10 of the most effective movies to look at this February

Universal Pictures

9. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert

When Baz Luhrmann was researching his Elvis biopic, he unearthed dozens of boxes of unseen documentary footage. Much of it concerned Presley’s residencies in Las Vegas following his 1968 comeback special: there were interviews, rehearsals, and hours of outtakes from his two 1970s concert films. Now Luhrmann has restored and edited this footage to make a brand new concert film – and it could lead us to reassess Presley’s later career. Watching EPiC will match going to “the greatest concert you ever saw”, promises Owen Gleiberman in Variety. “The movie is a revelation, because for 96 minutes it shows you just how intoxicating Elvis Presley was when he began to perform live in Las Vegas in 1969 and the early ’70s… The power of Elvis’s voice remained undiminished – it soared, it quavered, it caressed, it boomed, it rocked, it hit every note with singular beauty.” 

Released on 27 February in the US and the UK

Teorema

10. Dreams

Michel Franco’s dark romantic drama stars Jessica Chastain as a wealthy San Francisco socialite who runs a charitable arts foundation in Mexico. The last time she visited Mexico City, she had a passionate affair with a dancer, played by Isaac Hernández (a real-life ballet star), so when he sneaks into the US in the back of a lorry, he assumes that she will be pleased to see him. But he soon learns that philanthropy has strict limits. For her, supporting the arts in another country is a far cry from being seen in your own hometown with someone of a different nationality and social class. “Gripping, chilling, and startlingly bleak, [Dreams has] a thrillingly scabrous socio-political dimension that will leave audiences gasping,” says Matthew Turner at Next Best Picture. “Terrific performances, pulse-pounding eroticism, and a devastating critique of the ultra-rich combine to make this a must-see.” 

Released on 27 February in the US and Canada

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