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.
Daaaaaalí! (Quentin Dupieux)
At the time of year where every other film is a biopic chasing prestige respectability, we are lucky to have Quentin Dupieux, the prolific, serious-minded, silly filmmaker perfectly positioned to take a sledgehammer to the genre. His second 2023 feature has been described as a “real fake biopic” of Salvador Dalí but is best understood as a return to the heightened analysis of cinematic storytelling à la 2010 breakthrough Rubber––a movie which increasingly looks like the rare weak spot in a filmography equal-parts playful and thoughtful. – Alistair R. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Daddio (Christy Hall)
Daddio, written and directed by Christy Hall, is a two-hander that bristles with energy from the start. A young professional (Dakota Johnson) steps into a yellow cab at the JFK Airport. Her melancholy makes her mysterious, and her boisterous, reflective cabbie (Sean Penn) can’t help but engage. Here we have actors acting, the kind of special effect no computer will ever be able to replicate. There are surprises, jokes, tears, and a volatile text conversation as the vehicle navigates the bottle-neck tunnel traffic into Manhattan. A lovely, enigmatic score from Dickon Hinchliffe underlines an emotional ride with a deeply satisfying conclusion. Johnson and Penn could not be more different as performers. It’s an oil-and-water clash that pays off in dividends. These are artists at the top of their game. A ride well worth taking. – Dan M.
Where to Stream: Netflix (on Saturday)
One False Move (Carl Franklin)
If Carl Franklin may not have many films in his oeuvre, what’s present has certainly made its mark. His 1992 neo-noir One False Move was originally set by the studio to go straight-to-video, only to be rescued by critics like Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, who caught it in advance and gave massive praise to its complex characters, rich world-building, and no-nonsense approach to the violence that American culture is steeped in. The film would go on to be Siskel’s number one of the year and receive the full theatrical release it deserved. Continue reading Mitchell Beaupre’s interview and listen to our conversation with Franklin on The B-Side.
Where to Stream: Prime Video
Rap World (Danny Scharar, Conner O’Malley)
If you’ve enjoyed his manic comedy in I Saw the TV Glow or I Think You Should Leave, but are looking for something even more unfiltered and unhinged, Conner O’Malley’s feature debut, Rap World, has now had a surprise drop on YouTube after a festival run. Co-directed with Danny Scharar, the story follows three friends who attempt to create a rap album one 2009 night in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania. While you’ll know within a few minutes if this particular brand of brash late aughts nostalgia works for you (as a college-goer in that time, it very much did for me), regardless, it’s very much worth sticking through it for one of the great last act gags of the year. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: YouTube
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Benjamin Ree)
Robert and Trude Steen were astonished that their 25-year-old son Mats had another life after he passed away from Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Despite Mats, who used a wheelchair and had few in-person social outings, appearing lonely amidst playing World of Warcraft for about 15,000 hours in his last ten years, his parents soon discovered he was popular in this virtual world. Gamers knew him for his avatar, Lord Ibelin Redmoore, and devotedly read his blog Musings of Life. These events inspired filmmaker Benjamin Ree(The Painter and the Thief), a Steens family friend who read Mats’ journey on the BBC, to visualize this story. – Edward F. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Trap (M. Night Shyamalan)
Far be it from me to say Shyamalan needs further reclamation or defense––I might instead point you to the most deranged, overcompensating discourse ever waged on behalf of a director––except to argue Trap’s legion pleasures aren’t disconnected from the satisfaction of watching his specific talents meet a distinctly entertaining premise. And if not quite some turning point in Shyamalan’s oeuvre, watching it suggests a coinciding fulfillment of his earlier cultural dominance with the thoroughgoing security established since The Visit defibrillated his career nearly a decade ago. Even at a pace or two too long, while starting to coast on the pure rush of initial, stronger ideas, it’s perhaps his best-engineered work since The Village and arguably the purest piece of entertainment he’s ever made. – Nick N. (full review)
Where to Stream: Max
Also New to Streaming
Hulu
Late Night with the Devil
Prime Video
Modern Romance
The Outwaters
Pain & Glory
Spider
Velvet Goldmine
VOD
Azrael
Sisi & I