Speak No Evil, Beetlejuice 2, Netflix’s That Christmas, and every movie new to streaming

2 weeks ago 59

Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

This week, Speak No Evil, the new horror thriller starring James McAvoy and Scoot McNairy, comes to streaming on Peacock. That’s not all, though; Smile 2 also arrives this week on Paramount Plus, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice comes to Max, and The People’s Joker is available to stream on Mubi. Netflix even has a new animated Christmas comedy, That Christmas, starring Brian Cox as jolly ol’ St. Nick himself! There’s loads of other new releases on VOD this week, too, like Clint Eastwood’s courtroom drama Juror #2.

Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Netflix

Genre: Animated comedy
Run time: 1h 31m
Director: Simon Otto
Cast: Brian Cox, Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker

Richard Curtis’ new Netflix animated Christmas movie is almost like Love Actually for kids (without, he says, the swearing and nudity). Taking place in a small English town by the sea, That Christmas weaves in a few different storylines, all based on Curtis’ own picture books: A lonely boy spends a snow day with the school’s most hated teacher; a group of children get a parent-free Christmas day that they get to spend their way; and a pair of identical twins with vastly different personalities give Santa pause.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Genre: Biblical drama
Director: D.J. Caruso
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Noa Cohen, Ido Tako

Noa Cohen stars in this biblical drama as Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Jesus Christ. After giving birth to her child, Mary is forced to flee her home to protect her family from Herod (Anthony Hopkins), a vengeful king who views her son as a threat to his insatiable desire to maintain power.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Sony Pictures Classics

Genre: Comedy-drama
Run time: 1h 45m
Director: Rich Peppiatt
Cast: Naoise Ó Cairealláin, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, JJ Ó Dochartaigh

This irreverent comedy-drama stars the members of Kneecap, a Belfast-based hip-hop trio of native Irish-speaking rappers, recreating the story of how they met in the early 2010s and started making music. From run-ins with British authorities to their rise to fame across the country, Kneecap is a comedy about the power of music as a form of expression and a means of shaping one’s own identity.

Bad Actor: A Hollywood Ponzi Scheme

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

Image: NEON

Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 27m
Director: Joslyn Jensen
Cast: Hannah Elizabeth Alexander, Zach Avery, Emily Beth Beacham

This documentary dives into the wild true story of Zachary Horwitz, an aspiring actor who conned studios out of millions of dollars. First, he paid his way into small roles, then started fabricating contracts, and ultimately ended up getting studios to bankroll nonexistent movies. The movie comes from Joslyn Jensen in her documentary directorial debut.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

Image: Roadside Attractions

Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 35m
Director: Castille Landon
Cast: Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Diane Keaton

Three lifelong friends (Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Diane Keaton) reunite at the summer camp they attended as children in a reunion for attendees. The sprawling ensemble cast also includes Dennis Haysbert, Eugene Levy, Josh Peck, and Nicole Richie.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

Image: MBK Productions/Magnolia Pictures

Genre: Historical drama
Run time: 1h 59m
Director: Lee Tamahori
Cast: Guy Pearce, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Antonio Te Maioha

In this historical drama, a preacher comes to a remote outpost in New Zealand — only to get caught in the middle of a war between Māori tribes. It’s based on the 2011 novel Wulf by New Zealand author Hamish Clayton.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Max

Image: Warner Bros.

Genre: Comedy horror
Run time: 1h 45m
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega

Michael Keaton is back as Betelgeuse, and this time, he’s decided to torment poor Lydia Deetz’s teenage daughter Astrid (played by Gen Z Goth Queen Jenna Ortega). Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara return for this legacy sequel — and all three generations of Deetz women find themselves back in Connecticut on Halloween. Cue supernatural shenanigans!

There’s a real sense that the screenwriters left the building after laying down the first hour of the movie, leaving Burton to fill in the rest of his run time with “Hey, remember that from the first film?” references. The stop-motion sandworms are back. The afterlife-as-hell-bureaucracy gags are back. The broad-shouldered, shrunken-head corpse is back, and now there are a lot more of them. Betelgeuse is still pulling his seen-from-behind face-exploding routine to freak people out. A child choir sings Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat (Day-O)” in a setting that makes not the slightest lick of sense as anything but a callback. Once again, a big lip-synched musical number is forced on a bunch of unwilling participants. It’s the laziest possible way to put together a sequel: nostalgia with only the barest minimal new spin on anything, right up to a climax that’s more or less the finale of the first movie with a few old names hastily crossed out and a few new ones scribbled in.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Apple TV Plus

Image: Apple TV

Genre: Rom-com
Run time: 2h 12m
Director: Greg Berlanti
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Woody Harrelson

Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson star in a period romantic comedy… that’s set against the possibility of faking the moon landing. Tatum plays the launch director at NASA, who’s determined to actually pull off the moon landing; Johansson plays the advertising executive hired to create a failsafe, just in case the moon landing doesn’t work out. Tempers flare and sparks fly between the two of them and their vastly different goals.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus

Image: Paramount Pictures

Genre: Supernatural horror
Run time: 2h 7m
Director: Parker Finn
Cast: Kyle Gallner, Naomi Scott, Lukas Gage

Parker Finn returns with a follow-up to his smash-hit horror debut, Smile. Picking up just a week after the events of the previous film, Smile 2 centers on Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a famous pop star recovering from a tragic car accident. When a mysterious curse is inadvertently passed on to her, Skye struggles to retain her sanity as she fights against a parasitic supernatural entity that seeks to devour her from the inside out.

