The Creator, Blue Beetle, Netflix’s Rustin, and every new movie to watch this weekend

Happy Friday, Polygon readers!

Each week, we round up the most notable releases new to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

This week, The Creator, an original sci-fi action thriller from Rogue One director Gareth Edwards starring John David Washington and Gemma Chan, finally comes to streaming after its theatrical debut back in September. There’s plenty of other exciting releases this week, with the DC superhero action film Blue Beetle landing on Max, the civil rights era biopic Rustin starring Colman Domingo premiering on Netflix, and the coming-of-age fantasy anime Suzume, one of the best movies of the year, now streaming on Crunchyroll. Not only that, but Barbie’s back — now at a reduced rental price! Plus, the onslaught of new Christmas movies begins.

Here’s everything new to watch this weekend.

New on Netflix

Best. Christmas. Ever!

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Photo: Scott Everett White/Netflix

Genre: Holiday comedy
Run time: 1h 20m
Director: Mary Lambert
Cast: Heather Graham, Brandy Norwood, Jason Biggs

This Christmas-themed comedy follows Charlotte (Heather Graham), a woman who is sick and tired of her estranged college friend Jackie’s (Brandy Norwood) yearly newsletter about her seemingly picture perfect life. So, she turns up on Jackie’s doorstep to catch her in a lie, only to find herself on a journey of humility and healing as she discovers the true meaning of the holidays and friendship.

Rustin

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Photo: David Lee/Netflix

Genre: Biopic drama
Run time: 1h 46m
Director: George C. Wolfe
Cast: Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Jeffrey Wright

Colman Domingo stars in this historical biopic on the life of Bayard Rustin, a civil rights activist who mentored Martin Luther King Jr. who was instrumental in organizing the 1963 March on Washington. The film explores Rustin’s origins in community organizing, his choice to live as a openly gay man, and the events leading up to the 1963 march.

Mutt

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Strand Releasing

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 27m
Director: Vuk Lungulov-Klotz
Cast: Lío Mehiel, Cole Doman, Mimi Ryder

This drama follows a day in the life of Feña, a trans man, who rekindles his relationship with his straight ex-boyfriend and his estranged father and younger sister after having lost touch with them following his transition.

New on Hulu

Black Ice

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

Image: Lionsgate Films

Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 36m
Director: Hubert Davis
Cast: P.K. Subban, Marcel Albers

This documentary chronicles the longstanding history of racism in professional hockey through the stories of both current and former Black players like Willie O’Ree, Akim Aliu, P.K. Subban, and more.

Kandahar

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

Image: Open Road

Genre: Action
Run time: 1h 59m
Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Cast: Gerard Butler, Navid Negahban, Ali Fazal

Gerard Butler reunites with stuntman turned director Ric Roman Waugh (Greenland) for this multidimensional war story about a CIA operative trying to make his way to Kandahar, Afghanistan, after his cover is blown, with the help of a translator (Navid Negahban, who is fantastic in this movie).

New on Paramount Plus

Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie

Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus

Image: Paramount Pictures

Genre: Action adventure
Run time: 1h 35m
Director: Cal Brunker
Cast: Mckenna Grace, Taraji P. Henson, Marsai Martin

The Paw Patrol is back — this sequel to the first movie sees the pups get superpowers in their quest to stop Mayor Humdinger from destroying Adventure City.

New on Max

Blue Beetle

Where to watch: Available to stream on Max

Image: Warner Bros./DC Comics

Genre: Superhero action
Run time: 2h 7m
Director: Ángel Manuel Soto
Cast: Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar

DC Comics’ latest movie was intended as a straight-to-streaming project for Max. But Warner Bros. Discovery’s new management upgraded it with a theatrical release, bringing beloved superhero Jaime Reyes, Guillermo del Toro Easter eggs, and a prestigious stunt team to the big screen.

From our review:

Blue Beetle is a charming romp of a film, but it’s desperately trying to punch above its weight class, peppering its story with constant nods to the Latin American experience, while also delivering the action and comic book Easter eggs expected of superhero cinema.

New on Crunchyroll

Suzume

Where to watch: Available to stream on Crunchyroll

Image: CoMix Wave Films

Genre: Coming-of-age fantasy adventure
Run time: 2h 2m
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Cast: Nanoka Hara, Hokuto Matsumura, Eri Fukatsu

Makoto Shinkai (Your Name, Weathering With You) is back with another animated fantasy romance adventure about young people struggling with supernatural forces and the general ennui of youth. When high school student Suzume crosses paths with Souta Munakata, a mysterious wanderer on a quest to seal a series of magical doors around Japan to avert disaster, she joins him on his quest in an effort to save her home.

Also, Souta is transformed into a sentient chair by a malevolent cat. It’s complicated.

