Your guide to everything new to Australian cinemas this week (26 February-4 March), plus what’s still on.
To see what’s streaming, head to our weekly streaming guide. For film festivals, see the Australian Film Festivals Guide for 2024.
New to cinemas
29 February:
Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back
Synopsis: An evil tech genius threatens to turn the city into a metaverse simulation, leaving the Combat Wombat to save the day.
Directed by: Tania Vincent, Richard Cussó
Country: AUSTRALIA
Cast includes: Deborah Mailman, David Wenham
Classification: PG
Dune: Part Two
Synopsis: In the second part of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of author Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction epic, Duke Paul Atreides joins the Fremen and begins a spiritual and martial journey to become Muad’dib, while trying to prevent the horrible but inevitable future he’s witnessed: a Holy War in his name, spreading throughout the known universe.
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Country: USA.
Cast includes: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler
Classification: M
Read: The Rooster review: Hugo Weaving and Phoenix Raei tussle in the woods in startling debut
Four Daughters
Synopsis: The life of Olfa, a Tunisian woman and mother of 4 daughters, oscillates between light and shadow. One day, her two eldest daughters disappear. To fill their absence, director Kaouther Ben Hania calls upon professional actors and sets up an extraordinary film mechanism to unveil the story of Olfa and her daughters.
Directed by: Kaouther Ben Hania
Country: France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia
Cast includes: Majd Mastoura, Hend Sabri
Classification: M.
Subtraction
Synopsis: A married couple believe they meet their doppelgängers in this Tehran-set mystery, nominated for the Platform Prize at TIFF.
Directed by: Mani Haghighi
Country: France, Iran
Cast includes: Taraneh Alidoosti, Navid Mohammadzadeh
Classification: M.
2 March
Jeff Koons: An Intimate Portrait
Synopsis: Documentary portrait of Jeff Koons, one of the most influential, popular and polarising artists in recent decades.
Directed by: Pappi Corsicato
Country: USA.
Cast includes: Jeff Koons
Classification: TBC
Still showing
Drive-Away Dolls
Synopsis: Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee. Things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals.
Directed by: Ethan Coen
Country: USA
Cast includes: Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Pedro Pascal
Classification: MA
Read: Drive-Away Dolls review: an uproarious sapphic odyssey
The Rooster
Synopsis: When the body of his oldest friend is found buried in a shallow grave, Dan, a small-town cop, seeks answers from a volatile Hermit who may have been the last person to see his friend alive.
Directed by: Mark Leonard Winter.
Country: Australia.
Cast includes: Hugo Weaving, Phoneix Rai, John Waters.
Classification: MA.
Read: The Rooster review: Hugo Weaving and Phoenix Raei tussle in the woods in startling debut
The Zone of Interest
Synopsis: Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden beside the camp.
Directed by: Jonathan Glazer.
Country: USA, UK, Poland.
Cast includes: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller.
Classification: M.
Read: The Zone of Interest: new Holocaust film lays bare the mechanisms of genocide
Baghead
Synopsis: Haunted by grief, Kevin has questions that only the recently deceased could answer. He tries to bargain with a shape-shifting witch who can channel the dead in unusual ways.
Directed by: Alberto Corredor.
Country: USA.
Cast includes: Freya Allan, Jeremy Irvine, Ruby Barker.
Classification: M.
Bob Marley: One Love
Synopsis: BAFTA nominee Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami) plays Bob Marley in this biographical look at the life of the legendary reggae musician. From the director of King Richard, co-starring Lashana Lynch (No Time to Die) as Rita Marley.
Directed by: Reinaldo Marcus Green.
Country: USA.
Cast includes: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton.
Fallen Leaves
Synopsis: The film tells the story of Ansa, a supermarket shelf-stocker on a zero-hour contract, later a recyclable plastic sorter, and Holappa, a sandblaster, an alcoholic, later an ex-alcoholic, whose paths have accidentally crossed and who, despite adversity and misunderstandings, try to build some kind of relationship on the harsher side of the welfare state.
Directed by: Aki Kaurismäki.
Country: Finland.
Cast includes: Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen.
Madame Web
Synopsis: Madame Web tells the standalone origin story of one of Marvel publishing’s most enigmatic heroines. The suspense-driven thriller stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who may have clairvoyant abilities. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women destined for powerful futures…if they can all survive a deadly present.
Read: Madame Web review: like dropping a Golden Orb Weaver down your shirt
Directed by: S.J. Clarkson.
Country: USA
Cast includes: Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney.
The Road to Patagonia
Synopsis: Described as ‘a series of love letters within a documentary’ telling two love stories: a love between two people, and the love between humanity and the Earth.
Directed by: Matty Hannon.
Country: Australia.
Cast includes: Matty Hannon.
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Synopsis: Sasha is a young vampire with a serious problem: she’s too sensitive to kill. When her exasperated parents cut off her blood supply, Sasha’s life is in jeopardy. Luckily, she meets Paul, a lonely teenager with suicidal tendencies who is willing to give his life to save hers. But their friendly agreement soon becomes a nocturnal quest to fulfill Paul’s last wishes before day breaks.
Directed by: Ariane Louis-Seize.
Country: Canada.
Cast includes: Sara Montpetit.
Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow
Synopsis: Set in the world of bugs where spiders are the cops, a detective boards a seaplane to San Francisco after finally capturing his arch nemesis, but a murder on his flight draws him into a plot that threatens both the human and bug worlds.
Directed by: Julio Soto Gurpide.
Country: Spain.
Cast includes: Ronny Chieng.
Force of Nature – The Dry 2 (8 February)
Synopsis: When five women take part in a corporate hiking retreat and only four come out on the other side, Federal Agents Aaron Falk and Carmen Cooper head deep into the Victorian mountain ranges to investigate in the hopes of finding their whistle-blowing informant, Alice Russell, alive.
Read: Force of Nature: The Dry 2 review – no damp squib
Directed by: Robert Connolly.
Country: Australia.
Cast includes: Eric Bana, Anna Torv.
Classification: M.
Argylle (1 Feb)
Synopsis: Henry Cavill is the world’s greatest spy, Argylle, in this globe-trotting adventure thriller directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman: The Secret Service), adapting the novel by Elly Conway. Co-stars Bryan Cranston, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cena and Dua Lipa.
May December (1 Feb)
Synopsis: Oscar winners Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore lead this Palme d’Or-nominated drama from director Todd Haynes (Carol). 20 years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past.
As always, remember to check your local cinema’s showtimes to see what’s on and when.
