Saint Omer / 3 February
Credit: Picturehouse Entertainment
Saint Omer was France’s entry to the Academy Awards and while it made the December shortlist, it missed out on the final nomination. Regardless, Alice Diop’s first foray into fiction filmmaking is a riveting look at motherhood and race. Two women collide as one is held on trial after leaving her baby on the beach to be washed away and the other, a writer, observes the trial while dealing with her own pregnancy.
EO / 3 February
Credit: BFI
Donkeys really are having a moment, aren’t they? Jenny the Donkey was the MVP of The Banshees of Inisherin, but Jenny walked so Eo could run. In EO, the titular donkey sees the best and worst of humanity on its travels. Much like Stray looked at the world through the eyes of stray dogs, EO does the same with donkeys and more melancholy.
Blue Jean / 10 February
Credit: Altitude
Blue Jean brilliantly captures the Thatcher-era and Rosy McEwen is captivating as a closeted teacher, who is faced with a crisis when a new student threatens to expose her sexuality. Writer-director Georgia Oakley’s debut has been impressing audiences in film festivals around the world.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On / 17 February
Credit: Universal Pictures
Much like M3GAN, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On feels like it’s designed for the social media audience with its adorable, tiny, very meme-able shell protagonist. But it’s near impossible not to fall in love with Marcel and his endlessly optimistic view of the world. We could all be a little bit more like Marcel.
The Inspection / 17 February
Credit: Signature Entertainment
Based on the real-life experiences of writer-director Elegance Bratton, The Inspection follows a young gay man Ellis French, who signs up for the Marines to prove himself to his estranged mother and most importantly, to himself. He faces extreme homophobia and hazing from his instructor as well as his fellow recruits.
Next Exit / 20 February
Credit: Blue Finch Film Releasing
Mali Elfman’s empathetic look at ghosts, life and death won the hearts and minds of the audiences at last year’s FrightFest. Next Exit stars Rahul Kohli and Katie Parker as a pair of strangers with the same goal; drive to San Francisco to be a part of a scientific experiment to study ghosts. The twist? The pair are willingly giving their lives for science, but on the way there, they might find something to live for after all.
Missing / 24 February
Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing
A long-awaited sequel to Searching, Missing follows a completely separate, independent narrative, but utilises the on-screen techniques seen in the first film. June’s (Storm Reid) mother disappears while on holiday in Colombia with her new boyfriend, but June, the technologically savvy young woman she is, uses all the latest tech in order to find out what happened to her mother.
Broker / 24 February
Credit: Picturehouse Entertainment
The premise for Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest film may sound bleak, but trust us when we say this is, as per usual for Kore-eda, a work of unwavering optimism and empathy. Ha Sang-hyeon owns a launderette near a church where his friend Dong-soo works. The two often steal babies left at the church’s dedicated baby box and sell them on the black market, but when the mother of one abandoned baby changes her mind, the two are caught out, setting them on a strange journey.
