Tag: Polygon Picks

Captain America: Brave New World and The Wild Robot just hit streaming

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Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

This week, Captain America: Brave New World, the Marvel superhero movie starring Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford, smashes its way onto Disney Plus after hitting video on demand in April. It’s a big week for animation, with the Oscar-nominated The Wild Robot and the Korean science fiction romance Lost in Starlight both releasing on Netflix, while DreamWorks’ adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s internationally bestselling Dog Man graphic novel series arrives on Peacock. New titles available to rent include the Chinese legal thriller The Prosecutor, and two tales of forbidden love: the Shakespearean musical Juliet & Romeo and The Grey director Joe Carnahan’s action flick Shadow Force.

Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!

Genre: Science fiction romance
Director: Han Ji-won
Cast: Kim Tae-ri, Hong Kyung/Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Justin H. Min

Set in 2050 Seoul, Netflix’s first Korean original animated film is a story of literally star-crossed lovers. An astronaut headed for Mars and a musician fall for each other and face the pain of separation. Trying to make a long-distance relationship work is especially difficult when you’re 139 million miles away from each other.

Genre: Crime drama
Director: Carlos Sedes
Cast: Carmen Machi, Ivana Baquero, Tristán Ulloa

Based on a true story, this Spanish film stars Ivana Baquero (Pan’s Labyrinth) as Maje, the young widow of a man stabbed seven times and left in a parking lot in a seeming crime of passion. The investigation leads to Maje’s lovers, as the police try to figure out who’s really behind the crime.

Genre: Family science fiction
Run time: 1h 42m
Director: Chris Sanders
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor

Based on Peter Brown’s middle-grade book, DreamWorks’ Academy Award-nominated film follows Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), a helpful robot who accidentally washes up on an island that’s only inhabited by animals. While she initially terrifies all the creatures there, she winds up befriending a fox (Pedro Pascal) who helps her raise a runty gosling (Kit Connor) and prepare him for his first migration.

From director Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon), The Wild Robot is a tenderly crafted story that pushes computer animation in a beautiful new direction — and is exactly the sort of movie that the current animation landscape so desperately needs.

Captain America: Brave New World

Genre: Superhero action
Run time: 1h 58m
Director: Julius Onah
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Harrison Ford

Set after the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Captain America: Brave New World sees Sam Wilson — having fully embraced his role as the new Captain America — being called on to resolve an international incident in the wake of a failed assassination attempt on newly elected President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford). With time running out and the walls closing in, will Sam be able to come out on top and rescue the world from the brink of devastation? Probably!

As a Captain America movie, Brave New World is batting strongly below average. Its plot is at least mildly reminiscent of 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but it’s both fair and unfair to compare the two. Unfair in that Winter Soldier is still among the best-regarded MCU movies, while BNW is running uphill from table-setting a potential new Captain America franchise, dealing with post-production rewrites and reshoots, and the general malaise of the MCU’s post-Avengers: Endgame audience. But fair in that, like Winter Soldier, BNW was also clearly designed as a grounded thriller (by the sliding scale of “grounded” in the MCU) featuring global political stakes and a superpowered conspiracy at its heart.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Genre: Political drama
Run time: 2h 48m
Director: Mohammad Rasoulof
Cast: Soheila Golestani, Missagh Zareh, Mahsa Rostami

Writer and director Mohammad Rasoulof had to flee Iran after he was sentenced to eight years in prison ahead of the premiere of The Seed of the Sacred Fig. The Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated film is a fictional story set against the backdrop of political protests, incorporating real footage of the 2022 and 2023 unrest that followed the death of 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini, who was fatally beaten by Iranian “morality police” under the accusation that she was wearing her hijab improperly.

Genre: Family comedy
Run time: 1h 29m
Director: Peter Hastings
Cast: Peter Hastings, Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery

Peter Hastings continues the Captain Underpants franchise with an adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s graphic novel series about a hero created when a police officer and his dog were stitched together into one individual after being wounded while failing to defuse a bomb. Pete Davidson plays Dog Man’s evil cat nemesis in the DreamWorks film, which uses CG animation styled to resemble craft materials.

Genre: Thriller
Run time: 1h 31m
Director: Mel Gibson
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Topher Grace, Michelle Dockery

No one is quite who they seem in Mel Gibson’s claustrophobic thriller, where a U.S. Marshal (Michelle Dockery) hires a pilot (Mark Wahlberg) to get an informant from Alaska to New York so he can testify against the crime family he worked for. As they travel across the wilderness, the group fights for control of the increasingly tense and violent flight.

New on Shudder and HIDIVE

Genre: Horror anime
Run time: 1h 31m
Director: Toyoo Ashida
Cast: Kaneto Shiozawa, Michie Tomizawa, Seizō Katō

AMC Networks re-released a digitally remastered version of Toyoo Ashida’s classic anime film to celebrate its 40th anniversary in theaters in April, and is now offering it across both its anime and horror streaming services. Set in a far future where vampires rule the world, the action-packed film follows a mysterious vampire hunter hired to protect a woman from a vampire lord who wants her to be his next bride.

Genre: Action comedy
Run time: 1h 42m
Director: James Madigan
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Katee Sackhoff, Charithra Chandran

Basically Bullet Train but in the air, Fight or Flight casts Black Hawk Down and Penny Dreadful star Josh Hartnett as a disgraced Secret Service agent given the chance to clear his name by catching an elusive hacker known as the Ghost, who’s boarded a flight from Bangkok to San Francisco. Unfortunately, the plane is packed with assassins looking to kill the Ghost and anyone who gets in their way.

Genre: Musical romance
Run time: 2h 2m
Director: Timothy Scott Bogart
Cast: Jamie Ward, Clara Rugaard, Rupert Everett

West Side Story already did the decisive musical version of Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, but this adaptation plays closer to the original text while adding a soundtrack full of original pop tunes to the tale of two feuding houses of Verona. Filmed on location in Italy, Juliet & Romeo’s high-profile supporting cast includes Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter, The White Lotus) as Lord Montague and Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids, Pitch Perfect) as Lady Capulet.

Genre: Legal thriller
Run time: 1h 57m
Director: Donnie Yen
Cast: Donnie Yen, Cheung Chi Lam Julian, Michael Hui

Ip Man’s Donnie Yen directs and stars in this Chinese legal thriller loosely based on a real 2016 drug trafficking case. Yen plays detective Fok Chi-ho, who loses faith in policing and decides the better way to ensure criminals face justice is as a public prosecutor. The Prosecutor might be mostly courtroom drama, but there’s still plenty of action, combining old-school martial arts techniques with modern film technology.

Genre: Action thriller
Run time: 1h 43m
Director: Joe Carnahan
Cast: Kerry Washington, Omar Sy, Mark Strong

Eight years ago, Kyrah Owens (Kerry Washington of Scandal and Little Fires Everywhere) and Isaac Sarr (Omar Sy of Lupin and Jurassic World) joined a multinational special forces group dubbed Shadow Force, but they’ve left that life behind to raise their son. Their old boss (played by Mark Strong of Shazam! and Sherlock Holmes) doesn’t accept their resignation, and is trying to hunt them down.

This overlooked Florence Pugh Netflix horror movie is a must-watch

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It can sometimes feel like Florence Pugh emerged into the world a full-formed movie star. One day, she was getting some light awards buzz for roles in indie roles on the festival circuit; the next, she was headlining major films and strutting down red carpets in designer fashion. Now, for another career milestone: As the top-billed star of Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, Pugh continues to solidify her place as one of the most successful actors of her generation.

If you’ve been paying attention, Pugh’s rise to A-lister status was painstakingly earned. Before her career-making role in the cult thriller Midsommar — which led to parts in major projects like Little Women and multiple MCU installments — she paid her dues with a series of lesser-known movies. Of the bunch, one of the most overlooked and underrated is the horror flick Malevolent, a Netflix original that landed quietly in 2018 but is worth revisiting as Pugh leads a ragtag team to save the Marvel universe on movie screens across the world this weekend.

In Malevolent, Pugh plays Angela, part of a team of phony ghost hunters whose scam runs its course when they’re lured to an actual haunted house. While the group’s scheme mostly relies on technological trickery, Angela appears to have some actual, latent psychic powers. Director Olaf de Fleur reveals these within its first few minutes, showing the world through her eyes as objects mysteriously move and ghosts jump out at her from the shadows (the first of many jump scares Malevolent has in store).

