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!
New on Netflix
Back in Action
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Action comedyRun time: 1h 54mDirector: Seth GordonCast: 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.
Rifle Club
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Action comedyRun time: 1h 53mDirector: Aashiq AbuCast: 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.
New on Hulu
A Real Pain
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Comedy dramaRun time: 1h 30mDirector: Jesse EisenbergCast: 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.
From our review:
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.
New on Max
A Different Man
Where to watch: Available to stream on Max
Genre: Psychological thrillerRun time: 1h 52mDirector: Aaron SchimbergCast: 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?
New on Prime Video
Unstoppable
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Genre: Biographical sports dramaRun time: 1h 56mDirector: William GoldenbergCast: 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.
New on AMC Plus
Memoir of a Snail
Where to watch: Available to stream on AMC Plus
Genre: Stop-motion animationRun time: 1h 35mDirector: Adam ElliotCast: 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.
New on Shudder
Red Rooms
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder
Genre: Psychological thrillerRun time: 1h 58mDirector: Pascal PlanteCast: 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.
New to rent
Queer
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Period romantic dramaRun time: 2h 16mDirector: Luca GuadagninoCast: 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.
Kraven the Hunter
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Superhero actionRun time: 2h 7mDirector: J.C. ChandorCast: 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!
From our review:
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?
Bloody Axe Wound
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Horror comedyRun time: 1h 23mDirector: Matthew John LawrenceCast: 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.
Ghost Cat Anzu
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: DramaRun time: 1h 37mDirectors: Yōko Kuno, Nobuhiro YamashitaCast: 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.
From our review:
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.
The post Queer, Red Rooms, Netflix’s Back in Action, and every movie new to streaming appeared first on Polygon.
