Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Eternity (David Freyne)
How do you want to spend eternity? That’s the primary question at the heart of David Freyne’s Eternity, a high-concept relationship comedy (which he co-wrote with Patrick Cunnane) that envisions the afterlife like a never-ending theme park vacation. Instead of knocking on the pearly gates or falling into the pits of hell, the recently departed all chug into a giant, purgatorial train terminal and must decide where to live next. The choices seem overwhelming––there are beach resorts and mountain cabins, along with “Smoker’s World” or “Man-Free World”––but each soul receives an Afterlife Coordinator to help them decide. Imagine the hereafter as one big travel convention in the sky. – Jake K-S. (full review)
Where to Stream: Apple TV
Happyend (Neo Sora)
“Something big is about to change,” is surely one ominous beginning for a debut fiction feature, but director Neo Sora knows how to calibrate the fine balance between anticipation and inevitability. A story set in the near future, Happyend makes Tokyo a vast playground to high-school seniors gathered around childhood pals Yuta (Hayato Kurihara) and Kou (Yukito Hidaka). Life is blooming and the future is ripe for those teenagers, even if the whole city is constantly preparing itself for a catastrophic earthquake. Daily drills and false alarms interrupt an otherwise-smooth rhythm where Yuta and Kou gather their classmates at their Music Research Club, an extracurricular that’s more enjoyable than practical in purpose. With a fully equipped school room at their disposal at all times, the gang can build a secure microcosm for the shared love of electronic avant-garde and a generally good time. – Savina P. (full review)
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Is This Thing On? (Bradley Cooper)
Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? opens with both a simple and incredibly complex question: is this thing over? Alex and Tess Novak (Will Arnett and Laura Dern) are at their wits’ end after decades of marriage. They love their ruffian boys, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that they hate their lives together. So the answer is easy: yes, it’s over. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. – Luke H. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
The Librarians (Kim A. Snyder)
Kim A. Snyder’s The Librarians is a comprehensive documentary that maps well-funded, right-wing political groups’ nationwide mission to ban books and those standing up to this movement in the name of anti-censorship. And though there are expected touches throughout (onscreen quotes from Fahrenheit 451, talking-head interviews offering context) this film surprises in its thorough research and succinct storytelling. If you’ve wondered how exactly we got here, The Librarians has your answer. – Dan M. (full review)
Where to Stream: PBS
Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie)
The opening credits of Marty Supreme features retro animation of a sperm fertilizing a giant egg; as Alphaville’s “Forever Young” blares over the soundtrack, the giant fertilized egg eventually transforms into a ping pong ball flying across the net of a table. The man hitting the ball, and the carrier of the victorious spermatozoon, is the early-twentysomething Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet), a self-assured table tennis player who dreams of becoming a world champion. Stuck selling shoes in his Lower East Side neighborhood, still living with his mother in an Orchard Street tenement building surrounded by obnoxious family and neighbors, Marty longs to escape an environment rife with parochial values and limited opportunities. The year is 1952: the devastation of World War II is in the rearview mirror, economic prosperity will soon be on the rise, and America has been swept up in a wave of national optimism. It’s the perfect time for a charming striver like Marty to make his mark with the tools at his disposal: a paddle and a ball, which, as the credits sequence suggests, is the source of life itself. – Vikram M. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Matter of Time (Matt Finlin)
While most will likely happen upon Matter of Time as it pertains to their interest in the music of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, they’ll also be introduced to a powerful portrait of persistence and community when it comes to treating a devastating disease. Epidermolysis bullosa (also known as EB) is a rare genetic condition of fragile skin that affects children, leading to devastating pain and often early death. Interspersed between full songs from Vedder’s benefit concert in Seattle, Finlin takes an intimate look at both those fighting for a cure and the children afflicted with the disease. Rising above the standard PSA or issue documentary, there’s a stirring sense of emotional connection that comes through as we see those dedicating their lives to find a cure for the currently incurable.
Where to Stream: Netflix
Predator: Badlands (Dan Trachtenberg)
Dan Trachtenberg returns once again to the land of Predator in his most slickly entertaining ride yet. The two-hander action adventure follows a young Yautja who teams with Thia (Elle Fanning), a Weyland-Yutani Corporation synthetic, as they attempt to survive against the surrounding danger. While there’s a certain pre-programmed, digital feel to the film’s Avatar-lite design, Trachtenberg’s direction is so propulsive that even if a certain weight is missing, the popcorn-munching fun delivers. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Hulu
Also New to Streaming
Kino Film Collection
The Black Tulip
The Kiss
Peacock
Song Sung Blue
Shudder
Honey Bunch
VOD
Primate