Yes, 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 has a hugely exciting add this week with La Chimera, the 2023 award-winning comedy/drama. Josh O’Connor plays Arthur, a wandering British archaeologist in 1980‘s Italy, hanging out with grave robbers, on the lookout for valuable Etruscan grave goods. Still mourning over his lost love, Beniamina (Yle Vianell), he goes to visit her mom, Flora (Isabella Rossellini!). But when he meets her singing student, Italia (Carol Duarte), he finds his shell of numbness begin to crack. And he wonders at his new life of looting, and if something more isn’t, once again, possible. Alba Rohrwacher, Luca Chikovani and Carol Duarte also star, while Alice Rohrwacher directed. and this movie was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, and went on to win Best Feature Film at the IndieLisboa International Independent Film Festival, and Prix Special du Jury Officiel at the 2023 Festival Cinéma Méditerranéen de Bruxelles. And it gets an outstanding 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.3/10 on IMDb. And Carlos Aguilar of the L.A. Times said “mournful yet exuberant, La Chimera is a towering work of art presented with the unassuming invitation of a warming summer morning.” So I’m definitely tuning in. Hulu has also added Immaculate, the 2023 horror flick. Sydney Sweeney(Euphoria) stars as Cecilia, a devout American nun, well intentioned, but naive, and beautiful, too, of course. But when she joins the My Lady of Sorrows home for retired nuns, the viewer quickly senses something wrong, with one nun even seemingly trying to escape. But as her new friend Sister Mary(Simona Tabasco) begins to question the occurrences around them, Cecilia doesn’t catch on. And when she finally awakes to the danger around her, it may be too late for her to escape. Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli and Giorgio Colangeli also star, and Michael Mohan directs. But though it gets a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Megan Novarro of Bloody Disgusting said “the film’s breakneck plotting, inert jump scare overreliance, and familiar tropes undermine a fierce performance by its lead.” You decide. Hulu has also added The Tyrant, a 2024 Disney+ K-drama thriller series. This revolves a round a secret Korean project, Tyrant, a project developing bioweapons to level the playing field for S. Korea, and it’s chief fixer, Lim Sang(Cha Seung-Won). And tensions are high at Tyrant, because a sample of their bioweapon has been leaked, after US demanded everything be destroyed. So as Tyrant Director Choe(Kim Seon-ho) works to retrieve the sample, Sang puts former Tyrant members on his kill list. And American agent Paul (Kim Kang-woo) looks to get in on the fun of looking for a bioweapon that would make its finder rich. Jo Yoon-su, Mu Jin-sung and Choi Jung-woo also star, and there are 4 episodes available now. And this series gets an outstanding 7.3/10 on IMDb, and Jonathon Wilson of Ready Steady Cut calls it ” too depth-averse and unoriginal to be memorable, but it’s an action-packed thriller for as long as it lasts.” And, finally Hulu has added Vigilante, a 2023 K-drama thriller series. Joo-hyuk Nam plays Ji-yong Kim, here, a young police officer who finds his frustration with the police system boiling over. And so he take the law into his own hands, with the bloody results painting the town red. As a journalist tries to uncover his true identity, the police search for the man that has become, unfortunately, a hero. So-jin Kim , Ji-tai Yoo, Koo Sung Ryeol and Seong-bong Ahn also star, and there are 8 episodes available now. And this series gets a shocking 7.7/10 on IMDb, though this series does not consider the morality or ethics of such vigilantism. And Terence Shea of SerieTotaal Mag writes “how taking the law into one’s own hands can go wrong and why the news should not encourage this is unfortunately not used. What remains is a flat hero-versus-crime-king story. However, the skill and originality of the fight scenes are beyond reproach.” So I won’t be watching, but you decide.
NETFLIX
Netflix has few big titles added this week, but they do have Love Next Door, a 2024 K-drama romcom series. Jung So-min stars here as Bae Seok-ryu, a young successful businesswoman seeking to change her life, after her collapse, by returning to her childhood home in S. Korea. But her past there was fraught with mistakes and missteps, so she’s not really welcome there by many. Her only hope is her former best friend, played by Jung Hae-in. But even he may not be so welcoming, and his mom is actively on the warpath against her. Kim Jae-eun, Yoon Ji-on and Park Ji-young also star, and there is 1 episode available now, with 11 more to come. And this series gets an amazing 9/10 on MyDramaList, and Neerja Choudhuri of the Midgard Times calls episode 1 “an entertaining start.” So I can’t wait for more. Netflix has also added Pearl, the 2018 slasher starring Mia Goth. Goth plays the title character, Pearl, a unhappy young woman stuck in Texas in 1911, and determined to do whatever it takes to becomes a star. David Corenswet, Tandi Wrights and Matthew Sunderland also star, and Ti West directed, along with co-writing the script with Goth(!). And it gets an 7/10 on IMDb, and David Jenkins of Little White Lies called it “one to chalk up to that small but delightful sub-genre of retro slasher weepies.” But this is a super-violent and gross movie, so needless to say, I won’t be watching. Luckily, Netflix also offers Daughters, a 2024 documentary. This takes place in a Washington, D.C. prison, where 4 daughters and their dads prepare for the Daddy Daughter Dance. In fact, the 4 girls, never named, asked prison officials to hold the dance, since they wanted the time with their father, that they rarely got. The girls take center stage here, with all of them traumatized by the long absence of a father, some much more than others. To qualify for the program, the dads complete parenting classes. But as the big event get closer, the girls get ready in fancy dress , while the dads worry about their dance skills, or clothes(their suits are supplied. And the after effects of this program are remarkable , with a recidivism rate for participants in this fatherhood program is around three percent. Its an impressive and heartbreaking view of how imprisonment impacts the whole family, beautifully directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae. And this movie won Best Documentary at the 2024 Miami Film Festival, and