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 huge add this week with Alien: Earth, the 2025 sci-fi horror series from FX. this takes place in the year 2120, two years before the 1979 original Alien took place, with corporations, instead of governments ruling Earth, and cyborgs and hybrid cyborgs mixing with humans. So, when a space ship crashes into Earth with something terrible onboard, the reaction is chaotic and disorganized. While soldiers respond, a mercenary group of human cyborg hybrids like Wendy(Sydney Chandler), also go in search of the invaders, under the lead of Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin). And what they find is the legendary, and lethal, invasive species. Alex Lawther, Timothy Olyphant, Essie Davis, and Babou Ceesay also star, and there are 2 episodes available now And this series gets a sparkling 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Kelly Lawler of USA Today says it “literally bringing things down to Earth, the series manages to preserve the aesthetics and feeling of Alien while creating a truly unique, compelling story.” So you know it’s too scary for me. Hulu also offers Sharp Corner, a 2024 thriller. Here, Josh (Ben Foster), his wife, Rachel (Cobie Smulders), and child, move to a new house in the suburbs. But that house is near a perilously sharp, and blind, corner, where accidents are a common occurrence, When one crash follows another, and a fatality finally occurs, Josh becomes obsessed with preparing for the next crash, with CPR and the like, determined to avoid any fatality. But his obsessions boil over, and threatens to break his own family apart. Gavin Drea, Alexandra Castillo, and Reid Price also star, and Jason Buxton directed. And this movie won several awards in 2024-25, including Best Atlantic Director for Buxton, and Best Atlantic Feature at the 2024 Atlantic Film Festival, and Best Film at the 2025 Writers Guild of Canada. And it gets an impressive 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Manuel Betancourt of Variety said “this is an increasingly nerve-wracking fable about the lengths men whose lives are placid if just merely pleasant will go to make themselves feel needed and validated.” But it may just be too tense for me. Hulu has also added It Feeds, a 2025 horror flick. This finds psychic Cynthia Winstone (Ashley Greene) and her daughter Jordan (Ellie O’Brien) are approached by a young girl, Riley Harris (Shayelin Martin), claiming she is haunted by a demonic presence. Cynthia is so upset by the aura around the girl, she declines, but Jordan convinces her to help, and so she proceeds. But eventually, the monstrous entity works it way toward Cynthia and her family, and their escape is anything but guaranteed. Shawn Ashmore, Ellie O’Brien, and Julian Richings also star, while Chad Archibald directs. And this movie gets an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com said it “ultimately looks like a handsome genre exercise that was confidently realized with clarity and exactitude.” But far too much for me. And, finally, Hulu has This Is Not Hollywood, a 2025 Disney+ Italian crime drama series. This considers the disappearance of a teen, Sarah Scazzi (Federica Pala), in the town of Avetrana, Italy. As Sarah had difficulties with her devout mom, Concetta (Imma Villa), the 15 year-old opted to spend more time with her aunt, Cosima Serrano (Vanessa Scalera) and cousin, Sabrina (Giulia Perulli). But, when Sarah disappears, the town is in an uproar, and as questions mount about Sabrina‘s jealousy of her cousin, and suspicions grow, the media descends to engulf the small town. Lorenzo Sepalone, Miriam Pallotta and Roberta Infantino also star, and there are 4 episodes available now. And this series won the Best Crime Series award at the 2025 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists awards, and gets a smashing 7.2/10 on IMDb. And Francesco Parrino of Hot Corn called it a “great series,” adding it’s “perhaps the best that the Italian autumn has to offer on the small-but-big screen of streaming services.” So I’m watching.
NETFLIX
Netflix has few big titles added this week, but they do have little gems like Night always Comes, a 2025 drama. Based on a Willy Vlautin novel, this tells the story of Lynette(Vanessa Kirby), a woman living at home , in Portland, with her brother Kenny (Zach Robin Gottsagen), and mom, Doreen(Jennifer Jason Leigh). As Kenny has Down’s syndrome, and so, needs Lynette‘s help and care, Lynette longs to create a stable home. So when their (rented) house goes up for sale, Lynette is determined to buy it, but her unreliable mom buys a car with the down payment money, instead. And so Lynette goes on a 24-hour quest for money, to keep herself, and her brother, off the streets. Randall Park, Julia Fox and Michael Kelly also star, and Benjamin Caron directs. and though it gets a 5.8/10 on IMDb, this movie has won Best Feature at the 2025 ReFrame Awards, and Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said “it devises lots of fraught, intense moments, but what’s even more impressive about the screenplay is the way it seems to understand the psychology of the people that Lynette must deal with once she descends into the lower depths.” So it’s on my list. Netflix also offers Young Millionaires, a 2025 French comedy series. Here, four Marseille teens, David (Abraham Wapler), Jess (Sara Gançarski), Samia (Malou Khebizi) and Léo (Calixte Broisin-Doutaz), win millions with a shared lottery ticket. And as they start spending money, they don’t yet have, they find they can’t cash in the lottery ticket as minors. So they scramble to find a trustworthy adult to do the deed, and they land on their teacher, Mr. Pivot , who agrees to cash it in, for a relatively small cut. But, of course, things don’t go as planned. Jeanne Boudier, Florian Lesieur and Stéphan Wojtowicz also star, and there are 8 episodes available for streaming now. And though this series gets a 5.6/10 on IMDb, Anjali Sharma of the Midgard Times calls it “a high-voltage teen dramedy that delivers moments of zing and emotional pull, anchored by