With Dune: Part Two dominating the big screen in March, most of the other new movies coming out — especially major releases — are pushed to the tail end of the month. As far as blockbuster releases, we have Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (March 22) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (March 29). Can the Ghostbusters reboot sequel escape the cloying fan service of the first one? Will Godzilla x Kong be able to stand strong against the monumental artistry of Japan’s Godzilla Minus One? We’ll have to watch and find out!
For some family-friendly fare, there’s the much-anticipated Kung Fu Panda 4 (March 8). It’s been eight years since the last film and much of the cast is back, including Jack Black in the lead role, with new additions Awkwafina and Viola Davis. Disney is also releasing the critically acclaimed 2021 film Luca in theatres (March 22) for the first time.
If you want to get scared, your best bet is Imaginary (March 8), a PG-13 horror film about a woman who returns to her childhood home to discover that the imaginary friend she left behind — a teddy bear — is very real and unhappy that she abandoned him.
Two festival hits that have some genre-adjacent vibes — Love Lies Bleeding (March 15) and Riddle of Fire (March 22) — also hit the big screen this month. Fresh off its release at Sundance, Love Lies Bleeding is best described as the “lesbian bodybuilder revenge film” starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian. It was directed by Rose Glass, whose feature debut Saint Maud was a beguiling and haunting horror film about religious obsession. Riddle of Fire premiered last year as part of TIFF’s Midnight Madness program and was an instant fan favourite. It’s a comedy adventure about three mischievous kids who embark on a woodland odyssey when their mother sends them on an errand.
Director Michael Mohan’s erotic thriller The Voyeurs, set in Montreal, flew under the radar when it was released during the pandemic, but it was one of the unexpected cinematic highlights of 2021. His follow-up, Immaculate (March 22), also starring Sydney Sweeney, is about an American nun whose journey to a picturesque Italian convent devolves into a nightmare.
About Dry Grasses (March 8), the latest film from Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan, screened last year as part of the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma and became an instant favourite. Now that it has a wider theatrical release, we encourage you to check out one of the best films of recent years on the big screen — a film about platitudes, inaction and entitlement that feels extremely of the moment.
Among other notable releases, Anthony Hopkins stars in One Life (March 15), a biopic about Sir Nicholas Winton as he looks back on his past efforts to help groups of Jewish children in German-occupied Czechoslovakia to hide and flee in 1938–’39. La Vénus d’argent, aka Spirit of Ecstasy (March 22), is the feature-acting debut of pop star Pomme, a beguiling and occasionally surreal film about a gender-bending woman trying to escape her difficult life in the world of finance.
Onze jours en février (March 29) depicts the downfall of Claude Jutra, who went from one of the most celebrated Quebec filmmakers to a pariah after being exposed as a paedophile. The documentary explores the week the exposé was published and the aftermath.
For film festival goers, March means movies. The 42nd edition of FIFA, a film festival devoted to art on film, runs from March 14–24 (online component March 22–31) with films covering a wide range of artists including Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Pussy Riot and Mark Rothko. There’s also SAT Fest, the immersive film festival in the Satosphère dome, which features 33 films from March 21–24. The unusual cinematic experience is a feast for audiences looking to redefine their understanding of screen arts. ■
This article was originally published in the March 2024 issue of Cult MTL. Check Montreal cinema showtimes here.
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