Smile 2, Alien: Romulus, Netflix’s The Piano Lesson, and every movie new to streaming

Every week on Polygon, we spherical up probably the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the largest and greatest new motion pictures so that you can watch at dwelling.

This week, Smile 2, the sequel to the supernatural horror debut from director Parker Finn, leers its method onto VOD following its theatrical debut in September. If supernatural horror isn’t your bag, why not give sci-fi horror a strive? Alien: Romulus, Evil Lifeless director Fede Álvarez’s new installment within the venerable Alien franchise, slithers onto Hulu this week alongside the Nick Jonas-led comedy drama The Good Half and the historic drama Firebrand starring Alicia Vikander.

There’s an entire lot extra to select from on streaming this weekend, together with the historic survival drama Blitz on Apple TV Plus; The Piano Lesson starring John David Washington (Tenet); Shrek director Vicky Jenson’s newest animated journey, Spellbound, on Netflix; Blink Twice on MGM Plus; and several other different new releases.

Right here’s all the things new that’s accessible to look at this weekend!

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Netflix

Style: DramaRun time: 2h 5mDirector: Malcolm WashingtonCast: Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher

The function directorial debut by Malcolm Washington adapts August Wilson’s play for the silver display. Starring Malcolm’s brother John David, The Piano Lesson facilities on the lives of Boy Willie Charles and his household dwelling in post-Nice Melancholy Pittsburgh. Because the Charles household quarrels over the destiny of a prized heirloom, a piano embellished with designs carved by an enslaved ancestor, the battle threatens to roil outdated resentments and inflame long-simmering tensions.

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Netflix

Style: Biographical dramaRun time: 1h 55mDirector: Ben TaylorCast: Invoice Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie, James Norton

Pleasure tells the story of the primary test-tube child and the invention of in vitro fertilization, by means of the eyes of nurse Jean Purdy, scientist Robert Edwards, and surgeon Patrick Steptoe within the Nineteen Seventies. The trio faces opposition, as non secular zealots declare their work to be unnatural, however proceed to persevere within the face of these odds. For many years, Purdy’s contributions to the event of IVF had been largely forgotten, however lately she’s been an increasing number of acknowledged.

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Netflix

Style: Fantasy comedyRun time: 1h 49mDirector: Vicky JensonCast: Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis

A brand new animated musical from the director of Shrek, Spellbound is a few younger princess who should break a spell that’s remodeled her mother and father into monsters and break up her kingdom in two. Musical legend Alan Menken does the music for the film, and with Rachel Zegler because the lead, the soundtrack is certain to soar. The film was first known as Break up earlier than it was modified to The Unbreakable Spell, and after shifting between a couple of streaming companies, it was lastly renamed Spellbound.

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Netflix

Style: Musical rom-comRun time: 1h 27mDirector: Peter SullivanCast: Britt Robertson, Chad Michael Murray, Marla Sokoloff

Magic Mike meets a comfortable Christmas film on this new Netflix vacation flick. A dancer tries to save lots of her household’s efficiency venue by placing on a steamy all-male dance revue to lift cash. She recruits among the sizzling males round her small city and trains them within the artwork of hip thrusting and shirt tearing… and in addition begins to fall for one in every of them. Will she save her mother and father’ venue simply in time for Christmas? Given the style, in all probability, however there can be extra naked torsos than typical.

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Hulu

Style: Sci-fi horrorRun time: 1h 59mDirector: Fede ÁlvarezCast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Isabela Merced

Set 20 years after the occasions of Ridley Scott’s Alien, Fede Álvarez’s sci-fi horror movie follows three pairs of younger siblings who try and scavenge by means of a derelict area station in a last-ditch effort to flee their indentured servitude to the Weyland-Yutani megacorporation. What they uncover aboard the station, nonetheless, just isn’t their salvation, however a horror past something they might’ve presumably imagined.

“Is it pretty much as good as Alien or Aliens?” is the plain query franchise followers will ask when weighing whether or not to see Alien: Romulus. Álvarez and Sayagues appear to have been uncomfortably conscious that this query was coming. They anticipated these 5 totally different solutions about what Alien followers love from the earlier movies, and tried to separate the distinction between all of them and extra. Just like the Romulus and Remus stations, which function the movie’s setting, Alien: Romulus is made up of roughly two components: a haunted-house story in outer area à la Alien, and a crowd-pleasing horror-action spectacle like Aliens. The previous factor is stronger than the latter on this case, and the imbalance is among the causes Alien: Romulus looks like a by-the-numbers retread of the franchise defining it, somewhat than the resuscitative breath it so desperately wants.

