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.
This week, Beverly Hills Cop 4: Axel Foley, the new buddy cop action film starring Eddie Murphy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, debuts on Netflix alongside The Imaginary, the latest animated fantasy from former Studio Ghibli animator turned director Yoshiyuki Momose. There’s tons of other exciting releases this week, including Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire on Max, Space Cadet on Prime Video, the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black on Peacock, and much more.
Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
Beverly Hills Cop 4: Axel Foley
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Action comedyRun time: 1h 55mDirector: Mark MolloyCast: Eddie Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige
Eddie Murphy reprises his role as police detective Alex “Axel” Foley in the first Beverly Hills Cop sequel in 30 years. This time, Axel teams up with Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), his new partner and his estranged daughter’s ex-boyfriend, to get to the heart of a conspiracy that threatens all of Los Angeles.
The Imaginary
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix July 5
Genre: FantasyRun time: 1h 45mDirector: Yoshiyuki MomoseCast: Kokoro Terada, Rio Suzuki, Sakura Ando
From Studio Ponoc, the Japanese animation studio behind Mary and the Witch’s Flower, The Imaginary follows a young girl and her imaginary friend as they dive deeper into the vibrant world of the girl’s imagination. But every imaginary friend faces the same looming fate: disappearing if their creator forgets them.
From our review:
The Imaginary isn’t as visually or narratively rich as Mary and the Witch’s Flower, or as transcendent as Miyazaki projects like The Boy and the Heron. But it does feel like a move in the right direction for Ponoc, an effort at finding its own voice and its own footing. It may not be remembered decades from now with the same fond fervor as Ghibli’s early projects, but if Ponoc keeps experimenting and keeps branching out, it might well be remembered as the first step toward forming its own distinctive creative legacy, and stepping out from under Ghibli’s shadow. In the meantime, it’s a giddily thrilling experience for young anime fans, a movie aimed at visualizing what it feels like to daydream as a kid, to enter a world of absolute imagination where everything else falls away.
Goyo
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix July 5
Genre: Romance dramaRun time: 1h 46mDirector: Marcos CarnevaleCast: Nicolás Furtado, Nancy Dupláa, Soledad Villamil
This Argentinian romantic drama follows a young autistic museum guide who falls for his charming new co-worker Eva. She’s been burned by love before, but the two of them get swept up in an unexpected whirlwind of emotions as they figure out how to make their relationship work.
New on Hulu
The Monk and the Gun
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu July 5
Genre: Comedy dramaRun time: 1h 47mDirector: Pawo Choyning DorjiCast: Tandin Wangchuk, Deki Lhamo, Pema Zangmo Sherpa
Set in Bhutan during the mid-2000s in the wake of the king’s abdication, this satirical comedy follows the story of a young monk and an American gun collector who vie for possession of a rare antique rifle. Meanwhile, the people of Bhutan hold mock elections in their hesitant transition from living in a monarchy to a democracy.
New on Max
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Where to watch: Available to stream on Max July 4
Genre: Monster actionRun time: 1h 55mDirector: Adam WingardCast: Godzilla, Kong, Rebecca Hall
The boys are back in town — the boys being Godzilla and Kong, of course. Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard returns for this team-up movie, where the big lads must work together to stop an invasion from Hollow Earth.
From our review:
Godzilla x Kong (yes, it’s styled like that, like a streetwear collab) is beyond “good” or “bad” or “movies.” It’s an arena show, a pro wrestler shouting in the squared circle, thumping their chest and raising the jumbotron hype meter before doing their signature move. Through brutally efficient pacing that minimizes what the script doesn’t care about (people, mostly) and maximizes what it does (giant monsters doing wrestling moves), it constantly eschews connection in favor of escalation. It’s an achievement in absurd spectacle, a comically silly way to spend $135 million. I hope Warner Bros. keeps burning money this way.
New on Prime Video
Space Cadet
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video July 4
Genre: Rom-comRun time: 1h 50mDirector: Liz W. GarciaCast: Emma Roberts, Tom Hopper, Poppy Liu
Director Liz W. Garcia absolutely had Legally Blonde on the mind when she envisioned Space Cadet. Florida party girl Rex (Emma Roberts) finally gets a chance to fulfill her dreams of becoming an astronaut — except she doesn’t realize her best friend tweaked her resume. But she’s determined to see the stars, so she throws herself into NASA’s rigorous astronaut candidate program with a whole lot of heart and moxie.
New on MGM Plus
Snack Shack
Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus
Genre: ComedyRun time: 1h 52mDirector: Adam RehmeierCast: Conor Sherry, Gabriel LaBelle, Mika Abdalla
A loosely autobiographical coming-of-age comedy set in 1991, Snack Shack follows two teenage boys (The Fabelmans’ Gabriel LaBelle and newcomer Conor Sherry) who open up a poolside snack business one summer. They both fall for the same hot lifeguard, which tests their friendship — and their business.
New on Paramount Plus
Memory
Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus
Genre: DramaRun time: 1h 43mDirector: Michel FrancoCast: Jessica Chastain, Peter Sarsgaard, Merritt Wever
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) stars in this new film about a troubled social worker who meets Saul (Peter Sarsgaard), a former classmate who suffers from early-onset dementia. When she’s hired to care for Saul, they form an unlikely bond over their shared trauma.
New on Peacock
Back to Black
Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock July 5
Genre: Biopic dramaRun time: 2h 2mDirector: Sam Taylor-JohnsonCast: Marisa Abela, Eddie Marsan, Jack O’Connell
Back to Black follows the life of Amy Winehouse, specifically centered around her second album (Back to Black, hence the title) and her subsequent check-in to rehab. Marisa Abela stars as the iconic singer and rocks her signature beehive updo.
New to rent
Firebrand
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Historical dramaRun time: 2h 1mDirector: Karim AïnouzCast: Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Eddie Marsan
King Henry VIII is remembered for many things, but the most popular fact known about him is this: He married six women in his lifetime, two of which he had executed. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) stars in this historical drama as Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII (Jude Law), who must fight for her survival when the king’s behavior becomes more and more erratic and paranoid in the years preceding the end of his reign.
Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Historical dramaRun time: 2h 14mDirector: Marco BellocchioCast: Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi, Barbara Ronchi
Based on a true story, this historical drama chronicles the story of a young Jewish child in 19th-century Italy who was secretly baptized and abducted by the Pope to be raised Catholic. As his parents struggle in vain to bring him home, the boy’s abduction stirs a larger political battle between the papacy and proponents for the country’s unification.
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