This week Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the highly anticipated follow-up to Ryan Coogler’s 2018 superhero film Black Panther, is finally available to stream on Disney Plus. There’s plenty more new releases to discover and enjoy via streaming this weekend, let alone rent or purchase on VOD.
We’ve got the experimental horror film Skinamarink streaming on Shudder in the wake of grossing more than $1.5 million at the box office, we’ve got a new musical comedy on Netflix about a singing crocodile who lives in New York City and loves bubble baths, and we’ve got the romantic comedy-drama Sam & Kate starring Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek on Hulu. That’s not all — on VOD this week we have the release of Alice, Darling, the new psychological thriller starring Anna Kendrick; Bones and All for a reduced price; and Plane, the explosive action thriller starring Gerard Butler and Mike Colter (Evil) as two unlikely allies forced to take up arms against a band of mercenary kidnappers when their plane crash-lands in the Philippines.
Here are the new movies available for you to watch at home this weekend.
New on Netflix
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Musical comedy
Run time: 1h 46m
Directors: Will Speck, Josh Gordon
Cast: Javier Bardem, Constance Wu, Winslow Fegley
Based on Bernard Waber’s bestselling book series, Will Speck and Josh Gordon’s live-action CG musical comedy follows Josh (Winslow Fegley), a lonely boy who moves to New York City with his family and meets and adopts a singing crocodile that loves baths. When Mr. Grumps, the resident neighborhood curmudgeon, plots to have Josh’s family evicted, they’ll will have to band together to stop him and save Lyle. If that’s not enough to move the needle for you, at one point Javier Bardem shows up in the film looking like this.
Minions: The Rise of Gru
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Family comedy
Run time: 1h 27m
Director: Kyle Balda
Cast: Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Michelle Yeoh
The minions are back in this sequel to 2015’s prequel Minions, and they have plenty of new friends along for the ride. Michelle Yeoh, Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson, Julie Andrews, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Dolph Lundgren are among the many legendary performers who lent their voice talents to this one, which follows an 11-year-old Gru (Steve Carell) as he hopes to achieve his dreams of becoming a supervillain.
From our review:
In the final moments of Minions: The Rise of Gru, the vast array of Minions sing a garbled version of The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” which is perhaps a bit too much, creatively speaking, in a summer when the family-movie options have been both infrequent and unsatisfying. Minions: The Rise of Gru is a dutiful brand deposit, a spinoff that does indeed give us more of an idea of how a little kid with a Boris Badenov-style accent turned into a supervillain. Like the song implies, the film doesn’t give grown-ups what we want, in that The Rise of Gru isn’t notably entertaining or hilarious. It isn’t really what we need, either. But in a summer movie season with paltry pickings, it’ll do in terms of a providing brief balm from the outside heat, even if it’s just a very quick fix.
New on Disney Plus
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Where to watch: Available to stream on Disney Plus
Genre: Superhero action/drama
Run time: 2h 41m
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira
Ryan Coogler’s follow-up to 2018’s Black Panther follows the Wakandan princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Queen-Mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) as they mourn the sudden death of King T’Challa — and with him the loss of Wakanda’s ancestral protector, the Black Panther. When a powerful new force arises from the ocean to threaten war against the surface world, Shuri and her allies will have to fight to protect Wakanda from certain destruction.
From our review:
Coogler’s sequel is a more somber affair than 2018’s Black Panther, but it has its moments of levity, which arguably shine brighter here because of that darkness. In the absence of T’Challa, Shuri finds camaraderie in the company of Okoye (Danai Gurira), the general of the Dora Milaje honor guard, and T’Challa’s former lover Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), an older-sister figure who offers consolation and commiseration. Shuri’s rapid bond with Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), an MIT student and fellow child prodigy, offers her something she’s never had before: a friend who understands what it’s like to be young, Black, and exceptional in a world that casually resents people who are any of those things, let alone all three.
New on Prime Video
Orphan: First Kill
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Genre: Horror
Run time: 1h 39m
Director: William Brent Bell
Cast: Isabelle Fuhrman, Julia Stiles, Matthew Finlan
One of the best entries in an excellent year of horror movies, Orphan: First Kill is the delayed follow-up to 2009’s Orphan, with Isabelle Fuhrman returning to play one of the most delightful killers in modern horror.
From our review:
In spite of all conventional wisdom, Orphan: First Kill is a phenomenal slasher sequel. By finding the pitch-perfect tonal balance between bloodshed and fun, without ever slipping into outright comedy, First Kill winds up as a better, smarter, and more fully realized film than the original, and one of the best horror movies of the year.
