Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week we round up the most notable new releases coming to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new films you can watch at home.
This week, challengerLuca Guadagnino’s erotic sports drama starring Zendaya (Dune: Part Two), is coming to VOD following its theatrical premiere last month. If watching people bicker and flirt to some of the best music Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have ever composed doesn’t sound like your idea of fun, then don’t worry: there are plenty of other new releases that are You can look at weekends. We have the serial killer crime drama He went this way on Hulu, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire on VOD and Madam Web on Netflix if you’re interested!
Here’s everything new to see this weekend!
New on Netflix
Madam Web
Where to see: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Superhero action
Duration: 1h 54m
Director: SJ Clarkson
Pour: Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced
Sony’s latest entry in the Spidey-less Spidey universe stars Dakota Johnson as Cassie Webb, a Manhattan-based paramedic who gains the ability to see visions of the future after a near-death experience. When a mysterious, super-powered stranger (who was with Cassie’s mother while she was researching spiders in the Amazon shortly before her death) begins hunting a trio of young girls, Cassie takes it upon herself to protect them.
From our review:
Madam Web might be the most shameless superhero movie of all time. Sony’s latest Marvel spin-off is far from just the win it seemed to be a few years ago when this film starring an F-grade superhero was first announced, but a two-hour post-credits scene that only is made bearable at times Dakota Johnson’s underrated talent for comedy.
Thelma the unicorn
Where to see:
Genre: Musical comedy
Duration: 1h 33m
Directors: Jared Hess, Lynn Wang
Pour: Brittany Howard, Will Forte, Jemaine Clement
This animated musical comedy follows Thelma (Brittany Howard), a little pony who experiences an unexpected transformation into a pink and purple unicorn. Determined to achieve her dream of music stardom, Thelma convinces the world that she is a unicorn, but a jealous narwhal named Nikki (Ally Dixon) is determined to steal her way back into the spotlight.
New on Hulu
He went this way
Where to see: Available to stream Hulu
Genre: Crime drama
Duration: 1h 35m
Director: Jeffrey Darling
Pour: Zachary Quinto, Jacob Elordi, Patrick J. Adams
Jacob Elordi (Salt burn) and Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) stars in this crime thriller about Bobby Falls, a serial killer who takes Jim Goodwin, an animal trainer from Kalamazoo, Michigan. The trailer hints at the film’s final conclusion as well as a thrilling series of events including murder, robbery and good dinner.
The sweet east
Where to see: Available to stream Hulu
Genre: Road film
Duration: 1h 44m
Director: Sean Price Williams
Pour: Talia Ryder, Earl Cave, Simon Rex
After being separated from her classmates during a school trip, high school student Lillian (Talia Ryder) embarks on a spontaneous journey where she encounters anarchists, skinheads, film producers, and other eccentric strangers.
New to Starz
The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Where to see: Available to stream on Starz
Genre: Dystopian action
Duration: 2h 37m
Director: Francis Lawrence
Pour: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage
Francis Lawrence returns to the world of The Hunger Games to tell the story of the early years of Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), who later became President of Panem and archenemy of Katniss Everdeen.
Set 60 years before the events of the first film, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
From our review,
Collins’ book and Lawrence’s film do not repeat the plot of the events of The Hunger Games; They dismantle them and then force us to side with the Capitol. They want to know why we were drawn to the love triangle in the first place, the pretty clothes, and first and foremost the themed arenas. After all, we have always been the spectators, following Katniss’ story from a safe distance. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes shows us what happens when we get too carried away by propaganda, luxury and the promise of security. In that way, it’s a worthy conclusion to the franchise – and a worthy conclusion to the way the genre has evolved into a beast all its own.
New to Shudder
Night Watch: Demons are forever
Where to see: Available to stream on Shudder
Genre: Horror
Duration: 1h 50m
Director: Ole Bornedal
Pour: Fanny Leander Bornedal, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Alex Høgh Andersen
Years after her parents were almost killed by a police inspector turned serial killer, Emma (Fanny Leander Bornedal) takes a night watchman job in the same forensics department where they once worked. When Emma confronts her parents’ tormentor, Emma accidentally awakens his bloodlust and unleashes a terrible evil that threatens to destroy both her and anyone who stands in her way.
New for rent
challenger
Where to see: Can be rented on Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Genre: Sports drama
Duration: 2h 11m
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Pour: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist
Luca Guadagnino’s sensual sports drama about a love triangle in professional tennis has roiled certain circles of the world since its release at the end of April and is one of the best films of the year. Now you can enjoy it at home.
From our review:
This script is a great three-course meal for Faist and O’Connor. They can swap face and heel roles from scene to scene and era to era as Art and Patrick help and hurt each other in equal measure. But it’s an absolute smorgasbord for Zendaya, who has never been given this much scope, even in leading roles. Tashi is a pleasingly rich character who is both rightly angry at the thwarting of her ambitions and cruelly angry at any men who have the courage to continue playing the game that was taken away from her. She hungers for affection and denies it at the same time, is alternately sensually curious and coldly dispassionate, ambitious and exhausted, conflicted and self-confident. She’s the kind of character that media master’s theses are made of, and exploring Tashi’s conflicting motives and the way she integrates them is likely to become a pop culture obsession in the coming months.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Where to see: Available for rent Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Genre: Monster action
Duration: 1h 55m
Director: Adam Wingard
Pour: Godzilla, Kong, Rebecca Hall
The boys are back in town – the boys being Godzilla and Kong, of course. Godzilla vs. Kong Director Adam Wingard returns for this team-up film in which the big boys must work together to stop an invasion from Hollow Earth.
From our review:
Godzilla x Kong (yes, it’s styled like a streetwear collaboration) goes beyond “good,” “bad,” or “movies.” It’s an arena show where a pro wrestler screams in the squared circle, beats his chest and raises the Jumbotron hype meter before executing his signature move. Through a brutally efficient pacing that minimizes what the script doesn’t care about (mostly people) and maximizes what it does (giant monsters performing wrestling moves), connection is always eschewed in favor of escalation. It’s an achievement in an absurd spectacle, a comically silly way to spend $135 million. I hope Warner Bros. continues to burn money this way.
Sasquatch sunset
Where to see: Available for rent Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Genre: fantasy
Duration: 1h 30m
Directors: Nathan Zellner, David Zellner
Pour: Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek
An irreverent comedy by the Zellner brothers (Kumiko, the treasure hunter), Sasquatch sunset follows a group of four Sasquatchs as they try to make it in the forest of Northern California. Along the way, they have to contend with poisonous mushrooms, mountain lions and the relentless Sasquatch lust.
Sting
Where to see: Available for rent Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Genre: Horror
Duration: 1h 32m
Director: Kiah Roache Turner
Pour: Alyla Browne, Penelope Mitchell, Ryan Corr
Alyla Browne (who plays a young Furiosa in Greg Miller’s upcoming apocalyptic action film) stars in this horror thriller as a rebellious 12-year-old who adopts a small spider after discovering it in her apartment. Quite simple, right? Well, that would be it if the spider was just a normal land spider and not an alien arachnid with a penchant for eating birds, small children and full-grown adults. Grab the Raid Can!
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