The Best Movies & TV Series to Watch in March
Clear your calendars and get the kettle on!
March has a special kind of feel to it. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, after months of cold, grey skies and early sunsets, Spring finally sets in. The longer days, the first hints of warmth, and that ray of hope that life isn’t all that bad.
But March isn’t just the official start of a new season — it’s also the month of International Women’s Day on 8 March, and with the 98th Academy Awards falling on 15 March, it’s a particularly rich time for film and television. What better time to celebrate women in the industry?
With all that in mind, we’ve put together a list of the best movies and TV series to watch this March, a mix of new releases and timeless throwbacks, all with one thing in common — women at the centre of the story. Whether that’s in front of the camera, behind it, or both, each title on this list is a celebration of female-led storytelling.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!
Sentimental Value
If Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi in Norwegian) wasn’t on your radar when it was first released, it should be. This Norwegian drama, directed by Joachim Trier, starring Stellan Skarsgård, Renate Reinsve, and Elle Fanning, received a 19-minute standing ovation at its Cannes Festival premiere and was released in cinemas on Boxing Day last year. It’s one of those films that just by watching the trailer, you know it’s going to be good.
Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas play sisters Nora and Agnes Borg, daughters of once-renowned director Gustav Borg (played by Stellan Skarsgård), looking to make his comeback. When Nora turns down the lead role in her father’s new film, Hollywood star Rachel Kemp (played by Elle Fanning) steps in to fill her place. But underneath it all, resentment runs deep between the estranged father and daughters, with the film exploring themes of absent fathers, generational trauma, and the complications that come between art and the people who get hurt making it. How are you meant to mend a relationship when the roots of resentment and trauma run deep?
With Trier’s previous film The Worst Person in the World, also starring Renate Reinsve, cementing itself as one of those must-watch intricate, romantic comedies, it’s no wonder that Sentimental Value has generated so much buzz.
This is the kind of film that stays with you long after the credits roll. The kind that leaves you deep in thought on the way home. The kind that maybe heals a part of you — and makes you feel a little bit seen.
Sentimental Value has limited screenings in theatres and can also be streamed on Amazon Prime.
The Bride!
If you haven’t come across Jessie Buckley yet, consider this your formal introduction. Known for her BAFTA-winning role in Wild Rose and her recent Golden Globe win for her role as Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet, Jessie Buckley now plays The Bride.
Written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Bride! is the gothic reimagining of its 1935 film that we didn’t know we needed. Set in 1930s Chicago, a lonely Frankenstein’s monster (played by Christian Bale) seeks the help of scientist Dr Euphronious (played by Annette Bening) to create his
companion. Together, they give life to a murdered young woman, and with a little bit of mad science, The Bride is born.
Gyllenhaal’s rendition of this horror classic brings a punk-rock spin to the story. However, the Bride isn’t just an obedient creation; she becomes a figure of desire, rebellion and social upheaval. Think Bonnie and Clyde meets Harley Quinn and The Joker.
And with its trailer featuring Florence + The Machine’s, Everybody Scream, what other reason do you need to go and watch?
Directed by a woman, centred on a woman reclaiming her narrative, The Bride! is a March release that feels almost too perfectly timed for International Women’s Day.
The Bride! releases in theatres on 6 March.
Little Women
There are films that you enjoy, and there are films that pull at your heartstrings, leaving you returning again and again because you just can’t get enough of it. Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is certainly the latter.
Centred in New England during the American Civil War, Little Women follows the lives of the March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, as they wade through love, ambition, loss, and the tension between finding your own self and what society expects of you.
Gerwig’s rendition boasts a star-studded cast: Saoirse Ronan as the fiercely independent Jo, Florence Pugh delivering a career-defining performance as Amy (and genuinely making you reconsider who the real protagonist of this story is), alongside Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, and Timothée Chalamet.
Filled with tender, playful, and emotionally captivating scenes, Gerwig’s Little Women brings to life the profound themes present in the novel. What resonates the most, and what makes this film so enduringly relevant, is Jo’s pursuit of independence and identity, whilst quietly struggling to accept her own emotions of loneliness and wanting to be loved — a feeling many of us know all too well. Her monologue alone is worth the watch.
What Gerwig gets right is that this isn’t just Jo’s story, it also belongs to all four sisters. Each woman is distinct in her ambitions and what she wants from life, yet they are bound together by something unshakeable — their love for one another. If you think the independent female protagonist trope has been overplayed, Little Women reminds you that there is nothing more compelling than women who fiercely, unconditionally show up for each other.
A female director, a female author, a female-led cast, and a story that has been speaking to women for over 150 years. What more can you ask for this March?
Little Women can be streamed on Netflix.
