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 an amazing add this week with Rental Family, the 2025 dramedy. Brendan Fraser(!) stars asPhillip Vanderploeg, a down on his luck actor in Tokyo, who is forced to take a job at a rental family agency, that supplies actors for missing family members, usually at weddings. There, he ends up posing as a groom for a bride to impress her family, and a ‘sad American‘ mourner for a funeral. but soon he finds himself in more complicated situations, playing the father of11-year-old Mia (Shannon Gorman), has never met, so as to aid in her school admissions. But as he finds himself growing closer to the girl, the deception only bothers him more. Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto also star, whileHikari directed. And this movie gets a whopping 7.6/10 on IMDb, and Richard Roeper of RogerEbert.com called it “a beautiful and contemplative film, with lovely messaging and a couple of sly twists.” So I’m definitely tuning in. Hulu has also added The Astronaut, a 2025 sci-fi thriller. This finds astronaut Captain Sam Walker (Kate Mara) crash landing back on earth, with a smashed helmet, surprisingly surviving. But with her situation compromised, herfather, General William Harris (Laurence Fishburne!), sends her to a lonely high-security house to recover. And while she is warned of all kinds of reactions to coming back to earth, from fever to hallucinations, she begins to sense something with her, watching her. As she begins to fear an alien presence returnedwith her from space, the incidents ramp up, and she feels more and more threatened. But will anyone take her suspicions seriously, before it’s too late? Gabriel Luna, Ivana Milicevic and Macy Gray also star, and Jess Varley directed. And, though this gets a42% on Rotten Tomatoes, I think it’s a gripping sci fi thriller, andTara McNamara of Common Sense Media said “writer-director Jess Varley delivers an engrossing, intriguing “after space” story that’s only really weighed down by some low-orbit visual effects.” So I’m watching. Hulu also offers Watching You, a2025 Australian thriller series. Here,afterLina(Aisha Dee), engaged to Cain(Chai Hansen), has a one night stand with another man , she finds evidence afterward that they were videoed. Worse yet, she starts getting threatening texts from a stalker , about that meeting, and Cain is growing more and more suspicious. Feeling threatened, but not wanting to involve the police, she decides to go after the stalker herself, unaware of where her investigations may lead her. Laura Gordon, Anna Barnes, Olivia Vásquez and Luke Cook also star, and there are 6 episodes available for streaming now. And this series is a hit in Australia, with Aisha Dee being nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Drama at the 2025 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards. So, even though it gets but a5.6/10 on IMDb, Stephen A Russell of Flicks calls it “a gripping new Stan co-production … unmissable viewing. Packed with shocking twists, water-muddying red herrings and the claw marks of an increasingly anxious cat and mouse game.” And I am tuning in. And, finally, Hulu offers Urchin, the2025 British drama. The story here revolves around Mike(Frank Dillane), a homeless young man on the streets of London, trying to overcome addiction and stealing to survive. But, one night, when he finds himself back in prison, and upon release, finally tries to get help. He gets that from a social worker, Nadia(Buckso Dhillon-Woolley), who helps him find a bed at a hostel, and helps him adjust . When Mike lands a job as a cook in a hotel, he makes friends and his life stabilizes, a bit. But his uncertainty and anxiety pull at him constantly, and when he loses his room at the hostel, it all slowly unravels. Amr Waked, Megan Northam, Shonagh Marie and Karyna Khymchuk also star, and Harris Dickinson directs. And this movie premiered at the2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize, and Dillane won Best Actor. It went on to win more awards, with Dillane winningBest Actor at the Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival, and was named one of theTop Ten Independent Films by theNational Board of Review. And it gets an incredible 96% onRotten Tomatoes, andBeatrice Loayza of theNew York Times said it “doesn’t break the mold, but it’s a confident, quietly affecting drama that strikes above the standard character study.” So I’m watching.
NETFLIX
Netflix has no big titles added this week, but they do have great indie movies like East of Wall, a 2025 drama. Here, Tabatha(Tabatha Zimiga), a South Dakota horse trainer living on3,000 acres with a gaggle of her own kids, and those in need of shelter from broken homes. But when her husband John‘s died, it shattered the family, with Tabatha’s daughter, champion rider Poshia( Porshia Zimiga), blaming her mom for John’s death, and venting in all sorts of ways. And, then Texan Roy Waters (Scoot McNairy) comes into the picture, wanting to buy the ranch, and threatening the family’s cherished way of life, forever. Jesse Thorson, Chancey Ryder Witt and Jennifer Ehle also star, and Kate Beecroft directed, along with writing the script. And this movie premiered at the2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the NEXT award for Beecroft. It went on to be nominated for numerous other awards in 2025, and won the Trajectoires Award at the La Roche-sur-Yon International Film Festival. And this movie gets a sparkling 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com called it “a lyrical semi-biographical docu-fiction drama whose quiet grandeur uplifts an unyielding, fractal story.” And I’m watching. But Netflix also offers The Swedish Connection, a2026 Swedish historical drama. This tells the true tale of Gosta Engzell(Henrik Dorsin), a clerk working the Swedish government legal department, during WWII. But as Engzell hears more troubling tales of Jews exported to Germany, the official Swedish neutrality, enforced by Secretary Staffan Soderstrom, his own hands are tied by that same neutrality policy. So he decides, with