Keiron Self is a man for all seasons and one to cover all bases, with his latest film roundup, this time for February 2023, ranging from animated cats who feel feelings to Marvel/Avengers blockbusting to lo-budget hi-quality courtesy of Porthcawl director Jamie Adams. Previews of all these films can also be found in the February issue of Buzz, available to read online now.

KNOCK AT THE CABIN

Another concept-heavy slice of horror from The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan, who looks to have scored some casting coups in this tale of apocalypse and the power of choice. Jonathan Groff and Ben Alderman are parents vacationing in a remote log cabin with their daughter Kristen Cui, when they get the knock at the door. Dave Bautista, Rupert Grint, Abby Quin and Nikki Amuka-Bird are their unwelcome visitors, part of an apparently bonkers cult that demands that one of the three of them must be sacrificed to prevent the world from ending. Are they raving lunatics or is the apocalypse at hand – and who will be chosen to be fodder? A great premise, one which hopefully Shyamalan can deliver on without too much groan-inducing, more Sixth Sense than The Happening or the recent Old. Knock, knock…

Dir: M. Night Shyamalan (15, 120 mins)

Knock At The Cabin opens Fri 3 Feb

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH

The swashbuckling cat from Shrek is back with a mortality-embracing sequel. Antonio Banderas perfectly captures the bravado and vulnerability of this feline Zorro once more, as his passion for adventure is compromised by having lost eight of his nine lives. There is hope, however, in the form of a wishing star that can grant his wishes and restore all of his lives – but will Puss be able to survive the quest to get it? He is aided and abetted by old flame Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), whom he jilted, and an adorable dog named Perrito (Harvey Guillen) who wants to be a cat himself, or at least reproduce the kitty eyes that Puss does so well. Along for the ride is Florence Pugh as Goldilocks and her criminal three-bear gang (Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone and Samson Kayo) and villain Jack Horner, who wants more than pie. A fun romp is guaranteed, rendered with fairytale wit, and anchored by death-defying stakes.

Dir: Joel Crawford / Januel Mercado (PG, 102 mins)

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish opens Fri 3 Feb

SHE IS LOVE

The latest from prolific Welsh director Jamie Adams (Songbird, Love Spreads, Bittersweet Symphony) is another lo-fi relationship drama, shot over six days and starring Hollywood A-listers Sam Riley and Hayley Bennet. They play Idris and Patricia, a divorced couple reunited when Patricia coincidentally checks into a hotel in Cornwall which Idris now runs. He is in another relationship, with Marisa Abela, but the chemistry reignites between his ex-wife over the course of a long weekend, where they both reassess their relationship and where they are now. Largely improvised using Adams’ preferred method of following a ‘scriptment’ which has structural suggestions but no nailed-down dialogue, this will no doubt please fans of the director’s earlier work and those who like their films loose, freewheeling and raw, with Riley and Bennet lending their star wattage to the low-budget proceedings.

Dir: Jamie Adams (15, 82 mins)

She Is Love opens Fri 3 Feb

THE WHALE

Brendan Fraser undergoes a massive transformation in this heavyweight drama, in more ways than one, from Black Swan and The Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky. Fraser used to be the chiseled hero of George Of The Jungle and The Mummy movies, but after a spell in the Hollywood wilderness returns with a bang in this tale of a reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher seeking to reconnect with his daughter played by Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink. Unable to even show himself on Zoom teaching lessons, Fraser’s Charlie weighs 600 pounds and has a clock ticking with regards to his health. His blood pressure is sky-high and he wants to do something good with whatever time he has left. Hong Chau and Ty Simpkins fill out the cast, as a home help and evangelist respectively, helping the ‘whale’ of the title spend his final days. Adapted by Samuel D Hunter from his own stage play, this will manipulate and move, thanks to Fraser’s award-bothering performance.

Dir: Darren Aronofsky (15, 117 mins)

The Whale opens Fri 3 Feb

MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE

After stepping away from directorial duties for the first Magic Mike sequel, Steven Soderbergh returns for the final hurrah of Channing Tatum’s gyrating stripper as the action moves to London. Everything is a little meta, it seems: director Soderbergh saw the stage show of Magic Mike in London and then decided the third film in the gyrating franchise should be about creating… a stage show in London. Channing Tatum is back with the aid of Salma Hayek to bring the show to life, with the film offering putting-on-a-show antics a la 42nd Street and fabulously choreographed dance routines, as well as interrogating the desires of all involved. The gradual evolution of Tatum’s stripper has been a diverting ride, and this will hopefully be a worthy end to a surprisingly enduring character, with a trilogy that thematically works.

