Best new movies to see this month

Three different women, three different stories—each quietly tragic and deeply moving. Laura Dern, Michelle Williams and Kristen Stewart deliver resonant, understated performances in this collection of vignettes focusing on strong-willed women going through emotional and physical hardship, whose lives intersect inconspicuously.

Set against the rigid, wide-open plains of the American Northwest, the film thoughtfully reflects on the bleaker phases we go through in life as human beings—loneliness, unfairness, disappointment and uncertainty—domesticating them in the process to make them easier for the viewer to bear. It’s a brilliantly simple work, but be prepared to shed a tear or two.

Out on March 3 

Jordan Vogt-Roberts' King Kong reboot sees a team of explorers and soldiers travel to an uncharted island in the Pacific in search of new species. If you’re a fan of giant monkeys throwing helicopters around—Kong will most definitely surpass your expectations.

Even though the characters are skin-deep (and casting Tom Hiddleston as a brawny, outdoorsy hunk was a bit of a stretch) and the film can’t really decide on the genre it wants to be, it's a majorly satisfying thrill ride through and through. The special effects are stunning, the locations are gorgeous and Samuel L. Jackson is a deliciously delusional baddie—what more can you need?  

Out on March 9

Hugh Bonneville and Gillian Anderson star in this poignant historical drama directed by Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham). Viceroy’s House explores the personal costs of the Partition of India—a political manoeuvre that both handed India back to her people, and set brother against brother. Films that bring dark corners of our history to account as skilfully as this should be mandatory viewing.

Out on March 3 

Read more: interview with Hugh Bonneville 

This sensational, high-octane documentary tells the story of X Japan—the massive-selling heavy metal act that drove Japan crazy in the early 1980s, with its mercurial leader Yoshiki at the centre. Though it occasionally teeters on the brink of self-worship, it is a highly consuming, powerful, sometimes-haunting film about getting through life as a musical phenomenon and the high price of stardom.

We Are X is cut from the same cloth as its numerous rock doc predecessors, proving time and again that we'll always be fascinated by legendary bands touched by tragedy. As expected, the film is filled with amazing live performance footage and great music that will have you air-drumming for days.  

Out on March 2 

Kristen Stewart stars in this eerie ghost story about a young woman working as a personal shopper for a celebrity in Paris...while she waits for a sign from the spirit of her recently deceased brother.

Sounds good on paper, doesn’t it? Though this intriguing premise is slightly undermined by simplistic storytelling, involving lengthy text-messaging sequences, there's something utterly mesmerising about Stewart picking out lush designer garments and driving around Paris on her scooter.

Out on March 17 

And last, but most definitely not least, is Elle. Doubtless, this is going to be one of the most shocking films of 2017—a claim that feels comfortable to make even so early on in the year. The wonderful Isabelle Huppert earned an Oscar nomination for her brilliant, icy performance as an emotionally detached head of a successful video game company who becomes obsessed with tracking down an unknown man who had raped her.

Nicole Kidman, Sharon Stone and Julianne Moore were among the many actresses who rejected the part as soon as they had read the script, which doesn’t come as a surprise as the role is not a pretty one, yet you can’t help but fall under Huppert’s elegant spell. 

Out on March 10

Read more: Hugh Bonneville: "Imagination makes us human"

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