Smile dodging the streaming abyss and finding box-office success felt like a miracle, but Smile 2 is something even rarer: a horror sequel that outdoes its predecessor in every way. Rather than simply rehashing the original, Parker Finn pushes his clever premise to its logical extreme and builds some incredibly scary scenes to match. In fact, Finn ends Smile 2 in a spot that feels like the perfect conclusion to the franchise — and the perfect jumping-off point for the career of one of the most exciting horror directors of his generation.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock

Image: Universal Pictures/Blumhouse Productions

Genre: Psychological horror
Run time: 1h 50m
Director: James Watkins
Cast: Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, James McAvoy

James Watkins’ remake of the 2022 Danish horror film Speak No Evil stars Mackenzie Davis (Station Eleven) and Scoot McNairy (Argo) as Louise and Ben, an American couple vacationing in Italy with their daughter, Agnes. After befriending Paddy (James McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), a free-spirited British couple also on vacation, Louise and Ben decide to visit the couple after being invited to their farmhouse in the countryside. It’s not long, however, before things take a turn for the worse.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Mubi US

Image: Altered Innocence

Genre: Parody comedy
Run time: 1h 32m
Director: Vera Drew
Cast: Vera Drew, Nathan Faustyn, Kane Distler

This DC Comics parody follows the story of Vera, a trans woman from Smallville who moves to Gotham City to break into stand-up comedy under the name “Joker the Harlequin.” Together with her friend The Penguin (Nathan Faustyn), Vera forms an anti-comedy troupe and goes head to head with her abusive partner Mr. J (Kane Distler) and a tyrannical vigilante known as the Batman (Phil Braun).

The film isn’t entirely a comedy in-joke, however — which is good, because the story of Vera/Joker’s “anti-comedy” career is the most straightforward and least memorable aspect of the film. Lengthy discussions about the role of comedians as truth-tellers between Joker and the Penguin are standard stuff for podcasts and documentaries about the art form. Comedic first-person trans coming-of-age narratives, particularly ones where the transition is accomplished by falling into a vat of feminizing hormones, are more rare. Dedicated “to mom and Joel Schumacher,” The People’s Joker is also a sincere exploration of Vera’s journey toward self-realization, beginning with her childhood as a “miserable little girl” trapped in a boy’s body in Smallville.

Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point

Where to watch: Available to stream on AMC Plus

Image: IFC Films

Genre: Christmas comedy-drama
Run time: 1h 46m
Director: Tyler Taormina
Cast: Matilda Fleming, Maria Dizzia, Ben Shenkman

Tyler Taormina’s Christmas comedy-drama follows the members of the Balsanos, a rambunctious extended family who come together for the final Christmas in their ancestral home. As the night wears on, tensions wear on, too, and the family goes to extreme lengths to make this year’s holiday one to remember.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Roadside Attractions

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 57m
Director: Titus Kaphar
Cast: André Holland, John Earl Jelks, Andra Day

André Holland (Moonlight) stars in painter-filmmaker Titus Kaphar’s directorial debut as Tarrell, an accomplished painter whose career is rising. After an unexpected visit from his estranged father, La’Ron (John Earl Jelks), Tarrell must learn to balance the conflicting emotions between his desire for reconciliation and his resentment toward his absent parent.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Smudge Films

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 29m
Director: India Donaldson
Cast: Lily Collias, James Le Gros, Valentine Black

This coming-of-age drama follows the story of Sam (Lily Collias), a teenage girl who embarks on a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills with her father, Chris (James Le Gros), and his recently divorced friend Matt (Danny McCarthy). As she mediates the clashing egos and brewing tension between the two men, Sam’s bond with her father is tested.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Dichotomy Films/Warner Bros. Pictures

Genre: Drama thriller
Run time: 1h 54m
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons

The latest film from director Clint Eastwood stars Nicholas Hoult as Justin, a young man serving on the jury of a high-profile murder trial who slowly grows to suspect that he may be responsible for the victim’s death.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: EuropaCorp/Huayu International Entertainment

Genre: Action thriller
Run time: 1h 40m
Director: George Huang
Cast: Luke Evans, Sung Kang, Wyatt Yang

Luke Evans stars in this action thriller as John, a former DEA agent who is reunited with Joey (Gwei Lun-mei), a former underground operative, years after the two fell in love with one another during a fateful weekend in Taipei. When John takes an off-the-books mission to bring down a billionaire drug kingpin, his feelings for Joey are tested when it comes to light that his target is in fact her new husband.