Best U.S. Documentary and Festival Favorite Award at this years Sundance Film Festival. And it gets an incredible 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.7/10 on IMDb. And Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair called it “an alternately shattering and hopeful look at family and the prison system. Patton and Rae spent years following their subjects, and the resulting portraits of lives in limbo are intimate and stirring.” I’m watching, again. Netflix also offers I Can’t Live Without You, the 2024 Spanish comedy. This tells the story of Carlos(Adrián Suar ) badly addicted to his new phone to the frustration of his wife, Adela, Paz Vega. As her disgust grows, as Carlos misses family wedding, graduations, etc., Adela finally leaves and threatens divorce, Carlos joins a phone addiction group. But his time there gives one little confidence that his detoxification will last. Eva Santolaria, Clara Alonso and Ramón Barea also star, while Santiago Requejo directs. And Martin Cyd mag says its “an ideal showcase for Adrián Suar’s comedic prowess, with a role seemingly tailor-made for him.” So I’m watching. And, finally, Netflix has Romance in the House, a2024 S. Korean romantic drama series. 11 years ago, Byeon Mi-rae’s husband Byeon Moo-jin disappeared without a word. And so Mi-rae, played by Son Na-eun, worked tirelessly to rebuild the household economy and feed her two kids. But when she ends up hospitalized from over-work ad returns home to find the house in ashes, with her landlord dead, it seems she is back to square one. But when her new landlord turns out to be her old husband, Moo-jin(Ji Jin-hee), Mir-ae is shocked. And when he wants to reunite, her irritation turns to confusion, as a suitor from work also seeks her favor. Kim Ji-soo, Choi Min-ho, Yoon San-ha, and Jung Woong-in also star, and there are 2 episodes available now, with 10 more to come. And this series gets a stunning7.8/10 on IMDb, and Neerja Chudhuri of the Midgard Times says “this masterful storytelling not only holds interest but also invites viewers to delve deeper into the characters’ lives and the unfolding drama, making it a compelling and engrossing experience.” So I’m tuning in.
AMAZON
Amazon‘s big title this week is Jackpot!, but with terrible reviews like “Jackpot! is so shrill, so frantic that it doesn’t let you turn your mind off. Instead, it grates on the brain,” from Bilge Ebiri of New York Mag, we’ll skip right to the other add this week, Night Swim, the 2024 horror flick. Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon star as Ray and Eve Waller, a couple who move with their two kids to a house with a pool, necessary for Ray‘s MS diagnosis, that ended his baseball career. And, soon, the pool seems to magically soothe and heal Ray, and his MS goes into remission. But, of course, an evil presence seems to inhabit the pool, as disappearances plague the house’s history, along with the death of a girl, Rebecca , there in 1992. And as the pool seems to have possessed Ray with a demonic spirit that threatens their children, Eve learns from a former owner of a terrible price the pool exacts from every inhabitant of the house. And she wonders if she can still save her husband, and her kids, from it’s evil influence. Gavin Warren, Jodi Long, Ayazhan Dalabayeva and Patrick Dempsey(!) also star, while Bryce Mcguire directs. But this movie too is plagued by bad reviews, and so gets just a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, Chris Vognar of Rolling Stone wrote “Night Swim eventually runs out of places to go, but not before it weds some sneaky character development to a few good, solid jump moments. It might not find an audience, but it deserves one.” So you decide. Luckily, Amazon has also added The Road Dance, a 2020 Scottish period drama. Based on a book of the same name by John MacKay, this tells of Kirsty, played by Hermione Corfield, a young woman in a crofting(tenant farming) community in the Outer Hebrides, dreaming of a better, more exciting existence in America during the opening days of WWI. Then she meets Murdo Macaulay(Will Fletcher), a young aspiring poet, whose dreams are interrupted by his being called up for war service. Still, their hopes are still intact as the town calls for a Road Dance before the boys go off to war. But that night an act of violence stops Kirsty in her tracks, and her life is upended by that trauma, and her inability to tell the truth about a taboo subject. David Brooks, Felicity Keenan, Morven Christie and Ali Fumiko Whitney also star, and Richie Adams directed. And this film has won several awards, including Best Film at the 2021 Edinburgh International Film Festival, Best Feature Film at the 2023 Sedona International Film Festival and Best Feature at the Manchester International Film Festival. And it gets an impressive 7/10 on IMDb, and Jane Freebury of the Canberra Times said “the commanding sense of place is most memorable in this naturalistic story of female bonding, a sweeping, sensitive melodrama about the consequences of a single violent act in a remote community.” So I’m tuning in. And, finally, Amazon has also made season 1 of The Serpent Queen available, from the Starz channel. This tells the story of the often misunderstood Catherine de Medici, played by Samantha Morton(!), who tells her own tory here, of a young woman(played by Liv Hill) , disliked and disrespected by her uncle Pope Clement(Charles Dance), and so married off to French Prince Henri(Alex Heath). And, with the French court’s hatred for the De Medici‘s, Catherine’s gets a cold welcome there, but she uses her wit and tenacity to slowly gain power and rise to become one of history’s most powerful queens. Colm Meaney, Amrita Acharia, Ludivine Sagnier and Sennia Nanua also star, and there are 8 episodes to eat up before September 1, when it all goes back to premium Starz territory. And this series won the Drama Series award at the 2023 Women’s Image Network Awards, and gets an astonishing 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.7/10 on IMDb. And Melanie McFarland of Salon.com said the series “distinguishes itself by rinsing away the cosmetics of royal etiquette and self-serious machination with bracing wit. Catherine may have been a mean woman, but she devised ways to enjoy herself — as should we.” And I’m definitely watchiing.
So sit back and binge this weekend, on classics, old and new, on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Enjoy!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 