Yes, I’m back, and after a long absence, it’s that time again, the weekend, and time to review the best new movies and television shows added online this week, to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. And there are some exciting new adds this week, so let’s get started.
HULU
Hulu‘s best recent add is The Other Black Girl, a 2023 mystery thriller series. This tells the tale of Nella, played by Sinclair Daniel, an editorial assistant at Wagner Books, isolated as the only black woman at her very white company, and so, is delighted when Hazel(Ashleigh Murray) comes on board. But Nella begins to notice something odd about Hazel, which only accentuates the other very weird goings on at her place of employment, and it’s not just systemic racism. Eric McCormack, Brittany Adebumola, Hunter Parrish and Bellamy Young also star, and there are 10 eerie (and humorous) half hour episodes to enjoy now. Based on Zakiya Dalila Harris’ bestselling novel, this thrilling series gets an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Judy Berman of Time mag wrote “TV that hits all its technical marks is easy to find these days. Shows like The Other Black Girl, which raise insightful questions and leave you pondering, remain all too rare.” And I’m definitely watching. But Hulu also has Better, a 2023 British crime drama series. Leila Farzad stars here as Yorkshire DI Lou Slack, a corrupt cop who has routinely taken payoffs from drug dealer Col McHugh(Andrew Buchan) for decades. But when her son Owen nearly dies from a serious illness, Lou begins to feel her consciences tugging, and so starts changing her life. But can she survive her change of heart with her career, her family, or even her life intact? Samuel Edward-Cook,Zak Ford-Williams ,Cel Spellman and Olivia Nakintu also star, and there are 4 gripping episodes available now. And this series gets an impressive 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Sean O’Grady of the Independent (UK) said “It is as if Farzad and Buchan are gradually tightening the screws on one another’s characters, scene by scene, and line by line: there is a great sense of impending mutual destruction between these protagonists.” So I’m tuning in. Hulu has also added Theater Camp, the 2023 comedy. Here is a mockumentary about AdirondACTS, a drama camp for kid‘s, staffed by former campers like Amos (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon), who failed to become the big stars the camp had promised. Nevertheless, they return each year to impose their dubious wisdom and bitterness on their charges, energetically played by kids like Luke Islam, Alan Kim and Bailee Bonick. In the end, they have to ‘put on a show!’ to save the camp, which doesn’t go quite like an Andy Hardy movie. Nathan Lee Graham, Owen Thiele, Jimmy Tatro and Caroline Aaron also star, and Platt, Gordon and Nick Lieberman, helped co-write the script, while Gordon and Lieberman directed. And this movie won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival , and gets a 7.1/10 on IMDb. Amy Nicholson of the New York Times called it a “bitterly funny mockumentary,” and I’m definitely tuning in. And, finally, Hulu has the horrific new movie No One Will Save You, the 2023 horror movie from writer-director Brian Duffield. .Kaitlyn Dever stars as Brynn Adam, here, a young woman traumatized by loss, and isolated in her family home, until one night she experiences a home invasion of the third kind. And when she realizes these aliens are not as friendly as E.T., she runs for her life, trying to avoid the chaos the aliens bring, while perhaps coming to terms with her past. Zack Duhame, Ginger Cressman, Geraldine Singer and Rose Bianca Grue also star, and Will Files and Chris Terhune (Prey) handled the sound design. And it gets an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, with Connor Petrey of
Pop Culture Leftovers calling it “a terrific piece of sci-fi filmmaking allowing for the horror to flow through ours (the viewer) and the character’s veins, as the pressure to survive becomes exponentially more dire.” And I’m definitely watching.
