February might be the shortest month, but it’s big on new movie releases over on Netflix. The streaming platform is releasing tons of popular library titles this month, including the live-action version of How To Train Your Dragon, the 2021 horror The Black Phone and the critically acclaimed sports drama The Iron Claw — on top of an impressive slate of new original movies.
Among the new offerings are the documentaries Queen of Chess, about Hungarian chess prodigy Judit Polgár, and Matter of Time, with Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder holding a charity concert for epidermolysis bullosa, a disease close to his family’s heart. Filmmaker Tyler Perry’s newest movie, Tyler Perry’s Joe’s College Road Trip, is also arriving this month, along with a whole host of international titles.
These films and more are new to Netflix this February. Here’s a look at the titles we can’t wait to watch.
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Queen of Chess is a new Netflix documentary about the career of Judit Polgár, the Hungarian chess grandmaster who, at the age of 12, was declared the best female chess player in the world. She decided she wanted to prove that she could beat the most famous male chess players of the time, including top-ranked Garry Kasparov. Over 13 years she set out to do just that. This film from director Rory Kennedy features interviews with Judit (now in her 40s), her family, Kasparov and other chess luminaries as they reflect on her success and ambition.
Back in 2010, Eddie Vedder and his wife Jill founded the EB Research Partnership, a nonprofit dedicated to funding research to treat and cure the life-threatening rare genetic skin condition epidermolysis bullosa. In October 2023, Vedder performed two solo shows at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, with the proceeds going towards funding research into the disease. Matter of Time is a concert film with a cause, following Vedder as he puts the shows together and performs, while weaving in stories from researchers, patients and loved ones affected by the disease.
How To Train Your Dragon (Feb. 10)
The live-action adventure fantasy How To Train Your Dragon stars Mason Thames as Hiccup, a Viking boy who befriends the Night Fury dragon he lovingly calls Toothless. Though Hiccup is training to be a dragon hunter, his friendship with Toothless makes him reconsider as he tries to show the rest of his fellow dragon trainees how to peacefully coexist with the dragons. The film, which co-stars Nico Parker, Gerard Butler and Nick Frost, was a box office hit and arrives to Netflix on Feb. 10.
Brazilian action thriller State of Fear, which is set to premiere on Feb. 11, is a spin-off of the popular Netflix Brazil series Brotherhood, created by director Pedro Morelli. In the film, Elisa (Camilla Damião), the teenage daughter of Edson (Seu Jorge), founder of a criminal organization known as the Brotherhood, is kidnapped by corrupt police officers. As Elisa’s aunt Cristina (Naruna Costa) tries to rescue her, the Brotherhood orders the “State of Fear,” a wave of violent attacks against police and security forces that turns Sao Paolo into a war zone.
The Black Phone (Feb. 12)
Ethan Hawke stars in the 2021 hit The Black Phone, which arrives on Netflix on Feb. 12. Hawke plays a child serial killer known as The Grabber, who has kidnapped a boy named Finney (Mason Thames). Soon, Finney discovers an old rotary phone that allows him to communicate with the Grabber’s victims (who are dead) as they help him escape from his captor. (If you’re in for a double feature, Black Phone 2 is streaming on Peacock now.)
Tyler Perry’s Joe’s College Road Trip (Feb. 13)
Tyler Perry is back with his latest film, Tyler Perry’s Joe’s College Road Trip, out on Feb. 13. In the film, Perry reprises his role as Joe Simmons, brother of Madea, who takes his grandson B.J. on a cross-country trip to teach him a few life lessons.
In the critically acclaimed 2023 sports drama The Iron Claw, Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson play three of the Von Erich brothers, wrestlers whose family is beset by tragedy. Based on a true story, the film chronicles the brothers’ careers and the setbacks they and the rest of their family face.
The Swedish Connection (Feb. 19)
The Swedish Connection, premiering on Netflix on Feb. 19, is the relatively unknown story about the effort by a group of Swedish officials to help save Jews from the Holocaust in 1942. The film features Triangle of Sadness actor Henrik Dorsin along with Sissela Benn, Jonas Karlsson and Marianne Mörck.
Money Heist star Belén Cuesta stars in Firebreak, a Spanish thriller about a family trapped in their country home as a wildfire breaks out. Cuesta stars as a widow named Mara who travels with her daughter and in-laws to their family’s summer house to prepare to sell it. Their trip is emotionally fraught to begin with, and turns even more terrifying when Mara’s daughter runs into the woods just as they’re ordered to evacuate due to the fire. But Mara won’t leave without her missing daughter, putting the whole family in danger.
The South Korean romantic drama Pavane tells the story of the relationship that develops between two lonely outcasts (Snowpiercer actress Go Ah-Sung and Moon Sang-min, star of Netflix series Under The Queen’s Umbrella) and the friendship they strike up with their matchmaker, played by Byun Yo-han.
