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 Witcher animated movie, featuring the return of Geralt’s video game voice actor, the excellent animated movie Flow, about a cat escaping a flood, the filmed version of Waitress: The Musical, the latest Bridget Jones movie, an Apple TV Plus thriller featuring Anya Taylor-Joy as a crack sniper who fights monsters, and more.
Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Animated fantasy Run time: 1h 31mDirector: Kang Hei ChulCast: Doug Cockle, Anya Chalotra, Emily Carey
Based on one of the best short stories author Andrzej Sapkowski ever wrote in his Witcher universe (“A Little Sacrifice”), this new animated movie follows Geralt and Jaskier as the Witcher attempts to deal with an age-old conflict between a kingdom of humans and the people of the sea that live nearby. Animated by the same team that made 2021’s The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, Sirens of the Deep is sure to have some pretty fantastic action, and as an added bonus for longtime Witcher fans, actor Doug Cockle will be reprising his role of Geralt from the video game series.
New on Max
Flow
Where to watch: Available to stream on Max
Genre: Animated cat adventureRun time: 1h 25m Director: Gints ZilbalodisCast: N/A
Flow is a post-apocalyptic Homeward Bound, where one little dark grey kitty tries to find its way in a flooding world. The cat joins up with a grumpy capybara, an overly-friendly Labrador, an inquisitive lemur, and an aloof secretary bird. On a lonely little boat, they navigate the rising waters. It’s told entirely without dialogue and just through the amazingly animated body language of the animal main characters.
Waitress the Musical
Where to watch: Available to stream on Max
Genre: Musical comedyRun time: 2h 24mDirector: Brett Sullivan (live film), Diane Paulus (stage)Cast: Sara Bareilles, Drew Gehling, Joe Tippett
Waitress: The Musical is the professional live stage recording of Waitress, which is a Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, which is based on the 2007 movie Waitress. Like the original movie, Waitress: The Musical follows a small town waitress trapped in an abusive marriage as she navigates an unexpected pregnancy and dreams of escaping. The live stage recording stars Bareilles, who took up the role during a very limited run in 2021 that was staged as part of an effort to slowly reopen Broadway after COVID-19.
New on Peacock
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock
Genre: Romantic comedyRun time: 2h 4mDirector: Michael MorrisCast: Renée Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Hugh Grant
If you thought this was yet another Bridget Jones movie where she’s caught between Colin Firth’s Mark Darcy and another man, you’d be wrong! Because Mark is dead! What! (It seems that Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver is alive). The movie picks up roughly four years after Mark’s death, as Bridget tips her toe back into the dating pool. Sparks fly between her and a 29-year old hottie — but she’s also got some mad chemistry with a teacher at her children’s school. What’s a gal to do? Unlike every other time, apparently she won’t end up with Mark :’)
New to Hulu
Longlegs
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Satanic horrorRun time: 1h 41mDirector: Osgood PerkinsCast:Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood
One of the strangest and most interesting horror movies of last year, Longlegs follows a young woman in the FBI who stumbles on a breakthrough on a serial killer cold case that has baffled the agency for years. But the deeper she gets into the case, the closer to hell she feels — thanks in no small part to the killer himself, played by Nicolas Cage. For all the darkness of Longlegs though, the real surprise is just how funny this movie is, and how often that can play into the discomfort the movie is aiming for too.
Omni Loop
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Sci-fi dramaRun time: 1h 52,Director: Bernardo BrittoCast: Mary-Louise Parker, Ayo Edebiri, Carlos Jacott
Omni Loop follows a time travel researcher named Zoya (Mary-Louise Parker) who gets told that she’s only got a few days left to live, thanks to a black hole that’s growing in her chest. To prevent her fate, she enlists the help of Paula (Ayo Edebiri), who helps her research mysterious pills that allow the person who takes them to enter a time loop.
Sly Lives!
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Music documentaryRun time: 1h 52mDirector: QuestloveCast: André 3000, Chaka Khan, George Clinton
Sly Lives is a documentary all about Sly and the Family Stone. But even if you aren’t already familiar with the groundbreaking band, director Questlove brings in an all-star cast of musical collaborators to help you understand including, André 3000, Chaka Khan, George Clinton, Q-Tip, D’Angelo, Ruth Copeland, Clive Davis, and more.
New to Apple TV Plus
The Gorge
Where to watch: Available to stream on Apple TV Plus
Genre: Sci-fi, action, romanceRun time: 2h 7mDirector: Scott DerricksonCast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Miles Teller, Sigourney Weaver
The Gorge sits at the exact intersection of a lot of different genres. It’s part sci-fi movies, part action, part horror, and at least half romance, and it manages to balance each of them surprisingly well. The film follows two snipers (played by Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller) who sit on opposites sides of a massive Gorge and are told to kill anything that tries to get out. As the two get to know each other from across the divide, they also get to know the horror they’re guarding the world from too.
New to rent
Better Man
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Monkey-based music biopicRun time: 2h 15mDirector: Michael GraceyCast: Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton
We’re in the era where musicians have decided that boring biopics are out, and ones with a weird twist are in. Pharrell made his a Lego movie. And Robbie Williams decided that he was going to tell his life story where everything was mostly the same, except he just happens to be a chimpanzee. No other character comments on this. He just is a monkey. This does allow him to play himself for most of the movie, so hey! That’s a great hack, since there was no way Bob Dylan could play his younger unwashed vagabond self the way Timotheé Chalamet did.
One of Them Days
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Buddy comedy Run time: 1h 37mDirector: Lawrence LamontCast: Keke Palmer, SZA, Vanessa Bell Callow
Sza and Keke Palmer star in this buddy comedy, where they play two best friends who have one day to find the $1500 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.
Hard Truths
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: DramaRun time: 1h 37mDirector: Mike LeighCast: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber
In this English comedy-drama, two sisters with vastly different personalities grapple with the anniversary of their mother’s death. Pansy (Marianna Jean-Baptiste) is bitter and depressed, and so anxious that she rarely leaves the house. Jovial Chantelle (Michele Austin) is one of the few people who constantly sticks by her side. Hard Truths premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival to critical acclaim, especially Jean-Baptiste’s performance.
The post New Witcher on Netflix, Flow, and every movie new to streaming this week appeared first on Polygon.
