With most of the awards contenders coming out in January, it’s time to look ahead to the next crop of films from this month.

Amongst the individuals involved include a scheming Korean family, an animal-loving doctor, an Australian outlaw gang and one very speedy hedgehog….

 

PARASITE

RELEASED: 7 February

DIRECTOR: Bong Joon-ho

CAST: Kang-ho Song, Chang Hyae-jin, Park So-dam, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Jeong Ji-so, Jung Hyeon-jun, Lee Jung-eun

SYNOPSIS: Ki-taek Kim (Song) and his unemployed family take peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks. Over time, the Kims integrate themselves into their lives only to get entangled in an unexpected incident.

 

BIRDS OF PREY

RELEASED: 7 February

DIRECTOR: Cathy Yan

CAST: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, Ewan McGregor

SYNOPSIS: After splitting up with the Joker, Harley Quinn (Robbie) joins superheroes Black Canary (Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Winstead) and Renee Montoya (Perez) to save a young girl from an evil crime lord (McGregor).

 

DOLITTLE

RELEASED: 7 February

DIRECTOR: Stephan Gaghan

CAST: Robert Downey Jr., Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen, Jim Broadbent, Jessie Buckley, Harry Collett, Emma Thompson (voice), Rami Malek (voice), John Cena (voice), Kumail Nanjiani (voice), Octavia Spencer (voice), Tom Holland (voice), Craig Robinson (voice), Ralph Fiennes (voice), Selena Gomez (voice), Marion Cotillard (voice), Frances de la Tour (voice), Jason Mantzoukas (voice)

SYNOPSIS: After his wife’s death, the eccentric Dr. John Dolittle (Downey Jr.) hides from the world with his beloved animals for company. When Queen Victoria (Buckley) falls ill, a reluctant Dolittle is forced to go on an epic adventure to a mythical island in search of a cure.

 

EMMA

RELEASED: 14 February

DIRECTOR: Autum de Wilde

CAST: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Josh O’Connor, Bill Nighy, Mia Goth, Callum Turner, Rupert Graves, Gemma Whelan, Tanya Reynolds, Miranda Hart

SYNOPSIS: Handsome, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse (Taylor-Joy) occupies herself with matchmaking – in sometimes misguided, often meddlesome fashion- in the lives of her friends and family.

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

RELEASED: 14 February

DIRECTOR: Jeff Fowler

CAST: James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz (voice), Tika Sumpter, Adam Pally, Neil McDonough

SYNOPSIS: Sonic the Hedgehog (Schwartz) tries to navigate the complexities of life on Earth with his newfound best friend — a human named Tom Wachowski (Marsden). They must soon join forces to prevent the evil Dr. Robotnik (Carrey) from capturing Sonic and using his powers for world domination.

 

THE CALL OF THE WILD

RELEASED: 19 February

DIRECTOR: Chris Sanders

CAST: Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, Omar Sy, Karen Gillan, Bradley Whitford,

SYNOPSIS: A domesticated St. Bernard dog named Buck is stolen from his Californian home and struggles to survive in the Alaskan wild.

 

GREED

RELEASED: 21 February

DIRECTOR: Michael Winterbottom

CAST: Steve Coogan, David Mitchell, Isla Fisher, Asa Butterfield, Sophie Cookson, Sarah Solemani, Tim Key, Shirley Henderson

SYNOPSIS: A satire on the grotesque inequality of wealth in the fashion industry, the film follows the rise and fall of self-made British billionaire Sir Richard McCreadie (Coogan) through the eyes of his biographer (Mitchell).

 

DARK WATERS

RELEASED: 28 February

DIRECTOR: Todd Haynes

CAST: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham

SYNOPSIS: A corporate defence attorney (Ruffalo) takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.

 

DOWNHILL

RELEASED: 28 February

DIRECTOR: Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

CAST: Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Miranda Otto, Zach Woods, Kristofer Hivju

SYNOPSIS: After barely escaping an avalanche during a skiing holiday in the Alps, a man (Ferrell) and his wife (Louis-Dreyfus) re-evaluate their lives and how they feel about each other.

 

TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG

RELEASED: 28 February

DIRECTOR: Justin Kurzel

CAST: George MacKay, Essie Davis, Nicholas Hoult, Tomasin McKenzie, Charlie Hunnam, Russell Crowe

SYNOPSIS: An exploration of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly (MacKay) and his gang as they attempt to evade authorities during the 1870s.