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.
The Card Counter (Paul Schrader)
Whatever new could be said about Paul Schrader as an artist—curving around the extra-textual value in Kickstarter campaigns, Facebook posts, and tragic losses of final cut—is almost entirely on the back of First Reformed. A cultural smash first propelled by surprise of the he’s-still-got-it! variety that, as those things always do, faded, now denotes career reset—a generational shift for telling us his anxiety-ridden men of ‘70s and ‘80s landmarks stuck around to become the doom-scrolling generation whose problems are more global than personal. (Though obviously that too.) The catch of this conquest is a greedy fan (hello) alternately thrilled at the existence of another film and worried a final statement for the ages is rendered naught. A broken promise? Please; he owes us nothing. But Ernst Toller’s martyrdom is hard to sacrifice as a last note. – Nick N. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Coming Home in the Dark (James Ashcroft)
In rural New Zealand, Hoaggie (Erik Thomson) rides in the passenger seat. His wife, Jill (Miriama McDowell), is driving and their sons Maika (Billy Paratene) and Jordan (Frankie Paratene) are in the back. It’s the middle of nowhere in New Zealand: scenic, sure, but totally isolated. It’s a good place for a family picnic too, and it fits the bill for a few minutes. That’s when a greasy dude named Mandrake (Daniel Gillies) and his mute lackey, Tubs (Matthias Luafutu), show up. Mandrake seems to know that Hoaggie is a teacher, and he seems a little too laid back as he attacks the family with pure, unhinged sadism. The fact that he goes on to take the family for an all-night joyride from hell is just a way to salt the wounds. – Matt C. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
The Guilty (Antoine Fuqua)
Only three years ago, Danish director Gustav Möller made The Guilty, a single-room thriller focused on an operator attempting to save a kidnapped woman. Met with acclaim and making the Best International Feature Oscar shortlist, the film could easily be called a rousing success. It makes sense why Antoine Fuqua would be keen to direct a remake considering his interest in crime-related dramas, though he decided to change little within the plot. Penned by Nic Pizzolatto, the film works because the plot still remains interesting even a few years later, even if the messaging gets muddled due to a lack of clarity. – Michael F. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
The Many Saints of Newark (Alan Taylor)
To describe verbatim the first-or-so minute of The Many Saints of Newark would be to spoil not only one of the film’s more audacious twists, painstakingly concealed by pre-release publicity materials, but also one of the most shocking story developments from the final episodes of The Sopranos. Right off the bat, the film pitches its audience an unexpected and unapologetically quirky Billy Wilder throwback framing device that puts a new spin on some of the show’s most cosmically ambitious themes: the insistence that every person, everywhere, has an equally rich and mythic inner life, and the teased suggestion of supernatural transcendence beyond death—an afterlife from which the world of the living might be observed through an uncanny veil mimicking cinema itself. You’ll just need to have seen the TV show—all six-and-a-half seasons—to fully appreciate it. – Eli F. (full review)
Where to Stream: HBO Max
Mayday (Karen Cinorre)
Not far removed from the island nation of Themyscira as recently seen in Wonder Woman’s big-screen/HBO Max adventures, the world of Mayday is one dominated by women. Establishing little rules or context with its fable-esque qualities, Marsha (Mia Goth) is the leader of a small crew of female soldiers, destined to decimate any men that may find themselves in their crosshairs. Oh, and everyone may be dead and this is all some sort of otherworldly realm. Such is the strange set-up for Karen Cinorre’s folkloric, ambitious debut feature, which intrigues with its unexpected tonal melange, even if the execution comes up lacking. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
The Perfect Candidate (Haifaa Al-Mansour)
A lot has changed in Saudi Arabia since Haifaa Al-Mansour last made a film in her home country. Wadjda, Al-Mansour’s 2012 debut, was the first feature shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, and since then she’s worked in the US (Nappily Ever After) and UK (Mary Shelley). In the interim, Saudi Arabia passed laws that allowed cinemas to open in the country, women gained the right to vote, and in 2018 the country finally allowed women to drive. The Perfect Candidate, Al-Mansour’s keenly observed new film, examines a society in which women are acclimatizing to increased agency but still have a long way to go to equal rights. – Orla S. (full review)
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)
Unafraid of putting off audiences, Emerald Fennell’s feature debut is the rare movie that understands rage. It knows the feeling of welcoming scorched earth; it sees the inability of truly moving past trauma. Carey Mulligan does stellar work and the bubblegum costume design makes for an addictive viewing, but it’s so much more than that. It’s cynical and hopeless—just as it should be—and its looks at the aftershocks of rape ring cathartic and exhausting in equal measure. – Matt C.
Where to Stream: HBO Max
Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (Jia Zhangke)
Of all the monumental parts that tend to constitute the films of Jia Zhangke–the shifting socio-economic landscapes; the departing mountains; Zhao Tao–none has been as prevalent or essential as time. He is a director with one eye on the then and one eye on the now (and occasionally one on the future). Time is once again key to his latest work, a documentary titled Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue, in which Jia uses both the writings of Ma Feng and a series of interviews with celebrated authors from his native Chanxi to cast an eye over China’s shift from rural to urban living; the implications of that change if not the more state-censorship-sensitive aspects. The mood, as ever, is one of reminiscence. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: MUBI (free for 30 days)
Also New to Streaming
Hulu
Minor Premise (review)
New Order (review)
MUBI (free for 30 days)
Fifi Howls from Happiness
Vazante
The Guerilla Fighter
Nina
Paju
Alléluia
Netflix
VOD