{"id":1041972,"date":"2026-01-17T09:35:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=480676"},"modified":"2026-01-17T09:35:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:35:46","slug":"smile-2-alien-romulus-netflixs-the-piano-lesson-and-every-movie-new-to-streaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/smile-2-alien-romulus-netflixs-the-piano-lesson-and-every-movie-new-to-streaming\/","title":{"rendered":"Smile 2, Alien: Romulus, Netflix\u2019s The Piano Lesson, and every movie new to streaming"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Naomi
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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.<\/p>\n

This week, Smile 2<\/a><\/em>, the sequel to the supernatural horror debut from director Parker Finn, leers its way onto VOD following its theatrical debut in September. If supernatural horror isn\u2019t your bag, why not give sci-fi horror a try? Alien: Romulus<\/a><\/em>, Evil Dead<\/em> director Fede \u00c1lvarez\u2019s new installment in the venerable Alien franchise, slithers onto Hulu this week alongside the Nick Jonas-led comedy drama The Good Half<\/em> and the historical drama Firebrand<\/em> starring Alicia Vikander.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a whole lot more to choose from on streaming this weekend, including the historical survival drama Blitz<\/em> on Apple TV Plus; The Piano Lesson<\/em> starring John David Washington (Tenet<\/em>); Shrek<\/a><\/em> director Vicky Jenson\u2019s latest animated adventure, Spellbound<\/em>, on Netflix; Blink Twice<\/a> <\/em>on MGM Plus; and several other new releases.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything new that\u2019s available to watch this weekend!<\/p>\n

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New on Netflix<\/h2>\n

The Piano Lesson<\/h3>\n

Where to watch:<\/strong> Available to stream on Netflix<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Drama
Run time:<\/strong> 2h 5m
Director:<\/strong> Malcolm Washington
Cast:<\/strong> Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher<\/p>\n

The feature directorial debut by Malcolm Washington adapts August Wilson\u2019s play for the silver screen. Starring Malcolm\u2019s brother John David, The Piano Lesson <\/em>centers on the lives of Boy Willie Charles and his family living in post-Great Depression Pittsburgh. As the Charles family quarrels over the fate of a prized heirloom, a piano decorated with designs carved by an enslaved ancestor, the fight threatens to roil old resentments and inflame long-simmering tensions.<\/p>\n

Joy<\/h3>\n

Where to watch:<\/strong> Available to stream on Netflix<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Biographical drama
Run time:<\/strong> 1h 55m
Director:<\/strong> Ben Taylor
Cast:<\/strong> Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie, James Norton<\/p>\n

Joy<\/em> tells the story of the first test-tube baby and the invention of in vitro fertilization, through the eyes of nurse Jean Purdy, scientist Robert Edwards, and surgeon Patrick Steptoe in the 1970s. The trio faces opposition, as religious zealots claim their work to be unnatural, but continue to persevere in the face of those odds. For decades, Purdy\u2019s contributions to the development of IVF were largely forgotten, but in recent years she\u2019s been more and more recognized.<\/p>\n

Spellbound<\/h3>\n

Where to watch:<\/strong> Available to stream on Netflix<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Fantasy comedy
Run time:<\/strong> 1h 49m
Director:<\/strong> Vicky Jenson
Cast:<\/strong> Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis<\/p>\n

A new animated musical from the director of Shrek<\/em>, Spellbound <\/em>is about a young princess who must break a spell that\u2019s transformed her parents into monsters and split her kingdom in two. Musical legend Alan Menken does the music for the movie, and with Rachel Zegler as the lead, the soundtrack is sure to soar. The movie was first called Split<\/em> before it was changed to The Unbreakable Spell<\/em>, and after shifting between a few streaming services, it was finally renamed Spellbound<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Merry Gentlemen<\/h3>\n

Where to watch:<\/strong> Available to stream on Netflix<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Genre: <\/strong>Musical rom-com
Run time:<\/strong> 1h 27m
Director:<\/strong> Peter Sullivan
Cast:<\/strong> Britt Robertson, Chad Michael Murray, Marla Sokoloff<\/p>\n

Magic Mike<\/em> meets a cozy Christmas movie in this new Netflix holiday flick. A dancer tries to save her family\u2019s performance venue by putting on a steamy all-male dance revue to raise money. She recruits some of the hot men around her small town and trains them in the art of hip thrusting and shirt tearing\u2026 and also starts to fall for one of them. Will she save her parents\u2019 venue just in time for Christmas? Given the genre, probably, but there will be more bare torsos than usual.<\/p>\n

