Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.
This week, The Substance, the new body-horror thriller from director Coralie Fargeat (Revenge) starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, is available to stream on Mubi U.S. (and for rental) following its successful theatrical run. That’s not all, though, as there are tons of new titles to watch on streaming and VOD this week. Time Cut, the new sci-fi slasher film starring Madison Bailey (Outer Banks), comes to Netflix; Despicable Me 4 arrives on Peacock; and Joker: Folie à Deux, the highly anticipated sequel to Todd Phillips’ 2019 film Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix, lands on VOD this weekend, along with several other new titles.
Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
Time Cut
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Sci-fi slasher
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Hannah Macpherson
Cast: Madison Bailey, Antonia Gentry, Griffin Gluck
This sci-fi slasher film from Netflix involves some time-wimey shenanigans. A high school senior (Madison Bailey) finds a time machine and travels back to 2003 in an attempt to save the older sister she never met from a serial killer. There’s slasher horror, big time-travel ripple effect questions, and also a whole lot of early aughts throwbacks (like Heelys!). Also, boy that trailer is not doing any favors for those of us out there who are a bit terrified of being eaten by an escalator.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Comedy adventure
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Cast: Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, Benjamin Bottani
Based on the classic children’s picture book of the same name, Harold and the Purple Crayon follows an adult Harold, who decides to leave the pages of his book and enter the real world. As it turns out, his magical purple crayon has the same powers in the real world. Cue havoc — and also a nefarious librarian trying to use the crayon for his own selfish purposes.
New on Max
Janet Planet
Where to watch: Available to stream on Max
Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 53m
Director: Annie Baker
Cast: Zoe Ziegler, Julianne Nicholson, June Walker Grossman
Janet Planet is a quaint and quiet movie that follows the peculiar relationship between a lonely 11-year-old girl named Lacy and her free-spirited mother, Janet, over the course of one melancholy summer. Through Lacy’s eyes, we learn more about Janet and the close but almost codependent connection between mother and daughter. It’s a movie that captures a specific feeling of meditative loneliness during muggy summer days.
New on Disney Plus
Music by John Williams
Where to watch: Available to stream on Disney Plus
Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 45m
Director: Laurent Bouzereau
This documentary follows the life and career of John Williams, the legendary composer responsible for penning the score for such iconic films as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler’s List, Jaws, and Star Wars.
New on Paramount Plus
The Dead Don’t Hurt
Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus
Genre: Western
Run time: 2h 9m
Director: Viggo Mortensen
Cast: Vicky Krieps, Viggo Mortensen, Solly McLeod
Kevin Costner isn’t the only one with a new Western out this year, as Viggo Mortensen tries his hand at the genre. The Dead Don’t Hurt follows the story of Holger Olsen (Mortensen) and his lover Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps), who attempt to build a life together after the former returns home from fighting in the Civil War. Irrevocably changed by his experience, Holger must confront the ways both he and Vivienne have grown in a ruthless world where violence and wealth are the law of the land.
New on Peacock
Despicable Me 4
Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 34m
Directors: Chris Renaud
Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin
Reformed supervillain turned secret agent Gru is back with an all-new adventure! Despicable Me 4 sees Gru relocate his family when his former rival Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) reemerges, seeking revenge. As Gru’s family attempts to adjust to their new home, Gru’s teenage neighbor attempts to follow in his villainous footsteps, while Gru’s Minions decide to become superheroes. That’s a lot, I know!
From our review:
Despicable Me 4 is full of good ideas, with lots of them specifically appealing to what people like about these movies: Minion antics, Gru’s villain-ness versus his normal family life, and over-the-top Big Bad Guy theatrics among them. But all these bits and pieces are jumbled together and not cohesive enough to make sense as a story. The movie is discordant, like a bunch of musicians playing unfamiliar instruments (or a bunch of — dare I say — Minions given instruments) and trying to make a coherent song. But amid that chaos, sometimes the music starts sounding good — a cool jazzy saxophone solo soars briefly above the cacophony. You just have to grit your teeth and ignore the clanging drums and out-of-tune oboes around it.
New on Mubi
The Substance
Where to watch: Available to stream on Mubi U.S.
