-Civil War Arkansas, a young doctor is mysteriously summoned to a remote town in the Ozarks only to discover that the utopian paradise is filled with secrets and surrounded by a menacing, supernatural presence.
February 4
“The Worst Person in the World” (In Theaters)
“The Worst Person in the World”
“The Worst Person in the World” is a modern dramedy about the quest for love and meaning in contemporary Oslo. It chronicles four years in the life of Julie (Renate Reinsve), a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.
“Lingui, The Sacred Bonds” (In Theaters)
On the outskirts of Chadian capital N’Djamena, single mother and practicing Muslim Amina (Ac Souleymane) finds out that her teenage daughter Maria (Rihane Khalil Alio) is pregnant. Maria wants an abortion, but in a country where it is legally and morally condemned, Amina is in a difficult position. To honor the Lingui – the sacred bonds that bind humanity, an idea integral to Chadian culture – should she urge her daughter to have her baby in line with the tenets of her faith, or practice mother-daughter solidarity and support her right to choose?
“Alone With You” – Written and Directed by Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks (In Theaters; Available on VOD February 8)
As a young woman painstakingly prepares a romantic homecoming for her girlfriend, their apartment begins to feel more like a tomb when voices, shadows, and hallucinations reveal a truth she has been unwilling to face.
“Book of Love” – Directed by Analeine Cal y Mayor; Written by Analeine Cal y Mayor and David Quantick (Available on Prime Video)
“Book of Love”: Prime Video
Young, uptight English writer Henry’s (Sam Claflin) novel is a resolute failure. He is delighted to find out his book is a surprise hit in Mexico but when he is invited there to promote it, he soon discovers why: his Spanish translator Maria (Verónica Echegui) has rewritten his dull book as an erotic novel. Henry is furious, and even more so when his publisher insists he and Maria conduct a book tour across Mexico together. Opposites attract and the chemistry between the couple ensures sparks fly.
“Breaking Bread” (Documentary) – Directed by Beth Elise Hawk (In Theaters)
Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel — the first Muslim Arab to win Israel’s “MasterChef” — is on a quest to make social change through food. And so, she founded the A-sham Arabic Food Festival, where pairs of Arab and Jewish chefs collaborate on exotic dishes like kishek (a Syrian yogurt soup) and qatayef (a dessert typically served during Ramadan). A film about hope, synergy, and mouth watering fare, “Breaking Bread” illustrates what happens when people focus on the person, rather than her religion; on the public, rather than the politicians.
“The Wolf and the Lion” – Written by Prune de Maistre (In Theaters)
After her grandfather’s death, 20-year-old Alma (Molly Kunz) decides to go back to her childhood home, a little island in the heart of a majestic forest. While there, she rescues two helpless cubs: a wolf and a lion. They forge an inseparable bond, but their world soon collapses as the forest ranger discovers the animals and takes them away. The two cub brothers must now embark on a treacherous journey across the wilderness to be reunited with one another and Alma once more.
February 8
“A Grand Romantic Gesture” – Written and Directed by Joan Carr-Wiggin (Available on VOD)
When Ava (Gina McKee) is forced into early retirement, her husband and daughter encourage her to learn gourmet cooking and prepare to be a grandmother. Instead she signs up for a drama class where she is cast as Juliet — and falls in love with her Romeo.
February 10
“Kimi” (Available on HBO Max)
After an agoraphobic tech worker discovers recorded evidence of a violent crime during an ordinary data stream review, she tries reporting it up the chain of command at her company. Met with resistance and bureaucracy, she realizes that in order to get involved she will have to do the thing she fears the most: leave her apartment.
February 11
“Marry Me” – Directed by Kat Coiro; Written by Tami Sagher, Harper Dill, and John Rogers (In Theaters and Available on Peacock)
Music superstars Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) and Bastian (Maluma), who recorded their hit duet “Marry Me” together, are about to get married in front of a global audience of fans during a concert. Just seconds before she goes onstage, Kat finds out that Bastian has been cheating on her with her assistant. Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson), a high school math teacher whose wife left him several months earlier, is dragged by his friend Parker Debbs (Sarah Silverman) and his young daughter to the concert. When a heartbroken Kat goes onstage, she makes a snap decision. She sees Charlie in the crowd and asks him to come up on the stage and marry her instead.
