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.
This week, I saw the TV glowthe new psychological horror drama from We’re all going to the World’s Fair director Jane Schoenbrun starring Justice Smith (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) and Brigette Lundy-Paine (Bill & Ted face the music), is finally available to watch on VOD. There are also tons of other exciting new releases on streaming this week, like a new animation feature Ultraman: Get up on Netflix, the Ava DuVernay-directed drama Origin on Hulu, the thrilling fighting game from Dev Patel Monkey man on Peacock, and much more.
Here’s everything new to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
Ultraman: Get up
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Netflix
Genre: Superhero drama
Duration: 1h 57m
Directors: Shannon Tindle, John Aoshima
Form: Christopher Sean, Gedde Watanabe, Tamlyn Tomita
Ultraman is back, this time in an all-new animated film from director Shannon Tindle (Lost Ollie) and John Aoshima! Ultraman: Get up centers on Ken Sato, a boastful baseball player who returns to his home in Tokyo to inherit his father’s role as superhero Ultraman. After accidentally adopting a baby Kaiju, Ken must raise the newborn while balancing his personal and heroic responsibilities.
From our review:
Ultraman: Get up doesn’t spend much time on the decades-long mythos and world-building surrounding the character. Instead, Tindle and company sharpen the film’s focus on Ken’s family dynamics, and his subsequent development from an obnoxiously egotistical braggart to a humbler, more mature hero. That decision definitely works in the film’s favor, allowing audiences who might otherwise be unfamiliar with the character to understand the broader stakes and specifics of his universe.
Think of Gene Wilder
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Kino Lorber
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 1h 32m
Director: Ron Frank
This documentary covers the life and career of actor and comedian Gene Wilder, best known for his leading roles in films such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Young FrankensteinAnd Blowing saddles. Comprising never-before-seen footage and interviews with collaborators and friends who knew him best, Think of Gene Wilder is a tribute to the legacy of one of the most beloved actors of the 20th century.
New on Hulu
Brats
Where to watch: Available to stream Hulu
Image: Hulu
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 1h 32m
Director: Andrew McCarthy
In the ’80s, John Hughes’ young stars The breakfast club and Joel Schumacher’s St. Elmus Fire were dubbed the ‘Brat Pack’ much to their chagrin. Anthony Michael Hall reunites with his former co-stars and colleagues to talk about what it was like to rise to fame in the ’80s, how intense media attention and the ‘Brat Pack’ label followed them throughout their careers, and how they overcome or succumb to problems. the pressure of their outbreak.
Origin
Where to watch: Available to stream Hulu
Photo: Atsushi Nishijima/Neon
Genre: Biographical drama
Duration: 2h 21m
Director: Ava DuVernay
Form: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga
Ava DuVernay’s latest film is a drama based on the life of Isabel Wilkerson, author of the 2020 book Caste: the origin of our discontent. The film follows Wilkerson’s (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) journey through Germany, India and the United States as she researches material for her book.
From our review:
These stories, and the context in which Wilkerson places them, are powerful. The almost comical images of Ellis-Taylor organizing stacks of books, writing on a whiteboard and tapping away on a laptop while tying her suitcase together in voiceover only adds value. It’s easy to imagine a documentary version Origin that’s more like that 13th, with the historical reconstructions stitched together through archival footage, talking head interviews, and biographical information about Wilkerson. It could have been just as convincing and much more satisfying and coherent. But the takeaway is exactly the same, and I plan to take action myself: buy a copy of it Caste and read it.
New at Pauw
Monkey man
Where to watch: Available to stream Peacock
Image: Universal images
Genre: Action thriller
Duration: 2h 1m
Director: Developer Patel
Form: Developer Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash
Dev Patel stars in his directorial debut as a nameless street urchin who, years after his village is burned to the ground, makes a living as a monkey-masked fighter in an underground boxing club. He embarks on a campaign of brutal violence to take revenge on the men responsible.
From our review:
When Monkey man finally kicks into high gear for the action sequences, there’s a clearer vision at work – although ‘clear’ may not be the word for it. Patel, in collaboration with fight choreographer Brahim Chab and cinematographer Sharone Meir (Whiplash), captures the battles up close and personal with a frenetic handheld camera that shakes and whips with the force of each blow, deftly stitching these shots together into dizzying, uninterrupted movements. The style is influenced by Korean, Indonesian and Bollywood action films, but what the style sometimes lacks in clarity it makes up for in ferocity and impact. The desperation of Kid’s first bathroom fight with Rana is brilliantly conveyed (Kher is fantastic in an old-fashioned heavy role), and the extended climax is occasionally stunning, although the editing sometimes struggles to maintain focus when things get busy.
New at Shudder
Exhuma
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder
Image: Well Go USA Entertainment
Genre: Supernatural horror
Duration: 2h 14m
Director: Jang Jae Hyun
Form: Choi Min Sik, Kim Go Eun, Yoo Hae Jin
This Korean horror thriller follows a shaman (Kim Go-eun) and her apprentice (Lee Do-hyun), who are hired to cure the newborn son of a wealthy family of his mysterious supernatural condition. As they trace the source of the disease to a long-hidden grave in a sacred plot of land, the two must work together to exorcise the curse from there without endangering their own lives.
New for rent
I saw the TV glow
Where to watch: Available to rent Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Image: A24/Everett Collection
Genre: Psychological horror drama
Duration: 1h 40m
Director: Jane Schoenbrun
Form: Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Ian Foreman
Jane Schoenbrun returns with a follow-up to their 2021 breakout We’re all going to the World’s Fair. Justice Smith (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) stars in it I saw the TV glow as Owen, a shy student who befriends Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), an older classmate who loves a TV show called The pink opaque one. As the two grow older, their relationship with each other – and with the show itself – changes in ways neither could have predicted, uncovering uncomfortable truths and revelations that challenge their entire sense of identity.
The film’s themes and conclusion opened up a lot of room for thoughtful discussion and speculation, and Polygon got to speak with Schoenbrun about the origins of I saw the TV glow‘s production, and also how Buffy the Vampire Slayer inspired the TV series set in the film’s universe.
