10 New Movies to Watch This Weekend on Netflix, HBO Max, and Hulu (August 21-23)
Overview & Key Takeaways
A Pixar hit, an Anne Hathaway thriller, and more movies in this week's streaming column.
It’s finally the weekend. While there are a lot of great movies to watch in theaters (and also Insidious: Out of the Further), there’s also plenty to watch from home, whether you’re renting or streaming. Here are some of our favorite picks, whether you're looking for a summer blockbuster or some straight-to-video horror.
IMAGE: Polygon
Toy Story 5 is finally available to rent. The most recent entry in the beloved franchise, which has been around for the past 30 years, is directed by Andrew Stanton, one of the key figures in Pixar’s history. He wrote the original movie and is back as screenwriter alongside McKenna Harris. The movie follows Buzz, Woody, and Jesse as they reckon with kids and their use of technology.
Mother Mary is also streaming on HBO Max. David Lowery’s surreal pop dream follows the complicated relationship between a pop star and her first costume designer, delivering stunning visuals and a story that could be interpreted in different ways. Happy watching.
1 Toy Story 5
Image: Disney
- Available on VOD
- Genre: Animation
- Run time: 1h 42m
- Director: Andrew Stanton
- Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Tony Hale, Greta Lee
The new Toy Story movie follows our beloved toy heroes as they deal with the arrival of Lilypad, a sassy tablet voiced by Greta Lee that takes up all of Bonnie’s attention and threatens to render physical toys obsolete.
Per our Polygon review:
Unlike the previous four movies that mostly put Woody at the center, Toy Story 5’s lead is Jessie, and the shift works very well. Besides Woody, Jessie is really the only other Toy Story character with the emotional complexity to carry a film. Right at the beginning, director Andrew Stanton makes the shift in focus clear with a flashback scene featuring Jessie with her first owner, Emily. The sequence is reminiscent of the emotional flashback scene in Toy Story 2 where Jessie is abandoned and even features a quiet instrumental version of “When Somebody Loved Me.” If anything, Toy Story 5 is pretty much a direct sequel to Toy Story 2, as it picks up on Jessie’s feelings of abandonment established in that movie and explores them even more deeply.
2 Mother Mary
Image: A24
- Available on HBO Max
- Genre: Drama
- Run time: 1h 51m
- Director: David Lowery
- Cast: Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel
David Lowery remains one of our most interesting and dynamic filmmakers. His most recent film follows a struggling pop star who reunites with her former costume designer as the two collaborate one last time for the perfect comeback outfit. Through their work, they also cope with the end of their relationship.
Per our Polygon review:
Mother Mary comes closer to the genre than anything Lowery's done so far, trailer protestations notwithstanding. The set-up initially resembles the dynamics of a stage play, with estranged besties Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) and Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel) reuniting unexpectedly and chatting, mostly alone in a cavernous farmhouse on Sam’s property. The twist in their relationship is that Mary, as you might guess from her lofty moniker, is actually a globally famous pop star. Sam, a fashion designer, was her creative collaborator until Mary abruptly curtailed their partnership years ago. Now, Mary has turned up on Sam’s doorstep, desperate for a new dress to wear for her comeback concert.
3 Atlas King
Image: Storyman Pictures
- Available on VOD
- Genre: Thriller
- Run time: 1h 30m
- Director: Nika Agiashvili
- Cast: Michael Bisping, Sarah Wayne Callies, Cuba Gooding Jr
A former MMA fighter returns home to bury his best friend, getting entangled in a high-stakes heist against the local mob boss alongside his godson.
4 Bury the Devil
Image: Brainstorm Media
- Available on VOD
- Genre: Horror
- Run time: 1h 26m
- Director: Adam O’Brien
- Cast: Dawn Ford, Emmanuelle Lussier Martinez, Bill Rowat
A hospice nurse caring for an elderly dementia patient in a remote home starts to realize that her patient’s erratic behavior may have a sinister origin.
5 The Christophers
- Available on Hulu
- Genre: Comedy
- Run time: 1h 40m
- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- Cast: Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, Jessica Gunning, James Corden
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, The Christophers follows an aging and once famous painter who's grown estranged from his kids. To cash in on his legacy after he dies, his children hire a forger and art restorer to infiltrate his house and finish a beloved series of paintings called The Christophers.
6 I Swear
Image: StudioCanal
- Available on Netflix
- Genre: Drama
- Run time: 2h
- Director: Kirk Jones
- Cast: Robert Aramayo, Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson
Based on the life of the Scottish activist John Davidson, I Swear follows him throughout his life as he deals with the symptoms of his Tourette’s syndrome, finding people who support him and shape him into the man his community knows today.
7 Passenger
Image: Paramount
- Available on Paramount plus
- Genre: Horror
- Run time: 1h 34m
- Director: André Øvredal
- Cast: Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell, Melissa Leo
A young couple who live in their van begin to be stalked by a shapeshifting demon after witnessing a gruesome car accident.
8 Rosebush Pruning
- Available on MUBI
- Genre: Thriller
- Run time: 1h 35m
- Director: Karim Ainouz
- Cast: Callum Turner, Elle Fanning, Pamela Anderson, Riley Keough
Rosebush Pruning follows a wealthy American family living in a Catalan village, with tensions entering the ir home when one of the family members decides that he wants his girlfriend to move in with them.
9 Buffet Infinity
Image: Yellow Veil Pictures
- Available on Shudder
- Genre: Horror
- Run time: 1h 40m
- Director: Simon Glassman
- Cast: Kevin Singh, Claire Theobald, Donovan Workun
Made entirely out of '90s TV commercials, news broadcasts and PSAs, Buffet Infinity follows various feuding businesses as they cope with the rise of an all-you-can-eat restaurant that begins to take over the small town.
10 The Fence
Image: Les Films du Losange
- Available on AMC plus
- Genre: Drama
- Run time: 1h 49m
- Director: Claire Denis
- Cast: Isaach De Bankole, Matt Dillon, Mia McKenna-Bruce, Tom Blyth
Claire Denis’ most recent film is set over the course of a tense night, at an isolated construction site in West Africa. The story follows an American site manager and a local engineer who are confronted by a man demanding the return of his brother's body, killed in a workplace accident.
