What to watch this weekend.
Another weekend is upon us and as the days and nights get chillier, the need for great streaming options becomes more pressing. Thankfully, there seems to always be something new and exciting to watch (along with plenty of garbage, of course). This is where I come in!
Every week, I scour the internet and the myriad streaming services and my overflowing inbox for new TV shows and movies to recommend, or at least to point you toward. I haven’t always seen everything on this list but I do editorialize when I have because I think it’s helpful. Of course, we won’t always agree on everything so take my opinions with a grain of salt.
There are two sections below. What’s new—or newish—and what’s currently airing weekly, though the latter is almost always stuff that I’m personally watching or following in some way. I’m still behind on a few of these!
Check out last week’s streaming guide right here.
Alright, let’s dive right in!
What’s New This Weekend
Don’t Move (Netflix)
“You can hide but you can’t run” is the very clever tagline for Netflix’s new thriller, Don’t Move, starring Yellowstone’s Kelsey Asbille. She plays Iris, a mother grieving the loss of her child, who heads out into the woods and runs into serious trouble. When a stranger doses her with a paralytic drug, she has to escape before she loses the ability to move. Looks intense!
Caddo Lake (HBO Max)
Okay, this isn’t new but I also haven’t included it in this list before so we’re calling it new anyways. Produced by M. Night Shyamalan under his Blinding Edge Pictures company, the film was written and directed by Celine Held and Logan George. It stars Dylan O’Brien as Paris and Eliza Scanlen as Ellie, a young woman whose 8-year-old sister goes missing near the mysterious Caddo Lake. I haven’t seen this one yet but it looks mysterious, scary and exactly the kind of movie you might want to watch around Halloween. It’s gotten pretty good reviews, too, with critics and audiences alike.
Shrinking Season 2 (Apple TV)
I somehow missed this one dropping last week, so here it is. Shrinking is one of my favorite character dramedies out there, though I started watching it only recently. It’s more proof that Apple TV is the best streaming service out there right now, at least as far as quality ratios go. Shrinking tells the story of therapist Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) who is still reeling from the death of his wife a year earlier. He’s handled his grief poorly, straining his relationship with is daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell) and friends and co-workers. Harrison Ford plays Dr. Paul Rhoades, Jimmy’s reluctant mentor, and he’s absolutely hilarious and wonderful in the role. The entire cast is just stellar, including Jessica Williams as Jimmy’s co-worker, Gaby, Luke Tennie as his patient and veteran, Sean, Christa Miller as Jimmy’s nextdoor neighbor Liz and Michael Urie as Brian, Jimmy’s best friend. The mix of humor and emotional punch really works here, and I find myself really relating to a lot of it in very big, often somewhat uncomfortable ways. This is a good thing.
Before (Apple TV)
Billy Crystal’s first big TV role represents a major shift for the comedian. Before is a thriller about a widowed child psychiatrist, Eli, who encounters a mysterious boy named Noah (Jacobi Jupe) with some very strange issues—and an unsettling connection to Eli’s past. When Eli tells Noah to tell him something that makes him angry, the boy says “People who do bad things” and then “You know what you did!” It looks really good, and I love Billy Crystal, but the reviews are brutal, with critics calling it a “hackneyed psychological thriller” with a lame payoff. Make of that what you will. 11% on Rotten Tomatoes is pretty bad, and may work against my thesis that Apple keeps knocking it out of the park!
Canary Black (Prime Video)
I admit, I was a bit startled to see Ray Stevenson in the trailer for spy-thrill Canary Black, as the actor—who we last saw in Ahsoka—passed away last year. Stevenson stars alongside headliner, Kate Beckinsale, who plays CIA operative Avery Graves. She’s blackmailed by terrorists to betray her country in order to save her husband. It looks . . . fine. A good popcorn flick for the action movie fans. There are next to no reviews out there, however.
Special Ops: Lioness Season 2 (Paramount+)
Taylor Sheridan’s spy thriller stars Zoe Saldana as Joe, a CIA special operative enlisted into the Lioness Program. I started Season 1 of this back when it came out and thought it was pretty good, but I forgot to finish it so it can’t have been that good. Do you ever get the feeling that Sheridan overextends himself with this many TV shows? I can’t even keep track at this point. The Season 2 premiere comes out this Sunday.