Pugh plays all this with surprising coolness, even as the horror amps up in the film’s final act. There’s an impressive stoicism to her performance: she’s calm and collected, with a clear hint of sadness just below the surface. She doesn’t shriek once, at the most letting out a gasp when she comes face to face with one of Malevolent’s many deformed ghosts.

This type of subtle performance has become a cornerstone of Pugh’s career. You can see the same approach in movies like Midsommar and Dune: Part Two, where she’s able to establish complex characters with just a few sparse lines of dialogue and a soulful look into the camera. It’s a talent that dates at least back to Malevolent, where Pugh conveys more with a simple facial expression than most actors can with an entire monologue. During the movie’s few happy moments, the camera will sometimes linger on Pugh’s smile for one second too long as it falls away to reveal the despair underneath.

That’s also a stylistic choice for Malevolent, as de Fleur makes a habit of holding each shot for an extra second or two, imbuing the movie with a sense of dread that never breaks. He also constructs some impressive shots, including an opening scene in which the camera is framed through the perspective of a young girl. Her father has hired the group to communicate with his dead wife, but as the scene plays out, you can’t see anyone’s faces until they crouch down to speak to the girl directly.

While there are plenty of reasons to praise Malevolent — the synthy soundtrack is eerie without sounding like a Stranger Things imitation, and some of the practical effects are downright terrifying — it’s also far from a perfect movie. Not all the characters get quite enough development for their eventual deaths to resonate, and as the film reaches a somewhat hectic climax, it can be hard to follow the action. De Fleur’s insistence on building mood over noisy jump scares also limits Malevolent’s effectiveness as a horror film. Because sometimes, you really do need the main character to scream bloody murder when the moment calls for it.

At this point in Pugh’s career, it seems unlikely she’ll ever wind up in another low-budget Netflix horror movie, and that makes Malevolent’s existence all the more special. She may not approach the role in typical scream queen fashion, but her skills as an actor more than make up for it. All the building blocks of a remarkable career are on display here, from her subtle, inward performance to a tangible coolness under pressure she is able to evoke. In the years since, Pugh’s added a few more tricks to her repertoire (you wouldn’t know it from Malevolent, but she’s also hilarious). And yet, even in this imperfect, scary horror flick from 2018, there’s no doubt that Florence Pugh was a movie star in the making.

New to Netflix May 2024: Every movie and TV show

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Even with Netflix’s recommendation algorithm serving you new movies, new TV shows, and original programming tailored to your viewing habits, the streaming service’s fire hose of content makes what’s coming difficult to parse. We’re here to help.

This month has some exciting back catalogue picks, like the whole Twilight saga, the Ocean’s Eleven movies, horror flicks like Heart Eyes, Train to Busan, and Smile; and The Wild Robot. There’s also a new volume of Love, Death & Robots out, along with more Blood of Zeus. Netflix’s first original Korean animated movie, Lost in Starlight, also arrives sometime this month.

Editor’s Pick: Past Lives

Greta Lee and Teo Yoo look at each other longingly in front of a carousel in Past Lives

Image: A24

Director: Celine Song
Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro

Director Celine Song’s debut theatrical film is an achingly poignant story about one woman and the two great loves of her life. A semi-autobiographical movie, Past Lives follows Nora, who moves from Korea to Canada in her youth, leaving behind a childhood sweetheart. Though they reconnect in their 20s, the relationship fizzles out due to distance and other life opportunities. Ten years later, the two reconnect one last time and reflect on where life has taken them.

Black Mirror: Thronglets (Netflix Games)

From Netflix: Oh, look! A Thronglet! Enter the world of “Black Mirror” with this curiously cute simulation from the episode “Plaything.” Play at your own risk.

Single’s Inferno: Choices (Netflix Games)

From Netflix: Take a romantic beach walk, send a sweet note and… win a “chicken fight”? Do whatever it takes to get quality time with your crush in this story game.

Street Fighter IV CE (Netflix Games)

From Netflix: Go blow for blow against warriors around the world. Rule the ring with your favorite fighters in this hard-hitting version of the classic arcade game.

Available sometime in May

Losmen Bu Broto: The Series (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: For the Broto family, managing their beloved Yogyakarta inn is no easy feat — especially when their youngest son falls in love with a married guest.

Lost in Starlight (Netflix Film)

A woman in a space suit on the verge of tears. From Lost in Starlight.

Image: Netflix

From Netflix: When an astronaut leaves Earth for Mars, the vast infinite space divides star-crossed lovers in this animated romance that crosses the cosmos.

Mad Unicorn (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: An aspiring entrepreneur breaks new ground with the launch of a startup courier service that brings new opportunities – and powerful enemies.

Rhythm + Flow: Poland (Netflix Series)
From Netflix: Aspiring Polish rappers drop bars, battle, and craft tracks to impress judges Bedoes 2115, DZIARMA, and Sokół — vying for fame and a 500,000 złoty prize.

Angi: Fake Life, True Crime (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: Sentenced for the murder and impersonation of her friend, this documentary sheds new light on Angi — and the death of her husband years before.

The Biggest Fan (Netflix Film)

From Netflix: Facing online cancellation, an actress travels to Mexico to revive her career. But when she meets her biggest fan, her life turns upside down.

The Four Seasons (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: The decades-long friendship between three married couples is tested when one divorces, complicating their tradition of quarterly weekend getaways

Airport
Airport ‘77
Airport 1975
Ali
American Gangster
American Graffiti
Burn After Reading
Constantine
Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Dawn of the Dead
Eat Pray Love
The Equalizer 2
Hanna
Home
The Jerk
The Lego Movie

A group of anthropomorphic lego characters stand together in astonishment in The Lego Movie.

Image: Warner Home Video

Mid90s
The Mule
Ocean’s Eleven
Ocean’s Thirteen
Ocean’s Twelve
The Paper Tigers
Past Lives
Sisters
Starship Troopers
The Sugarland Express
Trainwreck
Trolls
Twilight
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2

Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) confronts Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) about his identity

Image: Summit Entertainment

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Ma Dong-Seok wearing a bloody t-shirt and holding his fists on a train in Train to Busan

Image: Well Go USA Entertainment via Everett Collection

Unseen: Season 2 (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: In the wake of tragedy, Zenzi is forced to trust those who put her behind bars. Will her newfound desire for freedom finally put her grief to rest?

Conan O’Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (Netflix Comedy Special)

From Netflix: Comedy’s biggest stars gather to toast and celebrate late-night legend Conan O’Brien as he accepts the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Britain and The Blitz (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: This immersive documentary brings history to life through vividly restored archival footage and firsthand accounts of WWII Britain during the Blitz.

Mighty Monsterwheelies: Season 2 (Netflix Family)

From Netflix: Bolts, Sweeps, Axyl and the gang are back on patrol in Motorvania, keeping everyone safe from avalanches, storms — and even a runaway Ferris wheel!

The Devil’s Plan: Season 2 (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: Brilliant contenders gather for a new battle of minds. From a Go legend to a poker pro, Hollywood actor, news anchor, and lawyer — who will triumph?

Untold: Shooting Guards (Netflix Sports Film)

From Netflix: What really went down between Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton? This exposé unpacks how a gambling dispute led to guns drawn in an NBA locker room.

Full Speed: Season 2 (Netflix Sports Series)

From Netflix: Tales of triumph and tenacity fuel this high-octane sports docuseries following NASCAR Cup Series drivers on and off the track during the playoffs.

Last Bullet (Netflix Film)

From Netflix: Car genius Lino returns to conclude his vendetta against Areski and the corrupt commander who ruined their lives in this turbo-charged trilogy finale.

Blood of Zeus: Season 3 (Netflix Anime)

From Netflix: Set loose from captivity and burning for revenge, the king of the Titans swears to crush the Olympian gods and reclaim the power they stole from him.

FOREVER (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: Reunited as teens, two childhood friends fall deeply in love, experiencing the joy and heartache of a first romance that will change their lives forever.

Heart Eyes

A masked figure with glowing heart-shaped eyes in Heart Eyes.

