Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Lionsgate, Netflix, Roadside Attractions, Everett
Live from Vulture, it’s another edition of what to watch. We don’t have Jean Smart hosting our newsletter, but, hey, she’s busy. You’ll have to settle for watching her on SNL. Sadly, we also don’t have a live actor à la Megalopolis reading this newsletter to you at home either, so what are we good for? Well, we’re saving you an endless scroll through the streaming services this weekend, so you’re welcome.
Featured Presentations
The Wild Robot
Adapted from Peter Brown’s children’s book of the same name, Lupita Nyong’o voices Roz, the titular robot. The film, directed by Lilo & Stitch’s Chris Sanders, is spectacularly rendered as Roz lands on and cares for an island inhabited only by different critters voiced by a stellar cast including Pedro Pascal, Mark Hamill, Bill Nighy, Ving Rhames, Matt Berry, and Catherine O’Hara. It’s a welcome respite for families whose only options this past summer were an nth rewatch of Inside Out 2 or the bleak Harold and the Purple Crayon.
In theaters now
Saturday Night Live’s 50th-Season Opener
The 50th-season premiere of the most influential sketch comedy in the history of American television will be hosted by Jean Smart, a wonderful actress who is technically not a comedian but plays one on TV. We do not know for certain whether Maya Rudolph will also make an appearance as Kamala Harris, but it seems like a pretty safe bet. — Jen Chaney
Streaming on Peacock
➼ For even more comedy, you can watch the 70 applause breaks in Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval.
Megalopolis
Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project is finally coming to fruition, though without the interactive element (boo). A vision of a futuristic Rome-inspired New York, Megalopolis centers on a fantastical architect named Cesar (played by Adam Driver) as he butts heads with the city’s mayor, Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito). It’s, uh, quite hard to describe the rest of the plot, but the movie’s cast includes Nathalie Emmanuel as Cicero’s daughter, Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum (a real “Zendaya is Meechee” type of name), Jon Voight, Shia LaBeouf, and Grace VanderWaal.
In theaters now
➼ Tough week for New York City mayors, huh.
Will & Harper
Two best friends going on a road trip always makes for a great time, and in Josh Greenbaum’s new documentary, he follows comedians Will Ferrell and Harper Steele — so, yes, you can expect a lot of laughs. But the premise also brings a lot of immense emotions as the two talk through Steele’s transition and the anxiety accompanying her as they go through places in the country she’s not so comfortable visiting anymore.
Streaming on Netflix
Never Let Go
Director Alexandre Aja’s Crawl was a surprise hit back in 2019–20, and now the filmmaker returns with another horror flick, this time with Halle Berry as the mother of two young kids who live in a postapocalyptic world. Stuck in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, they’re only allowed to leave as long as they’re attached to a rope tethered to their house because of an evil presence.
In theaters now
Nobody Wants This
A rabbi and a podcaster walk into a bar. Actually, Adam Brody and Kristen Bell’s respective characters meet at a dinner party, and thus this breezy rom-com is born. The show will likely do numbers on Netflix.
Streaming on Netflix
Rez Ball
Coming from the creatives behind Reservation Dogs, director Sydney Freeland and co-writer Sterlin Harjo tackle their version of, in Freeland’s words, Friday Night Lights. Adapted from a novel by Michael Powell, this sports-drama flick is about a high-school basketball team from Chuska, New Mexico, that competes for the state championship.
Streaming on Netflix
Wolfs
“[Wolfs] feels adequate, never propulsive or clever enough, but exactly the kind of material that Clooney and Pitt know how to sell with their expert timing, their wordless exchanges of eloquent eye contact as the action heats up, and the expected but inarguable pleasure that comes from their characters starting to like and respect one another over the course of the slushy evening.”
Sleep
Lee Sun-kyun’s tragic death last year adds a layer of sadness to this horror comedy, which features one of his final roles. But the film, the first from Jason Yu, is still a rollickingly dark ride into the life of a pair of newlyweds after the husband develops an alarming sleepwalking disorder. — Alison Willmore
Sleep
Grotesquerie
Why Grotesquerie isn’t just another season of American Horror Story beats me. In it is Niecy Nash-Betts as detective Lois Tryon, who is pulled into investigating a series of gruesome murders with the help of a local nun (Micaela Diamond). And, yes, this is the series with Travis Kelce, though his character has yet to be revealed, so I hope that isn’t code for “he’s the killer,” because that’s just a little too obvious.
Streaming on Hulu
➼ Looks like Taylor Swift can continue singing the “Karma” lyric “Karma is the guy on the screen / Coming straight home to me.”
Doctor Odyssey
Joshua Jackson plays a doctor on a cruise ship. He wears a little naval outfit. Sometimes he resuscitates a person while wearing a tux. If you need this show in your life, you probably know it. — Kathryn VanArendonk
Streaming on Hulu
Social Studies
Documentarian Lauren Greenfield follows students from nine Los Angeles–area high schools and focuses on how social media impacts them. This is an intimate, sometimes sobering account of how TikTok and Insta have found new ways to make teens feel anxious. — J.C.
Streaming on Hulu
The Fall
Eric Vilas-Boas: The Fall is back. In 4K. Close your eyes: What images from the movie come to mind?
Roxana Hadadi: All of them! The gigantic red cliffs. The extremely long sheet soaked in blood that’s hanging vertically between two wooden poles like a portal to another world. The twirling sufis. The insane Escher-like well. And, uh, every second of Lee Pace.
E.V.B.: Truly a feast for the eyes! Would any snacks pair perfectly?
R.H.: I think you could do a citrus spread: orange slices, fruit gummies, fennel and blood-orange salad. Also, because so much of the movie was filmed in India, you could also probably incorporate Indian sweets (carrot halwa, gulab jamun) if you wanted to go fancier. Oranges are a key part of the movie, as is morphine, but I’d suggest, uh, not the latter.
Streaming on Mubi
Reality Bites
The Summit
Sixteen competitors have 14 days to scale the New Zealand Alps to reach a distant mountain and win the $1 million in cash they’re carrying among them. A “Mountain Keeper” will give them various other challenges along the way. Behold other people being active while you sit on the couch. — Roxana Hadadi
Streaming on Paramount+
Animation Station
Uzumaki
This animated adaptation of Junji Ito’s manga took five years to reach our TV screens, and it may haunt you for as long. The series, directed by Hiroshi Nagahama, is set in a town where everyone and everything are composed of spirals that took over the world. (The word uzumaki translates from Japanese to “vortex” or “swirl.”) — R.H.
Streaming on Max
Finally Streaming
Inside Out 2
Get an hour and 36 minutes of “me” time as you play this for your kids.
Streaming on Disney+
Dame Maggie Smith (1934–2024)
Smith may be best known to later generations for her roles in Harry Potter and Downton Abbey, but she’s an acting legend because of her incredible versatility, so revisit some other Smith favorites like The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (a tricky one to find), The Secret Garden (on Freevee), Sister Act (on-demand), Death on the Nile (on Prime Video), or even some of her most memorable interviews.
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of September 20.
Related
The 30 Best Movies on Netflix Right NowThe 25 Best Movies on Hulu Right NowThe 30 Best Movies on Disney+ Right Now
