What to Watch in February 2025

From the return of Bridget Jones to a demonic monkey, here's the best of all the new films and TV shows headed to our screens in February

FILM

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (February 13)

For many of our readers, the big cinematic event this month will no doubt be the return of Bridget Jones, who is back for a fourth (and possibly final) outing on the big screen this month, with Renée Zellweger once again reprising her starring role. Based on the third book in the series of novels by Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy finds our titular hero as a widowed mother of two following the death of Mark Darcy (an event that has greatly upset Colin Firth fans – although he does appear in the odd flashback).

Bridget, however, has wasted no time in getting back into the dating game and has found herself a new boyfriend (Leo Woodall), who happens to be half her age. She’s also writing her first screenplay, and enjoying a flirtatious relationship with one of her children’s schoolteachers (Chiwitel Ejiofor). This year’s Bridget is older, certainly. But wiser? Perhaps not so much.

Returning to the fray alongside Zellweger are Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent and Hugh Grant, who all reprise their previous roles, while the list of other new additions this time around includes Isla Fisher, Josette Simon, Leila Farzad and Nico Parker. Due to arrive on February 13^th – just in time for Valentine’s Day – this romping romcom has already secured bookings from several of the ladies in the Sussex Living office. You might want to book your tickets too.

Love Hurts (February 7)

Everybody loves a comeback story, don’t they? If you haven’t been keeping an eye on the career of Asian-American actor Ke Huy Quan over the last couple of years, here’s the short version: Catapulted to fame at the age of 13 thanks to his iconic performances in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the roles soon dried up for the child actor and Quan found himself taking a hiatus from acting - one that ended up lasting 19 years. Inspired to give it one last shot after witnessing the success of Crazy Rich Asians, Quan received a call out of the blue from the film’s directors asking if he’d like to audition for their next project, a film called Everything Everywhere All at Once. Not only did the film become the most-awarded in history, Quan also won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

After that, it was only a matter of time before someone cast him in a leading role. But Jonathan Eusebio, who makes his directorial debut with Love Hurts, had a crazy idea: What if we cast him as the lead in an action movie? Quan may seem an unlikely choice at first, but in fact the actor spent most of those 19 years working behind the scenes as a stunt co-ordinator, helping to choreograph the fight scenes in films such as Bryan Singer’s X-Men and Jet Li vehicle The One. Add to that Eusebio’s impressive track record as a fight choreographer himself for David Leitch films such as John Wick and Atomic Blonde – and the fact that Leitch also serves as co-producer here – and Love Hurts starts to look very, very interesting indeed.

You only need see the trailer below to see how well this all works. Quan stars as Marvin Gable, a successful yet unassuming realtor whose dark past comes back to haunt him when his brother, a notorious crime boss known as ‘Knuckles’ (Daniel Wu), begins hunting him down to settle an old score – and then the ass-kicking begins. Also starring Ariana DeBose, Rhys Darby, NFL star-turned-actor Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch and Quan’s Goonies co-star Sean Astin, Love Hurts is tremendous fun – and Quan’s performance is simply a joy to witness.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (February 7)

Sometimes the story behind the making of a film can be just as interesting as the film itself. In the case of The Seed of the Sacred Fig, that story involves its director Mohammad Rasoulof, an outspoken Iranian filmmaker with a long history of clashes with the country’s government, of whom his films are often highly critical. When it was announced last year that The Seed of the Sacred Fig was to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival, the Iranian government issued a warrant for his arrest, leading him to flee the country and take refuge in Germany (he was subsequently tried in absentia and sentenced to eight years in prison for ‘propaganda against the State’).

As for the film itself, the story that has caused Rasoulof so much trouble revolves around Iman, a judge working for the Revolutionary Court of Tehran who grapples with paranoia as political protests begin happening nationwide in response to the death of a young woman. Tasked with approving death warrants for the protestors, he is given a gun to help protect his family. But when the gun goes missing, Iman begins to lose trust in his wife and daughters, suspecting they are responsible for its disappearance. A taut, compelling drama, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is also a courageous political statement that feels as vital as anything you’re likely to see this year.

Memoir of a Snail (February 14)

Stop-motion animation has become something of a rarity these days, sadly, but the art is far from dead and there have been plenty of wonderful examples in recent years, from the comedic brilliance of the latest Wallace & Gromit outing Vengeance Most Fowl to the artistry of Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs and the sheer beauty of Kubo and the Two Strings.

Memoir of a Snail is a worthy and charming addition to that list and has already earned itself a nomination for Best Animated Feature at this year’s Oscars. The brainchild of Australian filmmaker Adam Elliot, the story follows a young girl named Grace and her twin brother Gilbert, who are orphaned and sent from their home in Melbourne to live with separate families – Gilbert to Perth with a family of religious fundamentalists, Grace to Canberra with a nice yet often absent couple due to them being swingers. The film’s impressive voice cast includes Succession’s Sarah Snook, Eric Bana, Nick Cave and Jacki Weaver, to name a few, and this stop-motion marvel is set to arrive in UK cinemas on February 14.