Image: Sony Pictures Releasing/Everett Collection

Karol G: Tomorrow was Beautiful (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: Karol G pulls back the curtain of her career in this intimate look at her life as she navigates a stadium tour, love, health and chasing greatness.

A Deadly American Marriage (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: A chilling 911 call. A gruesome scene. What is the real story behind Jason Corbett’s brutal death? In this documentary, Jason’s wife and children reflect on the elusive truths behind their seemingly fairytale life.

Bad Influence (Netflix Film)

From Netflix: An ex-con gets a fresh start when hired to protect a wealthy heiress from a stalker — but their chemistry is hard to resist as they grow closer.

Nonnas (Netflix Film)

From Netflix: After the loss of his mother, a man risks everything to honor her by opening an Italian restaurant with a group of local grandmothers as the chefs.

The Royals (Netflix Series)

From Netflix:When charming Prince Aviraaj meets Sophia, a self-made girl boss, the worlds of royalty and startups collide in a whirlwind of romance and ambition.

Tastefully Yours (Netflix Series)

All American: Season 7

Bad Thoughts (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: In this six-episode dark comedic series, Tom Segura navigates unthinkable situations and fantasies within a cinematic world.

Untold: The Liver King (Netflix Sports Film)

From Netflix: He built a supplement empire by devouring raw meat on social media. And he had the muscles to prove it. But, really, how did the Liver King get so huge?

American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: Featuring rare footage and interviews with CIA insiders, this edge-of-your-seat documentary series traces the epic hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: Recently discovered police recordings and first-person accounts tell the story of Fred and Rose West, two of the UK’s most prolific murderers.

Married at First Sight: Season 17

Smile

A woman smiles with devilish glee in Smile

Image: Paramount Pictures

Snakes and Ladders (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: An ambitious but overlooked teacher wants to be head of a prestigious school, but must climb a slippery ladder of lies and corruption to reach the top.

From Netflix: At a private school where gambling determines social status, a skillful new student with a mysterious past is shaking things up — and betting on revenge.

Love, Death & Robots: Volume 4 (Netflix Series)

A warrior woman attacks with a spear. Her hair is pulled up in a high ponytail. Everything around her is orange and red. From Love, Death & Robots

Image: Netflix

From Netflix: Dinosaur gladiators, messianic cats, string-puppet rock stars — it can only be Love, Death + Robots. The fourth volume, presented by Tim Miller (Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate) and David Fincher (Mindhunter, The Killer), sees Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda 2, Season 3’s “Kill Team Kill” return as supervising director for ten startling shorts showcasing the series’ signature, award-winning style of bleeding-edge animation, horror, sci-fi, and humor. Buckle up.

Franklin (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: A counterfeit artist, also a single father, is forced to work with his ex-lover to craft the perfect $100 bill — all to save his dying daughter.

Pernille: Season 5 (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: With Ole Johan’s wedding planning soaking up all the attention, Pørni struggles to balance the demands of her job with her family — and her own heart.

Secrets We Keep (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: When a neighbor’s au pair vanishes from her wealthy suburb, Cecilie seeks answers — and unravels secrets that shatter her seemingly perfect world.

Thank You, Next: Season 2 (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: Leyla is finally about to get her happy ending with Cem, but will she allow herself to trust his mysterious nature and fall in love all over again?

Vini Jr. (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: Vini Jr. has it all: talent, resilience and boldness. Follow his dancing, unpredictable feet on his inspiring journey to becoming a global soccer star.

Dear Hongrang (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: When a long-missing heir returns with lost memories, love and suspicion entwine. Is he truly Hongrang, or a stranger disturbing hearts and family ties?

Football Parents (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: When it comes to their children’s amateur football careers, this group of parents has no shame, no chill — and a peculiar sense of team spirit.

The Quilters (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: In this award-winning short documentary, men in a Missouri maximum-security prison design and sew beautiful, personalized quilts for foster children.

Rotten Legacy (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: After a grave illness, a media mogul discovers his children’s tactics threaten the empire he carefully built — and he’ll do whatever it takes to save it.

Sarah Silverman: Postmortem (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: Following the recent death of both of her parents, comedian Sarah Silverman finds comedy in the darkest corners of life. She hilariously navigates the absurdities of death with her signature wit, from unexpectedly finding the “deal of a lifetime” while planning their funerals to cherishing the bittersweet experience of hearing her mother’s last words.

Untold: The Fall of Favre (Netflix Sports Film)

From Netflix: This eye-opening documentary delves into Brett Favre’s controversial career, the dark side of sports stardom and the scandals that marred his legacy.

Newly Rich, Newly Poor (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: A wealthy businessman and a working-class dreamer discover they were switched at birth. Now, they must swap lives to learn what truly matters.

Real Men (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: Mattia, Massimo, Riccardo, and Luigi, four friends in their forties, confront their prejudices in a world evolving towards gender equality. They must rediscover their place in society and relationships amid hilarious situations and unexpected challenges.

Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: Six sexy singles check into a motel in pursuit of true love, only to discover their longtime booty calls, or “sneaky links,” are there as well. Facing desires old and new, and many hard truths, guests must decide whether to strengthen their sneaky link, or explore new connections. Will they stay sneaky, or is love worth “checking out”?

The UnXplained with William Shatner: Season 6

A blonde girl in a pink dress standing next to a chic woman in white. From Sirens.

Image: Netflix

From Netflix: Devon thinks her sister Simone has a really creepy relationship with her new boss, the enigmatic socialite Michaela Kell. Michaela’s cult-ish life of luxury is like a drug to Simone, and Devon has decided it’s time for an intervention, but she has no idea what a formidable opponent Michaela will be. Told over the course of one explosive weekend at The Kells’ lavish beach estate, Sirens is an incisive, sexy, and darkly funny exploration of women, power, and class.

Tyler Perry’s She The People (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: Lieutenant Governor candidate Antoinette Dunkerson runs a successful campaign and now must figure out how to thrive under a sexist and condescending governor while attempting to keep her family in line now that they’re all in the public eye.

Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: For the first time ever, go inside the cockpit with the U.S. Air Force’s legendary flight squadron, The Thunderbirds, and witness the unprecedented training, peril, and personal sacrifice it takes to push the limits of aviation as a member of one America’s most revered demonstration teams.

Big Mouth: Season 8 (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: Nothing brings out the hormones — or the heartbreak — quite like high school. These longtime friends are growing up, and it’s the ultimate happy ending.

Fear Street: Prom Queen (Netflix Film)

From Netflix: Who will be voted queen at Shadyside High’s 1988 prom? For underdog Lori, competition is cutthroat even before someone starts killing off the candidates.

Forget You Not (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: An aspiring stand-up comedian turns her struggles into heartfelt humor as she balances work and relationships while caring for her aging father.

Off Track 2 (Netflix Film)

From Netflix: Siblings Lisa and Daniel gear up for the Vätternrundan cycling race, where unexpected detours, old flames and marriage problems test their resolve.

Our Unwritten Seoul (Netflix Series)

From Netflix: Twin sisters— one living in Seoul, the other from the countryside— switch lives.

The Wild Robot

Image: DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures

CoComelon: Season 13 (Netflix Family)

From Netflix: Ready to move? Get up and groove! Join JJ and his friends as they dance to fun, familiar songs like “Twist and Shout,” “The Locomotion” and more.

Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: Who really laced Tylenol with cyanide? This true-crime series examines alarming theories behind the unsolved killings — and tracks down a key suspect.

Mike Birbiglia: The Good Life (Netflix Documentary)

From Netflix: In his latest hour, Mike Birbiglia—who merges storytelling, theater, and comedy in a way that The New York Times has called “Birbiglian”—opens up about his father’s recent stroke and discusses how it has prompted him to reevaluate his own approach to fatherhood. Birbiglia says of the new special: “Over the years I’ve done a lot of personal shows but somehow this one is the most personal because it’s not in my past. It’s my life right now. So there’s really no filter. At certain points during the tour I literally thought on stage: ‘Whoa. Am I really gonna tell this story?’ But that’s sort of the idea behind these shows. I try to probe into what’s most painful in order to figure out what’s most funny.”

