Looking for a good movie to watch on Netflix? Goodness knows, we've all been caught in the endless scroll, bouncing from one auto-play preview to the next with no end in sight. If you want to skip the scrolling this week, we've got you covered with our picks for the best new movies on Netflix in February. March is just around the corner, and a whole bunch of new movies are coming with it, but you've still got some time to catch up on the best that February has to offer!
In this month's highlights, you'll find two new Netflix original dramas that have been stirring up quite a bit of conversation with Malcolm & Marie and I Care a Lot. There's also the latest installment in the much-beloved To All the Boys franchise, if you're looking for something lighter, along with plenty of old favorites, including two of Leonardo DiCaprio's best performances.
Check out all our picks for the best new movies on Netflix in February below, and head over here for a complete list of every new show and movie hitting the streaming service this month.
Zathura: A Space Adventure
Available: February 1
Director: Jon Favreau
Writers: David Koepp and John Kamps
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stewart, Tim Robins
Inspired by a book from the author of Jumanji, the 2005 sci-fi family comedy Zathura: A Space Adventure sets up a similar situation - a magical game transports its players into a life-or-death stakes adventure - but this time, the kids aren't headed to the jungle, they're launched straight into outer space. The story follows two brothers played by Josh Hutcherson and Jonah Bobo, who generally can't stand each other and have to find a way to get past their differences and win the game together. Directed by Jon Favreau just before he helped launch the MCU with Iron Man, Zathura has plenty of the filmmaker's crowd-pleasing charms and high-energy set-pieces, boosted by a clever script that makes the most of the concept with man-eating lizard aliens, spontaneous cryo-chambers, and a mystery astronaut who needs saving. The sibling squabbling wears a bit thin at times, but when Zathura switches into action-mode, it's a heck of an entertaining ride for the whole family.
Inception
Available: February 1
Director/Writer: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine
Oh sure, we all love the memes, but when's the last time you actually sat down and revisited Inception? Because folks, Christopher Nolan's 2010 sci-fi thriller is still a ripping romp through the subconscious built on the tried-and-true foundations of a great heist movie. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, the haunted leader of a group of dream-infiltrating mercenaries, who set out to retrieve the keys to a corporate empire from the dying mind of its founder. Nolan delivers one pulse-pounding, world-bending set-piece after the next (Joseph Gordon-Levitt's rotating hallway fight scene is still *chef's kiss*), and the ensemble cast is clearly having a ball - none moreso than Tom "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger darling" Hardy, and no matter how you interpret the film's much-discussed final frames, Inception holds up as one of Nolan's most impressive reinventions of familiar genres.
Shutter Island
Available: February 1
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Laeta Kalogridis
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Max von Sydow
Leo fans can have a double dose of some of his best work this month, because Martin Scorsese’s spooky psychological thriller Shutter Island is also available to stream this month. DiCaprio stars as a detective investigating a remote insane asylum, where each clue leads him closer to coming to terms with his own personal trauma. It’s a full-on retro-schlock thriller filtered through Scorsese’s stunning cinematic talents, and he absolutely flexes all those skills in his gleeful appreciation of the B-movies of yore.
Malcolm & Marie
Available: February 5
Writer/Director: Sam Levinson
Cast: Zendaya and John David Washington
You’ve no doubt heard the discourse surrounding this one by now. The new two-hander from Assassination Nation filmmaker and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson stars Zendaya and John David Washington as a couple locked in a long night of conflict after Malcolm (Washington) forgets to thank Marie (Zendaya) at the premiere of his new movie – which may or may not be inspired by her life, depending on which one of them you ask. Gorgeously shot in black-and-white, and carried by two stellar performances from Washington and Zendaya, Malcolm & Marie has sparked all kinds of conversation, from its depiction of race, maligning of critics, and heavy-handed dialogue, but there’s no denying that the lead duo is worth watching in full force. But fair warning, your mileage may vary on whether the film’s destination is worth the wordy journey.
To All the Boys: Always and Forever
Available: February 12
Director: Michael Fimognari
Writer: Katie Lovejoy
Cast: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Ross Butler, Madeleine Arthur, Emilija Baranac, Trezzo Mahoro, Kelcey Mawema, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Henry Thomas, Sarayu Blue, John Corbett
The delightful To All the Boys franchise ostensibly comes to a close with the third and final film, To All the Boys: Always and Forever. Picking up where P.S., I Still Love You left off, the third installment finds Lara Jean settling in for her senior year solo now that Peter is off at college, and when admissions don’t go her way, their romance is once again put to the test. It’s not the best of the bunch, but if you like the first two, you’ll probably find lots to like here as the feel-good franchise once again leans into its stars charming chemistry with a welcome dose of whimsy.
I Care A Lot
Available: February 19
Director/Writer: J Blakeson
Cast: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Chris Messina, Dianne Wiest
Look, we all know Rosamund Pike can play a devastatingly cruel and endlessly fascinating person thanks to Gone Girl and in Netflix’s I Care a Lot Pike rivals that performance with another take on an impossibly cruel schemer. The dark (and I mean dark) comedy follows Marla (Pike), a woman running a high-profit racket as the court-appointed guardian for elderly wards, who runs into some unexpected trouble when her latest mark (Dianne Wiest) winds up having some dangerous connections. It’s a twisty-turny ride that lays a lot of venom in each reveal, so you’re better off going in blind, but brace yourself for some of the most biting comedy of the year.
The Conjuring
Available: February 21
Director: James Wan
Writers: Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, Joey King, Mackenzie Foy
February might not usually be a month associated with spooky cinema, but you really can’t go wrong with one of the best horror movies of the 21st Century. After kicking off hit horror franchises Saw and Insidious, James Wan launched the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time with The Conjuring. But killer dolls, demonic nuns, spinoffs, and sequels aside, The Conjuring holds up as a hell of a horror movie that’s gripping, grounded, and features some of the scariest set-pieces in Wan’s career. Introducing Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson’s Lorraine and Ed Warren, The Conjuring gives audiences a demon-hunting duo you can’t help but fall in love with, and matches them in the wonderfully-drawn Perron family, who suffer a demonic infestation in their home that leads to one of the most horrifying cases in the Warrens’ long history. Nearly a decade later, The Conjuring might still be Wan’s best – and definitely his scariest – film. Oh, and the sequel arrives on Netflix this month too, for good measure.