Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, 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.
It’s a good week for horror, with the surprisingly good Omen prequel out on Hulu and a terrifyingly creepy stop-motion flick (…titled Stopmotion) on Shudder. But if you’re not a horror person, then Disney Plus’ Jim Henson documentary is sure to be a heartwarming balm. Or you can go with Chris Pine’s quirky pool-based comedy mystery.
Here’s everything new available to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
A Part of You
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Coming-of-age dramaRun time: 1h 40mDirector: Sigge EklundCast: Felicia Maxime, Edvin Ryding, Zara Larsson
This Swedish coming-of-age film is about a teenage girl named Agnes who’s really jealous of her sister, who seems to have everything in the world. But when a terrible tragedy strikes, Agnes has a chance to reinvent herself — at a really high cost.
New on Disney Plus
Jim Henson: Idea Man
Where to watch: Available to stream on Disney Plus
Genre: Documentary Run time: 1h 51mDirector: Ron HowardCast: Jennifer Connelly, Rita Moreno, Frank Oz, Brian Henson
The new documentary by Ron Howard (The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, Apollo 13) centers on puppeteer, animator, and filmmaker Jim Henson — creator of Kermit the Frog and the Muppets. It features a lot of interviews with Henson’s family and frequent collaborators, including Frank Oz.
New on Hulu
The Promised Land
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Epic historical dramaRun time: 2h 7mDirector: Nikolaj ArcelCast: Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Simon Bennebjerg
A hidden gem among 2024’s best new releases, The Promised Land is a period drama anchored by a terrific leading performance from the always reliable Mads Mikkelsen. He plays a retired Danish officer of the German Army who is trying to establish a homestead in an area thought to be impossible to settle — but a powerful local politician has other ideas.
The First Omen
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: HorrorRun time: 1h 59mDirector: Arkasha StevensonCast: Nell Tiger Free, Sônia Braga, Ralph Ineson
A prequel to the 1976 Omen, The First Omen is actually surprisingly scary and good.
From our list of the best horror movies of the year:
The First Omen is impressively scary, with dread seeping into every frame of its Catholic conspiracy. Ralph Ineson uses his excellent voice to great effect here as a priest who has been excommunicated after finding out the Church’s secrets, but it’s Free who winds up the standout, as her character slowly spirals as the plot gets thicker and more confounding.
New on Shudder
Stopmotion
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder and AMC Plus
Genre: HorrorRun time: 1h 33mDirector: Robert MorganCast: Aisling Franciosi, Stella Gonet, Tom York
This horror movie follows an animator who takes over her ailing mother’s stop-motion movie. This involves using fox carcasses to create the terrifying entity at the center of the movie, among other frankly disturbing stop-motion creations.
New on Starz
Silent Night
Where to watch: Available to stream on Starz
Genre: Action thrillerRun time: 1h 44mDirector: John WooCast: Joel Kinnaman, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, Catalina Sandino Moreno
It’s a Christmas movie! Also an action thriller about a man who has limited use of his vocal cords who decides to avenge the death of his son, who was killed by a gang in a drive-by shooting on Christmas Eve. It’s also John Woo’s first Hollywood movie in 20 years — we talked to him about it.
New to rent
Boy Kills World
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Dystopian action comedyRun time: 1h 51mDirector: Moritz MohrCast: Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery
A young man in a gritty dystopian future who has a love of video games is sent on a mission to destroy the city’s totalitarian ruler. From our review:
The film was largely built strictly for a specific brand of video game movie fans: It’s a checklist of retro beat-’em-up references and meta comedy tropes that some audiences are inevitably going to find broad, excessive, and off-putting, and some are going to find playful and energizing.
The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: ComedyRun time: 1h 28mDirector: Joanna ArrowCast: Joanna Arrow, Scott Cohen, Babak Tafti
50 Shades of Grey gets a mundane twist. A listless young woman drifts through life, looking for a more fulfilling sexual relationship when her on-again-off-again BDSM relationship doesn’t tickle her fancy anymore.
Poolman
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Comedy mysteryRun time: 1h 40mDirector: Chris PineCast: Chris Pine, Annette Bening, DeWanda Wise
Chris Pine directs this movie, in which he also stars as a pool cleaner inspired by Erin Brockovich who begins to pester his city council about improvements. Danny Devito and Annette Bening play the couple who owns the apartment complex where Pine’s character works, and they provide him with a parental relationship.
The post Disney’s Jim Henson doc, Boy Kills World, and every movie new to streaming this week appeared first on Polygon.
