Five Films to Watch Next Month

The coming weeks have a lot of interesting movies in store for us, from Oscar-hopefuls and the last film before retirement of legendary actor Daniel Day-Lewis to the introduction of the richest and most powerful African superhero.

25 January

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

After months have passed without a culprit in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred Hayes makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at William Willoughby, the town’s revered chief of police. When his second-in-command Officer Dixon, an immature mother’s boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing’s law enforcement is only exacerbated.

Dir.: Martin McDonagh Stars: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell

1 February

Phantom Thread

Set in the glamour of 1950s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock and his sister Cyril are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants, and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love.

Dir.: Paul Thomas Anderson Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville

I, Tonya

Based on the unbelievable, but true events, I, Tonya is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater Tonya Harding, and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Though Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, her legacy was forever defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan. Featuring an iconic turn by Margot Robbie as the fiery Harding, a mustachioed Sebastian Stan as her impetuous ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, a tour-de-force performance from Allison Janney as her acid-tongued mother, the movie is an absurd, irreverent, and piercing portrayal of Harding’s life and career.

Dir.: Craig Gillespie Stars: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney

15 February

Black Panther

After the events of Captain America: Civil War, King T’Challa (also known as Black Panther) returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country’s new leader. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero-king must team up with C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan special forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.

Dir.: Ryan Coogler Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, Andy Serkis

22 February

The Shape of Water

Set against the backdrop of Cold War era America in 1962, The Shape of Water is the story of the downtrodden, an other-worldly fairy tale of love and its power to complete you. The plot focuses on a lonely mute cleaning woman named Elisa, who works at a secret government laboratory, and who one night discovers a secret that changes her life, and can possibly change the course of history, if the bad men have their way with it. She befriends and eventually falls in love with the captured amphibian creature, prompting Elisa to make plans to free him and introduce him to the oceans.

Dir.: Guillermo del Toro Stars: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins