Don’t-Miss Indies: What to Watch in February
Yes, we’re still in the warming glow of award season, but new movies never stop. Happily there are exciting new films to check out this February, including Cannes winners, cryptocurrency heists, cute little furry creatures, and some psychedelic horror.
ARMAND
When You Can Watch: February 7
Where You Can Watch: Theaters (Limited)
Director: Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
Cast: Renate Reinsve, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Øystein Røger
Why We’re Excited: This Norwegian psychological drama premiered at Cannes, earning a Caméra d’Or for first-time feature director Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (grandson of Ingmar Bergman), pegged as one of ten European filmmakers to watch in 2015 by European Film Promotion. The story was inspired by the character of Elisabeth, Armand’s mother (Reinsve from The Worst Person in the World), who is called into school when her six-year-old threatens his classmate. The confrontation and ensuing revelations invite reflection on the way we form opinions about parents from the behavior of their children. With Reinsve carrying the demands of the role with an intensity that resulted in two months of bed rest according to an IndieWire interview, this deep character study is sure to be a compelling tale.
DELICATE ARCH
When You Can Watch: February 11
Where You Can Watch: Screambox
Director: Matthew Warren
Cast: William Leon, Kelley Mack, Kevin Bohleber
Why We’re Excited: Writer/Director Warren’s Utah roots are showing with this horror movie set in Arches National Park. Four college kids do mushrooms while camping under blue skies and red rocks, questioning reality (as they must) but then confronting real dangers alone in the wild. As a first-time feature filmmaker (and the beloved former Film Independent Senior Manager for Digital Content), Warren created “one gloriously unhinged mindfuck,” according to Cinepunx’s Justin Lore. An alum of Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program, this mashup of animation, live action and found footage promises to be a colorful descent into the bizarre and wonderfully unexpected.
ROUNDING
When You Can Watch: February 14
Where You Can Watch: Theaters and Streaming
Director: Alex Thompson
Cast: Namir Smallwood, Sidney Flanigan, Michael Potts
Why We’re Excited: If life as a rural medical resident isn’t scary enough, this movie compounds a young doctor’s past regrets with current stress that makes everyone wonder if James (Smallwood from American Rust) is gonna be okay. Escaping regrets from his previous residency in a big city hospital, James is now consumed with his new assignment. Frustrated with his fellow doctors’ ambivalence toward the convoluted case of a young asthma patient, James worries himself into a frazzled state; will his ambition to get her better cost him his own sanity? Rounding premiered at Tribeca in 2022, and since then Alex Thompson has also directed Ghostlight, which was nominated for a 2025 Spirit Award.
UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
When You Can Watch: February 14
Where You Can Watch: Theaters
Director: Matthew Rankin
Cast: Matthew Rankin, Pirouz Nemati, Amir Amiri
Why We’re Excited: Winnipeg may be a strange destination for tourism (welcome to the historic Beige District), but it’s a great setting for a comedy of cultures. Influenced by Iranian cinema, Canadian filmmaker Matthew Rankin (The Twentieth Century) unfolds side-by-side illustrations of a city that speaks Farsi and French, that’s realistic and artificial, that explores Iranian culture at Tim Hortons. This quirky ensemble features kids in school beside an unlikely tour guide and an ex-civil servant (played by Rankin), resulting in “a completely unique breath of fresh air,” according to Tom Swift of The Mancunion. With 16 awards so far (two from Cannes), the juxtapositions and odd pairings make for a charming and satisfying surprise.
VERONA’S ROMEO & JULIET
When You Can Watch: February 14
Where You Can Watch: Theaters
Director: Timothy Scott Bogart
Cast: Jason Isaacs, Dan Fogler, Rebel Wilson
Why We’re Excited: Following his last film about his father Neil, Timothy Scott Bogart (Spinning Gold) gives us a musical take on the real-life story that inspired Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Set in 1301, this trip to Verona is a full-blown original pop musical, featuring the vocal talents of Wilson (Pitch Perfect) and Everett (Napoleon), who play Lord and Lady Capulet. If music be the food of love, Verona will be an emotional feast. Said Bogart in a Pipeline Artists interview, “I just see the world through music. I can’t, nor do I want to, separate how music informs what we feel—and so those pieces draw me to them.”