New on Hulu
Gigi & Nate
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Family drama
Run time: 1h 54m
Director: Nick Hamm
Cast: Marcia Gay Harden, Charlie Rowe, Josephine Langford
A young man finds renewed hope after becoming quadriplegic from Gigi — a quirky and inquisitive capuchin monkey who serves as his service animal. Look, the monkey’s drinking from a straw! Aww, that’s so cute.
New on Peacock
Sam & Kate
Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock
Genre: Comedy/drama
Run time: 1h 50m
Director: Darren Le Gallo
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Sissy Spacek, Jake Hoffman
Jake Hoffman stars in this romantic comedy-drama as Sam, a man who falls in love with a woman named Kate (Schuyler Fisk) after moving back home to look after his ailing father, Bill (Dustin Hoffman, Jake’s real-life father). At the same time, Bill finds himself falling for Tina (Sissy Spacek), who happens to be Kate’s mother. Things get even more complicated from there, as Sam and his father must heal from their past trauma in order to accept love in their hearts.
Spoiler Alert
Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock
Genre: Romantic drama
Run time: 1h 52m
Director: Michael Showalter
Cast: Jim Parsons, Ben Aldridge, Sally Field
Based on Michael Ausiello’s 2017 memoir, Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) and Ben Aldridge (Fleabag) star as Ausiello himself and his late partner, Kit Cowan. After 14 years together, Michael and Kit’s relationship is upended by the latter’s life-threatening diagnosis. The film chronicles the hurdles and challenges of the couple navigating this difficult period in their lives, all the while growing closer together because of it. If you’re looking for a comparison point, think 2020’s Supernova starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci, or director Michael Showalter’s previous movie, The Big Sick.
New on AMC Plus
God’s Country
Where to watch: Available to stream on AMC Plus
Genre: Neo-western/thriller
Run time: 1h 42m
Director: Julian Higgins
Cast: Thandiwe Newton, Dan Gravage, Tanaya Beatty
Thandiwe Newton (Reminiscence, Westworld) stars in this new neo-western thriller as Sandra, a college professor who finds herself menaced by two local hunters in an escalating psychological battle after catching them trespassing on her property.
New on Showtime
Breaking
Where to watch: Available to stream on Showtime
Genre: Thriller/drama
Run time: 1h 43m
Director: Abi Damaris Corbin
Cast: John Boyega, Nicole Beharie, Selenis Leyva
John Boyega stars in Abi Damaris Corbin’s 2022 thriller as Brian Brown-Easley, a Marine Corps veteran who threatens to blow up a Wells Fargo bank in order to receive money he is owed from Veterans Affairs.
Inspired by a real-life story, Breaking also notably features the late Michael K. Williams, in one of his final roles, as Eli Bernard, a police officer sympathetic to Brown-Easley’s plight attempting desperately to deescalate the hostage situation.
New on Shudder
Skinamarink
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder
Genre: Experimental horror
Run time: 1h 40m
Director: Kyle Edward Ball
Cast: Lucas Paul, Dali Rose Tetreault, Ross Paul
Director Kyle Edward Ball’s debut experimental horror feature follows two young siblings who wake up in the middle of the night to find their parents missing and all the windows and doors to their house having disappeared. That’s not all, though: Something else is inside the house… and it wants them to come upstairs.
From our review:
The ambiguity of the film’s terror, which depends much more on sensation than explicitly scary figures or monsters, grabbed some viewers by the throats. Fans say it’s innovative in the way Ball creates a sense of dread from minimalist elements. Non-fans say it’s slow, trudging, and lacking in scares. All of which brings back The Blair Witch Project, which was similarly criticized as “boring” and “not scary” by viewers who bought into the advance hype around the film, then found it wasn’t what they expected from a horror movie.
New on Tubi
The Roundup
Where to watch: Available to stream for free with ads on Tubi
Genre: Action
Run time: 1h 46m
Director: Lee Sang-yong
Cast: Ma Dong-seok, Son Suk-ku, Choi Gwi-hwa
Ma Dong-seok (also known as Don Lee) is one of the most exciting action stars on the planet. He’s probably best known in the West for his roles in Eternals and Train to Busan, but the Crime City series has been a massive presence at the South Korean box office, and both movies are a rip-roaring good time.
The first movie in the series, The Outlaws, established Ma’s hard-hitting cop character. This follow-up was the top-grossing movie in South Korea in 2022, and soars on the back of Ma’s charm, charisma, and gigantic fists. Featuring one of the best fight scenes of 2022, The Roundup is a must-watch for any action fan.