solid performances and a refreshing Marseille backdrop.” So I’m tuning in. Netflix has also added Sunday Best, a 2023 documentary. This tells the story of the perhaps lesser known positive influence of Ed Sullivan, and The Ed Sullivan Show, on behalf of Black musical artists. Because he not only invited the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to perform, but also countless Black artists like Ray Charles, Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald. The Motown sound, too, got a big boost from Sullivan, with Smokey Robinson, Temptations, Diana Ross, and Marvin Gaye, invited to perform. And that brought Sullivan big pressure from network execs and racist groups, which he resisted, to go on and feature the acts like Harry Belafonte, who faced blacklisting for his supposedly communist views. And, director Sacha Jenkins includes lots of archival footage, as well as interviews, with people like Oprah Winfrey, Smokey Robinson and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. And this movie premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, and gets a 7.8/10 on IMDb, and Lisa Kennedy of the New York Times said “illuminating and so entertaining, Sunday Best nevertheless elicits a mournful pang.” And I’m tuning in. Netflix also offers Community Squad, a 2023 Argentinian comedy series. Here, Felipe Rozenfeld (Santiago Korovsky) ends up joining the civilian patrol squad, after going to the police station to report a crime. Since Felipe is looking to improve his image for his girlfriend( and himself), he joins the ragtag group of civilians. But they lack guns( to the dismay of some) and the respect not only of the police that train them, but also the members of the community that they serve. And somehow, theymight just end up investigating crime more serious than jaywalking. Pilar Gamboa, Hernan Cuevas, Julio Marticorena and Valerie Liccardi also star, and there are 2 seasons , with 14 episodes in all, available for streaming now. And this series has won multiple awards, including Best Comedy Series at the 2024 International Emmy Awards, and Best Comedy Series at the 2023 PRODU Awards. And it gets a whopping 7.6/10 on IMDb, and Mikel Zorrilla of Espinof said it “centers on an inclusive team assembled to improve the image of the police. And from there, it is a blast that laughs with, not at, all of its characters.” So I’m watching. And, finally, Netflix has added Saare Jahan Se Accha: The Silent Guardians, a 2025 Indian thriller series. This takes place in the 1970′s India, with fears of Pakistan developing a nuclear weapon growing, after the murder(?) of physicist Homi J. Bhabha. So Indian agent Vishnu Shankar(Pratik Gandhi) is sent to Islamabad, to go undercover and find the nuclear facility, at any cost. But suspicions about Shankar grow as he investigates in Pakistan, and the odds against him grow, as he himself becomes a target . Kunal Thakur, Tillotama Shome, Sunny Hinduja, Anoop Singh and Amit Jha also star, and there are 6 episodes available now. And this series gets a sparkling 7.4/10 on IMDb, and Vimala Mangat of Gazettely calls it “a superior espionage drama that succeeds through its patient storytelling and commitment to psychological realism.”
AMAZON
Amazon has a big add this week with Butterfly, a 2025 thriller series. Daniel Dae Kim(!) stars, here, as David Jung, as ex-CIA operative living a quiet life in South Korea(after faking his death years ago), when his past comes roaring back. In the form of his daughter, Rebecca (Reina Hardesty), who thought her father was dead, but is now assigned to kill him, working for his old agency, Caddis. As he works to stop her, he chases her around the country trying to convince her to leave the world of espionage. But they, too, are being chased by another assassin, Gun(Kim Jihun), who is all too good at his job.Louis Landau, Piper Perabo, Kim Tae-hee and Park Hae-soo also star, and there are 6 episodes available for streaming now. And this series gets a 6.8/10 no IMDb, and Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times says “the series, which is no worse and somewhat better than “perfectly fine,” certainly has its points, Kim and Hardesty not the least among them.” So I’ll probably watch. But Amazon has also added Maargan, a 2025 Tamil supernatural thriller. Here, ADGP Dhruv(Veejay Anthony), a detective already haunted by his daughter’s murder, begins to suspect the same killer is involved in a new series of murders in Chennai. But that killer may have the power to shift through time, making it almost impossible for Dhruv and his fellow officers, to keep him in jail. Ajay Dhishan, Samuthirakani, Mahanadhi Shankar and Brigida Saga also star, and Leo John Paul directs. and this movie gets a 6.8/10 on IMDb, and Bhuvanesh Chandar of the Hindu calls it “an impressive genre-blender…..a thoroughly engaging thriller.” So I’m watching. And, finally, Amazon has added I Like Movies, a 2024 Canadian coming-of-age dramedy. This tells the story of the socially awkward 17 year-old Lawrence Kweller(Isaiah Lehtinen), a devoted cinephile. Living in Burlington, Ontario, he’s determined to, someday, make movies, maybe going to NYU to study there, but for the time being, he has to be satisfied with a summer job at the video store, Sequels. There, he, at first, clashes with store manager Alana (Romina D’Ugo), but finally, they become friends, united in their love of movie. But Lawrence is determined he can do more in life, and struggles to get those around him to believe in him, too. Percy Hynes White, Eden Cupid and Krista Bridges also star, while Chandler Levack directed. And this movie was nominated for multiple awards in 2023, and went on to win Best First Feature Award at the Miami Film Festival, and Best Film at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, among others. And it gets a stunning 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Tara Brady of the Irish Times said I Like Movies is” enough to restore one’s faith in the near-extinct subgenre once known as the teen comedy.” So I’m 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 