NETFLIX
Netflix‘ newest big title added is Pain Hustlers, a 2023 drama. Emily Blunt(!) stars as Liza Drake, an unemployed single mom, forced to make ends meet as a stripper, and so, desperately accepts the offer of a pharmaceutical sales job from Pete (Chris Evans) while at work. When she finds that the job includes selling a fentanyl spray, Lonafen, developed by her boss, Dr. Neel (Andy Garcia), for cancer patients is to be pushed for everyone, she has her doubts, but the big paycheck foreseen turns her head. And so, while Lonafen takes off, due to her efforts, Liza’s life begins to unwind. Catherine O’Hara(!) plays a fellow salesperson, and Chloe Coleman, Brian d’Arcy James, Willie Raysor, Colby Burton and Jay Duplass(!) also star, while David Yates directs. But the satire here never really develops, leaving the end result a little flat. And so it gets only a 22% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle says “Emily Blunt is so emotionally present that she almost redeems the movie. She doesn’t, but she at least makes the first half of Pain Hustlers watchable.” Luckily, Netflix also offers Bodies, a 2023 British limited thriller series. This opens with DI Hasan (Amaka Okafor) finding a John Doe, dead and unclothed in 2023 London, with no clues, which is mysterious enough. But as the series progresses through time, three more detectives in London, discover the same body; in 1940, 1890 and 2053.And as Hasan investigates the three murders before her time, the mystery only deepens. Shira Haas, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd and Kyle Soller play the other detectives and Synnove Karlsen, Tom Mothersdale and Stephen Graham also star, and this is based on the graphic novel by Si Spencer. There are 8 absorbing episodes available for bingeing now, and this series gets an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian wrote “as the first episode came to an explosive end, I immediately started the next. And the next, and the next, and the next.” And I’m definitely watching. But, Netflix also has The Fall of the House of Usher , a 2023 horror series. Loosely(the very loosely) based on Edgar Allan Poe‘s classic short story, but updated, this revolves around the heirs of a pharmaceutical corporation, who come to their downfall through the evolution of the series. Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood) tells the eerie stories of his family’s rise through the sales of an opioid , and of the macabre fallout that followed. These come in short story form for each of the 8 episodes, with Poe stories like The Goldbug, Mask of the Red Death, and The Pit and the Pendulum. Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Carl Lumbly, Michael Trucco and Mark Hamill(!) star, and Mike Flanagan(The Haunting of Hill House!) directed 4 episodes, here, along with creating the whole series. And it gets a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 8.1/10 on IMDb. Leila Latif of The Guardian says “Mike Flanagan’s final Netflix offering is a spooky, grisly, sumptuously gothic treat” No, there’s no tale of The House of Usher here for true Poe fanatics, but plenty of top-notch Poe horror, for Halloween. But too scary for me. Luckily, Netflix has Fair Play, the2023 dramatic thriller. This considers the seemingly happy couple, Emily(Phoebe Dynevor)and Luke(Alden Ehrenreich), seriously but secretly involved against company rules at Manhattan hedge fund One Crest Capital, and after Luke proposes, all seems well. And when talk of a new promotion arises, and Luke’s name is mentioned, only to have Emily is called to the CEO’s office, and offered the job, instead. And, though Luke initially seems very supportive and egalitarian about the new job, the workplace soon erupts with sexist assumptions and insults. And the ideal relationship shows cracks at the seams that degrade swiftly into outright animosity and even violence. Eddie Marsan, Rich Sommer, Geraldine Somerville, Sebastian de Souza and Sia Alipour also star, and Chloe Domont directs. And this movie premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it created quite a stir, and was nominated for the Nominee Grand Jury Prize. And it gets an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Marya E. Gates of RogerEbert.com says Dumont’s “thrilling mastery of slow-burn tension, insightful examination of power dynamics in business and personal relationships, and creation of exceptional performances prove Domont to be a director with a singular voice.” It’s on my list. Netflix also offers The Conference, a 2023 Swedish comedic horror flick. This tells of a conference of greedy municipal workers planning the launch of a big shopping mall that will make them millions. Out in the middle of nowhere, the bigwigs plan for fun , while underlings like Lina( Katia Winter) try to meet their every demand. But when Lina learns that the group plans to stiff local farmers of compensation for the land they use, and tries to find out what’s going on, her superiors start to turn up dead. It seems a masked killer, with a machete, has his own sinister plans for the retreat. Eva Melander, Lola Zackow, Maria Sid, Adam Lundgren and Bahar Pars also star, while Patrik Eklund directs. And this movie gets a 71 % on Rotten Tomatoes, and Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com says “there’s an impressive economy to The Conference in how Eklund doesn’t waste time on speeches or slow burn his way to tension.” But, again, far too scary for me. And, finally, Netflix has the less horrific Kaala Paani: Dark Water, a 2023 thriller series. This takes place in the near future, on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands during a popular festival, when a mysterious illness suddenly breaks out, and Dr. Soudamini Singh(Mona Singh) seeks to treat the victims, along with tracing it’s origin. But that’s tough, as the area is isolated, and now cordoned off by authorities. And just when she starts to get to the bottom of what’s going on, the Lieutenant Governor of the Islands, Lt. General Zibran Qadri(Ashutosh Gowariker), is brought in, and takes control, and Dr. Singh finds all her patients released. Arushi Sharma, Sukant Goel, Amey Wagh, Arushi Sharma and Radhika Mehrprotra also star, and there are 8 exciting episodes available now. And thisseries gets an alarming 100 % on Rotten Tomatoes, and Lachmi Deb Roy of First Post writes ” It’s truly one of the best shows of the year.” So I’m definitely tuning in.