Streaming Weekly
We’ll dive into the shows I’m watching, following or keep meaning to watch next. There are a lot of these, which is one reason I’m behind on so many of them and haven’t recapped everything I was hoping to each week. Even with Bad Monkey, Slow Horses and Rings Of Power all over, the list of shows is long. It’s a good problem to have!
There are also some big video game releases I’ve been spending time with, like Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 which came out this week and the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard next week. I need about eight more hours per day, I think. Oh, and I went to The Wild Robot finally and thought it was a really nice family movie, though not as good as Inside Out 2. In any case, let’s begin with . . .
Agatha All Along (Disney+)
Agatha All Along is one of the pleasant surprises of 2024. I really didn’t have high expectations for this one, but it’s turned out to be a really fun sequel series to WandaVision, and Kathryn Hahn—along with the rest of the cast—is just so much fun as Agatha Harkness. The latest episode really elevated the entire season, giving me really high hopes that the show will end well. We’ll find out next Wednesday!
Only Murders In The Building (Hulu)
Even with some big revelations in the latest episode of Only Murders In The Building, some very big mysteries remain unsolved. Season 4 of the Steve Martin / Martin Short / Selena Gomez mystery is the best it’s ever been, rivaling the first season in many ways, while also tying up some loose ends. We’ll figure out who the killer—or killers—truly are in next week’s finale, Monday evening.
The Penguin (HBO / Max)
Speaking of terrific TV shows and pleasant surprises, HBO’s The Penguin is a surprisingly great mafia drama set in Gotham City. Somehow it manages to be absolutely riveting without ever involving the Caped Crusader. Colin Farrell is fantastic as Oz Cobb, but it’s Cristin Milioti’s sublime performance as Sofia Falcone that really steals the show. New episodes land Sundays on HBO and Max.
FROM (MGM)
FROM also continues to be really, really good in its third season on MGM+ even though I really do not like the extras and even though the most recent episode’s townhall meeting was so disappointing. The horror series is a lot like Lost but with deadly monsters who come out at night and tear people apart. Harold Perrineau leads a solid cast of (mostly) likeable characters who have to survive these terrors and more, all while trying to piece together the mystery of the nameless town they’re trapped in. New episodes air Sundays. My latest review is right here.
The Legend Of Vox Machina (Prime Video)
I’ve yet to watch the final three episodes of Vox Machina’s third season which just dropped Thursday. I’ve been extraordinarily busy! So far, Season 3 has been amazing and heartbreaking and hilarious. The show is based on the Critical Role tabletop RPG podcast and it’s just heaps of fun, with truly amazing characters and a very adult sense of humor. I don’t mean mature, I mean it’s inappropriate for kids. You can check out my interviews with the cast right here. All 12 episodes of the series are out now on Prime Video and it’s been renewed for a third season.
Sweetpea (Starz)
I’m really enjoying the very dark, very disturbing story of Rhiannon, a young British woman who everyone in her life ignores or treats horribly. Rhiannon is played by the enormously talented Ella Purnell, who finds herself on a murderous path of self-discovery and revenge against . . . the world. I’ve posted my review of the first episode. New episodes land on Starz every Friday.
Teacup (Peacock)
Teacup is another paranormal horror series about a mysterious evil that seems to be taking over the world and a small group of survivors who find themselves trapped and faced with both internal strife and a dangerous mystery. So far, I’m enjoying it. I’ve posted my review of the 2-part series premiere. New episodes come out Thursdays.
Daryl Dixon: The Book Of Carol (AMC)
Sadly, I cannot recommend Daryl Dixon’s second season as it pretty much encapsulates everything wrong with The Walking Dead as a franchise. It’s just too badly written, too preposterous and too boring. What a shame. Read my latest review here. New episodes drop Sundays.
Disclaimer (Apple TV)
I still haven’t started the Cate Blanchett / Kevin Kline drama Disclaimer on Apple TV yet because I just haven’t had time, but it looks great and I do love the leads. I’m making it a goal this week to at least watch the first episode.
What did I miss? Are you watching anything good these days? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.
Further Reading From Yours Truly
Have a great weekend!
