There's something for everyone: Jennifer Lawrence playing a spy, a 'Pacific Rim' sequel and a gay teenage romance worth swooning over.
We're only two months in, and I can easily foresee two movies that have already come out this year cracking my top 10 of 2018: Annihilation and Black Panther, the latter of which happened to annihilate the box office. (And could be another February movie to make it to the Oscars, though only time will tell.) Might March introduce another?
There's certainly plenty to see, from a Hunger Games reteaming of Jennifer Lawrence and director Francis Lawrence to Disney's blockbuster reimaging of a beloved novel, sequels for fans of horror flicks and creature features and a teenage rom-com that -- I guarantee -- will have you blubbering in the theater. Here are 14 movies to keep on your radar this month:
1. Red Sparrow (March 2)
If you're looking for another Atomic Blonde or a preview of what Marvel's Black Widow movie may be, this is not that. Lawrence plays a ballerina-cum-soviet operative in this incredibly intense game of cat and mouse that you won't soon forget. (If only because of Lawrence's iconic Russian accent.)
Watch the trailer:
2. A Wrinkle in Time (March 9)
As if you didn't already know, let's just run through this cast list: Reese Witherspoon! Mindy Kaling! Chris Pine! Gugu Mbatha-Raw! Zach Galifianakis! Oprah freaking Winfrey! Together at last, in an adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's classic children's book directed by the acclaimed Ava DuVernay.
Watch the trailer:
3. The Strangers: Prey at Night (March 9)
The original Strangers has perhaps the scariest horror movie concept ever: Complete strangers hunt down and attempt to murder you...for seemingly no reason at all! This is the second go-around, and this time it's Christina Hendricks who's being terrorized!
Watch the trailer:
4. Thoroughbreds (March 9)
We've entered the murder-y portion of this list, this one being an American Psycho-meets-Heathers-esque flick about two childhood friends who reunite to orchestrate a murder. Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke star, the latter of whom also stars in another movie out this month. (See: No. 14)
Watch the trailer:
5. Flower (March 16)
If you're looking for a great double feature, consider Thoroughbreds and Flower, about a group of teens who stalk a suspected molester, starring the always winning Zoey Deutch and hailing from director Max Winkler. (Who is, fun fact, the son of Henry Winkler!)
Watch the trailer:
6. Love, Simon (March 16)
Simon (played by Nick Robinson) is just like you, he says in the first minutes of the movie, except with one "huge ass secret." It's no spoiler to reveal the secret he's hiding is that he's gay. Part rom-com, part coming out story, part coming-of-age tale, Love, Simon fully made me sob.
Watch the trailer:
7. Tomb Raider (March 16)
Generally speaking, there's a pretty low bar set for video games-turned-big screen blockbusters. Alicia Vikander has some formidable shoes to fill, however, inheriting the role of crime-fighting archaeologist Lara Croft from, of course, Angelina Jolie.
Watch the trailer:
8. I Kill Giants (March 23)
This is one of those little gems you may have to search around for, though it's actually based on a popular graphic novel about a young girl (played onscreen by Madison Wolfe) who escapes her troubles in a fantasy world filled with nefarious giants. Think A Monster Calls, with equal probability for waterworks.
Watch the trailer:
9. Isle of Dogs (March 23)
Wes Anderson's latest looks peak Wes Anderson. Making his grand return to stop motion following 2009's Fantastic Mr. Fox, the auteur has assembled a who's who of talent to voice the titular pooches: Bill Murray, Courtney B. Vance, Greta Gerwig, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton.
Watch the trailer:
10. Pacific Rim Uprising (March 23)
Guillermo del Toro, unfortunately, did not return to helm this sequel (he instead served as a producer), but there is plenty to entice you to return: Bigger kaiju! Badder monster-fighting-robots! John Boyega and Scott Eastwood!
Watch the trailer:
11. Unsane (March 23)
Claire Foy is a long way from Buckingham Palace in Steven Soderbergh's newest, about a woman who is involuntarily committed to a mental institution. Soderbergh has been taking some big swings post-"retirement," and this is no exception: He shot Unsane on an iPhone.
Watch the trailer:
12. Lean on Pete (March 30)
Lean on Pete, about the special bond between a teenager (the outstanding Charlie Plummer) and an over-the-hill racehorse, won over critics when it screened on the festival circuit last year. Not that I needed the incentive. The film comes from writer-director Andrew Haigh, who I will follow anywhere after Looking and Weekend.
Watch the trailer:
13. Outside In (March 30)
The Duplass Brothers have a bajillion projects in the works at any given moment -- if they didn't, we'd start to worry. This year sees the release of their first memoir, while Mark stars in Tully (which will make this list in April) and Jay has Lynn Shelton's Outside In, in which he plays as an ex-con who rekindles a relationship with his high school teacher (the incomparable Edie Falco).
Watch the trailer:
14. Ready Player One (March 30)
Ready Player One has gotten a lot of attention for its behind-the-scenes players: It's adapted from Ernest Cline's acclaimed novel by Ernest Cline himself and directed by Steven Spielberg. Let me draw your attention to some of the supporting cast who inhabit this dystopian future full of corporate overlords and virtual reality worlds, specifically Cooke (again) and Master of None's Lena Waithe.
Watch the trailer:
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