DESIRE LINES
When You Can Watch: February 14
Where You Can Watch: Theaters (Limited)
Director: Jules Rosskam
Cast: Aden Hakimi, André Alan Pérez, Theo Germaine
Why We’re Excited: Using a hybrid of interview footage and scenic narrative, Rosskam (transparent) follows the lines of desire for men who are not only transgendered but homosexual. This through the lens of a 1970s bath house—a portal for male body acceptance and sexual awakening, where Iranian-American Ahmed (Hakimi from Yes We Candidate) time travels to connect with previous versions of himself. Desire Lines promises to be a tender, thoughtful and erotic exploration of transmasculine identity that is “a cinematic breath of fresh air,” according to Lauren Wissot at Filmmaker Magazine.
MILLERS IN MARRIAGE
When You Can Watch: February 21
Where You Can Watch: Theaters and Streaming
Director: Edward Burns
Cast: Gretchen Mol, Minnie Driver, Julianna Margulies
Why We’re Excited: Writer/Director Burns also acts in his fourteenth movie, featuring three siblings with demanding creative careers and unique challenges in their personal relationships. Film Independent held a virtual screening in November 2024 with Burns and his co-stars, Mol (Boardwalk Empire) and Margulies (The Good Wife) who play his sisters. Millers offers “sincere introspection of what people have to give up to balance their personal and professional ambitions and to accommodate a long-running partnership,” writes Stephen Saito in Variety. With Patrick Wilson (The Phantom of the Opera), Benjamin Bratt (Law & Order), and Driver (Good Will Hunting) rounding out the cast, this is a rare opportunity to see skilled actors explore relationship challenges later in life.
COLD WALLET
When You Can Watch: February 28
Where You Can Watch: Theaters and Streaming
Director: Cutter Hodierne
Cast: Raúl Castillo, Melonie Diaz, Josh Brener
Why We’re Excited: A lot more suspense than you might expect from a film that includes “Reddit” and “cryptocurrency” in the logline. Film Independent is hosting a screening on February 11 with Hodierne (Fishing Without Nets), who co-wrote and directed the twisting narrative of a motley crew taking back what’s theirs. After sinking his entire net worth into a scam, struggling dad Billy (Castillo from Cassandro) goes after the financial influencer who ripped him off, tracking him to a snowy estate decorated with fancy hunting gear. Castillo carries the desperate stakes of the movie, hitting idealism and boiling rage on the spectrum of human emotion. Maybe he doesn’t have much of a plan, but we’re rooting for him to figure it out.
THE LEGEND OF OCHI
When You Can Watch: February 28
Where You Can Watch: Theaters
Director: Isaiah Saxon
Cast: Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson, Willem Dafoe
Why We’re Excited: Amid the stunning Carpathian mountains, Saxon takes us to a remote village in his feature debut. A young girl named Yuri (Zengel from News of the World) is raised to fear the dangers of the forest: bears, wolves, and something much worse. So when Yuri bonds with a baby ochi, she must defy everyone—including her militant father played by Spirit Award winner Dafoe (The Lighthouse) to reunite it with its family. Saxon shows off his commitment to worldbuilding, weaving a magical environment from precise Romanian locations as well as post-production art (which involved 200 matte paintings by his own hand). The rich visuals carry us along as we follow Yuri on a Goonies meets E.T. adventure that blends practical effects, puppets, animatronics and digital rendering for a nostalgic and sweeping fantasy.
*PROGRAMMER’S PICK* MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE
When You Can Watch: February 28
Where You Can Watch: Theaters
Director: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes
Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris
Why We’re Excited: From Jenn Wilson, Film Independent Senior Programmer: Afghanistan war vet, Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green), is having a hard time adjusting to civilian life. She doesn’t want to attend the court-mandated PTSD group led by Dr. Cole (Morgan Freeman) or talk to her mom (Gloria Reuben), or deal with the fact her beloved grandfather Dale (Ed Harris) has Alzheimers. Good thing her dead friend Zoe (Natalie Morales) who served along with her in Afghanistan is always there to cheer her up and advise her on what to do. But is it actually Zoe or Merit that won’t let the two of them move on from the pain of what they experienced? This heartwarming and oftentimes hilarious, but poignant take on PTSD was written and directed as a tribute by director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes to two of his army veteran friends who made it back from the ground war, but didn’t survive the war in their own heads after they returned. Incredible performances by the two leads and supporting cast make this a film not to miss.
KEY
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