the help of his colleague Rut Vogl (Sissela Benn), to look for loopholes in the law to offer sanctuary to any Jew who needs it. And, together , they finds ways to save thousands ofJewish lives, which may incur the wrath of government officials, the Nazis, and endanger their own lives.Jonas Karlsson, Marianne Mörck and Eva Westerling also star, and Thérèse Ahlbeck andMarcus Olsson co-directed. And this movie gets a 6.8/10 on IMDb, and Pramit Chatterjee ofDigital Mafia Talkies calls it “a must-watch for everyone (…) Stay with this story, marinate in its themes, draw a parallel between what you’ve seen on the screen and real life, and then rebel in whatever little way you can.” And I agree, so I’m tuning in. Netflix has also added The Starling Girl, a 2023 coming-of-age drama. This tells the story of17 year-old Jem Starling(Eliza Scanlen), growing up in a Christian fundamentalist community in Kentucky, and struggling with her beliefs. And while her church and parents demand Jem start ‘courting,’ at seventeen, she’d rather dance with the church’s dance troupe. But when the (married)youth pastor and dance troupe leader, Owen(Lewis Pullman), begins an illicit affair with the girl, and they’re found out, Jem is blamed. And the censure of the community demands an apology from her. Jimmi Simpson, Wrenn Schmidt and Austin Abrams also star, andLaurel Parmet directed. And this movie premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, and won theDirectors to Watch award for Parmet at the 2023 Palm Springs International Film Festival. And it gets an impressive92% onRotten Tomatoes, and Ross McIndoe of Slant Magazine called it “an impressively complicated and compassionate drama about shame and desire.” Netflix also has Pavane, a 2026 romantic K-drama. This tells the story of Mi-jung(Go Ah-sung), isolated by grief and alienation at work. But then she meets Kyung Rok(Moon Sang-min), a musician who’s no stranger to tragedy himself, who isn’t put off my her cold shoulder. And as the two become closer, Mi-jung begins to heal, and the pair begin to flourish, together. Byun Yo-han, Jin Seo-jin, Lee Yi-dam, andSeo Yi-ra also star, and Lee Jong-pil directs. And this movie gets a6.6/10 on IMDb, andTaniya CJ of Leisure Byte calls it a “haunting and scary dance between memory and silence.” And I’m watching. And, finally,Netflix has added Kohrra , a 2026 Indian hindi crime drama series. Here, when a non-residentIndian,Paul, is found dead days before his wedding, with his British best friend still missing, two local Punjabi police officers Balbir (Suvinder Vicky) andGarundi (Barun Sobti) are put on the case. But there are all sorts of confusing factors, like John’s fiancé, Veera, who was secretly seeing another man, while the victim’s mother suspects someone in her own family. And the fog or”Kohrra,” that surrounds the case only seems to grow, as times goes on. Manish Chaudhari, Rachel Shelley, and Mona Singh also star, and there are 2 seasons, with a total of12 episodes, available for bingeing now. And this series has won tons of awards, including Best Actor forSuvinder Vicky andBest Crime/Thriller/ Horror Series of the Year at the2024 Times of India Film Award. And it gets a stunning 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost said “there is absolutely no doubt that Kohrra is the most captivating and engaging series on the digital platform so far.” So I’m definitely tuning in.
AMAZON
Amazon has two adds this week, the first-56 Days, is a 2026 thriller series. Based on Catherine Ryan Howard‘s novel of the same name, this takes place in Boston, where Oliver Kennedy(Avan Jogia) andCiara Wyse(Dove Cameron) meet in a grocery store, and are immediately drawn to each other. As their relationship heats up, Ciara is warned thatOliver isn’t who he seems, but, then, we find, neither is she. And in 56 days, police detectives Lee Reardon (Karla Souza) andKarl Connolly (Dorian Missick), are called to Oliver‘s apartment, and find a decomposing body there. But whose is it, and what happened to the happy couple? Kira Guloien, Patch Darragh and Celeste Oliva also star, and there are8 episodes available now. And though this series gets a 62% onRotten Tomatoes, Joel Keller of the Decider says “the affair feels artificial and the investigation of the murder feels excruciatingly drawn out, and the timeline jumping makes the show tiring to watch.” So you decide. Luckily, Amazon has a second add with My Mother’s Wedding, the2023 dramedy. This finds three sisters, Katherine(Scarlett Johansson!), Victoria (Sienna Miller!) and Georgina (Emily Beecham!), returning home for the wedding of their mother, Diana(Kristin Scott Thomas!). But, all three accomplished women, with personal problems of their own, also have Daddy issues, that lead them to resent Geoff (James Fleet),Diana’s fiancé. And the friction between them only grows, as the wedding draws near. Thibault de Montalembert, Freida Pinto and Samson Kayo also star, and Kristin Scott Thomas directed, for the first time. But this movie gets only a41% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Lindsey Bahr of the AP called it a “cruel reminder that a good hook, talented actors, one killer monologue and a picturesque setting (in this case, the English countryside) aren’t guarantees that a movie will work.” So I won’t be watching. And, finally, Amazon has added Love’s in Sight!, a2021 Japanese romcom series. Here, Yukiko( Hana Sugisaki) a sight impaired student, suddenly bumps into Kurokawa Morio(Yosuke Sugino), a reforming delinquent. In fact, Yukiko takes him for a thief, and knocks him to the ground, on their first meeting. But soon, somehow, the bumps in their relationship are smoothed over, and their friendship grows into something more. Nobuyuki Suzuki, Reina Oda and Momoko Tanabe also star, and there are 10 episodes available for streaming now . And this series gets a rousing7.3/10 on IMDb, and Bean5spilled calls it “it is a nearly perfect drama.” So I’m tuning in.
So sit back and binge this weekend, on classics, old and new, on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Enjoy!