Netflix
Jurassic World Rebirth
Film, US, 2025 – out 8 February
The latest instalment in the Jurassic Park/World franchise delivers all the elements we’ve come to expect: lush wilderness, characters gazing upwards in awe, and of course lots of dinosaurs – this time including the genetically altered variety. Reanimated prehistoric creatures no longer inspire much excitement, hence the urge to juice ’em up with an extra head or two; one character laments that “the audience got tired of normal dinosaurs”, which might apply to us too.
Scarlett Johansson stars as Zora Bennett, a mercenary tasked with retrieving dinosaur DNA from a dangerous island where most of the remaining creatures now reside. It’s not an amazing film, but it’s much better than the recent instalments (Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World Dominion) and features a few solid, well-paced set pieces.
Deeper
Film, Australia, 2025 – out 6 February
Australian film-maker Jennifer Peedom has made a name for herself directing documentaries about mighty natural elements, like mountains and rivers, and the intrepid humans who broach them. I liked but didn’t love Deeper, which follows a group of cave divers, including Thailand cave rescue hero Richard Harris as they explore New Zealand’s Pearse Resurgence cave system. As I wrote in my review, the film “pursues the reverse trajectory of Peedom’s cracking Mount Everest doco Sherpa” and “remains interesting throughout”.
Honourable mentions: How to Train Your Dragon (film, out now), M3GAN 2.0 (film, out now), Fifty Shades of Grey (film, 4 February), Fifty Shades Darker (film, 4 February), Fifty Shades Freed (film, 4 February), Lesbian Space Princess (film, 6 February), A Quiet Place Day One (film, 14 February), Bridgerton: season 4 part 2 (TV, 26 February),
Stan
Friendship
Film, US, 2024 – out 15 February
Tim Robinson, best-known for his riotously funny sketch comedy series I Think You Should Leave, has made weird, cringe-inducing discomfort his calling card – and boy does he play it well. Like Robinson’s recent TV series The Chair Company, writer-director Andrew DeYoung’s jet-black comedy carries the faint tang of a thriller; it is compelling partly because you can’t be sure what Robinson’s Craig is capable of. Craig is a homebody who becomes friends with his personable new neighbour and local weatherman Austin (Paul Rudd). Poor Austin has no idea what he’s getting into, the relationship between them taking on shades of the uneasy dynamic between Ben Stiller’s everyman and Jim Carrey’s unhinged interloper in the 90s classic The Cable Guy.
Lord of the Flies
TV, UK/Australia, 2026 – out 8 February
The perfect show for a new generation of high school students who can’t be bothered reading the book! William Golding’s classic novel follows a bunch of pipsqueak boys stranded on a remote island, where they form political factions and descend into violent chaos. I’ve only seen the first episode of this new four-part adaptation, from Adolescence writer and producer Jack Thorne, but am keen to return for more: it certainly looks the part, with a high-contrast, saturated palette emphasising the “tropical paradise”.
The Rock
Film, US – out 7 February
As I write this, I can hear Hans Zimmer’s awesome score for The Rock rising and swelling in my ears. Michael Bay is, generally speaking, a dreadful director, but this fist-pumping, endlessly rewatchable spectacle starring Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery is a glorious exception – one of the greatest action movies of the 90s.
After rogue marines seize Alcatraz and load it with chemical weapons pointed at San Francisco, a deliciously unorthodox team is dispatched to save the day, including Cage’s lab rat Stanley Goodspeed and Connery’s ex-British spy, the only person to have ever escaped from the island’s former prison. The chemistry between the two big Cs is irresistible.
Honourable mentions: Killing Them Softly (film, out now), Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (film, out now), Tenet (film, 6 February), Sausage Party (film, 12 February), 50 First Dates (film, 14 February), While You Were Sleeping (film, 15 February), Captain Phillips (film, 17 February), Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (film, 19 February), Fury (film, 24 February), Memories of Murder (film, 25 February), Call Me By Your Name (film, 26 February), Wild (film, 28 February).
ABC iView
Dog Park
TV, Australia, 2025 – out now
Come for the doggos, stay for the emotionally nuanced characters and scenarios. As I wrote in my review, the title of this new ABC six-part series feels like a bit of a bait and switch, but not in a bad way: this is a pleasurably paced and smartly staged show that I wolfed down in a couple of sittings. Leon Ford (also the co-creator, with Amanda Higgs) plays sad sack Roland, who reluctantly becomes part of a local dog group, lured in by the unerringly cheerful Samantha (Celia Pacquola) while his wife Emma (Brooke Satchwell) is overseas.
Honourable mentions: Sort Of (TV, out now), This England (TV, out now), Kath & Kid series 1-4 (TV, out now), Mission to Space with Francis Bourgeois (TV, 10 February), Todd Sampson’s Why (TV, 24 February).