Dir: Steven Soderbergh (15, 120 mins)

Magic Mike’s Last Dance opens Fri 10 Feb

WOMEN TALKING

Based on true events, this drama is packed full of talent to scar the soul. In 2010, the women in an extreme religious community face a decision: to leave everything they have known and escape a lifetime of physical and sexual abuse, stay and fight, or simply put up with their lot. In a series of meetings, they discuss their options – each fuelled by different reasons to stay, or leave, that wrench at the heart. A superb ensemble cast features a raging Clare Foy, a beaten-down Jessie Buckley, an apparently sanguine Rooney Mara and elders of the group Sheila McCarthy, Frances McDormand and Judith Ivey. The men are unseen, apart from Ben Whishaw’s gentle minute-taker, who loves Mara and has returned to the cult to try and affect change. Written and directed by Sarah Polley with writer Miriam Toews, this looks set to stir and enrage with its intelligent, verbose take on abuse and toxic masculinity. An important watch.

Dir: Sarah Polley (12A, 104 mins)

Women Talking opens Fri 10 Feb

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA

The funniest Avenger returns in Marvel’s latest dimension-defying bout of superheroics. After the so-so Thor: Love And Thunder and the downbeat Wakanda Forever, hopefully this will restore some fuel into the franchise in what has – after the dizzying heights of Avengers: Endgame – become a seemingly aimless progression of films with no unifying centre. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily are back as the insectoid adventurers and are about to get really, really small as they disappear into the Quantum Realm. Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas are back too, along with Ant-Man’s now grownup daughter, played by Kathryn Newton. All of them are sucked into the CGI-heavy world of the Quantum Realm following a pesky misfiring experiment, and come face to face with Bill Murray’s comedic Krylar along with Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror – possibly the new big baddie for the Avengers? Expect trippy visuals and hopefully heart amidst the multiverse-bending spectacle.

Dir: Peyton Reed (12A, 120 mins)

Ant Man And The Wasp: Quantumania opens Fri 17 Feb

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON

An offbeat animated film that blends with live action, this is an expansion of a YouTube creation from comedian Jenny Slate and writer/director Dean Fleischer-Camp. Marcel is a stop-motion animated shell who is having a documentary made about him, whilst the documentary maker himself is working out some personal issues. Marcel, voiced by Slate, is an adorable creation – an online sensation, but one whose family life is important. When that family is taken away from him and he is left with his nana – voiced amazingly by Isabella Rossellini – we follow Marcel as he navigates loss and the dwindling health of his sole relative. Despite all this apparent soul-searching, it always seems Marcel The Shell… will be a fun ride too: the main character hang-glides with a Dorito, skis on a toenail and has a mournfully cute demeanour that cannot fail to move and provoke laughter. An outside bet for best animated film of the year, this shell is full of heart.

Dir: Dean Fleischer-Camp (PG, 90 mins)

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On opens Fri 17 Feb

THE SON

Hugh Jackman stars in this companion piece to Florian Zeller’s heartwrenching adaptation of his other play The Father, that had Anthony Hopkins movingly succumb to that awful disease of dementia. The Son is another adaptation of Zeller’s original stage play – via scriptwriter Christopher Hampton – with Zeller this time taking aim at the impact of teenage depression on one family. Jackman is the father, Laura Dern the mother to a troubled teen, played by Zen McGrath; the parents have divorced, with Jackman now in a relationship and father to a new baby with Vanessa Kirby’s Beth. When Dern shows up, bringing with her their son and his host of problems, Jackman’s life is turned upside down. Hopkins again features, cameoing as Jackman’s father as they all try and make sense of what is going on with this troubled adolescent. Expect melodrama and, hopefully, an intelligent take on mental health issues and the impact of depression.

Dir: Florian Zeller (15, 158 mins)

The Son opens Fri 17 Feb

COCAINE BEAR

Supposedly based on a true story, except the bear in question died after ingesting vast quantities of cocaine, this fun, gore-filled comedy thriller has the ursine apex predator going on a murderous rampage. When a drug dealer jettisons his supply from a plane over some forestry in Georgia, furry hell breaks loose when the narcotics are discovered – and consumed – by a bear. This is not Yogi, and he’s soon less interested in picnic baskets than ripping people apart and getting his next hit. An eclectic cast that includes Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jnr, Alden Ehrenreich, Matthew Rhys and (in one of his last roles) Ray Liotta all converge on the area; policemen, drug dealers, tourists and teenagers all have to avoid being mauled to death in one of the barmier-sounding films of the year so far. Expect dark humour, jump scares, eco-warning subtext and ludicrous, bear-based, Scarface-like shenanigans. This is no Winnie The Pooh…

Dir: Elizabeth Banks (15, 106 mins)

Cocaine Bear opens Fri 24 Feb

words KEIRON SELF