This winter has been brutal, and that extends to the movie theaters, which are desperate for new blockbusters. Thankfully, regardless of what that rascally Punxsutawney Phil says, winter’s days are numbered—at least at the box office. Spring begins with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s lavish monster musical The Bride!, Pixar’s Hoppers, and Ryan Gosling, who’s saving the world from space in Project Hail Mary. Plus, new documentaries about AI, colon cancer, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It’s time to stop and smell the flowers (and the popcorn) with our March film preview.
The Bride! (March 6)
Director Maggie Gyllenhaal is taking a big swing to avoid the sophomore slump after her Oscar-nominated debut The Lost Daughter. The Bride!, of Frankenstein, that is, imagines a world where The Monster (Christian Bale) doesn’t kill his Bride (Jessie Buckley), but rather stages a Bonnie And Clyde lovers-on-the-run musical adventure with her. With a supporting cast that includes Annette Bening, Penélope Cruz, and Jake Gyllenhaal, The Bride might be the strangest and most lavish take on Frankenstein yet.
Hoppers (March 6)
The first of two Pixar releases this year, Hoppers, takes its inspiration straight from Pandora. After her biology teacher (Kathy Najimy) invents a device that transfers human consciousness into a robot animal, 19-year-old science wiz Mabel (Piper Curda) takes the form of a fake beaver to better communicate with the animal population, accidentally inspiring a war against the deforesting humans led by Jon Hamm.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (March 6)
Oi, guv, Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) dons the flatcap and overcoat once again for the Peaky Blinder movie. Set nearly a decade after season six, Tommy breaks his self-imposed exile and returns to Birmingham as World War II tears his home apart. In addition to bringing back Sophie Rundle and Stephen Graham, the reunion film also welcomes Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth, and Barry Keoghan to the gang.
André Is An Idiot (March 6)
This documentary follows the titular idiot facing the consequences of avoiding a colonoscopy. 50-year-old André Ricciardi spent his life avoiding cops and doctors until a colon cancer diagnosis changed his calculus. The idiosyncratic and freewheeling Ricciardi lived a good life, but as he approaches death, this Sundance breakout follows him as he says goodbye to this world and prepares for the next.
Reminders Of Him (March 13)
Reminders Of Him is the latest Colleen Hoover adaptation about a love affair born from tragedy. Scream queen Maika Monroe takes a stab at romantic melodrama as Kenna, an ex-con looking to reconnect with her daughter after seven years in prison. However, her daughter’s paternal grandparents (Lauren Graham and Bradley Whitford) want nothing to do with Kenna, who falls for a local barkeep and ex-NFL player (Tyriq Withers).
Undertone (March 13)
The resident skeptic on her paranormal podcast, Evy (Nina Kiri), tests her beliefs after moving home to care for her dying mother (Michèle Duquet) and begins hearing some strange noises in her house. The hook for this indie Canadian horror, snagged by A24 out of Sundance, is that Evy is the only onscreen character, meaning all the horror comes through the film’s sound design.
Project Hail Mary (March 20)
Based on the novel by Andy Weir (The Martian) and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Project Hail Mary sends a science teacher (Ryan Gosling) to space—except he doesn’t know how he got there or what he’s supposed to do. Awakening light-years from Earth with a mission to discover the cure for humanity’s demise, he sparks an unexpected friendship with an alien as he tries to save the world.
Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come (March 20)
Ready Or Not 2 picks up where the last one left off. Grace (Samara Weaving) wakes up in the hospital and discovers that surviving hide and seek has triggered a new game. Now hunted by members of rival families from around the world, Grace must play to protect her sister (Kathryn Newton) from the game she thought was over. Of course, this one has a stacked cast including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Néstor Carbonell, Elijah Wood, Kevin Durand, and David Cronenberg.
They Will Kill You (March 27)
Joining Ready Or Not in the subgenre of “John Wick-inspired secret societies ganging up on a young woman,” They Will Kill You stars Zazie Beetz as a woman who must survive a night in a booby-trapped hotel where everyone wants to kill her. Beetz shows off her action skills in this mean-spirited, stylized action thriller from the Quentin Tarantino-obsessed Russian filmmaker Kirill Sokolov.
Holy Days (March 27)
The nuns are on the run across New Zealand in Holy Days. After forming an unlikely bond with a grieving Māori boy (Elijah Tamati), three nuns (Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes, and Jacki Weaver) travel across New Zealand to stop their convent from being shut down. Thankfully, these nuns have no problem breaking the law.
The latest body-horror drama from Julia Ducournau (Titane) follows troubled 13-year-old Alpha (Mélissa Boros), who gets a scarlet letter tattooed on her arm at a party. Teenagers! After the tattoo gets infected, Alpha’s life becomes a surreal nightmare of blood, horror, and mayhem.
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