SBS on Demand
Metropolis
Film, 1927, Germany – out 6 February
Fritz Lang’s bonkers silent classic has had an immeasurable impact on popular culture, from its breathtaking vision of the proverbial “city of tomorrow” to its uber-iconic creation Maria, one of cinema’s first robot characters. Metropolis helped entrench, among many other things, the now-familiar sci-fi tradition of using verticality for class commentary, with wealthy elites lounging in glistening sky gardens while workers perform back-breaking labour below. (See also: Elysium, High-Rise, The Platform, Silo among many others.) Chaos ensues when an affluent young man (Gustav Fröhlich) is swept up in a brewing workers’ uprising.
This remastered version of the film, released in 2008, restores the film to Lang’s original vision, featuring 25 minutes of extra scenes – making an already long and stunningly imperfect film even more unwieldy.
Thelma and Louise
Film, US, 1991 – out 21 February
The crown jewel in Ridley Scott’s classic feminist road movie is its very famous ending, which somehow feels more triumphant than tragic – transforming mutual suicide into an anti-patriarchy, fist-pumping statement. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon play Thelma and Louise, who go on the run after killing a rapist, with Harvey Keitel’s detective Hal Slocumb in dogged pursuit.
At one point, Louise tells Slocumb over the phone that their situation is “weird … [like] we got some kind of snowball effect happening.” This is both an offhand throwaway and an oddly perfect summary of the plot: a sharply toned story that keeps gathering momentum.
Honourable mentions: The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith (film, out now), Malcolm X (film, out now), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (film, out now), Trespasses (TV, 4 February), Whale Rider (film, 5 February), The Life And Death of Colonel Blimp (film, 6 February), Tokyo Story (film, 6 February), Only God Forgives (film, 6 February), The 39 Steps (film, 6 February), The Lady Vanishes (film, 6 February), The Third Man (film, 6 February), Rise of the Raven (TV, 12 February), The Danish Woman (TV, 19 February), When We Were Kings (film, 20 February), Wings of Desire (film, 20 February), The Hurt Locker (film, 20 February), The Big Short (film, 21 February), Pulp Fiction (film, 21 February), Gravity (film, 21 February), Adaptation (film, 21 February), Apocalypse Now Redux (film, 21 February), Australia’s Greatest Conman? (TV, 24 February), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (film, 26 February), The Fisher King (film, 27 February), Memoirs of a Geisha (film, 27 February).
Binge
The ‘Burbs
TV, US, 2026 – out 8 February
Having recently revisited Joe Dante’s off-kilter 1989 classic The ‘Burbs, and discovering it more than holds its own all these years later, I’m curious about this TV remake, centred on a married couple (Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall) who move into “the safest town in America”. It’s all very white-picket-fence bliss, except for that creepy old house down the street, where a suspicious new neighbour resides.
It’s a little disconcerting to have this material stretched from a well-paced 101-minute movie to an eight-part series. But then again, stories puncturing the facade of peaceful suburban life are evergreen narratives, and Desperate Housewives lasted for 180 episodes …
To Kill a Mockingbird
Film, US, 1962 – out 1 February
Robert Mulligan’s 1962 adaptation of Harper Lee’s great novel has lost none of its power. As I wrote last year, it’s impossible to not be moved by Gregory Peck’s performance as Atticus Finch, a small-town lawyer who “radiates good old-fashioned decency, espousing tolerance and compassion that sadly feels almost passe”. The story of Finch defending a young black man of a crime he didn’t commit is famously framed through the eyes of Finch’s daughter Scout (Mary Badham), whose adult self narrates it.
Honourable mentions: Under Salt March (TV, out now), The Friend (film, 5 February), Jurassic World: Rebirth (film, 8 February), Heart Eyes (film, 14 February), Mamma Mia! (film, 14 February), Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (film, 14 February), The Copenhagen Test (TV, 16 February).
HBO Max
Splitsville
Film, US, 2025 – out 24 February
Open marriages are the topical underpinning (or undergarment, if you will) of this sharply observed and intelligently staged dramedy from writer-director Michael Angelo Covino. We meet young married couple Carey (Kyle Marvin) and Ashley (Adria Arjona), with the latter announcing she wants to end things so she can sleep with other people – right after they get in a car accident. Carey seeks counsel from their mutual friends Paul and Julie (Covino and Dakota Johnson) and discovers the pair have an open relationship and are “more flexible with the physical”. So Carey gets some ideas.
In other hands this might have been a straightforward comedy of errors, but Splitsville is more discerning than that, teasing out some of the emotional complexities of non-monogamy without becoming too heavy or prescriptive.