F1: The Academy (Netflix Sports Series)

From Netflix: Follow fifteen of the world’s best female drivers as they take to the tough tracks of F1 Academy in this high-octane documentary from Hello Sunshine.

From Netflix: A brash but brilliant detective (Matthew Goode) leads a cold case unit in this Edinburgh-based drama by the writer and director of “The Queen’s Gambit”.

A Widow’s Game (Netflix Film)

From Netflix: When a man is found dead, the investigation shatters his widow’s perfect facade and exposes a hidden double life in this thriller based on real events.

The Heart Knows (Netflix Film)

From Netflix: After a heart transplant, Manuel feels a personality shift and explores his donor’s life, leading him to meet the widowed Vale and her community.

Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event (Netflix Live Event)

From Netflix: Netflix Tudum 2025 is a must-watch LIVE event celebrating the global fandom of Netflix’s beloved series and movies. This high-energy show will be streamed LIVE on Netflix May 31st at 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET from the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. The show will be packed with huge stars, exclusive reveals, and dynamic live performances sure to delight fans around the world.

This lesser-known Twilight Zone episode inspired Ryan Coogler’s Sinners

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Ryan Coogler, the Academy Award-nominated director of Creed and Black Panther, hasn’t been shy at all about citing the various inspirations behind his new horror thriller Sinners. In the weeks leading up to the film’s premiere, Coogler has been making the rounds along the press circuit, drumming up excitement and talking at length about the creative process behind his latest original feature. “It’s a genre-fluid film,” Coogler told SciFiNow in January. “There are vampires in the film, okay, but it’s really about a lot more than just that. It’s one of many elements and I think we’re gonna surprise people with it.”

Coogler’s right; there’s a lot more to Sinners than first meets the eye, and that’s especially apparent from the breadth of influences Coogler has pulled from while writing the film’s script. He’s cited From Dusk Till Dawn, The Faculty, the oeuvre of the Coen brothers, and even Puss in Boots: The Last Wish as inspirations behind Sinners, though the most intriguing reference he’s nodded to might be a lesser-known episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone.

Black twins Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) stand blocking the doorway to their juke joint alongside their bouncer Cornbread (Omar Benson Miller) in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners

Image: Warner Bros./Everett Collection

“Truthfully, the biggest influences are not in cinema,” Coogler told SciFiNow. “The novel Salem’s Lot is a massive influence on the film. Then there’s a real deep-cut influence. My favorite thing ever made is The Twilight Zone, and my favorite episode is called ‘The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank’ – probably Salem’s Lot and ‘The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank’ are probably the biggest influences.”

Premiering in the third season of The Twilight Zone, the episode centers on Jeff Myrtlebank, a young man living in a small town in the southernmost section of the Midwest who mysteriously returns to life at his own funeral, much to the shock of his loved ones and pastor. Despite their reasonable trepidation, the townspeople declare it a miracle — that is, until rumors begin to swirl regarding minor yet noticeable shifts in Jeff’s behavior following his unexpected resurrection.

“I’m real concerned,” Jeff’s mother tells her husband over breakfast. “He only ate two eggs again; why, ever since he’s sprouted teeth he’s been having three eggs at breakfast.” Jeff’s father notices a change in Jeff as well. “I recollect worrying many times that he leaned just a shade towards the side of shiftlessness,” he says. “And since his sickness, he’s been fighting in that work just like he was a year behind.”

A woman staring in astonishment at a man lighting his pipe with a lit match in The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank, an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Image: Paramount Global

Eventually, these idle rumors become fodder for suspicion and outright hatred of Jeff’s newfound character and candor. It gets so bad that even Comfort Gatewood, Jeff’s own fiancée, begins to doubt that Jeff is who he says he is. “I expect it from the others, but not from you, Comfort,” Jeff tells her in frustration. “I’m getting sick and tired the way everybody treats me like a vampire.”

The conclusion of the episode leaves the question of Jeff’s true nature, as well as that of his resurrection, tantalizingly unanswered, but the most intriguing connection between “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank” and Coogler’s Sinners is evident in its penultimate moment. When Jeff is surrounded by a group of angry neighbors, Comfort’s brother Orgram accuses him of being a “haint,” a ghostly presence believed to possess the bodies of mortal men for its own nefarious purposes. This same term appears in Sinners, when Wunmi Mosaku’s character, Annie, speaks about the power of music to rend asunder the veil dividing the world of the living and the dead.

Even apart from its connection to Coogler’s latest film, however, “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank” is a terrific Twilight Zone episode that knows that the most interesting questions are often best left unanswered. It may not be as iconic as “Nightmare at 20000 Feet” or “Five Characters in Search of an Exit,” but it’s nevertheless a great episode to watch whether or not you plan on venturing out to the theater to see Sinners.

The Twilight Zone is available to stream on Pluto TV and Paramount Plus.

The Monkey, One of Them Days on Netflix, and every movie new to streaming

Posted on by faz_business


Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

This week, The Monkey, the new black comedy horror thriller from director Osgood Perkins (Longlegs), screeches and bangs its way onto VOD. That’s not all that’s new to rent and purchase this week, as Steven Soderbergh’s spy thriller Black Bag, starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, also comes to VOD, along with Naoko Yamada’s The Colors Within, Paddington in Peru, and more. Plus, the new buddy comedy One of Them Days, starring Keke Palmer and SZA, comes to streaming on Netflix.

Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

SZA and Keke Palmer leaning over a balcony decorated with christmas lights in One of Them Days.

Image: Sony Pictures

Genre: Buddy comedy
Run time: 1h 37m
Director: Lawrence Lamont
Cast: Keke Palmer, SZA, Katt Williams

SZA and Keke Palmer star in this buddy comedy in which they play two best friends who have one day to find the $1,500 they need for rent, because one of their boyfriends blew through all their cash. Hilarity and hijinks ensue, as the two desperately try to come up with the cash, resorting to taking out sketchy loans, donating plasma, and climbing up a telephone pole to retrieve a pair of Jordans.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Max

Genre: Horror comedy
Run time: 1h 31m
Director: Kyle Mooney
Cast: Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison

Remember when everyone thought the year 2000 would cause a bunch of electronics errors? Well, in Kyle Mooney’s Y2K, the error isn’t so much an error as it is electronic devices coming to life and trying to enslave humanity. Aren’t we glad that that didn’t happen IRL? There are some brutal and hilarious deaths, including a kill by Tamagotchi, a very 2000 soundtrack, and one great cameo.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder

A woman stands in front of a mannequin dressed in a black outfit in 825 Forest Road.

Image: Blue Finch Film Releasing

Genre: Horror
Run time: 1h 41m
Director: Stephen Cognetti
Cast: Lorenzo Beronilla, Brian Anthony Wilson, Elizabeth Vermilyea

Director Stephen Cognetti (Hell House LLC) is back with a new supernatural horror thriller. After a grisly family tragedy, Chuck Wilson (Joe Falcone) moves to the town of Ashland Falls with his wife (Elizabeth Vermilyea) and sister (Kathryn Miller) in hopes of starting a new life. Upon moving into their new home, however, the family finds themselves stalked by a malevolent presence whose influence runs deep throughout the town’s history.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender leaning in for a kiss in Black Bag.

Photo: Claudette Barius/Focus Features

Genre: Spy thriller
Run time: 1h 33m
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela

Steven Soderbergh returns for his second feature film of 2025, this time a sultry spy thriller starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender as a happily married couple of British intelligence officers. When a top-secret malware program is stolen, Kathryn (Blanchett) is implicated and George (Fassbender) is secretly tasked with investigating her. As the plot unfolds, the couple is faced with the challenge of whether or not they can trust each other in a field where nearly everyone knows how to lie.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 41m
Director: Naoko Yamada
Cast: Akari Takaishi, Sayu Suzukawa, Taisei Kido

In this quiet, contemplative movie from K-On! and Sound! Euphonium director Naoko Yamada, three lonely teenagers start a band. It’s less about a love for music and more about the three of them finding kindred spirits with each other. The main character has a form of synesthesia where she sees particular emotions and people as colors. The splashes of gorgeous watercolor hues add some beautiful emotional impact to the otherwise grounded visuals.