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Hulu

Style: Comedy dramaRun time: 1h 36mDirector: Robert SchwartzmanCast: Nick Jonas, Brittany Snow, David Arquette

The Jonas Brothers’ very personal Nick Jonas stars as an emotionally distant author returning to Cleveland, Ohio, for his mom’s funeral, after years of avoiding his difficult household. He forges some new relationships and confronts some outdated ones, and finally should face his grief — and household drama — head on. The Good Half first premiered on the 2023 Tribeca movie competition.

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Hulu

Style: Historic dramaRun time: 2h 1mDirector: Karim AïnouzCast: Alicia Vikander, Jude Regulation, Eddie Marsan

King Henry VIII is remembered for a lot of issues, however he’s in all probability most recognized for marrying six girls in his lifetime, two of which he had executed. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) stars on this historic drama as Katherine Parr, the sixth spouse of Henry VIII (Jude Regulation), who should battle for her survival when the king’s habits turns into an increasing number of erratic and paranoid within the years previous the top of his reign.

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Max

Style: Superhero dramaRun time: 1h 23mDirector: Brandon ViettiCast: Troy Baker, Adrienne Barbeau, Corey Burton

Watchmen is again, this time as a multi-part animated movie sequence! In an alternate 1985, a government-sponsored superhero has been inexplicably murdered. Decided to apprehend his killer, a costumed vigilante named Rorschach reunites together with his estranged former colleagues and scours the prison underworld of New York is his seek for clues. What he uncovers is a conspiracy that threatens to hazard your entire world. Will he be capable of monitor down the conspirators earlier than it’s too late?

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Apple TV Plus

Style: DramaRun time: 2hDirector: Steve McQueenCast: Saoirse Ronan, Elliott Heffernan, Harris Dickinson

Saoirse Ronan (Girl Hen) stars in Steve McQueen’s historic drama as Rita, a younger mom who sends her son George (Elliott Heffernan) to the English countryside to guard him from the upcoming assault on London by Nazi Germany. When Rita learns that George didn’t attain his vacation spot, she embarks on a search to seek out him.

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Apple TV Plus

Style: DocumentaryRun time: 1h 30mDirector: Sahra Mani

Bread & Roses is a documentary about girls in Afghanistan dwelling beneath the Taliban, following three girls: Sharifa, a former authorities worker confined indoors; Zahra, a dentist who started to arrange activists until she was captured and tortured; and Taranom, who has been exiled to Pakistan for her activism. The documentary premiered on the 2023 Cannes Movie Pageant to crucial acclaim.

The place to look at: Out there to stream on MGM Plus

Style: Psychological thrillerRun time: 1h 42mDirector: Zoë KravitzCast: Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Christian Slater

Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut is a psychological thriller a few cocktail waitress named Frida (Naomi Ackie) who will get whisked away to a personal island by a tech mogul for a lavish partying getaway. However Frida begins to note that one thing unusual is going on with the feminine friends. Enjoyable reality: The movie’s working title was Pussy Island, however the Movement Image Affiliation had a problem with that.

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Mubi US

Style: DocumentaryRun time: 1h 30mDirector: Elizabeth SankeyCast: Catherine Cho, Sophia Di Martino, David Emson

This documentary chronicles the connection between how witches have been characterised throughout the historical past of movie, tv, and tradition and the way we view girls, motherhood, and psychological well being. Counting on her personal strong data and long-standing obsession with the movie’s material, Elizabeth Sankey attracts on clips from The Wizard of Oz, Lady, Interrupted, Rosemary’s Child, and extra for example her argument in regards to the connection between the historical past of witches and the historic vilification of ladies and their our bodies.

The place to look at: Out there to stream on Metrograph

Style: Supernatural horrorRun time: 2h 7mDirector: Parker FinnCast: Kyle Gallner, Naomi Scott, Lukas Gage

Parker Finn returns with a follow-up to his smash-hit horror debut, Smile. Choosing up only a week after the occasions of the earlier movie, Smile 2 facilities on Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a well-known pop star recovering from a tragic automobile accident. When a mysterious curse is inadvertently handed on to her, Skye struggles to retain her sanity as she fights towards a parasitic supernatural entity that seeks to devour her from the within out.

Smile dodging the streaming abyss and discovering box-office success felt like a miracle, however Smile 2 is one thing even rarer: a horror sequel that outdoes its predecessor in each method. Reasonably than merely rehashing the unique, Parker Finn pushes his intelligent premise to its logical excessive and builds some extremely scary scenes to match. Actually, Finn ends Smile 2 in a spot that looks like the right conclusion to the franchise — and the right jumping-off level for the profession of one of the crucial thrilling horror administrators of his era.