No offense to our postal carriers, but in the whiteout slog of another Maine winter, it’s the fine folks of Maine’s independent movie houses that never fail to bring us what we need. Here are our picks for the best films screening in the first half of a very cold February. 

‘Send Help’

Opening everywhere Friday. 

It’s been a while since unquestioned horror icon Sam Raimi (the “Evil Dead” series) did a straight-up horror movie (although his MCU entry “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” brought some welcome ickiness to the squeaky-clean Marvel machine). And while the setting of this two-hander about an abused employee (the ever-wonderful Rachel McAdams) getting stranded on a deserted isle with her jerk boss (Dylan O’Brien) might look sunny, the old Raimi touch is sure to emerge as McAdams’ fed-up functionary bloodily turns the tables. Nobody does dark (and I mean dark) comic horror like Sam. 

‘A Private Life’

Opening Friday, Strand Theatre, 345 Main St., Rockland, rocklandstrand.com.

The great Jodie Foster doesn’t make a lot of movies these days, so this Hitchcock-ian whodunnit from director Rebecca Zlotowski offers up a rare treat. Foster (speaking fluent French, ‘cause she’s Jodie Foster) stars as a respected but repressed psychiatrist suddenly drawn to investigate the mysterious death of a patient alongside her loyal ex-husband (Daniel Auteuil). Twists, turns, and two screen legends bringing their all to a stylish thriller. 

‘Colossus: The Forbin Project’

Feb. 4 and 7, Kinonik, 12 Cassidy Point Drive, Portland. kinonik.org

Funny how the movies of the past anticipate our fears in the present, huh? This sly, thoughtful 1970 sci-fi thriller (as ever shown on glorious film by the 16mm saints at Kinonik) from director Joseph Sargent (“The Taking of Pelham One Two Three”) is about an advanced artificial intelligence named Colossus that quickly outgrows its intended purpose and decides it knows better than us puny humans how to run the world. Starring a young Eric Braeden (known forever as Victor Newman from “The Young and the Restless”), the film makes the outlandish prediction that careless humanity will create technology that they can’t control. Fun, unrelated fact: Elon Musk’s AI tool that is currently turning social media into a cesspool of misinformation and hate while despoiling the environment is named Colossus. 

‘Arco’

Beginning Feb. 6, PMA Films, 7 Congress Square, Portland, portlandmuseum.org/films.

It’s a high bar to clear, but this French animated film is being compared to the incomparable works of Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki (“My Neighbor Totoro,” “Spirited Away”), which is all I need. The story of a boy from an idyllic future who finds himself back in Earth’s less-than-idyllic past (although still our future), director Ugo Bienvenu’s PG-rated family adventure packs timely messages and heartwarming moments in a dazzling, lovingly animated world. The U.S. voice cast in the PMA release includes Will Ferrell, Mark Ruffalo, America Ferrera, Andy Samberg, Natalie Portman and Flea. 

‘The Chronology of Water’

Feb. 6, Maine Film Center, 93 Main St., Waterville, www.watervillecreates.org

Actress Kristen Stewart makes her feature directorial debut with this expressionistic yet wrenching adaptation of the memoir by swimmer turned writer Lidia Yuknavitch. Imogen Poots stars as Lidia, whose sexually abusive childhood at the hands of her father sends her on a harrowing journey of athletic greatness, substance abuse, and intimate traumas before finding herself as an acclaimed author (partly after collaborating with legendary writer Ken Kesey, played by Jim Belushi, of all people.) Bold, daring and uncompromising, Stewart’s film mirrors its subject. 

‘The General’

Feb. 8, Lincoln Theater, 2 Theater St., Damariscotta, lincolntheater.org.

Still as hilarious and thrilling as it was 99 years ago, Buster Keaton’s silent masterpiece involves a chase better than anything Hollywood has come up with in a full century of trying. Keaton’s peerless comic timing (and daring) is on full display as his lovesick Civil War soldier (on the wrong side, but what are you gonna do?) risks life and limb to save his fiancée from a runaway train. For full period immersion, this screening features live piano accompaniment from pianist Doug Protsik. 

‘WTO/99’

Feb. 9, Space, 534 Congress St., Portland, space538.org.

American citizens, outraged over injustice, come out in the tens of thousands to protest. Militarized police employ brutal force. A city swarmed in chaos and tear gas. If any of that sounds very familiar, it’s because the ICE-caused mayhem in Minneapolis had an eerily similar precursor in the mass protests that took place against the World Trade Organization’s meeting in 1999 Seattle. As this prescient documentary by filmmaker Ian Bell shows, when billionaires deploy unthinkable violence to further their own ends, the only recourse for the people is to take to the streets, no matter the cost. 

‘Reverence for Water: Stewardship Is Love in Action’

Feb. 10, One Longfellow Square, 181 State St., Portland, onelongfellowsquare.com/

The Maine Outdoor Film Festival presents this hourlong collection of four short films celebrating Maine’s majestic, endangered waterways and the people fighting daily to preserve them. “Voices of Wáhsehtək” chronicles the Penobscot Nation and the Trust for Public Land’s efforts to return 30,000 acres to the nation. “Follow the Water” follows a sea kayaking adventure off the Maine coast. “Putep Qotatokot-te Elewestaq” (“The Whale Was Speaking”) provides a poetic celebration of the gentle giants of the sea. And “Salmon Restoration on Penobscot River” is exactly what it sounds like. Followed by a panel discussion.