What makes The Colors Within work so well is how the naturalistic animation combined with the specific set-pieces and situations create such a distinct feeling and atmosphere. There are just so many gorgeous, evocative moments where the movie lingers: Kimi’s forlorn reflection in a set of Newton balls; the slightly fuzzy city lights behind Totsuko’s hand as she waves goodbye to Kimi; Rui’s sneakers on the snow-covered steps of the church, shifting as he calls his mother. All the small details contribute to a feeling of soft loneliness that slowly lessens as the characters grow closer and closer.

The Last Stop in Yuma County

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Neo-Western thriller
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Francis Galluppi
Cast: Jim Cummings, Jocelin Donahue, Sierra McCormick

This neo-Western crime thriller centers on a travelling knife salesman who unwittingly finds himself in an unconventional hostage situation after being stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop. Held at gunpoint by two ruthless bank robbers, both he and the rest stop’s waitress (Jocelin Donahue) must find a way to escape without arousing the robbers’ suspicions, all the while carrying on a normal workday like nothing’s happened. Things only get weirder and worse from there.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Neon/YouTube

Genre: Horror comedy
Run time: 1h 38m
Director: Osgood Perkins
Cast: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery

Coming off the strength of last year’s breakout horror thriller Longlegs, director Osgood Perkins is back with a new black comedy horror based on Stephen King’s 1980 short story. The Monkey stars Theo James (Divergent) as Hal and Bill, identical twins who have to find a way to destroy a cursed cymbal-banging monkey toy with the power to kill anyone unfortunate enough to cross its path.

As Polygon’s editor-in-chief Chris Plante puts it:

The Monkey, for all of the familiar trappings, isn’t just another horror-tinged distraction. As the kills become gnarlier — and more, how do I put this?… impressive? — it becomes clear that Perkins is using a familiar skeleton to support something muscular and human. He once again borrows from the works of some of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Not the ones that get added to the Criterion Collection, but those you see get loving 4K discs from boutique brands like Arrow and Vinegar Syndrome.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Psychological thriller
Run time: 1h 44m
Director: Mark Anthony Green
Cast: Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis

Ayo Edebiri (Bottoms) stars in this psychological horror thriller as Ariel Ecton, a young music journalist who is invited to the remote compound of a reclusive pop star (John Malkovich) who has been unseen for the past 30 years. What at first seems a once-in-a-lifetime interview opportunity quickly morphs into a nightmarish scenario as Ariel finds herself surrounded by cultish sycophants, intoxicated colleagues, and a nefarious idol with a lot more than music on his mind.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Paddington in his wee red hat and adorable blue coat, standing on a mountain in Peru with a bunch of llamas behind him

Image: Sony Pictures

Genre: Adventure
Run time: 1h 46m
Director: Dougal Wilson
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer

Everyone’s favorite polite, marmalade-loving bear is back! His adopted siblings are all getting older and his parents face the possibility of an empty nest. But Paddington is called to Peru because his dear Aunt Lucy has vanished from the home for retired bears! Paddington and his family trek through the Peruvian jungles and soon learn that Aunt Lucy isn’t the only lost thing people are searching for. Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas join the cast and commit fully to the bit of campy Paddington cast member.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Mystery thriller
Run time: 1h 38m
Director: Duke Johnson
Cast: André Holland, Gemma Chan, May Calamawy

Duke Johnson (Anomalisa) makes his solo directorial debut with this crime mystery romance starring André Holland (Moonlight) and Gemma Chan (The Creator). Having lost his memory following an assault in Idaho, Paul Cole (Holland) attempts to put his life back together in an unfamiliar town. While courting a local costume designer named Edna (Chan), Paul begins to recover fragments and traces of his previous life as an actor, forcing him to question who he is now and what he truly wants out of life.

Night of the Zoopocalypse

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

A group of colorful animals staring in fear in Night of the Zoopocalypse.

Image: Viva Pictures

Genre: Horror comedy
Run time: 1h 31m
Directors: Ricardo Curtis, Rodrigo Perez-Castro
Cast: David Harbour, Bryn McAuley, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee

This animated adventure follows the antics of a bunch of zoo animals… who find themselves facing off against a bunch of zombie-like aliens. A quirky timberwolf teams up with a gruff mountain lion to protect the zoo. They need to learn to work with all the other animals in order to save their home from the creepy alien zombies. David Harbour voices the mountain lion! Appropriate!

The 20 most exciting movies of spring 2025

Posted on by faz_business


Summer movie season is starting earlier and earlier every year, and this one is no exception. This spring has all kinds of exciting movies, and maybe even a few of the best and biggest movies of the year.

As you might expect, the biggest highlights are movies in the big franchises. The MCU is bringing out Thunderbolts* led by Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, while Tom Cruise is returning for what could be the (or at least his) last Mission: Impossible movie ever. Meanwhile, Disney is all in on live-action remakes, with Snow White and Lilo & Stitch due out in the next few months. Thankfully, there’s some exciting original movies coming too, like David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds or Ryan Coogler’s vampire horror movie Sinners.

To help you keep track of all the fantastic-looking movies that are on the way, we’ve made a list of the 20 best movies of spring 2025.

Plankton with both arms raised, holding a tiny plankton-like dog in one hand, as he cackles. From Plankton: The Movie

PLANKTON: THE MOVIE – Plankton’s world is flipped upside down when his plan for world domination is thwarted. Cr: Netflix/Nickelodeon Movies © 2025
Image: Nickelodeon/Netflix

Release date: March 7
Director: Dave Needham
Cast: Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Tom Kenny

SpongeBob’s best character finally gets her due. That’s right — even though this movie is called Plankton, it’s Karen, his computer wife, who rises up and decides to dump his lame ass and take over the world herself. Meanwhile, Plankton has to team up with SpongeBob and the rest of the heroes in order to win her back. —Petrana Radulovic

Robert Pattinson clones acting smug in Mickey 17

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release date: March 7
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Mark Ruffalo

What’s better than one Robert Pattinson doing slapstick comedy with a funny voice? Two Robert Pattinsons! Well, at least two. Bong Joon-ho’s newest movie has Pattinson playing a worker in a capitalist sci-fi hellscape who’s signed up to test the limits of a new human colony and get cloned every time he dies. —PR

Milla Jovovich as Gray Alys in a still from the movie In the Lost Lands

Image: Vertical/Constantin Film

Release date: March 7
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast: Dave Bautista, Milla Jovovich, Arly Jover

The latest in a long series of #powercouplegoals collaborations between spouses Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich (the Resident Evil movies, 2020’s Monster Hunter, 2011’s The Three Musketeers), In the Lost Lands is billed as the first feature adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s work. Adapted from Martin’s 1982 short story, it’s a dark fantasy about an infamous witch (Jovovich) who hires a grizzled hunter (Dave Bautista) to help her track down a werewolf through a post-apocalyptic landscape ruled by a tyrannical overlord and an even more tyrannical church. Just your basic future-fantasy Western slash monster movie, with a heavy side order of Furiosa in the setting and characters. —Tasha Robinson

Ayo Edebiri looking worried and confused in Opus

Image: A24

Release date: March 14
Director: Mark Anthony Green
Cast: Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis

The second of A24’s eight scheduled genre-spanning 2025 movies (after Parthenope in early February), Opus follows a dedicated but frequently sidelined music journalist (The Bear and Bottoms co-star Ayo Edebiri) to the secretive compound of a cultishly adored pop star (John Malkovich) who wants her to hear his first album in 30 years. Mark Anthony Green’s directorial debut, a horror-thriller about fame and power, got mixed reviews at Sundance, but the lead performers remain promising. —TR

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

Porky Pig and Daffy Duck sleeping in their respective beds in The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

Image: Warner Bros. Animation

Release date: March 14
Director: Pete Browngardt
Cast: Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol

Daffy Duck and Porky Pig team up to save the Earth from an alien invasion. But considering their big personalities and generally dysfunctional working relationship, they might just drive each other crazy before they can save anyone. Where’s Bugs? Who knows? But Petunia Pig is also here. —PR

A giant robot wanders around a barren looking landscape in The Electric State

Image: Free League Publishing

Release date: March 14
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Stanley Tucci

Once-and-future Avengers directors Anthony and Joe Russo are launching their new sprawling science fiction movie on Netflix: Loosely based on a 2018 novel from Swedish retrofuturist Simon Stålenhag (whose work also inspired the Tales from the Loop TV show, board game, TTRPG, etc.), The Electric State has a teenager (Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown) on a road trip to track down her missing brother via a robot (Anthony Mackie) he sent to find her. The twist: They’re living in a post-robot-apocalypse world where the robots have all been banned to a wasteland. Early looks at this one have a strong A.I. Artificial Intelligence feel, with a side order of Ready Player One and a whole lot of familiar names: Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Woody Harrelson, Jenny Slate, Giancarlo Esposito, and a lot more. —TR

Rachel Zegler as Snow White dances with some CGI dwarves

Image: Disney

Release date: March 21
Director: Marc Webb
Cast: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap

It’s another Disney live-action remake! This one is full of… well, let’s just say that the CG dwarfs are a choice. And they did Rachel Zegler so damn dirty with that haircut and Party City-esque dress. But Zegler has pipes, and maybe the fact she looks and acts like a literal Disney Princess might be enough to save this one. —PR

Eiza González wearing a futuristic space suit in Ash (2025).

