Laughter, love, and fear unfold in February's new film releasesFebruary arrives with a cinematic pulse — four weeks where the screen becomes a playground for the heart, the nerves, and everything in between. It’s a month built for movie lovers who crave a variety of sweetness, tension, laughter, fear—all unfolding in the glow of the big screen. ![]() Image supplied Here's what to expect during the month of love... 6 FebruaryAs their marriage quietly unravels, Alex (Will Arnett) and Tess Novak (Laura Dern) find themselves at a crossroads, both collectively and individually, in the comedy-drama Is This Thing On? Facing middle age and the spectre of impending divorce, Alex seeks renewed purpose in the New York stand-up comedy scene, while Tess confronts the sacrifices she made for their family. Renny Harlin’s The Strangers: Chapter 3 stands as a bold, atmospheric conclusion to a trilogy that redefines a modern horror classic. It is a film about fear, endurance, and the haunting truth that sometimes evil doesn’t need a reason—it only needs an opportunity. It follows Maya (Madelaine Petsch) after the devastating events of the previous films. Traumatised yet determined, she seeks refuge and recovery in the small town of Venus. But safety proves illusory. The masked killers — Dollface, Pin Up Girl, and the Man in the Mask — return with renewed ferocity, forcing Maya and those around her into a final confrontation. Read more/. “Set against the volatile backdrop of a London in chaos, Wildcat is a story about what happens when desperation meets determination — and how far a mother will go to protect her child. It’s a story of loyalty, lethality and tenacity,” says producer Crawford Anderson-Dillon. When her brother Edward’s dodgy dealing gets her daughter Charlotte kidnapped, ex Special Forces operative, Ada Williams (Kate Beckinsale), is forced to lean on every skill she has to get her back. Pulling her old team together for one last job, they have to race against time and a city descending into chaos, before it’s too late and Charlotte is lost to a murky underworld. Read more. 13 FebruaryWuthering Heights arrives as one of the most anticipated literary adaptations of the decade — a bold, sensuous, and psychologically charged retelling of Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, written and directed by Emerald Fennell. The film stars Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, anchoring a production that blends prestige filmmaking with a daring contemporary edge. Fennell’s adaptation is not a polite period piece but a visceral, storm soaked exploration of obsession, cruelty, and the destructive power of love—an approach that has already stirred conversation, controversy, and intense curiosity. Read more. Set against the sun bleached sprawl of the Pacific Coast Highway, Crime 101 follows Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth), a jewel thief whose meticulous heists along the 101 freeway have baffled law enforcement for years. His operations are so precise that police attribute them to Colombian cartels — except for one detective, Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo), who believes the pattern points to a single man. As Davis plans his final, career defining score, his path collides with Sharon Colvin (Halle Berry), an insurance broker facing her own crossroads. The result is a tense, character driven triangle where hunter and hunted blur into reflections of one another. Read more. The romantic-comedy F Valentine’s Day blends acerbic humour, emotional vulnerability, and Mediterranean escapism into a story that questions the rituals and pressures surrounding love. Written by Steve Bencich and directed by Mark Gantt, the film follows Gina, a woman who despises her Valentine’s Day birthday and flees to Greece to stop her boyfriend from proposing—only to find herself entangled in a chaotic, sun lit journey of self discovery. Read more. Set within a contemporary high school milieu, the supernatural horror Whistle follows a group of misfit teenagers who stumble upon an ancient Aztec death whistle, a real historical artefact known for producing a sound eerily reminiscent of human screams. In the film’s mythology, blowing the whistle summons the listener’s future death, which then hunts them down with relentless inevitability. What begins as a moment of adolescent curiosity spirals into a supernatural countdown, forcing the group to confront not only the whistle’s origins but the personal fears and unresolved tensions that make them vulnerable. Read more. In the animated sports comedy Goat, a small determined Boer goat longs to become the greatest roarball player of all time. Roarball — an original, high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport - dominates this all-animal world, and its players are the fastest, fiercest creatures imaginable. Will’s journey begins when he receives a once in a lifetime opportunity to join the professional league, despite being dismissed as too small, too fragile, and too unlikely to succeed. Read more. Set in the turbulent decades following India’s independence, O’ Romeo reimagines the emotional core of Romeo and Juliet within the world of gang wars, political alliances, and the shifting power structures of Mumbai’s underworld. Known for his acclaimed Shakespeare trilogy (Maqbool, Omkara, Haider), Vishal Bhardwaj returns to familiar terrain: the intersection of classic emotional architecture and the violent, morally ambiguous world of the Indian underworld. Read more. 20 FebruaryElvis sings and tells his story like never before in EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, a new cinematic experience from visionary filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. Elvis takes the audience through the journey of his life, through both classic and contemporary musical prisms, weaving unseen footage with iconic performances that have never been presented in this way. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is a leap of the musical imagination and a tribute to one of the greatest performers of all time. Read more. Cold Storage is a horror thriller where two storage workers and a veteran bioterror agent battle a mutating parasitic fungus that escapes from a sealed military base, threatening humanity’s extinction. Directed by the award-winning Jonny Campbell, it is based on terrifying scientific facts and created by the award-winning screenwriter David Koepp. Starring Joe Keery, Georgina Campbell , and Liam Neeson. Read more. The psychological drama Die My Love stars Jennifer Lawrence as Grace, a young mother who relocates with her husband Jackson (played by Robert Pattinson) to rural Montana after inheriting a family home. What begins as a seemingly idyllic retreat quickly spirals into a nightmare of loneliness, betrayal, and psychological collapse. Grace’s struggle with postpartum depression and psychosis becomes the central axis of the narrative, a lens through which Ramsay examines the fragility of identity and the destructive potential of silence and neglect. Read more. The South African film Pretty How Town,/b> is a story about learning to trust yourself and being accepted by your family and community. Told poignantly and emotionally with a touch of humour, it will leave you with a positive and uplifting feeling. When Victoria, a transgender woman, returns to her remote South African hometown to care for her dying mother, she steps into a minefield of buried secrets, strained family ties, and a community that barely remembers, or chooses not to. Read more. 27 FebruaryScream 7 film follows the aftermath of Scream VI, with the survivors of the so called “Core Four” scattered, traumatised, and attempting to rebuild their lives. It’s is a meditation on the franchise itself, a story that interrogates what happens when a cultural phenomenon becomes self aware, commodified, and weaponised. The narrative returns to Woodsboro, the birthplace of the Ghostface killings, drawing the characters—and the audience—back to the origin point of the horror. Read more. How to Make a Killing is a wickedly stylish black comedy thriller, written and directed by John Patton Ford. It stars Glenn Powell as a blue collar outsider disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family. When he discovers that he is, in fact, the rightful heir to the Redfellow fortune, he embarks on a ruthless quest to reclaim what he believes is his due—no matter how many relatives stand in his way. Read more. The South African film GR 10 D is inspired by the lived realities of township and inner city schooling — spaces where overcrowded classrooms, under resourced facilities, and exhausted teachers collide with the boundless energy, creativity, and defiance of youth. Read more. Read more about the latest and upcoming films. About Daniel DercksenDaniel Dercksen has been a contributor for Lifestyle since 2012. As the driving force behind the successful independent training initiative The Writing Studio and a published film and theatre journalist of 40 years, teaching workshops in creative writing, playwriting and screenwriting throughout South Africa and internationally the past 22 years. Visit www.writingstudio.co.za View my profile and articles... |