New on VOD
Alice, Darling
Where to watch: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Drama/thriller
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Mary Nighy
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Kaniehtiio Horn, Charlie Carrick
Anna Kendrick stars in Mary Nighy’s new thriller as the eponymous Alice, a woman trapped in an abusive relationship with her controlling partner, Simon (Charlie Carrick). After going out for a weekend trip with two of her closest friends, Alice learns the truth — the trip is actually an intervention to break her codependency. Their efforts work… that is, until Simon shows up unexpectedly to bring her back home.
Babylon
Where to watch: Available to rent or purchase for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Drama
Run time: 3h 9m
Director: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Diego Calva, Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt
Director Damien Chazelle’s ode to his complicated love of the movies was one of the more polarizing releases of 2022, and not just because of the wild elephant poop scene. A no-holds-barred passion project about the high highs and low lows of the history of the movie industry, it was nominated for three Oscars, for costume design, production design, and score.
From our review:
It is easy to get caught up in the magic of movies and only see Jack Conrad, or Damien Chazelle — and if that’s all you see in Babylon, revulsion may come naturally. But Babylon is also concerned with what happens in the periphery of Hollywood’s white heroes. Chazelle shoots his stars with a lens wide enough that it’s not hard to see who lingers in the periphery, and the parts they have to play. Keep an eye on those people as they come and go, and Babylon becomes a cacophonous dirge for them, weeping for their anonymity in all the beauty that came at their expense. Their nitrate went up in flames and left us with lovely little lies of living forever.
House Party
Where to watch: Available to rent for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 41m
Director: Calmatic
Cast: Tosin Cole, Jacob Latimore, Karen Obilom
This remake of the 1990 Kid ’n Play classic is the feature debut of music video director Calmatic (best known for the “Old Town Road” music video), and stars Tosin Cole and Jacob Latimore as two young friends who get hired to clean LeBron James’ mansion. When they instead throw a party, things get wild. The litany of celebrity cameos includes Kid Cudi, Snoop Dogg, LeBron James and teammate Anthony Davis, and, of course, Kid ’n Play.
Plane
Where to watch: Available to rent for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Action thriller
Run time: 1h 47m
Director: Jean-François Richet
Cast: Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An
It’s plain as day (ba-dum-tss) what the premise of Jean-François Richet’s latest action thriller is about from the film’s title and trailer. But for those unfamiliar, here’s the gist: Gerard Butler (300) stars as Brodie Torrance, a commercial air pilot who crash-lands on an island in the Philippines when the engine of his plane is damaged. After the survivors of the crash are taken hostage by armed rebels, Torrance must to turn to Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), a former French Foreign Legion officer and convicted murderer, for help in rescuing the captives and finding a safe way home.
From our review:
Like an actual commercial aircraft, Plane does not look like much, but it’s also wildly efficient. Butler plays Brodie Torrance, a longtime pilot for the fictional Trailblazer Airways, knocking out one last New Year’s Eve flight before making his way to see his daughter for an overdue visit. Unfortunately, his lightly attended flight encounters two complications: Louis Gaspare (Evil’s Colter), an accused murderer being extradited by the FBI, and a severe storm that forces Brodie to crash-land on a remote island near the Philippines run by a ruthless warlord. When said warlord discovers the plane, he takes the passengers hostage, missing only Brodie and Louis. The movie unfolds from there with a simple mission: Get the passengers out, get them back on the plane, and figure out a way to get it back in the air and to safety again.
Bones and All
Where to watch: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Horror/romance
Run time: 2h 10m
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Cast: Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg
Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino and Timothée Chalamet team up once again for a romantic horror road movie about cannibalism that is in no way, shape, or form at all principally inspired by the life of any past collaborators whatsoever. Nope, forget it. Chalamet stars opposite Taylor Russell (Waves) as Lee, an intense young drifter with a hunger for human flesh who falls in love with a fellow hitchhiker (Russell) searching for belonging and certainty in a harsh and uncertain world.
From our review:
Beyond going in prepared for tremendous amounts of blood and some brief, intense violence, Bones and All is the kind of film that’s better experienced in the moment than in descriptions. Each new revelation about Maren’s past and present is unfolded carefully, in part because she doesn’t really understand her own nature, and has to learn about it alongside the audience. Screenwriter David Kajganich (a writer-producer-developer on the much-beloved horror series The Terror) never feels like he’s in a hurry to get to any particular part of the story. He and Guadagnino make plenty of room for Maren learning through conversations, first with new acquaintance Sully (Bridge of Spies’ Mark Rylance, once again disappearing into an incredible performance), then with newer acquaintance Lee (Chalamet), a world-wise boy about her age.