Image: RLJE Films

Release date: March 21
Director: Flying Lotus
Cast: Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais

In space, no one can hear you say “Hey, where’d all my crewmates go?” Eiza González (3 Body Problem) stars as a woman who wakes up in a space station, her memory missing and her companions all dead. Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul co-stars as the ominous figure from her past who arrives to “help.” Directed and soundtracked by composer Flying Lotus (Kuso), this original science fiction thriller looks like a banger, hitting some discomfiting Alien vibes without being yet another derivative Alien movie. —TR

Several people, including Will Poulter, Paul Rudd, and Jenna Ortega stand around something looking very confused in Death of a Unicorn

Image: A24

Release date: March 28
Director: Alex Scharfman
Cast: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter

A24’s new comedy horror fantasy is about the fallout of a man and his daughter hitting a unicorn with their car. The man’s pharmaceutical CEO boss immediately wants to exploit the unicorn’s magical properties. But if there’s one thing we should all take away from old legends, it’s that you should not fuck around with a magical animal with a spear on its head. —PR

A woman in a black shroud sits alone in an open yard with a barn nearby in The Woman in the Yard

Image: Universal Pictures

Release date: March 28
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Danielle Deadwyler, Okwui Okpokwasili, Russell Hornsby

Prolific director Jaume Collet-Serra has his hits and misses: He was behind the virally popular Netflix thriller Carry-On, the excellent shark-attack movie The Shallows, and the startling horror film Orphan, but also the infamous superhero flop Black Adam. Here, he’s back with a mysterious Blumhouse movie that looks a bit like a creepypasta riff: A grieving woman (Danielle Deadwyler) and her family are haunted by a threatening apparition with an opaque warning. —TR

Jason Momoa with a long mullet dressed in a pink leather jacket in A Minecraft Movie

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release date: April 4
Director: Jared Hess
Cast: Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Emma Myers

The Minecraft movie is a little bit like Jumanji, but instead of being sucked into a jungle, the group of misfits gets pulled into the Minecraft world, where everything is cube-shaped and thrives on imagination. Also, Jack Black is here! So it is really like Jumanji. —PR

A poster for the movie The Ritual with a girl with her mouth open having a cross pressed into her forehead

Image: XYZ Films

Release date: April 18
Director: David Midell
Cast: Al Pacino, Dan Stevens, Ashley Greene

It feels late in the game for a movie about an old priest (Al Pacino) and a young priest (Dan Stevens) facing a young woman who’s allegedly possessed by a demon. The twist in this case is that the young woman was inspired by Emma Schmidt, aka Anna Ecklund, a real-life woman whose alleged possession and monthslong exorcism in 1920s Iowa inspired several other horror movies. —TR

Michael B. Jordan and another man staring off in terror at a fiery sight in Sinners

Image: Proximity Media/Warner Bros. Pictures

Release date: April 18
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton

The exciting return of Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Fruitvale Station) stars Michael B. Jordan and, well, Michael B. Jordan as a pair of twins menaced by a supernatural force in the 1930s. The initial trailer looks slick, confident, and hard-hitting — somewhere between a ghost story and a bootlegger crime thriller. But the marketing has deliberately kept most facts about the movie under wraps, leaving the real nature of the horror here thrillingly opaque. —TR

Odessa A’zion in the Until Dawn movie, standing in a huge house looking toward the camera

Image: Sony Pictures

Release date: April 25
Director: David F. Sandberg
Cast: Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A’zion

The sort-of movie adaptation of the 2015 horror game Until Dawn puts a few new twists on the story, uniting some squabbling characters against an immediately obvious supernatural evil, and setting the story in a time loop, where different horrific monsters kill the characters every night, setting up a scenario where they have to out-think the setting and escape the loop before their 13th and final death. The execution looks a bit like 13 different iterations on The Cabin in the Woods, due to the proliferation of creepy creatures, the self-awareness of it all, and the sense of a trap closing on a pretty familiar cast of characters, but it remains to be seen whether Until Dawn the movie has any such sense of humor to it. —TR

Willem Dafoe holding a piece of bloody fur in his hand in The Legend of Ochi

Image: A24

Release date: April 25
Director: Isaiah Saxon
Cast: Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Willem Dafoe

In a remote village in the Carpathian mountains, humans fend off the monstrous ochi. But when a lonely girl discovers a baby ochi, she’s determined to return it to its family — and discovers that maybe these strange creatures aren’t as vicious as she was led to believe. —PR

Vincent Cassel sits at a fancy restaurant wearing all black in The Shrouds

Image: Janus Films

Release date: April 25
Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce

David Cronenberg’s latest body-horror movie is a heavy one: It centers on a grieving CEO (Vincent Cassel) who invents a technology that lets people monitor their loved ones’ graves, using a phone app to watch their bodies decay in real time. When vandals destroy a cemetery featuring his technology — including desecrating his wife’s grave — he has to figure out who and why. —TR

LtR: Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Red Guardian/Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) in Thunderbolts*. They’re all looking up at something looking surprised.

Photo: Marvel Studios.

Release date: May 2
Director: Jake Schreier
Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s answer to the Suicide Squad forces a group of reluctant antiheroes — including Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and Red Guardian (David Harbour) — to team up for a mission. Will they get a chance at redemption? Or, more importantly, will the MCU? —PR

Final Destination Bloodlines

Richard Harmon in Final Destination Bloodlines with a nose piercing looking down intently at something

Image: Warner Bros.

Release date: May 16
Directors: Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein
Cast: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon

The sixth installment in the Final Destination series has been pitched as a bit of a soft reboot for the series, not that continuity has ever mattered in movies built around people who escape death in a freak accident, and are then stalked by death via increasingly unlikely accidents. This time around, the action kicks off with a college student having recurring nightmares about death. Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, directors of the underseen, extremely fun 2018 sci-fi thriller Freaks, take the wheel this time out. —TR

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hawke, looking concerned, in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning.

Image: Paramount Pictures

Release date: May 23
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg

Tom Cruise takes up where he left off with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, back in 2023, still fighting a world-spanning, all-powerful AI via lots of dangerous stunts. Expect the mission to be possible, just barely. —TR

A CG Stitch destroys a castle of sand in the live-action Lilo & Stitch

Image: Disney

Release date: May 23
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Cast: Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders, Sydney Agudong

Most of what we’ve seen of the live-action Lilo & Stitch hasn’t exactly been live action. But hey, at least Stitch is cute. We’ll have to see how Lilo, Nani, and the rest of the human cast, not to mention the other, weirder-looking aliens, translate to this style. —PR

5 great co-op games are on deep discount in Steam’s new sale

Posted on by faz_business


Whether you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day with a weekend of gaming togetherness or just somebody with a gaming pal looking for a great deal, Steam’s Couch Co-Op Fest — running through Feb. 18 — has a ton of amazing cooperative games marked down significantly. The list of included games is long, but several of them stuck out to me as they’re personal favorites I wouldn’t want anybody to miss.

Plus, this first game I’m going to shout out is a whopping 90% off its original price of $10 — surely you can convince yourself to get Portal 2 when it costs less than three eggs.