“The Sky Is Everywhere” – Directed by Josephine Decker; Written by Jandy Nelson (In Theaters and Available on Apple TV+)
“The Sky Is Everywhere”: Apple TV+
Tucked among the magical redwood trees of Northern California and surrounded by her grandmother’s gargantuan roses, 17-year-old Lennie Walker (Grace Kaufman), a radiant musical prodigy, struggles with overwhelming grief following the sudden loss of her older sister. When Joe Fontaine (Jacques Colimon), the charismatic new guy at school, enters Lennie’s life, she’s drawn to him. But Lennie’s complicated relationship with her sister’s devastated boyfriend, Toby (Pico Alexander), starts to affect Lennie and Joe’s budding love. Through her vivid imagination and honest, conflicted heart, Lennie navigates first love and first loss to create a song of her own.
“Here Before” – Written and Directed by Stacey Gregg (In Theaters; Available on VOD February 15)
When a new family moves in next door to Laura (Andrea Riseborough) and her family, their young daughter, Megan (Niamh Dornan), quickly captivates her, stirring up painful memories of her own daughter, who died several years previously. Before long, Laura’s memories turn to obsession as Megan’s unsettling behavior begins to convince her of something supernatural. As Laura’s determination to get to the bottom of it becomes all consuming, her family begins to fracture and the line between the extraordinary and the real becomes ever more obscured in this haunting story about a mother’s love.
“Catch the Fair One” (In Theaters and Available on VOD)
“Catch the Fair One”
Native American boxer Kaylee (Kali Reis) embarks on the fight of her life when she goes undercover in a sex trafficking operation to seek answers and revenge against the men responsible for the disappearance of her sister.
“Playground” – Written and Directed by Laura Wandel (In Theaters)
When Nora (Maya Vanderbeque) witnesses Abel (Günter Duret) being bullied by other kids, she rushes to protect him. But Abel forces her to remain silent. Caught in a conflict of loyalty, Nora tries to find her place, torn between children’s and adults’ worlds.
“The Unmaking of a College” (Documentary) – Directed by Amy Goldstein (In Theaters)
“The Unmaking of a College”: SpanProductions
This is a film about young people on a rescue mission — for a school and an educational philosophy. “The Unmaking of a College” delves into the 2019 crisis at Hampshire College when students led a 75-day sit-in — the longest in American college history — at the new president’s office to thwart her underhanded attempt to give up the independence of one of the most experimenting colleges in the United States. A raucous ode to democracy in action, this film evokes the courage required to stand up to power at a time when many liberal arts colleges are failing. Can the storied tradition of liberal arts education — and the nation it has created — be saved?
“Tall Girl 2” – Directed by Emily Ting (Available on Netflix)
After her inspiring speech at the homecoming dance, Jodi (Ava Michelle) is no longer just the “tall girl” — she’s popular, confident, has a boyfriend, and just booked the lead role in this year’s school musical. But as the pressure of her newfound popularity intensifies, so do her insecurities, and new relationships are formed while old ones are tested. As the world she built starts to crumble around her, Jodi realizes that standing tall was only just the beginning.
“The In Between” (Available on Paramount+)
After surviving a car accident that took the life of her boyfriend, a teenage girl believes he’s attempting to reconnect with her from the after world. With the help of her best friend she sets off to find him in the in between a place difficult to get to with no guarantee she can get back.
“I Want You Back” – Written by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker (Available on Prime Video)
Peter (Charlie Day) and Emma (Jenny Slate) thought they were on the precipice of life’s biggest moments — marriage, kids, and houses in the suburbs — until their respective partners dumped them. Horrified to learn that the loves of their lives have already moved on, Peter and Emma hatch a hilarious plan to win back their exes with unexpected results.
February 18
“A Banquet” – Directed by Ruth Paxton (In Theaters and Available on VOD)
“A Banquet”
Widowed mother Holly (Sienna Guillory) is radically tested when her teenage daughter Betsey (Jessica Alexander) experiences a profound enlightenment and insists that her body is no longer her own, but in service to a higher power. Bound to her newfound faith, Betsey refuses to eat, but loses no weight. In an agonizing dilemma torn between love and fear, Holly is forced to confront the boundaries of her own beliefs.
“The Automat” (Documentary) – Directed by Lisa Hurwitz (In Theaters)
“The Automat” tells the 100-year story of the iconic restaurant chain Horn & Hardart, the inspiration for Starbucks, where generations of Americans ate and drank coffee together at communal tables. From the perspective of former customers like entertainer Mel Brooks, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Secretary of State Colin Powell, the Horns, the Hardarts, and key employees, we watch a business climb to its peak success and then grapple with fast food in a forever changed America.
