The 3 most must-see films of 2018, from the new 'Fantastic Beasts' to 'Mary Poppins'

'Red Sparrow' (March 2)

Jennifer Lawrence stars in the spy thriller as Russian intelligence operative Dominika Egorova, who fosters a complicated relationship with a CIA agent (Joel Edgerton). But unlike, say, James Bond, Dominika gets pulled into this world against her will: The former prima ballerina suffers an injury, becomes the newest recruit to Sparrow School, and is trained to be a deadly seductress. “I’m attracted to lonely, isolated characters on lonely, isolated journeys,” says director Francis Lawrence, who also helmed three of Lawrence's four Hunger Games films. “But I also really like when characters are in a dilemma where the audience can sit back and imagine being in the situation themselves. There are elements of her story that allow us into the spy world in a more personal way and not a political way.” That emotional pull differentiates Red Sparrow, as does its tonal qualities: “It’s a bit audacious, a little perverse, a little scary (and) very tense.”

Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling, left) helps Meg Murry (Storm Reid) on her epic journey in the fantasy 'A Wrinkle in Time' (March 9). (Photo: Atsushi Nishijima)

'Black Panther' (Feb. 16)

Chadwick Boseman’s Wakandan king T’Challa is the masked star of the show, but he’s surrounded by warrior women just as skilled as he is. Okoye (played by Danai Gurira) heads the Dora Milaje, T’Challa’s personal security force, while global operative Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) is a "war dog." “She’s very passionate about her work,” Nyong’o says. Nakia’s relationship with T’Challa is “significant,” she teases, and when opposing forces challenge his reign, “she has to decide where her allegiance lies and what comes first.” Okoye’s loyalty to Wakanda and its people drives everything about this traditionalist with a wry sense of humor. “It’s her job to take care of it, and she takes that job seriously,” says Gurira, adding that Wakanda is an “astoundingly cool” place. “It’s a world that is utterly plausible and tangible and yet a little larger than life at the same time.”

'Ready Player One' (March 30)

Steven Spielberg helped define the 1980s, and that’s the nostalgic era beloved in the dystopian 2040s in his retro sci-fi fantasy based on Ernest Cline's novel. The director describes it as “a cautionary tale but also an exhilarating adventure.” The '80s “had a refreshing lack of cynicism, and in our story, that’s what people are trying to return to,” Spielberg says. “In their real lives, they’re living in a debris field of the first half of the 21st century.” His protagonist Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) escapes into the virtual-reality landscape, seeking a hidden Easter egg. Ready Player One also takes social media a step further in the relationship between Wade and fellow egg hunter Samantha Cook (Olivia Cooke): “You get to know their quirks, (but) you don’t know who the person really is until you meet them in the real world. So there’s always that doubt: Are they telling the truth about themselves?”

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