But that’s not all — there are tons of other co-op games on sale until Feb. 18, from NBA 2k25 to Black Ops 3 to Stardew Valley. Check out the full list here.

We Live in Time, Wolf Man, and every movie new to streaming

Posted on by faz_business


Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

This week there’s a new Amy Schumer comedy on Netflix, the Florence Pugh/Andrew Garfield romantic drama We Live in Time on Max, and Pharrell Williams’ Lego biopic arriving on Peacock. Hulu is also bringing in two very different movies: In the Summers, a drama about two sisters and their differing relationships with their difficult father, and Kill, a tremendously violent revenge thriller set on a train. Rounding all of this off are a few new movies available to rent, including September 5, Wolf Man, and Wish You Were Here.

Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 37m
Director: Tyler Spindel
Cast: Amy Schumer, Will Forte, Jillian Bell

Oh, Amy Schumer — back at it again with another quirky comedy about a woman who’s lost control of her life. This time, she plays Lainy, a woman who feels left out when her best friend gets pregnant and her own boyfriend isn’t planning on proposing anytime soon. On a whim, she dons a fake pregnancy belly and then decides to continue pretending to be pregnant. What could possibly go wrong?

Where to watch: Available to stream on Max

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 48m
Director: John Crowley
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Grace Delaney

Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh lead this romantic drama, which takes place over a couple of decades with a nonlinear narrative. There’s a funky meet-cute (she hits him with her car while he’s on the way to buy a pen to sign the divorce papers served to him by his wife) and some electric chemistry — but it is a drama, so tragedy is definitely going to befall this otherwise beautiful couple. Will they learn to live in the moment with the time they have together?

Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock

Genre: Animated biopic
Run time: 1h 33m
Director: Morgan Neville
Cast: Pharrell Williams, Morgan Neville, Kendrick Lamar

Pharrell Williams has a biographical documentary! And it’s animated! In the Lego style! Sure! Watch little Lego Pharrell talk about his life, with guest appearances from Lego Gwen Stefani, Lego Kendrick Lamar, Lego Timbaland, Lego Justin Timberlake, Lego Busta Rhymes, Lego Jay-Z, Lego Pusha T, Lego Missy Elliott, and more. I wonder how all these celebrities felt about their Lego-sonas.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

In the movie Kill, Lakshya has a knife held to his throat by an unseen person wearing camo

Image: Lionsgate

Genre: Action
Run time: 1h 45m
Directors: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Cast: Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Tanya Maniktala

Kill is a revenge epic that takes place almost entirely on a train, which provides excellent locations for exhilarating, bone-crunching fights that help make it not just one of the best action movies of last year, but also one of the most most brutal and bloody movies in recent memory.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 40m
Directors: Alessandra Lacorazza
Cast: Residente, Sasha Calle, Lio Mehiel

A semi-autobiographical drama, In the Summers follows two sisters who visit their father during summers in Colombia. While the girls are close with their father in their younger years, slowly his alcoholism and emotional distance begins to take a toll on their relationship. In the Summers is filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio’s directorial debut. At last year’s Sundance Film Festival, she became the first Latina filmmaker to win the directing award; the movie also won the Grand Jury Prize U.S. Dramatic.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Romance
Run time: 1h 40m
Directors: Payal Kapadia
Cast: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam

A careful, beautiful, and deeply human movie, All We Imagine as Light follows the daily lives of two women in Mumbai as they struggle for love, connection, and understanding in one of the largest cities on Earth.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Historical thriller
Run time: 1h 35m
Directors: Tim Fehlbaum
Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin

A tense thriller, September 5 follows the ABC Sports journalism team during the 1972 Olympics. When the members of Israel’s Olympic team are suddenly taken hostage, their job goes from covering sports to something far more complicated in the blink of an eye.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Romantic drama
Run time: 1h 54m
Director: Julia Stiles
Cast: Isabelle Fuhrman, Mena Massoud, Gabby Kono-Abdy

A tale of tragic romance, Wish You Were Here follows Charlotte (Isabelle Fuhrman), a young woman looking for excitement who spends one terrific night with a man she just met (Mena Massoud). But when she wakes up the next morning, she discovers he’s terminally ill, and she decides to help him enjoy the time he has left.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, and Christopher Abbott in Wolf Man standing with their backs to a car in the woods

Photo: Nicola Dove/Universal Pictures

Genre: Werewolf horror
Run time: 1h 43m
Director: Leigh Whannell
Cast: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth

The latest in the ongoing, sort of accidental reboot of the Dark Universe, Wolf Man follows a man (Christopher Abbott) and his family on a trip back to his childhood home in the woods of Oregon. The only problem is there’s a monster loose in those woods, and it’s looking for new victims.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 26m
Director: Morrisa Maltz
Cast: Jasmine Shangreaux, Lily Gladstone, Raymond Lee

Jazzy takes place over six years, centering on the titular young girl and her best friend, Syriah. Jazzy and Syriah grow up together in South Dakota and share a close friendship and special bond. When Syriah moves away, Jazzy confronts the heartache of growing up and the tumultuous changes that come with adolescence. Jazzy comes from filmmaker Morrisa Maltz, who previously wrote and directed The Unknown Country, starring Lily Gladstone.

Red Rooms, Netflix’s Back in Action, and every new movie this week

Posted on by faz_business


Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

This week, Queer, the new romance drama from director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, Challengers) and starring Daniel Craig, comes to VOD following its theatrical premiere. There’s even more new releases available to purchase and rent this week as well, including the new superhero action film Kraven the Hunter and the anime drama Ghost Cat Anzu. If you’re looking for the best movies new to streaming services this week, we’ve got you there too. Back in Action, the new action comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx, is available to stream on Netflix this weekend, along with a few of the best movies of 2024: A Different Man on Max, A Real Pain on Hulu, Red Rooms on Shudder, and more.

Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx driving a car with two children in the backseat in Back in Action.

Back In Action. (L to R) Cameron Diaz as Emily, Rylan Jackson as Leo, McKenna Roberts as Alice and Jamie Foxx as Matt in Back In Action. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024.
Image: Netflix

Genre: Action comedy
Run time: 1h 54m
Director: Seth Gordon
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, Glenn Close

Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx star in this new action comedy from Baywatch director Seth Gordon (and action director extraordinaire J.J. Perry) as Emily and Matt, two former CIA spies who walk away from their life of espionage to start a family together. When their covers are blown, the family must enlist the aid of Ginny (Glenn Close), Emily’s mother, in order to track down their pursuers and stop them before it’s too late.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

In The Rifle Club, a man wearing beige inspects a rifle in an office

Image: Netflix

Genre: Action comedy
Run time: 1h 53m
Director: Aashiq Abu
Cast: Vijayaraghavan, Dileesh Pothan, Anurag Kashyap

After a couple accidentally kills the rebellious son of a notorious crime boss, they’re forced to seek refuge and protection among the members of a historic rifle club in the Western Ghats. As if that weren’t enough, the rifle club happens to be hosting a famous actor visiting in order to research an upcoming role in this Malayalam action comedy.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg stand outside looking up at something in A Real Pain

Image: Topic Studios/The Sundance Institute

Genre: Comedy drama
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Jesse Eisenberg
Cast: Kieran Culkin, Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg directs and stars in this awards contender in which he and Kieran Culkin (Succession) play David and Benji, two estranged cousins who embark on a tour across Poland in an attempt to bond and honor the memory of their late grandmother. As their trip wears on, the two are forced to confront the ways they’ve grown apart from one another and remember their respective importance in each other’s lives.

The movie’s comparatively low stakes mostly keep it grounded to a story of two disconnected cousins who both so clearly miss the friendship they had when they were kids, and want to get back to it. David can’t understand why Benji isn’t growing up in all the ways that David has. Benji can’t admit that he feels left behind. All this is set against the backdrop of an effective and delicately handled Holocaust tour that causes everyone in the tour group to react in different, profound, and difficult ways.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Max

Adam Pearson and Sebastian Stan seated across from one another at a booth in a restaurant in A Different Man.

