Last Updated on February 13, 2024, 7:45 PM | Published: February 13, 2024
February is for lovers.
Sure, the month’s marquee holiday of Valentine’s falls right in the middle of the calendar, but that doesn’t mean all the love and romance has to cease as soon as the clock strikes midnight on the 15th.
With a little help from OKC’s best cinemas, we can keep spreading the love all the way to March, with a solid selection guaranteed to fulfill whatever romantic fantasy you prefer, from long-lost soulmates to period-set passion to surrealist daydreams and even raunchy, throwback wackiness.
No matter what your heart desires, February films will help you find the love you’re looking for.
Music and film
by Brett Fieldcamp
Sponsored by True Sky Credit Union
‘The Taste of Things’ – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – February 14th through February 18th
What could possibly be better than a slow-simmered, well-aged romantic love finally boiling over in passion after decades beneath the surface?
The answer, obviously, is food.
If you’re the type that conflates a fine, delicious meal with the personal intimacy and comfort of true love, then “The Taste of Things” is going to hit the spot.
Nominated this year for Best International Feature at the Academy Awards, this quiet, delectable French-language romance observes two professional chefs in 19th Century France finally succumbing to their boiling passions for one another after two decades working together.
Director Trần Anh Hùng uses vibrant culinary imagery to explore the sensory dimension of blossoming love in a way that only a French eye truly can.
For show times, tickets, and more, visit okcmoa.com.
‘Sometimes I Think About Dying’ – Rodeo Cinema Stockyards – February 16th through February 18th
Here’s one for all the daydreaming weirdos, because hey, we deserve love, too.
This left-field Sundance darling sees “Star Wars” sequel star Daisy Ridley tackling possibly her most interesting and deeply considered role yet as Fran, a chronically awkward, morbidly curious dreamer that spends more time idly fantasizing about her own death than engaging with her life.
That is, until she meets the new guy at her boring, colorless office job and starts to wonder if there’s more to curious about in life than just how it might end.
In Fran, Ridley gets to sink her talent into a more challenging, complexly difficult, and ultimately more rounded character than any mammoth-budget space opera would likely allow, and in her vivid, macabre daydreams, director Rachel Lambert gets to explore all kinds of wildly creative imagery.
For show times, tickets, and more, visit rodeocinema.org.
‘Lisa Frankenstein’ – Flix Brewhouse – Now Playing through February 22nd
If quiet, awkward indie contemplations on love and death aren’t enough to scratch your itch for the weirdest, most grotesque spin on cinematic romance, then Oscar-winning “Juno” writer Diablo Cody is here to cast off seemingly any artistic pretense and bring you a certifiably insane zombie rom-com sex comedy.
It’s 1989 and suburban alt-girl Lisa is struggling to deal with the murder of her mother, her new wicked stepmom, and the aftermath of a seriously non-comedic assault.
Luckily, upon visiting a graveyard to pine for whatever happiness might await her in the afterlife (like you do,) Lisa watches as lightning strikes the grave of a dapper dead Victorian gentleman and reanimates his corpse into the stumbling, mute, zombified, bloodthirsty man of her dreams.
And from there, it only goes further and further off the rails.
Not only is this Cody’s return to violent horror-comedy after surprising cult classic “Jennifer’s Body,” it’s also the directorial debut of Zelda Williams, daughter of late comedic icon Robin Williams.
For showtimes, tickets, and more, visit flixbrewhouse.com.
‘Past Lives’ – Harkins Bricktown – February 24th
This pensive, romantic meditation from writer/director Celine Song has (somewhat surprisingly) become a legitimate contender for the Best Picture Oscar, even as its intimate, deeply personal tone feels so much at odds with the field’s many big-budget, boisterous front-runners.
Following the intertwining lives of two would-be lovers from their meeting as children in South Korea to their reconnection across the world, “Past Lives” has struck a number of chords, not just for its aching, emotional romance, but also for its delicate honesty of the Asian immigrant experience.
That’s because Song drew heavily from her own life and the experiences of her family in crafting this heartfelt ode to the versions of ourselves that we leave behind and the unexpected new people that we find ourselves becoming.
For show times, tickets, and more, visit harkins.com.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