The Monkey (February 28)

If you’re not in the mood for romance, politics, kung-fu fighting or animation and you just want something to have a good old scream at, look no further than this deeply unsettling horror from Longlegs director Osgood Perkins. Based on the short story of the same name by Stephen King, The Monkey follows the tale of twin brothers Hal and Bill (with Theo James starring as both), who as children both witness a string of horrifying deaths which, they suspect, are somehow being caused by a demonic-looking, vintage toy monkey they recently discovered in their father’s attic.

The boys’ family move to a new area and several years pass, but then by chance one of the brothers happens upon the abandoned monkey in a store filled with antiques and curios, and the mysterious deaths begin occurring once again. Determined to put an end to its reign of terror, the brothers set out to destroy the terrible toy once and for all. Also starring Elijah Wood, Tatiana Maslany and Rohan Campbell, this James Wan-produced terror is due to land at the end of the month and will continue to give you nightmares well into the spring.

TV

The White Lotus – Season 3 (Sky Atlantic / NOW, February 17)

Arguably the most hotly-anticipated TV return this month comes on February 17 with the brand-new season of The White Lotus, especially for anyone who has already found themselves mesmerised by the show’s first two gripping runs. Being an anthology series though, there’s no narrative thread from one season to the next, and so once again we are faced with a new story and an all-new cast to go with it.

This time we’re at the Thailand branch of the White Lotus hotel chain and while plot details have been kept tightly under wraps, we do know that the story will involve a wealthy businessman and his family, three longtime friends reuniting for a girls’ trip, and at least one dead body. The cast this time includes Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey and Patrick Schwarzenegger (and yes, his dad is exactly who you think he is). Available to watch on Sky Atlantic or streaming service NOW, this is bound to be essential viewing.

Am I Being Unreasonable? -  Season 2 (BBC One / iPlayer, February 5)

Best known for the brilliant comedy This Country, co-created alongside her brother Charlie, Daisy May Cooper followed up in 2022 with the first season of this strange and absorbing comedy-thriller which may have flown under the radar for some, but is well worth viewing - and still available on iPlayer, which is handy as the show’s second series is due to arrive next week, giving you just enough time to binge-watch the whole thing.

Those who have already done so will be aware of the huge revelation at the end of the first run, which sets things up nicely for its second outing. The trailer below gives little away in terms of what we’re in for this time, but if the first series was anything to go by it’ll probably be chaotic, disturbing, and very, very funny.

Yellowjackets – Season 3 (Paramount +, February 14)

One of the most promising new shows to arrive in recent years, Yellowjackets had its wings somewhat clipped by the decision by Paramount to shut down its US streaming service Showtime (which had a deal to share content with Netflix in the UK) and replace it with Paramount + in all territories, meaning that if you enjoyed the first season on one streaming service, you’d need to sign up for another one to keep watching the second. Understandably, many didn’t bother.

However, with a third season about to arrive – and with Paramount + currently offering a free trial period – now is a great time to get your revenge. Telling the story of a girls’ high school soccer team who crash-land deep in the wilderness of Canada, the action flips from the aftermath of the event itself in 1996, and the lives of those who survived in the present day. The latter are scarred by the experience, which sees the young, stranded women descending into something resembling the plot of Lord of the Flies. Melanie Lynksey, Christina Ricci and the rest of cast all return for the new season. Quite what will happen after the twin tragedies in both timelines that rounded out season 2, we’re not sure. But we can’t wait to find out on February 14.

A Thousand Blows (Disney+, February 21)

Perhaps the most exciting new TV series on the horizon this month – especially if you’ve enjoyed other Steven Knight creations like Peaky Blinders and SAS Rogue Heroes – is this new tale set in Victorian London. Starring Malachi Kirby and Francis Lovehall as two Jamaican brothers recently arrived in England, the story follows the pair as they try to carve out a living as fighters on London’s grimy, gritty boxing circuit, where they encounter a dangerous veteran boxer named Sugar Goodson (played by Stephen Graham).

Also starring Erin Docherty, James Nelson-Joyce, Ziggy Heath and Jemma Carlton, A Thousand Blows lands on Disney+ on February 21 and looks set to be a knockout.

Small Town, Big Story (Sky Atlantic / NOW, February 27)

Last but by no means least on our list of recommendations for February is this new comedy/mystery series created by Chris O’Dowd for Sky Atlantic (you’ll also be able to watch on streaming service NOW, if you prefer). On the face of things, the story revolves around the (fictional) rural Irish town of Drumbán, whose residents are excited to learn that a film production company is arriving in town to shoot its next picture.

However, it soon turns out that the film’s ‘American’ director (Christina Hendricks) is in fact not only Irish, but is originally from Drumbán herself – a fact that is about to become very awkward for one of its other residents, Seamus (Paddy Considine), who appears to have some romantic history with the filmmaking returnee. Moreover, it appears they may have shared an experience that goes beyond the romantic – one that Seamus has tried to keep buried, and one that might go some way to explaining why dead birds keep falling out of the sky.

Also starring O’Dowd himself alongside David Wilmot, Leia Murphy, Ruth McCabe and Eileen Walsh, you can expect this new series to be every bit as intriguing as the trailer below suggests…