Bridgerton Season 4, Part 2
Dearest gentle reader…. we know you can’t wait for Part 2 of Bridgerton Season 4. Airing 26 February, what better way to enter March than finding out if Benedict Bridgerton finally got his eyesight checked? Created by Shonda Rhimes, the genius behind Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder, Rhimes is a powerhouse in the industry and never fails to deliver a gripping drama that leaves us wanting more.
This hit of a series needs no introduction, but if you haven’t been convinced to binge the show — let this be your sign. Bridgerton follows the lives of the British upper-class society during the Regency era. Where the women are draped in beautiful muslin gowns and cinched waists, and the men are off… hunting. But this is not your typical Pride and Prejudice romance — where there’s class, there’s also gossip, and Lady Whitsledown never holds back when it comes to spilling the ton’s tea.
Season 4 follows the second brother of the Bridgerton family, Benedict Bridgerton (played by Luke Thompson), as he starts the season by swearing off marriage and courtship, but that’s until he meets the Lady in Silver. However, unbeknownst to him, his mysterious lady is in fact Sophie Baek (played by Yerin Ha), a maid in his mother’s household and not part of the upper-class society. Despite this, Benedict forms a bond and falls for Sophie whilst searching for his Lady in Silver, grappling with his love for her and what is deemed socially acceptable.
Apart from Benedict’s forbidden desires, Part 1 explores many themes, including class disparity, the fantasy of love and reality, and, interestingly, the “Maid Wars” where servants are stepping up and demanding better treatment from their aristocrat employers, something we didn’t see in the previous seasons.
No doubt the ton are eager to find out how Benedict will redeem himself after the last stunt he pulled in Part 1. And in true Bridgerton fashion, what heart-melting, burning profession of love will he deliver to us — ahem, I meant to his lover — in this next instalment?
Bridgerton Season 4, Part 2 was released on 26 February and can be streamed on Netflix.
Scarpetta
This one is for you, crime-solving, murder mystery lovers out there —the Scarpetta name surely won’t be foreign to you.
Nicole Kidman plays forensic pathologist and iconic female literary protagonist, Dr Kay Scarpetta. Based on Patricia Cornwell’s bestselling Kay Scarpetta book series, this adaptation is what all Scarpetta fans have been waiting for. The show follows Scarpetta as she returns to Virginia as Chief Medical Examiner, determined to solve gruesome murders that happen to be deeply interconnected with her career-defining case from 28 years ago.
What makes this adaptation particularly exciting is the dual timeline structure, weaving in between the young Scarpetta (played by Rosy McEwan) in the late ‘90s, and flashing forward to her return in the present day. We get to see the full picture of Scarpetta, her forensic brilliance, the personal sacrifices, and the complex relationships she had to navigate in her pursuit of justice.
The series pulls an exceptional cast, one that is enough to send any fan into a spiral. Jamie Lee Curtis, who just came off an Emmy win for her guest role on The Bear, plays Kay’s sister Dorothy, and alongside Nicole Kidman, serves as executive producer on the series. Emmy nominee Simon Baker stars as FBI profiler, Benton Wesley, alongside Oscar winner Ariana DeBose as Kay’s tech-savvy niece, Lucy Watson. For The Mentalist fans out there, Baker’s casting is going to feel very full circle.
Scarpetta releases on 11 March and can be streamed on Amazon Prime.
Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special
Twenty years. It has been twenty years since Miley Stewart put on that blonde wig and changed the lives of an entire generation of girls who desperately wanted a secret double life and a best friend named Lilly. For us who grew up watching Hannah Montana, eagerly rushing home to turn the television on after school, for us, this is more than just a 20th Anniversary Special — it’s reconnecting with our childhood.
As one of those girls, the announcement hit differently. I remember rushing home from school just to be glued to the screen the moment Hannah Montana came on, followed by other Disney
favourites like the Wizards of Waverly Place and The Suite Life on Deck — the holy trinity of Disney Channel. To this day, the opening guitar riff of The Best of Both Worlds is enough to send me straight back. And that closet? A girl can still dream!
The special will have an exclusive interview with Miley Cyrus in front of a live studio audience, hosted by Alex Cooper, podcast host of Call Her Daddy. Expect to dive deep into the memories, nostalgia, and a close-up look at how this pop culture icon shaped the childhoods of an entire fandom. Not only that, the 20th anniversary brings back memorable sets from the show, as well as unseen footage pulled from its archives.
Twenty years on, and we’re still getting the best of both worlds — and thank god for that.
Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special releases on 24 March and can be streamed on Disney+.
From gothic romance to forensic thrillers, Regency-era drama to Norwegian arthouse cinema, March is shaping up to be a stellar month for female storytelling.
That’s a wrap on our March must-watch list! Whether you’re gathering with friends for an International Women’s Day watch party or simply looking for the next show to dive into, let this list give you somewhere to start.