Image: A24

Genre: Psychological thriller
Run time: 1h 52m
Director: Aaron Schimberg
Cast: Sebastian Stan, Adam Pearson, Renate Reinsve

Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) stars in A Different Man as Edward, an aspiring actor wracked with insecurity over his neurofibromatosis. After undergoing a radical medical procedure to transform his appearance, Edward’s life appears to be looking up — that is, until a man with neurofibromatosis named Oswald (Adam Pearson) comes into the picture. Will Edward be able to find peace with Oswald and his own past?

Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video

A man doing push-ups in a sleeveless white t-shirt in Unstoppable.

Image: Amazon Prime Video

Genre: Biographical sports drama
Run time: 1h 56m
Director: William Goldenberg
Cast: Jharrel Jerome, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña

Unstoppable is a biographical sports drama based on the life of Anthony Robles, an NCAA Division I wrestling champion who was born with one leg. The film dives into his life leading up to his college years, with a particular focus on his relationship with his single mother (played in this movie by Jennifer Lopez). Unstoppable is the directorial debut of National Treasure, Argo, and Zero Dark Thirty film editor William Goldenberg.

Where to watch: Available to stream on AMC Plus

Two claymation figures sitting on a couch in a crowded living room in Memoir of a Snail.

Image: IFC Films

Genre: Stop-motion animation
Run time: 1h 35m
Director: Adam Elliot
Cast: Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Eric Bana

This stop-motion animated film is narrated by a snail-obsessed woman (played by Sarah Snook) who looks back on her life. She recounts her poor but blissful childhood with her father and beloved twin brother and recalls how she and her brother were separated after their father died. While her current situation is pretty dreary and she certainly has regrets, she slowly begins to find the courage to live again.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder

Two women stare at a computer screen, lit by the red glow, in Red Rooms

Photo: Utopia

Genre: Psychological thriller
Run time: 1h 58m
Director: Pascal Plante
Cast: Juliette Gariépy, Laurie Babin, Elisabeth Locas

Red Rooms centers on Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy), an aloof fashion model with an inexplicable obsession with the murder trial of Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos), a man accused of murdering three women and disseminating snuff films through the dark web. After befriending Clémentine (Laurie Babin), an overzealous “fan” of Chevalier who wholly believes in his innocence, Kelly-Anne’s own fascination with the case takes an exceedingly darker and more sinister turn.

As Polygon’s Tasha Robinson writes,

What’s fascinating about Kelly-Anne throughout the trial, and her increasingly calm but unnerving behavior whenever she leaves the courthouse, is how little she fits into any of the expected tropes or profiles for a character in her position. Red Rooms’ biggest mystery isn’t whether Ludovic is guilty (though Plante keeps that question for the end as well), it’s who Kelly-Anne really is and what she wants. Does she have a personal connection to one of the victims, or to Ludovic? Is she just one of those unfortunate groupies who flock to serial killers? Given her clear technological prowess, is she planning (or has she already committed) similar crimes herself? The deliberate, clinical procedural aspects of Red Rooms leaves conscious space for viewers to speculate about where it’s all going, right up to a moment of mesmerizing shock.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

In Queer, Daniel Craig, wearing a nice summer suit, sits at a coffee table outside a restaurant and reads the newspaper

Image: A24/Courtesy Everett Collection

Genre: Period romantic drama
Run time: 2h 16m
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Cast: Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Jason Schwartzman

Based on William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novella, Queer stars Daniel Craig as American expatriate William Lee — a pen name for Burroughs — living in Mexico City. After meeting Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), a GI turned expatriate, William becomes infatuated with his new acquaintance, sparking a relationship that proves exhilarating, beautiful, and ultimately destructive.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) stands with his hands on a railing, wearing a sleeveless, open leather vest and showing off more abs than seems humanly possible in Kraven the Hunter

Photo: Jay Maidment / Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment / Everett Collection

Genre: Superhero action
Run time: 2h 7m
Director: J.C. Chandor
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger

Following in the footsteps of Morbius and Madame Web, Kraven the Hunter is yet another Sony Spider-Man movie without Spider-Man in it. (And who knows? This might actually be the last one!) Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as Kraven, who in this version gets some animal-like powers after being injected with a serum. He’s also a conservationist and animal lover, instead of a poacher who just wants to go after the most dangerous game. An antihero!

It’s a largely joyless affair, and Chandor can’t seem to decide on a dramatic or comedic tone, let alone a blend of the two. Taylor-Johnson often stands around delivering lines that seem intended to be catchphrases, but he does so with all the determination of someone who loathes the material. A quipper-hero Kraven is not, and neither is Taylor-Johnson. But then, practically every actor in the cast is entirely checked out. Rarely has a superhero movie featured this many talented performers phoning it in. But with such bland material, can you blame them?

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Horror comedy
Run time: 1h 23m
Director: Matthew John Lawrence
Cast: Molly Brown, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Billy Burke

This irreverent horror comedy centers on Abbie Bladecut (Molly Brown), the daughter of an infamous serial killer who is tasked with completing her first kill as a rite of passage into adulthood. Things become complicated when Abbie befriends her intended target, eventually forcing her to choose between her father’s way of life and her own.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: GKIDS

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 37m
Directors: Yōko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita
Cast: Munetaka Aoki, Mirai Moriyama, Noa Gotō

If Totoro was a massage therapist with a gambling problem, you’d get Anzu. The 37-year-old ghost cat was once a regular house cat who just continued to age and somehow transformed into an anthropomorphic cat. Anzu finds himself in charge of 11-year-old Karin, a surly preteen who does not want to be spending the summer with her grandfather and his weird adult human cat. The two clash, but eventually embark on an adventure into the underworld to break out Karin’s mother. Ghost Cat Anzu sparkles with wonderful animation, particularly when it comes to the character expression and design.

Ghost Cat Anzu works best when the mix of the mundane and the mythical is balanced. For instance, Anzu inviting a host of forest spirits to his temple for a party is a hilarious setup that gives Karin a chance to relate her feelings to the ragtag group. But the eventual journey to the land of the dead ends up dragging and muddling the movie’s message.

Pico Park 2 shows the Switch is still getting great new games

Posted on by faz_business


Given the excitement around the rumored Nintendo Switch 2, it’s easy to miss new games released to current Nintendo Switch consoles. Recent Nintendo Direct presentations seem to rattle off a bunch of random titles with little attention to each game, and the console hasn’t gotten any big new releases in a while, save for the recent The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. However, amid both the excitement for a future Switch and the slow death of the current one, I’m writing here to make sure one special game in particular doesn’t get buried: Pico Park 2.

Although the gameplay can vary depending on what mode you play, or even what set of levels you take on, the general pitch of Pico Park 2 is pretty straightforward. You and your friends will team up and take on various platforming challenges collaboratively. You’ll jump on each other, hit switches for each other, and work together to solve each short level. Pico Park 2 allows up to eight players to join in at once, but you can play with as few as two, and the game automatically tailors the design of the levels to accommodate the number of people playing.

In my opinion, the more people you have, the more fun it gets, and having at least four players is ideal. A lot of the fun comes from the chaos (and the coordination required) of having eight players jumping around the screen simultaneously. You might have to carefully stack up on each other to create a bridge to cross a large gap or figure out how to cross thin platforms with everyone connected by one bungee cord. The gameplay varies considerably, and some sets of levels even feature co-op bullet-hell arcade gameplay where you’re shooting down monsters together.

Each time the level screen loads, you don’t know what awaits. Still, everything can be played with a simple control scheme and a single Joy-Con. There might be a special gimmick, like a vacuum gun that you use to suck up your friends and complete a challenge, but the controls stay pretty simple. In my experience, this made the game enjoyable because of all the variety, but also approachable for all kinds of players.

The game has different groups of levels organized by theme and gameplay, so if you get stuck on one set of levels, you can always try one of a dozen others. If you don’t want to work together, you can opt to play some basic competitive minigames. I played it with my partner’s parents, who hadn’t touched a video game controller since Wii Sports, and my 8-year-old Mario-loving cousin, and everyone was able to easily pick the game up and have a fun time. Regardless of the range of skill levels, the high that came from successfully beating a challenge as a team never got old, no matter how much shouting was involved.

So if you’re looking for a fantastic gem of a game to pick up and tide you over until the Switch 2 comes out, or just want to remind yourself that the Nintendo Switch is still so good, I would suggest picking up the slept-on Pico Park 2.

Pico Park 2 is available to play on Mac, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.