New on Hulu<\/h2>\n

Alien: Romulus<\/h3>\n

Where to watch:<\/strong> Available to stream on Hulu<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Sci-fi horror
Run time:<\/strong> 1h 59m
Director:<\/strong> Fede \u00c1lvarez
Cast:<\/strong> Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Isabela Merced<\/p>\n

Set 20 years after the events of Ridley Scott\u2019s Alien<\/em>, Fede \u00c1lvarez\u2019s sci-fi horror film follows three pairs of young siblings who attempt to scavenge through a derelict space station in a last-ditch effort to escape their indentured servitude to the Weyland-Yutani megacorporation. What they discover aboard the station, however, is not their salvation, but a horror beyond anything they could\u2019ve possibly imagined.<\/p>\n

From our review<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIs it as good as Alien<\/em> or Aliens<\/em>?\u201d is the obvious question franchise fans will ask when weighing whether to see Alien: Romulus<\/em>. \u00c1lvarez and Sayagues seem to have been uncomfortably aware that this question was coming. They anticipated those five different answers about what Alien fans love from the previous films, and tried to split the difference between all of them and more. Like the Romulus and Remus stations, which serve as the film\u2019s setting, Alien: Romulus<\/em> is made up of roughly two parts: a haunted-house story in outer space \u00e0 la Alien<\/em>, and a crowd-pleasing horror-action spectacle like Aliens<\/em>. The former element is stronger than the latter in this case, and the imbalance is one of the reasons Alien: Romulus<\/em> feels like a by-the-numbers retread of the franchise defining it, rather than the resuscitative breath it so desperately needs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Good Half<\/h3>\n

Where to watch:<\/strong> Available to stream on Hulu<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Comedy drama
Run time:<\/strong> 1h 36m
Director:<\/strong> Robert Schwartzman
Cast:<\/strong> Nick Jonas, Brittany Snow, David Arquette<\/p>\n

The Jonas Brothers\u2019 very own Nick Jonas stars as an emotionally distant writer returning to Cleveland, Ohio, for his mother\u2019s funeral, after years of avoiding his complicated family. He forges some new relationships and confronts some old ones, and eventually must face his grief \u2014 and family drama \u2014 head on. The Good Half <\/em>first premiered at the 2023 Tribeca film festival.<\/p>\n

Firebrand<\/h3>\n

Where to watch:<\/strong> Available to stream on Hulu<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Historical drama
Run time: <\/strong>2h 1m
Director: <\/strong>Karim A\u00efnouz
Cast: <\/strong>Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Eddie Marsan<\/p>\n

King Henry VIII is remembered for many things, but he\u2019s probably most known for marrying six women in his lifetime, two of which he had executed. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina<\/em>) stars in this historical drama as Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII (Jude Law), who must fight for her survival when the king\u2019s behavior becomes more and more erratic and paranoid in the years preceding the end of his reign.<\/p>\n

New on Max<\/h2>\n

Watchmen: Chapter I<\/h3>\n

Where to watch:<\/strong> Available to stream on Max<\/p>\n

\"Rorschach,<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong><\/strong> Superhero drama
Run time:<\/strong><\/strong> 1h 23m
Director:<\/strong><\/strong> Brandon Vietti
Cast:<\/strong><\/strong> Troy Baker, Adrienne Barbeau, Corey Burton<\/p>\n

Watchmen<\/em> is back, this time as a multi-part animated film series! In an alternate 1985, a government-sponsored superhero has been inexplicably murdered. Determined to apprehend his killer, a costumed vigilante named Rorschach reunites with his estranged former colleagues and scours the criminal underworld of New York is his search for clues. What he uncovers is a conspiracy that threatens to endanger the entire world. Will he be able to track down the conspirators before it\u2019s too late?<\/p>\n

New on Apple TV Plus<\/h2>\n

Blitz<\/h3>\n

Where to watch:<\/strong> Available to stream on Apple TV Plus<\/p>\n

\"Saoirse<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Drama
Run time: <\/strong>2h
Director:<\/strong> Steve McQueen
Cast:<\/strong> Saoirse Ronan, Elliott Heffernan, Harris Dickinson<\/p>\n

Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird<\/em>) stars in Steve McQueen\u2019s historical drama as Rita, a young mother who sends her son George (Elliott Heffernan) to the English countryside to protect him from the impending attack on London by Nazi Germany. When Rita learns that George did not reach his destination, she embarks on a search to find him.<\/p>\n

Bread & Roses<\/h3>\n

Where to watch:<\/strong> Available to stream on Apple TV Plus<\/p>\n

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