Looking to settle in with a good movie? Me too. That’s why I’ve pored over release schedules to bring you the best original and new-to-streaming movies you can watch on Netflix, Prime, Max, Hulu, and other streaming platforms.
Wolfs (2024)
This action/comedy might overload your television with charisma, charm, and chiseled jaws. Wolfs features bonafide movie stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney playing criminal fixers who’ve always worked alone. But a job covering up a high-profile crime forces the opposites to work together, and when things get crazy, they’ll have to cooperate if they hope to make it through the night.
Where to stream: Apple TV+
Apartment 7A
A prequel to horror masterpiece Rosemary’s Baby, Apartment 7A is an early Halloween treat for horror fans. This flick invites us to revisit old fiends Roman and Minnie Casteve, fun-loving New York oldsters who love befriending young, fertile women who move into apartment 7A down the hall—I think they might be up to something. Purists may scoff at anyone other than Ruth Gordon playing Minnie or anyone other than Roman Polanski directing, but snobbery and horror movies are a bad fit; better to enjoy the nostalgia, or at least give it a hate-watch.
Where to stream: MGM+
Will & Harper
In Will & Harper, GOAT comedian Will Ferrell and writer Harper Steele take a long drive in a car. Steele and Ferrell have worked together and been close friends for 30 years, and the two decided to take this cross-country trip when Ferrell learned his old friend was coming out as a trans woman; so they have a lot to talk about. Will & Harper has a rare perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Where to stream: Netflix
She Taught Love
This thoughtful film is a modern take on a premise that’s worked for romantic comedies since Shakespeare. Darrell Britt-Gibson and Arsema Thomas play Frank Cooper and Mali Waters, two very different people who fall in love. Cooper is a barely employed actor who fills his time between roles with booze and women. Thomas is a driven career woman on a mission to take over the world. Can these star-crossed lovers learn to embrace each others’ differences and get to their happy ending?
Where to stream: Hulu
Last week’s picks
His Three Daughters
In this drama, three estranged sisters return to their family home because their father is dying. Gathered at their father’s deathbed, the three sisters confront old resentment and try to forge new understandings as they wrestle with the meaning of death and family. With performances from powerhouse actresses Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Poker Face), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene, Kodachrome), and Carrie Coon (The Leftovers, The Nest), His Three Daughters looks promising.
Where to stream: Netflix
Challengers (2024)
In Challengers, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor play Art and Patrick, a pair of elite tennis players competing for the affections of Tashi, played by Zendaya. When top-ranked tennis player Art’s career begins to falter, his wife/coach Tashi comes up with an innovative motivational strategy: Set up a match between him and Patrick, her ex-boyfriend and Art’s ex-best friend. This sets up the kind of sexy triangle that earns critical raves.
Where to stream: Prime
I Saw the TV Glow (2024)
Director Jane Schoenbrun (We’re All Going to the World’s Fair) continues her examination of the dread and terror that hide behind the pixels in the digital world with I Saw the TV Glow, a psychological horror film about a sinister late-night television show called The Pink Opaque. Produced by A24, I Saw the TV Glow is one of those “elevated” horror movies, so if you’re a horror fan with more than two brain cells to rub together, give it a shot.
Where to stream: Max
Giallo!
The Criterion Channel is celebrating Halloween early with a blood-soaked treat for horror fans: a collection of some of the best Giallo movies ever made. This sub-genre of horror had its best days in the 1960s and 70s when Italian directors like Mario Bava and Dario Argento reimagined horror films as exercises in cinematic maximalism. The combination of psychedelic visuals and over-amped soundtracks with lurid plots full of stalking and murder (but often absent of logic) resulted in truly unique movies. In keeping with the too-much-isn’t-enough ethos of the genre, Criterion is streaming 13 Giallo classics in September:
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)
Blood and Black Lace (1964)
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
In the Folds of the Flesh (1970)
All the Colors of the Dark (1972)
Death Walks at Midnight (1972)
Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972)
Who Saw Her Die? (1972)
Torso (1973)
What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (1974)
Deep Red (1975)
Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975)
Tenebrae (1982)
