Kite Festival of Love, A Valentine’s Match, The Climb and The Empty Man arrive on Rakuten TV this February

Beat the lockdown blues and hunker down this February with a fantastic selection of brand new titles available on Rakuten TV including Come Away, Willy’s Wonderland and Wrong Turn, alongside Saint Maud, Kajillionaire, A Glitch In The Matrix, A Valentine’s Match (4K HDR), Two By Two: Overboard!, The Climb (4K HDR), Kite Festival of Love (4K HDR), The Empty Man (4K HDR), Archenemy and The Burnt Orange Heresy which newly join the platform this month. Joining Rakuten TV’s Starzplay section is the explosive second series of Pennyworth, the DC comic book origin story of Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne’s resourceful butler. Plus, Rakuten TV’s FREE adds Aloha, In Time, Just My Luck and Four Brothers.

Angelina Jolie stars in Come Away, the fantastical retelling of J.M Barrie and Lewis Carroll’s most famous stories – Alice In Wonderland and Peter Pan. When the death of their sibling turns their idyllic world upside down, brother and sister Alice (Keira Chansa) and Peter (Jordan. A Nash) embark on their own adventures to bring their family back together. A beautifully told fantasy and the perfect excuse for escapism this February.

A thriller like no other, director Kevin Lewis brings audiences Willy’s Wonderland starring Nicholas Cage and Emily Tosta. A janitor (Cage) finds himself in a sticky situation when his car breaks down and he’s stranded in a remote town. To pay for the repairs, he agrees to spend the night cleaning an abandoned family theme park with other locals. Little did they know they’d be trapped inside for the entire night with terrifying, possessed animatronic characters, and tasked with a gripping fight for survival.

Wrong Turn (2021), hinted to be a secret sequel for the original Wrong Turn title in 2003, tells the terrifying tale of a group of unsuspecting friends lost in the backwoods of West Virginia. What started as a fun hiking trip soon turns into a living nightmare when they come across various sadistic traps set by killer cannibals who don’t take well to strangers. With gripping twists at every turn, this horror title will keep audiences on the edge of their seat.

Switching up the pace is Miranda July’s triumphant return to film directing, Kajillionaire starring Evan Rachel Wood, Gina Rodriquez and Richard Jenkins. This intriguing, dead-pan comedy tells the story of Theresa (Debra Winger), Robert (Jenkins) and their daughter Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) – a family of oddballs and low-end con artists. When a scam brings them into contact with chatty extrovert Melanie (Rodriguez), she forces them to confront their strange family dynamic, and an internal shift takes place within Old Dolio.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, joining platform is A Valentine’s Match starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Luke Macfarlane. Fired from her high-profile job as a reality TV host, Natalie (Lenz) returns to her home town for Valentine’s Day, only to find herself running the town festival auction with none other than her ex-fiancé. A cheerful, feel-good tale about old flames reuniting, it’s the uplifting title audiences needs this February!

Mick Jagger returns to the big screen in his first non-cameo role in 20 years for The Burnt Orange Heresy, a slick, sexy drama surrounding manipulative art collector Joseph (Jagger), complicated art critic James (Claes Bang) and vacationing teacher Berenice Hollis (Elizabeth Debicki) as they vacation at Joseph’s lavish villa in Lake Como. It may sound idyllic, but the suspense soon builds when Joseph makes a terrible proposition to James regarding renowned reclusive painter Debney (Donald Sutherland) who, unbeknown to most, is sheltering on Joseph’s estate. Entertaining as it is eventful, all four characters get caught up in a tense world of forgery, betrayal and murder.

Saint Maud is Rose Glass’s extraordinary psychological horror that will plunge audiences into a world guaranteed to haunt them long after the credits have rolled. Maud (Morfydd Clarke), the god-fearing private carer, has convinced herself that she’s on a mission from God to save her incarcerated patient from herself. Bordering between horror, satire and a psychodrama, Saint Maud is an electrifying debut feature from Glass. If this still doesn’t quench your horror thirst, then The Empty Man is yet another carefully crafted horror title that is certainly bound to. On the trail of a missing girl, an ex-cop discovers a secretive group attempting to summon a horrifying, mystical entity that soon puts himself and the loved ones around him in grave danger.

Archenemy features the gritty yet stylized comic-book world in which supposed fallen superhero Max (Joe Manganiello) has been reduced to being a homeless drunk. Hamster (Skylan Brooks) – a young man in search of stories to prove himself at a hipster media outlet – stumbles upon Max and they soon find themselves entangled in each other’s worlds as Hamster gets mixed up with a dangerous gangster. Audiences, like Hamster, will constantly be torn between the complicated truth of Max’s fallen superhero status until a mysterious woman shows up who may just be able to corroborate his superhero claim.

Rodney Ascher’s mind-bending sci-fi documentary, A Glitch In The Matrix, presents a deep-dive into the theory that we are all living in a simulation. To tackle this idea, Ascher dives down a rabbit hole of science, philosophy, contemporary cultural implementation and conspiracy theories. A mind-scrambler in the most profound, accomplished way, this documentary will truly have you questioning the world we live in.

Something for the whole family, Two By Two: Overboard! is the energised and exciting animated sequel that will undoubtedly have audiences smiling. When brother and sister Finny and Leah fall off Noah’s ark in a storm, they discover a desert island packed with ‘nestrian’s’ – a population thought to have been almost extinct. When the rest of the ark finally catch up with them and land on the island, it’s Finny and Leah’s mission to ensure that both clans can exist harmoniously. A colourful, comical world of fun and adventure that will please audiences of all ages.

The comedy-drama The Climb follows the close relationship of best friends Kyle and Mike until Mike sleeps with Kyle’s fiancée. Following a tumultuous but enduring link between two men across many years of laughter, heartbreak and rage, the story showcases real-life best friends and the boundaries (or lack thereof) in all close friendships.

Kite Festival of Love finds widowed Gavin and his nine-year-old daughter, Parker, headed back to his hometown, where a passion for kite flying emerges. Sparks fly between Gavin and the reigning champion Hannah, but an old connection with Gavin’s childhood friend Katie comes back into his life.

Furthermore, added to Rakuten TV’s ad-supported FREE channel from February 1st are popular titles including Aloha (Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, Emma Stone), In Time (Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy), Just My Luck (Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, Samaire Armstrong), Noah (Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins), Hollywood Homicide (Harrison Ford, Josh Hartnett, Isaiah Washington), Death At A Funeral (Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Keith David) and Four Brothers (Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André 3000).

The wait is over for many as highly anticipated season 2 of the explosive Pennyworth, starring Jack Bannon, Paloma Faith, Ben Aldridge and Emma Paetz, joins Rakuten TV’s on-demand Starzplay section. Pennyworth is the DC origin story of Alfred Pennyworth, a former special forces soldier living in London who later becomes Bruce Wayne’s resourceful butler. This season sees Alfred and his friends lead a resistance when England finds itself in a civil war as the fascist Raven Union attempts to seize control of the entire country.

Not forgetting the fantastic promotions Rakuten TV will have on offer this month, check out the Guilty Pleasures promotion (1st – 21st February) with such classic titles as The Notebook, A Star is Born and Romeo + Juliet and to keep the kids entertained, there will be a Half Term Highlights promotion (12th – 21st February) with titles such as Scoob!, Mulan (2020), and Dolittle.