The Best New Movies on Hulu in March 2022

March, in North America, is a temperamental month after our short month of February, and, on the East Coast, flirts ambitiously with spring. It is a moment of seasonal in-between, calling us back to snow and imagining warmth. This selection of seven movies new on Hulu this month show the breadth of anticipation, reminding us that darkness is eventually balanced by dawn, and that meaningful journeys take time.

Table of Contents

Devil In A Blue Dress

Available: March 1

Director: Carl Franklin

Writer: Carl Franklin

Cast: Jennifer Beals, Denzel Washington, Tony Sizemore, Don Cheadle

A late 80s mystery noir that holds up today, thanks to its well-thought-out, fast-paced plot, Devil In A Blue Dress is exciting and thought-provoking. Centered around Denzel Washington’s protagonist, a man who is hired to find a missing woman, he gets involved in a political scandal, with plenty of conniving and murdering in the mix. All around excellent performances ground the film (Jennifer Beals is also a stand-out, as the missing woman) in its who-did-it-and-will-do-it-again narrative, keeping you guessing, enthralled, until the end.

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Blue Velvet

Available: March 1

Director: David Lynch

Writer: David Lynch

Cast: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern

Blue Velvet is among famed director David Lynch’s most iconic films, with an admirably mind-spinning plot, creative in every way. Beginning with the discovery of a severed ear, the story becomes an investigation about a nightclub singer and the kidnapping of her daughter. There is not one kidnapper, but a group of terrifying figures who have taken her child, making the investigation increasingly psychopathic and mentally addicting to try and understand. Rossellini shines as the singer, parts erotic and tremulous. You feel for her as a mother as well as wonder if she is everything she claims to be.

Drinking Buddies

Available: March 1

Director: Joe Swanberg

Writers: Joe Swanberg

Cast: Olivia Wilde, Jack Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston

Drinking Buddies does something excellent and special with the friends-secretly-in-love-with-one-another trope by grounding Kate and Luke’s relationship in strong senses of individuality and authentic chemistry when they are together. Things get naturally complicated when Kate and Luke’s significant others join in and they take a trip. The film is funny, but be prepared for real moments of heartbreak, not only the kind that happens when you love someone and it doesn’t work out, but the kind that philosophizes more broadly about loneliness and connection.

L.A. Confidential

Available: March 1

Director: Curtis Hanson

Writers: James Ellroy, Brain Helgeland, Curtis Hanson

Cast: Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe

Grittiness dosed with glamour marks the ambiance of this classic thriller, set in 1950s Los Angeles. The film follows the story of three policemen, each with a different personality and different approaches to their roles as law keepers, as they investigate a series of murders. The policemen uncover mystery after mystery, leading them into a rabbit hole of a case, all the while distrusting one another and making a larger statement about the tenuousness of law enforcement. Excellent performances take the tale over the top.

The Descendants

Available: March 1

Director: Alexander Payne

Writers: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Alexander Payne

Cast: Shailene Woodley, George Clooney, Amara Miller, Nick Krause

A lovely film that knows what sentimentality is, respecting its vibe and never making it saccharine, The Descendants has a simple enough plot: after the protagonist’s wife has an accident, he has to figure out, for the first time, really, how to relate with his daughters and take the lead in emotionally supporting the future of his family. The film is also about friendship, the soul connection between Woodley and Krause’s characters, showing that it is possible to discover, or rediscover, trusting again.

Shanghai Noon

Available: March 1

Director: Tom Dey

Writers: Miles Millar, Alfred Gough

Cast: Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Brandon Merrill

An action comedy, Shanghai Noon fuses humor with adventure as it follows a Chinese man traveling to the Wild West to rescue a Princess, who has been captured. The plot gets more complicated when a train robber joins them, and together they go after two new villains, a Chinese traitor and his equally swindling boss. Lucy Liu is fearless as the Princess, the low-key heroine of the film, playing against tropes of a damsel-in-distress. The actors work well together, creating an environment that keeps up comic relief while authentically wrestling with questions of safety, competition, honesty, and what success looks like.

Monsters and Men

Available: March 28

Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green

Writers: Reinaldo Marcus Green

Cast: Chanté Adams, John David Washington, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Anthony Ramos

A crime drama, Monsters and Men tells the story of what happens after a Black man is killed by the police. The film explores this aftermath through the POV of the person who filmed the killing, an African-American policeman, and a high school baseball star. Excellent performances cement the weightiness and emotionality of the story, which, released in 2018, feels relevant today. The film’s title could almost be read as, “are monsters men, or are men monsters.”