The Queen of Chess is a new documentary on Netflix about the career of Judit Polgár, the Hungarian chess grandmaster who, at the age of 12, was declared the best female chess player in the world. He decided he wanted to prove he could beat the most famous male chess players of the time, including top-ranked Garry Kasparov. More than 13 years he started doing that. This film from director Rory Kennedy features interviews with Judit (now in her 40s), her family, Kasparov and other chess luminaries as they reflect on her success and ambitions.

Back in 2010, Eddie Vedder and his wife Jill founded the EB Research Partnership, a nonprofit dedicated to funding research to treat and cure the life-threatening rare genetic skin condition epidermolysis bullosa. In October 2023, Vedder performed two solo shows at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, with proceeds going to fund research into the disease. Matter of Time is a concert film with a cause, following Vedder as he puts together movies and shows, while weaving in stories from researchers, patients and loved ones affected by the disease.

The live-action adventure fantasy How To Train Your Dragon stars Mason Thames as Hiccup, a Viking boy who befriends the Night Fury dragon he lovingly calls Toothless. Although Hiccup is training to be a dragon hunter, his friendship with Toothless makes him reconsider as he tries to show the rest of his fellow dragon trainers how to live peacefully with dragons. The film, starring Nico Parker, Gerard Butler and Nick Frost, was a box office hit and arrived on Netflix on February 10.

The Brazilian action thriller State of Fear, which is scheduled to be released on February 11, is a spin-off of the popular Netflix Brazil series Brotherhood, created by director Pedro Morelli. In the film, Elisa (Camilla Damião), the teenage daughter of Edson (Seu Jorge), the founder of a criminal organization known as the Brotherhood, is kidnapped by corrupt police officers. While Elisa’s aunt Cristina (Naruna Costa) tries to save her, the Brotherhood orders the “State of Fear,” a wave of violent attacks against the police and security forces that turn Sao Paolo into a war zone.

Ethan Hawke stars in the 2021 hit The Black Phone, which arrives on Netflix on February 12. Hawke plays a child serial killer known as The Grabber, who kidnaps a boy named Finney (Mason Thames). Soon, Finney discovers an old rotary phone that allows him to communicate with the Grabber’s victims (who are dead) as they help him escape from his captor. (If you’re on the dual side, the Black Phone 2 is streaming of the Peacock now.)

Tyler Perry returns with his latest film, Tyler Perry’s Joe’s College Road Trip, out February 13. In the film, Perry reprises his role as Joe Simmons, Madea’s brother, who takes his grandson BJ on a cross-country trip to teach him some life lessons.

In the critically acclaimed 2023 drama The Iron Claw, Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson play three of the Von Erich brothers, wrestlers whose family is struck by tragedy. Based on a true story, the film tells the careers of the brothers and the setbacks they and the rest of their family face.

The Swedish Connection, which premiered on Netflix on February 19, is the relatively unknown story about the effort of a group of Swedish officials to help save Jews from the Holocaust in 1942. The film features Triangle of Sadness actor Henrik Dorsin with Sissela Benn, Jonas Karlsson and Marianne Mörck.

Money Heist star Belén Cuesta stars in Firebreak, a Spanish thriller about a family trapped in their country home when a wildfire breaks out. Cuesta stars as a widow named Mara who travels with her daughter and in-laws to their family’s summer home to prepare to sell it. Their trip is full of emotions to begin with, and becomes even more terrifying when Mara’s daughter runs into the woods just as they are ordered to evacuate due to a fire. But Mara won’t leave without her missing daughter, putting the whole family in danger.

South Korean romantic drama Pavane tells the story of the relationship that develops between two lonely outcasts (Snowpiercer actress Go Ah-Sung and Moon Sang-min, star of the Netflix series Under The Queen’s Umbrella) and the friendship they form with their matchmaker, played by Byun Yo-han.