What to Watch in March 2025

From a Robert De Niro double header to two brand new 'whodunnits', here's your guide to all the best new films & TV shows arriving in March...

FILM

The Alto Knights (March 21)

Robert De Niro reunites with Goodfellas and Casino screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi in this true-life tale of a struggle for power between two high-ranking members of the New York mafia. De Niro stars as both Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, rivals for control of one of the ‘Five Families’ that dominated organised crime in the city. The feud between the pair culminated in a botched assassination attempt ordered by Genovese, who sent a gunman named Vincent Gigante to kill his rival Costello. However, despite being shot three times, Costello survived the hit, leading Genovese and the other bosses to fear that Costello would try to bring them all down by testifying against them.

Starring alongside De Niro in his double turn are Debra Massing, Cosmo Jarvis, Katherine Narducci and Michael Rispoli, while Rain Man director Barry Levinson is the man calling the shots on this historical crime drama. Both De Niro and Pileggi have a rich pedigree when it comes to mob movies and, as you’d expect, The Alto Knights doesn’t disappoint.

Black Bag (March 14)

Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender lead the cast of this new spy thriller from Steven Soderbergh, starring as George and Kathryn Woodhouse, a married couple who both work as agents for the same intelligence agency. When it emerges that a mole is leaking the agency’s secrets, suspicion falls on Kathryn, leaving George with a dilemma – does he remain loyal to his wife, or to his country?

Starring alongside them in this slick, sophisticated spy caper is a cast that includes Marisa Abela, Tom Burke and Regé-Jean Page, as well as former James Bond stars Pierce Brosnan and Naomie Harris. While the casting of this latter pair is surely a nod to the film’s inspiration, Soderbergh brings a level of grit and realism to Black Bag that has more in common with John Le Carre than Ian Fleming. If you’ve already burned your way through Slow Horses and need more spy action to keep you going while the next Bond is revealed, this is well worth a watch.

Misericordia (March 6)

First premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year, this unusual thriller from French filmmaker Alain Guiraudie is set in the autumnal woodland environs of Saint-Martial in southern France. The town is the childhood home of Jeremie, a trainee baker who returns to attend the funeral of his former boss and mentor. After staying for a few days with the deceased’s family, Jeremie finds himself developing romantic feelings towards his mentor’s widow, and is surprised to find those feelings reciprocated – much to the anger of their son, Vincent. As tensions between the two men reach boiling point, Jeremie finds an unlikely source of help in a local priest – who seems to have romantic ambitions of his own.

Starring Félix Kysyl, Catherine Frot, Jacques Develay and Jean-Baptiste Durand, this strangely compelling film is perhaps best summarised as a fascinating exploration into the relationship between passion and violence. As unexpectedly funny as it is unapologetically horny, Misericordia is easily the oddest film you’ll see this month, but it’s well worth seeking out at your local arthouse cinema if you’re looking for something a little different.

The Island Between Tides (March 21)

Based on a ‘lost’ story written by Peter Pan author (and former Sussex resident) J.M. Barrie, The Island Between Tides follows the story of a young girl named Lily, who follows a strange melody she hears while walking through the woods to its source – a strange island in the middle of a lake. She explores the island for a couple of hours before heading home, but on returning to her family she is shocked to discover that, to everyone else, her disappearance has lasted 25 years.

Starring Paloma Kwiatkowski as Lily, alongside a cast that includes Donal Logue, Camille Sullivan, Megan Charpentier and Adam Beach, The Island Between Tides (also known as The Lost Daughter in the U.S.) certainly captures the feeling of a J.M Barrie story, and while the time-bending nature of the plot will require your full attention in order to follow the story, this dark fantasy tale has enough charm to reward your efforts.

Novocaine (March 28)

Our final film recommendation this month comes from directing duo Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, the pair behind films such as 2019’s Villains and 2022 horror Significant Other, and stars Jack Quaid as Nathan Caine, a bank employee living a fairly normal, sheltered life apart from one thing: he has congenital analgesia, a rare condition which prevents him from feeling physical pain. When a new girl named Sherry (Amber Midthunder) begins working at the bank, Nathan feels himself beginning to fall in love, but his dreams of romantic bliss are rudely interrupted when a gang of bank robbers (dressed in Santa outfits, no less) hold up the bank and make off with the contents of the vault – kidnapping Sherry in the process.

Nathan resolves to use his unusual condition to his advantage and sets out to rescue the new love of his life from the gang, but his vigilante efforts put him the crosshairs of the San Diego Police Department, who suspect he may have been their ‘inside man’. Also starring Ray Nicholson, Jacob Batalon, Betty Gabriel and Matt Walsh, this fast-paced action-comedy provides thrills and laughs in equal measure.

