The Best Movies to Stream This Week by Stephen Johnson
Looking to settle in with a good movie? Me too. That’s why I’ve pored over release schedules to bring you the best original and new-to-streaming movies you can watch on Netflix, Prime, Max, Hulu, and other streaming platforms.
Jackpot!
How’s this premise for an action-comedy: California awards a randomly selected person a multi-billion dollar jackpot, but anyone who murders the winner gets to take the money. Now imagine the “lucky” winner is played by Awkwafina and John Cena plays a bodyguard who tries to protect her when the entire city of Los Angeles is trying to knock her off. Does Jackpot! sound good? It sounds good to me.
Where to stream: Prime
Matt Rife: Lucid – A Crowd Work Special
If you’re not familiar with Matt Rife, you haven’t been watching viral TikTok videos. Rife has the rare gift of being able to connect directly with his audience to create some of the funniest comedy you’ve ever heard. Rife is the king of crowd-work and in this special, he’s working without a net‚ nothing prepared, just off-the-dome comedy. If you like stand-up at all, don’t miss Lucid.
Where to stream: Netflix
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1970s coming-of-age story earned a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes for the richness of its characters and how perfectly it nails the vibe of 1970s Los Angeles. It’s the kind of movie you sink into and inhabit, where nothing much happens in a completely fascinating way. When you’re finished with Licorice Pizza, check out Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, and The Master. They’re all streaming on Criterion this month too.
Where to stream: Criterion
Daughters
This Netflix original documentary follows Aubrey, Santana, Raziah, and Ja’Ana, four young girls preparing for a big Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers. The dance is part of an innovative fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C. jail where convicts change from state-issued jumpsuits to semi-formal suits and are given the chance to bond with their children.
Where to stream: Netflix
Last week’s picks
The Instigators
Apple TV+ corralled some serious star power for this original movie. The Instigators stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck as Rory and Cobby, a pair of mismatched criminals who team up for a scheme. The Boston boys’ brazen robbery of a politician’s office leads to chaos when the police, crooked bureaucrats, and Boston crime bosses all end up chasing after the pair. Desperate, they turn to an unexpected ally: Rory’s reluctant therapist (Hong Chau).
Where to stream: Apple TV+
One Fast Move
Sometimes you want to kick back and watch a rags-to-riches, Rocky-like story about redemption through sport. One Fast Move is that movie. KJ Apa plays Wes Nea, a directionless man who was recently released from prison. With nowhere else to turn, Wes asks his estranged father to help him realize his dream of becoming a professional motorcycle racer.
Starts streaming August 8.
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes
In 1964, actress Elizabeth Taylor recorded over 40 hours of interviews; this HBO original documentary dug ’em up and is playing The Lost Tapes for the first time. These intimate recordings go deep into the vagaries and contradictions of stardom and the forces that influenced Taylor’s complicated life as an actress, an activist, and the most beautiful woman in the world.
Where to stream: Prime
Joe Rogan: Burn the Boats
Joe Rogan hosts the most popular and influential podcast on earth, a fact that we all have to deal with. But before he hosted podcasts and gross-out reality shows, Rogan was a stand-up, and he’s returning to his roots with Burn the Boats, a comedy special that I’m sure lots of people who aren’t me will find hilarious.
Where to stream: Netflix
Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric and Elizabeth?
This HBO original true crime documentary tells the tragic story of the abduction and murder of Lyric Cook-Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins in Evansdale, Iowa, in 2012. The cousins were last seen riding their bikes near a park when someone snatched them in broad daylight. The bodies were discovered months later, but no one knows who was responsible for their deaths. This doc digs into theories around the crime through interviews with family members and authorities.
Where to stream: Prime
Suitable Flesh (2023)
Director Joe Lynch delivers a Lovecraftian horror flick that’s also sexy—not a common combination. Heather Graham turns in a fearless performance as Elizabeth Derby, a psychiatrist whose devotion to reason is about to be abolished by the supernatural—specifically, a patient who complains that his father is trying to steal his body. It all hurtles toward a delightedly ooey and gooey finale that Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator) fans will love.
Where to stream: Hulu
The Emoji Movie (2017)
While I try to focus on movies that are good (or at least interesting), sometimes you need a little disaster-cinema. Enter, The Emoji Movie. Who thought making a movie about emojis in your smart phone was good idea? How big of a dumptruck full of money did they drive up to convince talented people like T.J. Miller, Patrick Stewart, and Anna Faris to lend their voices to it? Watch and see if you can figure it out.
Where to stream: Netflix
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