AMAZON
Amazon has it’s amazing new horror movie Totally Killer, a 2023 time-travelling horror flick. Here, 17 year-old Jamie, played by Kiernan Shipka(!), lives with her mother, Pam(Julie Bowen!), but is constantly annoyed by her overprotectiveness, borne out of her mom’s horrific experience with the infamous “Sweet Sixteen Killer,” 35 years earlier. So when the killer seemingly reappears, and Jamie goes out against her mom’s warnings, you know Jamie‘s going to meet up with trouble. But what you don’t know(til now) is that the teen ends up travelling back through time to 1987, thanks to her friend Amelia (Kelcey Mawema). And she befriends her teen mom, played by Olivia Holt, and might be able to save some lives, and spare Pam the pain she would have to endure the rest of her life. Charlie Gillespie, Randall Park, Lochlyn Munro, Troy L. Johnson and Liana Liberato also star, and Nahnatchka Khan directs. And this movie gets an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Ben Travis of Empire Magazine writes “it’s not a classic, but this colourful combination of Halloween and Back To The Future is undeniably a scream.” And it’s fun, so I’m watching. But Amazon also offers The Burial, the 2023 drama. Here, Tommy Lee Jones plays Jeremiah O’Keefe, a Mississippi funeral home chain owner, beset by troubles after he gets taken by a bigger company, who seem set on taking over his whole business. So he hires flashy Florida personal injury lawyer, Willie E. Gary, played by Jamie Foxx(!), presumably because he wants a black lawyer to impress a predominantly black jury. And while the opposing side laughs at Gary, and call him a clown, they bring in a black(and female) lawyer of their own, and things really heat up. Jurnee Smollett, Mamoudou Athie, Pamela Reed, Amanda Warren and Bill Camp also star, and Maggie Betts(Novitiate) directs. And this movie premiered in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, and gets an strong 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.1/10 on IMDb. Helen O’Hara of Empire Mag says it’s a “nuanced and intelligent legal drama that neatly combines big characters and big ideas. By focusing on wider issues of race and injustice, Betts finds continuing resonance in a case nearly 30 years old.” And Foxx is great. So I’m watching. And, finally, Amazon has added Polite Society, the 2023 British action comedy. Here, Londoner Ria Khan(Prita Kansara), determined to be a great martial artist and stunt woman, is cheered on only by her sister and best friend, Lena(Ritu Arya). So she is dismayed when Lena starts dating a wealthy suitor Ria can only describe as a ‘wanker,’ and when she discovers her family’s intentions for her sister, decides to save her from her terrible fate, marriage. She enlists her friends, and they set off to stop a wedding. Nimra Bucha, Akshay Khanna, Seraphina Beh, Ella Bruccoleri, Shona Babayemi and Shobu Kapoor also star, and Nida Manzoor wrote the script and directed, in her feature film debut. And this movie created great buzz at its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, and went on to win Best International Feature at the 2023 Florida Film Festival, and Manzoor winning the Directors to Watch award at the 2023 Palm Springs International Film Festival. And this film gets a notable 90% on Rotten Tomatoes with Monica Castillo of RogerEbert.com saying “Nida Manzoor’s riotously funny and action-packed film Polite Society is a bold feature debut that defies categorization.” And I agree, so I’m definitely tuning in.
So sit back and binge this weekend, on classics, old and new, on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Enjoy!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 