“Sneakerella” – Directed by Elizabeth Allen-Rosenbaum (Available on Disney+)
“Sneakerella”: Disney/Roger Erickson
Set in the street-sneaker subculture of New York City, “Sneakerella” puts a contemporary twist on the “Cinderella” fairy tale. El (Chosen Jacobs) is an aspiring sneaker designer from Queens who works as a stock boy in the shoe store that once belonged to his late mother. He hides his artistic talent from his overburdened stepfather and two mean-spirited stepbrothers who constantly thwart any opportunity that comes his way. When El meets Kira King (Lexi Underwood), the fiercely independent daughter of legendary basketball star and sneaker tycoon Darius King (John Salley), sparks fly as the two bond over their mutual affinity for sneakers. With a little nudge from his best friend and a sprinkle of Fairy Godfather magic, El finds the courage to use his talent to pursue his dream of becoming a “legit” sneaker designer in the industry.
“The Long Walk” – Directed by Mattie Do (In Theaters; Available on VOD March 1)
An old scavenger living on the fringes of a near-future society exploits a ghostly companion’s ability to traverse time, hoping to prevent his mother’s suffering from a terminal illness.
February 24
“Hellbender” – Written and Directed by Toby Poser, Zelda Adams, and John Adams (Available on Shudder)
In “Hellbender,” 16-year-old Izzy (Zelda Adams) suffers from a rare illness that has kept her isolated on a mountaintop with her mother (Toby Poser) her whole life. As Izzy begins to question her sickness, she pushes back against her confinement and secretly befriends Amber (Lulu Adams), another girl living on the mountain, but her newfound happiness is derailed after she eats a live worm as part of a juvenile game and finds an insatiable and violent hunger awakened within her. To understand the hunger, Izzy must learn the dark secrets of her family’s past and the ancient power in her bloodline.
February 25
“Mothering Sunday” – Directed by Eva Husson; Written by Alice Birch (In Theaters)
“Mothering Sunday”
On a warm spring day in 1924, housemaid and foundling Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) finds herself alone on Mother’s Day. Her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Niven (Colin Firth and Olivia Colman), are out and she has the rare chance to spend an afternoon of abandon with her secret lover, Paul (Josh O’Connor), the boy from the manor house nearby who is Jane’s long-term love despite the fact that he’s engaged to be married to another woman, a childhood friend, and daughter of his parents’ friends. But events that neither can foresee will change the course of Jane’s life forever.
“Cyrano” – Written by Erica Schmidt (In Theaters)
A man ahead of his time, Cyrano de Bergerac (Peter Dinklage) dazzles whether with ferocious wordplay at a verbal joust or with brilliant swordplay in a duel. But, convinced that his appearance renders him unworthy of the love of a devoted friend, the luminous Roxanne (Haley Bennett), Cyrano has yet to declare his feelings for her — and Roxanne has fallen in love, at first sight, with Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.).
“Let Me Be Me” (Documentary) – Directed by Katie Taber and Dan Crane (In Theaters and Available on VOD)
When the Westphal family learned that their six-year-old Kyle was on the Autism spectrum, they feared they might never develop a real connection to their child. Withdrawn and constantly wrapping himself in fabric and blankets, Kyle was retreating from the world around him. Determined to find a way to connect, his parents embarked on an intense and radical journey which involved compassionately joining Kyle in his unique behaviors. Twenty years later, the entire family looks back at Kyle’s journey with candor and humor. “Let Me Be Me” reveals what happens when a boy who used fabric as his shield to hide himself grows up to become a fashion designer, forging connections with friends and family along the way.
“The Desperate Hour” (In Theaters and Available on VOD)
Recently widowed mother Amy Carr (Naomi Watts) is doing her best to restore normalcy to the lives of her young daughter and teenage son in their small town. As she’s on a jog in the woods, she finds her town thrown into chaos as a shooting takes place at her son’s school. Miles away, on foot in the dense forest, Amy desperately races against time to save her son.
“Studio 666” – Written by Rebecca Hughes and Jeff Buhler (In Theaters)
Legendary rock band Foo Fighters move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history to record their much anticipated 10th album.
“I’ll Find You” – Directed by Martha Coolidge; Written by Bozenna Intrator and David S. Ward
It’s the 1930s. Two young lovers, Robert (Leo Suter), a Catholic opera singer, and Rachel (Adelaide Clemens), a Jewish violin virtuoso, dream of one day performing together at legendary Carnegie Hall. When they’re torn apart by the German invasion of Poland, Robert vows to find Rachel, no matter what.
