Even though Netflix lost its bid to acquire Warner Bros., the streamer’s March programming slate is so impressive that it trumps anything on HBO Max or Paramount+.
While I’m looking forward to watching Alan Ritchson’s mysterious new sci-fi film, War Machine, and the Peaky Blinders movie, The Immortal Man, other pictures are higher on my watchlist this month.
The Stephen King horror movie Sleepwalkers, the thriller Anatomy of a Fall and the 2025 drama Anemone are the three Netflix movies I can’t wait to watch in March.
‘Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers’ (1992) — Now Streaming
Midwest teenager Tanya (Mädchen Amick) thinks she’s found the boy of his dreams — blond-haired, brown-eyed new kid Charles (Brian Krause), who is attractive, attentive and drives a killer ‘77 Pontiac Firebird. But Tanya soon finds out that Charles is too good to be true, especially when he tries to suck the life force out of her during their first date. It’s always something with men, right?
It seems Charles and his too-close-for-comfort mother, Mary, are really shapeshifting energy vampires, and they need Tanya’s life essence before their time runs out. Typical! Tanya needs all the help she can get, but will anyone believe her? And even if they do, how does she stop two immortal creatures with a craving for virgin teenagers?
Underappreciated during its initial release, Sleepwalkers is a classic American Gothic movie where evil runs rampant in the heartland. The premise is outlandish, but the movie commits to it, especially in depicting the blatantly incestuous relationship between mother Mary and son Charles. Fresh off Twin Peaks, Amick is a reliably wholesome heroine, while the supporting cast, which includes Ron Perlman, Roger Corman, Clive Barker and King himself in a cameo, is a who’s who of B-movie horror. The film makes great use of Enya’s 1987 New Age song, “Boadicea,” which sets the grim, creepy tone quite well. Sleepwalkers is a low-budget flick that swings above its weight and weaves a haunting spell that most other King adaptations at the time failed to cast.
‘Anatomy of a Fall’ (2023) — March 23
Who killed Sandra Voyter’s (Sandra Hüller) husband? Almost everyone thinks it’s Sandra herself who pushed her spouse, Samuel (Samuel Theis), off the ledge of their two-story French chalet. It’s not hard to understand why — the couple had a volatile relationship and were fighting right before his death. But Sandra insists she’s innocent, and as her case goes to trial, she has to convince everyone in the courtroom — and even her own son, Daniel (Milo Machado-Graner) — that she’s not guilty. Only her defense attorney, Vincent (Swann Arlaud), believes her, but is that enough for Sandra to win her case?
One of 2023’s best films, Anatomy of a Fall is less of a mystery and more of an intimate drama about a woman who is hard to pin down and even like. Sandra is inscrutable — you never know what she’s thinking, and she refuses to share much with anyone. That doesn’t necessarily make her guilty of murder, but it does make everyone question why she’s so secretive. What exactly is she hiding? By the end, you may or may not get an answer, but you will be impressed by the film’s pitch-perfect performances (even the dog is great), the beautiful cinematography and the Oscar-winning screenplay.
‘Anemone’ (2025) — March 28
Years ago, Northern Irish Army veteran Ray Stoker (Daniel Day-Lewis) mysteriously left his wife, Nessa, and unborn child to live in a remote hut away from civilization. When Ray’s now-grown child, Brian (Samuel Bottomley), is discharged from the army due to bad behavior, it causes his stepdad — and Ray’s brother — Jem (Sean Bean) to find Ray so he can finally return home to help his abandoned family. But Ray left for a reason, and Jem soon discovers there are some old war wounds time can never heal.
Anemone received a lot of attention last year because it marked the return of three-time Oscar winner Day-Lewis to acting since 2017’s Phantom Thread. He’s as good as ever as a man who witnessed something so horrific during the Troubles; he believed it was better for him to leave his family than inflict them with his PTSD. Equally effective is Game of Thrones vet Bean as a man who is tired of cleaning up after his brother’s messes. Directed by Ronan Day-Lewis (yes, that’s Daniel’s son), Anemone is a striking psychological drama that asks big questions about family and warfare and doesn’t provide any easy answers.
