The Top Films You Need to See in March 2020

Spring is almost here! But there will still be days of hibernating inside in March – and you may be wondering what movies to watch while you await the new season. So we’re sharing the best new movies of the month. Our resident cineaste and film expert Abbie Martin Greenbaum has curated a list of the top new indie movies we all need to watch in March 2020. 

Movies in the time of coronavirus

It is an interesting time to be a cinephile, in that coronavirus has wreaked some unexpected havoc on the current slate of new feature films. The James Bond movie No Time to Die has just been pushed back to a release in November 2020, with the hope that viewers who have been avoiding movie theaters will have returned by then.

Not only that, but the 2020 South by Southwest Festival has been canceled, and there is even talk of canceling the Cannes Film Festival. If that happens, it would undoubtedly affect the conversation around film for the rest of this year.

But if you’re so inclined, there are still plenty of movies to look forward to this March. Including the sequel to the horror film A Quiet Place, and the long-awaited live action remake of Disney’s Mulan. If you’re up to it, here are six movies new movies right now that you really shouldn’t miss.

What to Watch This March 2020

1. Saint Frances

Directed by: Alex Thompson. Written by: Kelly O’Sullivan. Starring: Kelly O’Sullivan, Ramona Edith Williams, Charin Alvarez and Lily Mojekwu.

In Saint Frances, thirty-four-year-old Bridget gets a job as a nanny for precocious, sometimes difficult six-year-old Frances. All while processing – or not processing – her recent abortion. Though it may seem from the premise and trailer like a movie you’ve seen before, where a dysfunctional adult befriends an adorable child and is changed as a result, there is a lot more happening here than that.

The film is remarkably nuanced and self-aware. As a result, there is the comforting sense that what’s seen on screen is a reflection of the actual world around us. Although it is charismatic and enjoyable from the first beat, it will completely win you over by the end. The same way that Bridget and Frances eventually win over one another. For a dose of heart-warming cinema, where characters satisfactorily learn lessons without coming across as glib, this is the movie to watch.

2. Goldie

Directed by: Sam de Jong. Written by: Sam de Jong. Starring: Slick Woods, Jazmyn C Dorsey, Alanna Renee Tyler-Tompkins, and Marsha Stephanie Blake.

Like its indomitable heroine, Goldie is one of a kind. If you’re someone who watches a lot of movies, you’ll know that there is always a burst of excitement when you realize you’re seeing something that uses the form in a different or innovative way. Made to look like a bright and child-friendly comic book, Goldie is the kind of movie that will please anyone who likes a raw and emotional story with a side of cognitive dissonance.

It whizzes by in a whirlwind of constant chaos, as Goldie tries to keep her sisters out of foster care (all while trying to acquire a fabulous fur coat). And at the end, you will look up and understand why Slick Woods is an absolute star. She loads every on-screen moment with tenacity, managing to appear as eccentric and resilient, and genuinely vulnerable at the same time.

3. Wendy

Directed by: Benh Zeitlin. Written by: Benh Zeitlin. Starring: Devin France, Yashua Mack, Gage Naquin, and Gavin Naquin.

There will probably be people in this world to whom this modern re-imagination of Peter Pan does not appeal. But for those who think often and with heartache about what it means to grow up, this film might just feel like it was made especially for you. With the unforgettable score riding along side it, it is true the film presents more like a vivid tone poem than like a straightforward narrative.

It begins with Wendy and her twin brothers stowing aboard an abandoned train as they follow Peter to his magical island. It then retells the classic tale as you’ve never seen it before. The movie is messy in a way that is apt for the young protagonists at its center. What comes about is a film that is uniquely hopeful in a way few stories are brave enough to be. For the children who did not want to get older, who felt broken over what it would mean to leave Neverland behind, this movie is for you.

4. Premature

Directed by: Rashaad Ernesto Green. Written by: Rashaad Ernesto Green. Starring: Zora Howard, Joshua Boone, Michelle Wilson, and Alexis Marie Wint.

The summer before Ayanna’s first year of college, she meets Isaiah, a slightly older boy who is new to the city – and of course she quickly falls in love with him. Green tells the story of Ayanna and Isaiah’s romance with as much delicacy and specificity as if it were the first love story ever being shown on screen. The result is a film that is both more grounded and more moving than most other coming of age films.

It takes its characters seriously in a way that allows you to really see them. It sinks into the emotional weight of all the baggage its couple carries. What’s perhaps most striking is the way in which Ayanna first comes across as more mature than most recent high school grads, drawing into sharper relief the times when she is still allowed to make the mistakes of innocence, and learn from them.

5. First Cow

Directed by: Kelly Reichardt. Written by: Jonathan Raymond and Kelly Reichardt. Starring: John Magaro, Orion Lee, and Toby Jones.

If you have ever wanted to take a long bath in the atmosphere of nineteenth century Oregon, this tender and beautiful film might be what you’ve been waiting to watch. Cookie and King are friends drawn together by happenstance. Their fates take a wild turn when they start stealing milk from the territory’s first cow and selling biscuits.

Yes, it is as sweet as it sounds. Though there is in fact some plot and some conflict, much of the movie is spent simply luxuriating in the details of this relationship and the world they inhabit. Never have the slow movements of everyday life (albeit, a very different everyday life than we now know) been imbued with more meaning.  Never before have you seen such a richly realized account of what came after the Oregon Trail.

6. Bacurau

Directed by: Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho. Written by: Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho. Starring: Udo Kier, Sônia Braga, Thomas Aquino, Bárbara Colen, Wilson Rabelo, and Thardelly Lima.

This is a film best seen with a friend sitting beside you. You need someone to turn to and raise your eyebrows at when everything flies off the rails. Like so many of our recent favorite films, this one hinges on an enormous twist. The kind that it is best for you not to know when you sit down to watch.

It’s somewhere between a particularly gruesome episode of The Twilight Zone and a zombie apocalypse horror film. Bacurau manages to execute a story that delivers a vital and bloody commentary on white supremacy and gun violence. A movie that genuinely entertains.

What to Watch This March 2020

That’s it – six great films to try to see this month – or sometime later this year. Stay safe and healthy. And we hope you enjoy these, whenever you get to see them.

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Abbie Martin Greenbaum grew up in New York City and currently lives in Brooklyn, where she drinks a lot of coffee and matches roommates together for a living. At Oberlin College, she studied English and Cinema, which are still two of her favorite things, along with dessert and musical theater. She believes in magic.

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