February is jam packed with exciting new releases in both streaming and cinema. Most anticipated is Wuthering Heights starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, while Bridgerton season four part two comes to Netflix.
February 1
These Sacred Vows, RTÉ One
Written and directed by award-winning Irish screenwriter John Butler, These Sacred Vows stars Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Justine Mitchell and Jason O’Mara with an unusual take on the Irish wedding. The comedy-drama opens the morning after on a Spanish island, when the body of a priest is found floating face-down in the swimming pool of the young guests’ villa. Over the course of six episodes, the action jumps back in time to revisit the key events of a wild previous week, each from the perspective of a different character. Think The White Lotus but with the Irish trimmings.
February 6
Queen of Chess, Netflix
Queen of Chess tells the story of Judit Polgár, the Hungarian prodigy who reshaped the world of competitive chess, from her rise as a 12-year-old determined to break gender barriers, to becoming the youngest grandmaster in the game’s history. Featuring candid interviews and archival moments, it shares a true spotlight on her story.
Send Help, cinemas nationwide
Starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’ Brien, Send Help is a survival horror thriller about two colleagues who become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it’s a battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.
February 12
How To Get To Heaven from Belfast, Netflix
The creator of Derry Girls, Lisa McGee, returns with How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, an eight-episode Netflix series which follows three tight-knit, late-30s friends – Saoirse, Robyn and Dara – whose lives are upended after the death of their estranged fourth childhood friend. Eerie events at her wake launch them on a dark, dangerous and hilarious journey through Ireland.
February 13
Wuthering Heights, cinema nationwide
In the much-hyped adaptation of the Emily Brontë novel, Emerald Fennell has her take on the classic with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Catherine in the passionate and tumultuous love story set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors. With a soundtrack penned by Charli xcx, this is a must-see.
Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette, Disney+
Created by Ryan Murphy, the love and tragedy of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette is dramatised for Disney+. Son of JFK, John F. Kennedy Jr., was the closest thing to American royalty, and he became a media sensation. Bessette was a star in her own right. Fiercely independent and with a singular style, she rose from being a sales assistant to an executive at Calvin Klein and became a trusted confidante of its eponymous founder. John and Carolyn’s connection was immediate, electric and undeniable. However, as their love story unfolded on a national stage, the intense fame and media attention that came along with it threatened to rip them apart.
Cold Storage, cinemas nationwide
When a highly contagious, mutating fungus escapes a sealed facility, two young employees and a grizzled bioterror operative must survive the wildest night shift ever to save humanity from extinction, as the microorganism spreads and destroys everything in its path. Starring Liam Neeson and Joe Keery.
Crime 101, cinemas nationwide
Set against the sun-bleached grit of Los Angeles and also starring our own Barry Keoghan, Crime 101 weaves the tale of an elusive jewel thief (Chris Hemsworth) whose string of heists along the 101 freeway has mystified police. When he eyes the score of a lifetime, his path crosses that of a disillusioned insurance broker (Halle Berry) who is facing her own crossroads. Convinced he has found a pattern, a relentless detective (Mark Ruffalo) is closing in, raising the stakes even higher. As the heist approaches, the line between hunter and hunted begins to blur, and all three are faced with life-defining choices and the realisation that there can be no turning back.
February 18
Being Gordon Ramsey, Netflix
Gordon Ramsay as we have never seen him before, as he opens the doors to his home and businesses in the lead-up to his biggest restaurant ventures to date: the opening of five restaurants in one of London’s tallest buildings, 22 Bishopsgate.
When an unidentified body is found in a luxury apartment linked to Oliver Kennedy (Avan Jogia) and his girlfriend Ciara Wyse (Dove Cameron), Detectives Lee Reardon and Karl Connolly reconstruct the couple’s deadly romance over the past 56 days.
February 20
The Last Thing He Told Me, Disney+
Returning for season two is this brilliant thriller-mystery based on the second instalment in Laura Dave’s New York Times bestselling series, Hannah Hall. After five years on the run, Hannah (Jennifer Garner) and her stepdaughter Bailey (Angourie Rice) are thrown back into uncertain times when the long-missing Owen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) suddenly re-emerges.
February 23
Paradise, Disney+
Starring Sterling K. Brown as Xavier Collins, Paradise returns for season two. He and his two children have escaped a nuclear holocaust and have been living in the lush underground bunker. However, now that Xavier knows his wife might still be alive above ground, he heads up there to find her.
February 26
Bridgerton, Season 4: Part 2, Netflix
With part one released in January, February welcomes part two of season four – adapted from Julia Quinn’s third novel, An Offer from a Gentleman – and it centres on the slow-burn romance between Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) and Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson). Though both try to keep their distance, their connection proves impossible to deny, with an undeniable chemistry drawing them back together time and again
The Gray House, Prime Video
Based on true events, The Gray House follows a dangerous undercover spy network of women – a Virginia socialite, her mother, a formerly enslaved person and a courtesan – operating in the heart of the Confederacy to help the Union win the Civil War.
February 27
Vanished, Prime Video
Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant) and Sam Claflin (Daisy Jones & the Six) star as Alice and Tom, a couple blissfully mapping out their future together. But their romantic escape takes a dark turn while travelling by train from Paris to the South of France, when Alice wakes from a nap to find Tom has vanished without a trace. Her search for him at their destination uncovers a hidden life, one steeped in secrets and potentially lethal consequences. As danger closes in and even the local police issue cryptic warnings, Alice is forced to question just how well she truly knows the man she loves.
Man on the Run, Amazon Prime
This documentary takes viewers on an intimate, vulnerable journey through Paul McCartney’s extraordinary life following the Beatles’ breakup and the formation of Wings with his wife, Linda. Director Morgan Neville chronicles McCartney’s solo career as he faces emotional, artistic and personal challenges while defining a new decade of music.
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