Genre: Body horror
Run time: 2h 20m
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid
Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) has. Once a celebrated Hollywood movie star turned aerobics TV show host, Elisabeth has been pushed out of her longtime job by her producer, Harvey (Dennis Quaid), who is eager to fill the slot with someone younger and hotter. Desperate to regain her sense of worth, she seizes the opportunity to use a black market drug that creates a younger version of herself named Sue (Margaret Qualley). When the symbiotic relationship between the pair begins to strain, the two genetic twins become trapped in a fight for supremacy.
New on Shudder
The Exorcism
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder
Genre: Supernatural horror
Run time: 1h 35m
Director: Joshua John Miller
Cast: Russell Crowe, Ryan Simpkins, Sam Worthington
I know what you’re thinking, and no: This isn’t The Pope’s Exorcist. This the other supernatural horror thriller starring Russell Crowe dressed in a priest’s vestments. Crowe stars in The Exorcism as a troubled actor who is tapped to play a priest in a supernatural horror film after his predecessor is found dead due to mysterious circumstances. It’s only after accepting the job that he realizes that he’s signed on for more than he bargained for.
Doc of Chucky
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder
Genre: Documentary
Director: Thommy Hutson
Cast: Brad Dourif, Chris Sarandon, Jennifer Tilly
Few horror franchises are as iconic and enduring as the Child’s Play series. Featuring behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the films, as well as interviews with the cast and crew alongside critics and historians, Thommy Hutson’s documentary touts itself as the ultimate account of the Child’s Play film franchise.
New to rent
Joker: Folie à Deux
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Psychological thriller
Run time: 2h 18m
Director: Todd Phillips
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is back — and this time, he’s got a girlfriend! Todd Phillips’ sequel to 2019’s Joker picks up two years after the previous film, with Arthur still in custody at Arkham State Hospital awaiting trial for murder. Upon meeting Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), Arthur finds himself torn between his attraction to her (and her subsequent attraction to the Joker) and his uncertainty as to whether he wants to be the Joker anymore. Question is, does Joker: Folie à Deux land the punchline, or is this curtains for Arthur’s story?
From our review:
The truth, whether or not Phillips would want to admit it, is that his rapt framing of Phoenix’s performance, his dedicated homage to ’70s grit and ’60s musical fantasy, the smugness of a script that omits the punchline from a knock-knock joke and submits that as smart character commentary — these things are not so distant from the rule-of-cool, Easter-egg-hiding, smug-quip-dropping world of comic book cinema as he would like to imagine. Joker and Folie à Deux are no less indulgent than any other films resting on the legacy of generations of work-for-hire comics artists whose output currently falls under the ownership of the Warner Bros. Discovery conglomerate. Phillips just wants you to think it is.
The Apprentice
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Docudrama
Run time: 2h 2m
Director: Ali Abbasi
Cast: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova
Ali Abbasi’s biographical drama charts the story of Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) and lawyer Roy Cohn’s (Jeremy Strong) first meeting in 1973, following the mentor-mentee relationship between the pair as Trump lays the foundations for what would later become his lofty political aspirations.
Piece by Piece
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Biopic comedy
Run time: 1h 33m
Director: Morgan Neville
Cast: Pharrell Williams, Morgan Neville, Kendrick Lamar
If you thought to yourself, Wow, I’ve always wanted to watch a biopic about singer-songwriter and record producer Pharrell Williams, but with a cool fun twist, then you’re in luck. Piece by Piece dives into Williams’ life, from his childhood to his successful career, and tells it in the form of animated Lego bricks. And you know what? I love this for him. Lego-fied celebrities who make appearances in this movie include Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, and Kendrick Lamar.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 44m
Directors: Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui
This documentary recalls the life and career of Christopher Reeve, who starred as the iconic Man of Steel in 1978’s Superman and later became a passionate disability rights activist after a horse riding accident left him paralyzed.
The Critic
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Period drama
Run time: 1h 41m
Director: Anand Tucker
Cast: Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong
Sir Ian McKellen stars in this period thriller as Jimmy Erskine, the resident film critic of a tabloid newspaper with a reputation for caustic and incendiary screeds. After being fired in the wake of a scandal, Jimmy concocts a plot with the help of a young actress (Gemma Arterton) to blackmail his former employer (Mark Strong) into giving him his job back.
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