TV

Towards Zero (BBC One / iPlayer, March 2)

The list of Agatha Christie adaptations screened by the BBC over the years must surely run into the hundreds by now, but with recent examples as good as The Pale Horse and The ABC Murders, that doesn’t mean there’s no room for another. Besides, there’s a reason why Christie’s novels are so enduringly popular.

This time it’s her 1944 novel Towards Zero being given the TV adaption treatment, although where the aforementioned two have been helmed by the brilliant Sarah Phelps, this time it’s Rachel Bennette (Ripper Street, Lark Rise to Candleford) who provides the screenplay. The story revolves around a tennis star named Nevile Strange, who returns to his childhood home for his honeymoon, but has made the odd decision to invite his ex-wife too – a move that has greatly irritated his elderly stepmother, Lady Tressilian. When an old friend of the family is found dead at a nearby hotel, the accusations start flying. 

Starring Anjelica Huston, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Clarke Peters and Matthew Rhys, Towards Zero is available to stream in full on iPlayer from March 2 – but if you’d rather wait for each episode as it airs, you can catch them every Sunday evening at 9:00pm.

Adolescence (Netflix, March 13)

Stephen Graham has chalked up a long list of outstanding performances as an actor over the last twenty years, but more recently he has turned his hand to writing, coming flying out of the gates in 2021 with his brilliant film debut Boiling Point (in which he also stars) - a look into the intense world of elite restaurants and the manic perfection of the chefs who run their kitchens.

Now Graham is turning his eye to the small screen and has teamed up with This is England co-writer Jack Thorne for this gripping crime drama. Reuniting with Boiling Point director Philip Barantini, the trio have applied the same one-shot treatment used to such devastating effect in Boiling Point to each episode in this new mini-series, creating a level of intensity that will feel very familiar to fans of the film. This time though the action centres around a young boy named Fredo (Austin Haynes), and we watch in real time as he is taken into custody and questioned over the death of a young girl from his school

Graham stars as the boy’s father, alongside a cast that also includes Christine Tremarco, Ashley Walters, Amelie Pease and Faye Murray, Adolescence debuts on Netflix on March 13. You won’t want to miss it.

Dope Thief (Apple TV+, March 14)

Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura lead the cast of this new crime caper from screenwriter Peter Craig (The Batman, Top Gun: Maverick), starring as two career thieves whose usual modus operandi involves posing as DEA agents in order to relieve small-time drug dealers of their cash - and their stash. After all, what are they going to do? Call the police?

It’s a plan that has worked well for them up until now, but when their latest mark turns out to be connected to a dangerous organised crime network, the pair find themselves hiding out as the gang they’ve stolen from seeks to reclaim their belongings – and take their revenge. Also starring Ving Rhames, Marin Ireland and Star Trek legend Kate Mulgrew, Dope Thief begins streaming on Apple TV+ on March 14 and looks set to be a whole lot of messy fun.

The Residence (Netflix, March 20)

If you find Agatha Christie a bit twee, but still love a good old murder mystery, then The Residence might be right up your street. Although loosely inspired by a biographical book by journalist Kate Anderson Brower, this new mystery drama has a lot in common with a Christie-style whodunnit – the single location, the assembly of suspects, the eccentric detective – but instead of an English country manor or quaint village hall, here the action takes place during a state dinner at America’s most famous residence: The White House.

As for the eccentric detective, that would be Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba) – a consultant sleuth working with Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police. When the White House’s chief Usher (Giancarlo Esposito) suddenly turns up dead in one of the residence’s 132 rooms, the detective commences her investigation – and discovers a bitter, upstairs-downstairs divide between staff and guests that could just reveal a motive for the murder. Also starring Jason Lee, Susan Kelechi Watson, Ken Marino and Randall Park – with cameo from Kylie Minogue – The Residence arrives on Netflix on March 20 and if you like your murder mysteries more Benoit Blanc than Miss Marple, this will be essential viewing.

The Studio (Apple TV+, March 26)

Our final pick this month comes to Apple TV+ on March 26 and if you’re saddened by the news that The Franchise won’t be getting a second season, you might find some solace in this new comedy series, which stars Seth Rogen as the newly appointed head of Hollywood film studio Continental. He’s landed his dream job at a bad time, however, and his task is to save the floundering company from going under in the face of numerous challenges.

Starring alongside him are Catherine O’Hara, Ike Barinholtz, Kathyrn Hahn and Bryan Cranston, as well as a laundry list of cameo appearances by everyone from Ron Howard and Martin Scorsese to Steve Buschemi and Charlize Theron. If you’ve ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes of a modern movie set, The Studio offers a satirical glimpse of the chaos underpinning all your favourite movies.