Greetings, Polygon readers! Every week we round up the hottest new releases in streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.
It’s a good week for horror, with surprisingly good films Omen prequel on Hulu and a terrifyingly creepy stop-motion film (…titled Stop motion) on Shudder. But if you’re not a horror person, Disney Plus’ Jim Henson documentary is sure to be a heartwarming balm. Or you can opt for Chris Pine’s quirky swimming pool-based comedy-mystery.
Here’s everything new to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
Part of you
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Netflix
Genre: Coming of age drama
Duration: 1h 40m
Director: Sigge Eklund
Form: Felicia Maxime, Edvin Ryding, Zara Larsson
This Swedish coming-of-age film is about a teenage girl named Agnes who is very jealous of her sister, who seems to have everything in the world. But when a terrible tragedy occurs, Agnes is given the opportunity to reinvent herself, at great cost.
New on Disney Plus
Jim Henson: Idea Man
Where to watch: Available to stream Disney Plus
Image: Disney
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 1h 51m
Director: Ron Howard
Form: Jennifer Connelly, Rita Moreno, Frank Oz, Brian Henson
Ron Howard’s new documentary (The Beatles: eight days a week, Apollo 13) centers on puppeteer, animator and filmmaker Jim Henson – creator of Kermit the Frog and the Muppets. It features many interviews with Henson’s family and frequent collaborators, including Frank Oz.
New on Hulu
The promised land
Where to watch: Available to stream Hulu
Image: Magnolia Pictures/Everett Collection
Genre: Epic historical drama
Duration: 2h 7m
Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Form: Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Simon Bennebjerg
A hidden gem among the best new releases of 2024, The promised land is a period drama based on a great leading role by the always reliable Mads Mikkelsen. He plays a retired Danish officer from the German army who tries to establish a homestead in an area thought to be impossible to settle in – but a powerful local politician has other ideas.
The first omen
Where to watch: Available to stream Hulu
Image: 20th century entertainment
Genre: Horror
Duration: 1h 59m
Director: Arkasha Stevenson
Form: Nell Tiger Free, Sônia Braga, Ralph Ineson
A prequel to the 1976 film Omen, The first omen is actually surprisingly scary and good.
From our list of the best horror films of the year:
The first omen is impressively frightening, with dread seeping into every frame of its Catholic plot. Ralph Ineson uses his excellent voice to great effect here as a priest who is excommunicated after discovering the secrets of the Church, but it is Free who is the highlight, as her character slowly spirals as the plot thickens and becomes more confusing.
New at Shudder
Stop motion
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder and AMC Plus
Image: IFC Films/Courtesy Everett Collection
Genre: Horror
Duration: 1h 33m
Director: Robert Morgan
Form: Aisling Franciosi, Stella Gonet, Tom York
This horror film follows an animator who takes over her sick mother’s stop-motion film. This involves using fox carcasses to create the terrifying entity at the center of the film, among other downright disturbing stop-motion creations.
New at Starz
Silent Night
Where to watch: Available to stream Starz
Photo: Carlos Latapi/Lionsgate
Genre: Action thriller
Duration: 1h 44m
Director: John Woo
Form: Joel Kinnaman, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, Catalina Sandino Moreno
It’s a Christmas movie! Also an action thriller about a man who has limited use of his vocal chords and decides to avenge the death of his son, who was murdered by a gang in a drive-by shooting on Christmas Eve. It’s also John Woo’s first Hollywood film in 20 years – we spoke to him about it.
New for rent
Boy kills the world
Where to watch: Available to rent Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Image: Roadside Attractions/Everett Collection
Genre: Dystopian action comedy
Duration: 1h 51m
Director: Moritz Mohr
Form: Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery
A young man in a dark dystopian future who loves video games is sent on a mission to destroy the city’s totalitarian ruler. From our review:
The film is largely made exclusively for a specific brand of video game movie fans: it’s a checklist of retro beat-’em-up references and meta-comedies that some audiences will inevitably find broad, outrageous and off-putting, and some will find it playful and find energetic.
The feeling that the time to do something is over
Where to watch: Available to rent Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Image: Magnolia Pictures/Everett Collection
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 1h 28m
Director: Johanna Pijl
Form: Joanna Arrow, Scott Cohen, Babak Tafti
50 shades of grey gets an everyday twist. A listless young woman wanders through life in search of a more satisfying sexual relationship when her on-again, off-again BDSM relationship no longer suits her.
Poolman
Where to watch: Available to rent Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Image: Vertical Entertainment/Everett Collection
Genre: Comedy mystery
Duration: 1h 40m
Director: Chris Pine
Form: Chris Pine, Annette Bening, DeWanda Wise
Chris Pine directs this film, in which he also plays a pool cleaner, inspired by Erin Brockovich, who starts harassing his city council about improvements. Danny Devito and Annette Bening play the couple who own the apartment complex where Pine’s character works, and they ensure that he has a parental relationship.