Somersault
Film, Australia, 2004 – out now
On the subject of bonking: the protagonist of this classic Australian coming-of-age movie, Heidi (Abbie Cornish), experiences a sexual awakening, beginning with being caught in bed with her mother’s boyfriend. This is the narrative trigger that sends her running out of her Canberra home and into a town in the Snowy Mountains, where she continues said awakening and learns life lessons the hard way. The sexual scenes are always tied to the protagonist’s emotional growth and the tone is somehow both gritty and dreamy. The film is elegantly directed by Cate Shortland, with a richly layered leading performance from Cornish.
Honourable mentions: Flirting (film, out now), Quiet in Class (TV, out now), Before Sunrise (film, 5 February), Before Sunset (film, 5 February), The Shining (film, 7 February), Neighbors (TV, 14 February), South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (film, 21 February).
Prime Video
Man on the Run
Film, US/UK, 2025 – out 27 February
Beatles fans continue to get inundated with new televisual treats, after the recent releases of the Martin Scorsese-produced Beatles ’64, a restored version of 70s documentary Let It Be, and Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back series (plus four Sam Mendes-directed biopics on the way). Next up: Morgan Neville’s documentary about Paul McCartney’s life and career post-the Beatles, which features previously unseen footage and archive material. IndieWire’s Caleb Hammond says the film “works best as a linear accounting of these post-Beatles McCartney years more than it does as a portrait of McCartney”.
Honourable mentions: Bridget Jones’s Baby (film, out now), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (film, out now), How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (film, out now), Relationship Goals (film, 4 February), The Travellers (film, 10 February), Baby Driver (film, 17 February), My Best Friend’s Wedding (film, 17 February), Roofman (film, 18 February), 56 Days (TV, 18 February), Vanished (TV, 27 February), Final Siren: Inside the AFL (TV, 27 February), Relay (film, 28 February), Together (film, 28 February).
Disney+
The Muppet Show
TV, US, 2026 – out 4 February
I’m not really across the music of Sabrina Carpenter, but I’d happily watch her perform from now until the end of time provided she’s flanked by a few Muppets. That’s one lesson I took from this delightful pilot episode of a potential Muppets revival, which feels like it cuts through time – quaint in a lovely way, but also clearly contemporary, with a fresh rotation of celebrity cameos.
Kermit and the gang are once again playing the music and lighting the lights, staging a good ol‘-fashioned vaudeville-esque variety show – complete with backstage shenanigans, clashing egos (hello Miss Piggy!), bouncy banter and other elements we know and love, including Statler and Waldorf heckling from the balcony (“This show’s not half bad!” “Yeah, it’s all bad!”). It all hangs together beautifully. The Big Mouse better cough up a proper season.
Scrubs
TV, US, 2026 – out 26 February
Reboot? Remake? Revival? Extremely belated 10th season? Who knows what to make of the return of Scrubs, the beloved hospital-set sitcom populated by a bunch of flawed but likable characters including Zach Braff’s JD and Donald Faison’s Turk. The official synopsis is: “Medicine has changed; interns have changed; but their bromance has stood the test of time.” Both return for whatever this new thing is, along with Sarah Chalke (Elliot), John C McGinley (Dr Cox), and Judy Reyes (Carla).
The Artful Dodger season 2
TV, Australia, 2026 – out 10 February
I very much enjoyed the first season of this zippy Dickensian spin-off, which follows the wild exploits of its titular character – once the leader of a gang in Oliver Twist, now improbably reinvented as a surgeon working in Australia. Old mate Charlie D certainly didn’t envision this; perhaps the show is best understood as an elaborate piece of fan fiction, propelled by a cracking pace and a twisty storyline. Here’s hoping the second season sustains that same plucky momentum.
Honourable mentions: Despicable Me 1 & 2 (film, out now), ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (film, out now), Grindhouse: Planet Terror (film, out now), The Hateful Eight (film, out now), Inglourious Basterds (film, out now), Jackie Brown (film, out now), Jerry Maguire (film, out now), Jumanji (film, out now), Kill Bill Volume 1 & 2 (film, out now), My Best Friend’s Wedding (film, out now), Reservoir Dogs (film, out now), Hook (film, out now), In The Blink of an Eye (film, 27 February).
Apple TV
Eternity
Film, US, 2025 – out 13 February
In writer-director David Freyne’s vision of the afterlife, difficult relationships follow us beyond the grave. Sounds, um, great. Protagonist Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) has to not only pick where to spend eternity, but who to spend it with. She must select either Larry (Miles Teller), her husband of many years, or Luke (Callum Turner), her first love who died young. In his three-star review, the Guardian’s Benjamin Lee described Eternity as a film of “big ideas and big, audience-swaying emotional swings”.
Honourable mentions: The Last Thing He Told Me season 2 (TV, 20 February), Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 (TV, 27 February).