From our review,

Suzume is about processing trauma and finally learning to live. Even after the movie’s turning point, Suzume is still recklessly throwing herself into danger to save others. Like Your Name and Weathering With You, Shinkai’s latest sees its young heroes racing against time to stop an impending disaster. But some key differences in Suzume make the final act cinch together in a way that soars above the previous two movies. Suzume has a personal connection to the looming catastrophe, one that snugly wraps around her entire character journey. The event itself feels vast and all-encompassing, but because the movie focuses on her instead of on the action, it gives the payoff more emotional impact. And when Suzume steps up to fight her battles, it’s less about making a dramatic choice or defying all odds. She simply reframes what she’s trying to do in a way that feels more personal than most action heroes’ journeys. She doesn’t want to give her life to save the world; she just wants to stay in it.

New on Peacock

Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain

Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock

Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 31m
Director: Paul Briganti
Cast: Nichole Sakura, John Goodman, Gaten Matarazzo

Produced by Judd Apatow, this new comedy follows the story of three childhood friends who embark on a search for a long-forgotten treasure. Narrated by John Goodman, Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain also features performances by Meg Stalter (Hacks), X Mayo (The Blackening), and Bowen Yang (Dicks: The Musical). Even Conan O’Brien makes an appearance!

New on AMC Plus

Biosphere

Where to watch: Available to stream on AMC Plus

Image: IFC Films

Genre: Sci-fi drama
Run time: 1h 46m
Director: Mel Eslyn
Cast: Sterling K. Brown, Mark Duplass

This sci-fi comedy follows two men who finds themselves the last living human beings on Earth, trapped inside a self-sustaining biosphere. Frightened by their predicament, they must find a way to forge ahead and come up with a new way to ensure the survival of the human race.

New to rent

The Creator

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: 20th Century Studios

Genre: Sci-fi action
Run time: 2h 15m
Director: Gareth Edwards
Cast: John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe

Rogue One director Gareth Edwards returns with a new sci-fi action film, this time set in a universe where human beings wage war against sentient AI-controlled robots hiding out in Southeast Asia. John David Washington (Tenet) stars as an undercover agent who, while searching for the mysterious creator of the AI known only as “Nirmata,” is entrusted to care for a human-like robot (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) who may hold the key to winning the conflict.

From our review,

The Creator would be a wonderful video game. I mean that earnestly — video games are terrific for interacting with lore, with the bits and bobs of world-building that all storytellers spend years developing, but leave as subtext in the story proper. That can also be true of video games, but games of larger scope often flesh out their virtual worlds with said lore, which players are often free to roam and engage with. There are all sorts of ways that lore can become text — optional conversations with characters, diary and book excerpts to read, video or audio ephemera, all ambient and non-compulsory, a substrate where the player can find meaning whether the main narrative is fulfilling or not. The Creator is a fully realized future in the service of a rote story and flat characters that only gesture in compelling directions; I’d rather not bother with that story at all.

Your Lucky Day

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Well Go USA Entertainment

Genre: Action thriller
Run time: 1h 29m
Director: Daniel Brown
Cast: Angus Cloud, Jessica Garza, Elliot Knight

Late Euphoria star Angus Cloud is Sterling, a small-time drug dealer who steals a winning lottery ticket worth 156 million dollars. After shooting a cop and taking the witnesses hostage, he finds himself in a deadly situation that could cost everyone involved not just their future, but their lives.

The Stones & Brian Jones

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Photo: John Hopkins/Magnolia Pictures

Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 33m
Director: Nick Broomfield
Cast: Nick Broomfield, Eric Burdon, Marianne Faithfull

This documentary follows the story of the Rolling Stones and the legacy of the band’s oft-forgotten founding member Brian Jones. As much about the culture of the rock era as it is about the band itself, Broomfield’s film features interviews with several of the remaining members of the band as well as contemporaries and fans.

Rent at a reduced price

Barbie

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Genre: Fantasy comedy
Run time: 1h 54m
Director: Greta Gerwig
Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Issa Rae

Hey, it’s Barbie! You know, Barbie — everyone’s favorite multi-hyphenate renaissance woman with a penchant for all things pink. After experiencing an inexplicable existential crisis, Barbie (Margot Robbie) embarks on a journey of self-discovery to find the root of the problem, and Ken (Ryan Gosling) decides to tag along! What could go wrong?

From our review:

Barbie starts off slow, doing the work of establishing the cutesy realm of Barbieland so there’s a clear, dark contrast when the film eventually enters Reality. But even in this opening act, Gosling swipes each scene from the sidelines, his face wracked by the near-constant heartbreak of Barbie’s lack of interest in him. As a viewer, I was far more drawn to his arc, even as I worried, Is it a bad thing that Ken is the best thing about the Barbie movie?