M3GAN fans (“M3FANs”), rejoice: The supreme queen bee of sentient doll-based brutality finally arrives on VOD this weekend. If watching a creepy plasticine child perform infectious dance moves before proceeding to butcher a man with a makeshift machete doesn’t quite sound like your kind of vibe, not to worry; there’s a ton of new releases available to choose from on streaming and VOD.
You People — no no, not “you” people — the latest comedy-drama from Black-ish creator Kenya Barris starring Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy comes to Netflix this week, along with a new documentary on the life and music of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. The new action rom-com Shotgun Wedding, starring Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel, premieres on Prime Video; meanwhile, Todd Field’s Oscar-nominated psychological drama Tár is finally available to stream on Peacock. There’s plenty more new releases to enjoy on VOD this weekend besides M3GAN, including a new dark comedy-drama starring Julianne Moore and Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard.
Here are the new movies available for you to watch at home this weekend.
Netflix
You People
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Parrish Lewis/Netflix
Genre: Comedy/romance
Run time: 1h 57m
Director: Kenya Barris
Cast: Jonah Hill, Lauren London, Eddie Murphy
Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy star in this new buddy comedy from Black-ish creator Kenya Barris that could best be described as a Meet the Fockers-type scenario crossed with a race-swapped version of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Look, there’s a tone-deaf comment about police brutality! Oh, and there’s an uncomfortable offhand joke about Louis Farrakhan’s incendiary remarks about Jewish people! One thing is certain: You People is edgy; it is saying things; and boy howdy, it is going there! Jury’s out on whether that’ll make for a funny comedy.
From our review:
There’s this weird notion that good comedy is offensive, when in fact it’s empathetic. In order to make someone laugh and do it consistently, it’s necessary to understand something about them first. This is why the impulse behind a film like You People can be a good one, as comedy can make a lot of hay out of the misunderstandings people have about one another as they bumble toward understanding. You People, however, is mostly interested in ignorance, and as such it gets old fast. Because the most offensive comedy isn’t ignorant or bigoted, it’s simply boring.
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Sony Pictures Classics
Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 58m
Directors: Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine
Cast: Leonard Cohen. Nancy Bacal, Steve Berkowitz
This documentary digs into the writing and cultural impact of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s music, particularly his 1984 folk rock song “Hallelujah.” Directors Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine combine archival footage of past interviews and performances by Cohen, who passed away in 2016 due to complications stemming from leukemia, and interviews with past collaborators, loved ones, and artists who have covered the song in the past to create a tribute to Cohen’s life and his art.
An Action Hero
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: AA Films
Genre: Action comedy
Run time: 2h 10m
Director: Anirudh Iyer
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Jaideep Ahlawat
I’ve [ed. note — PV] heard great things about this Hindi action comedy, about a movie star who gets accused of murder and then his life turns into an action movie. The spotlight on Indian cinema recently has largely been focused on Southern India after the breakout international success of RRR, but Bollywood is hoping to bring some of the attention back to the country’s most historically dominant film industry with this thrilling and funny meta story about the movie industry.
Prime Video
Shotgun Wedding
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Image: Lionsgate/Amazon Studios
Genre: Action/rom-com
Run time: 1h 40m
Director: Jason Moore
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Coolidge
Weddings sure are murder, am I right? (ba-dum-tss) Haha, we have fun here. Anyway, Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers) and Josh Duhamel (Transformers) star in this romantic action-comedy as a couple whose destination wedding is imperiled when a group of heavily armed criminals storm their venue and hold their guests and families hostage. In order to survive, the two will have to work together to take down the kidnappers and rescue their loved ones.
AMC Plus
The Lair
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder and AMC Plus
Image: RLJE Films/Shudder
Genre: Sci-fi/horror
Run time: 1h 36m
Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: Charlotte Kirk, Jonathan Howard, Jamie Bamber
After being shot down over Afghanistan, a Royal Air Force pilot (Charlotte Kirk) inadvertently stumbles upon a bunker home to a hideous half-human, half-alien creature that threatens to kill every human it comes across if unleashed.
Peacock
Tár
Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock
Image: Focus Features
Genre: Psychological drama
Run time: 2h 38m
Director: Todd Field
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss
Cate Blanchett stars in Todd Field’s first feature film since 2006’s Little Children as the eponymous Lydia Tár, a famous composer and the first female conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra. A literal virtuoso, Tár is mere weeks away from realizing what might be her magnum opus. When her reputation and legacy are suddenly jeopardized by a series of scandals, she’ll have to weather the consequences of her own indiscretions and face a bracing new reality. One of the best movies of 2022, Tár was recently honored with a handful of Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
VOD
M3GAN
Where to watch: Available to rent for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Universal Pictures
Genre: Sci-fi/horror comedy
Run time: 1h 42m
Director: Gerard Johnstone
Cast: Allison Williams, Jenna Davis, Violet McGraw
The latest horror film from Housebound director Gerard Johnstone and Malignant screenwriter Akela Cooper follows Gemma (Allison Williams), a roboticist for a Seattle toy company who creates an artificially intelligent doll to look after her orphaned niece, Cady (Violet McGraw). But when the doll, at first unbeknownst to either Gemma or Cady, begins to commit a series of violent murders ostensibly in service of its prime directive, Gemma will have to fight to protect her niece and the world from what she has created.
From our review:
The graveyard of awful horror comedies is among the saddest and most boring in all of film. It’s filled with hundreds of bad-taste parodies, laughless messes, silly garbage, and probably a few unfortunate movies that weren’t deliberately designed to be laughed at. The worst movies in the subgenre feel like tightrope acts that try too hard to balance what the creators seem to think are two opposite extremes, hoping the audience laughs one moment and screams the next. But following in the footsteps of classics like the original Chucky movie Child’s Play, director Gerard Johnstone and the team behind the new horror comedy M3GAN realize that laughing and screaming aren’t actually that different — and most importantly, that either one can be the key to a great time.
Life Upside Down
Where to watch: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: IFC Films
Genre: Comedy/drama
Run time: 1h 28m
Director: Cecilia Miniucchi
Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Radha Mitchell, Danny Huston
Forced to quarantine in the beginning months of the COVID-19 pandemic, three couples look at their lives, friends, partners, and themselves differently as they reassess everything and everyone they once thought was important. I know that sounds dour, but it’s a comedy— I swear! Look, it even has Bob Odenkirk in it! He’s a funny guy when he’s not playing a disbarred criminal lawyer working on behalf of a methamphetamine empire, right?
When You Finish Saving the World
Where to watch: Available to purchase for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: A24
Genre: Black comedy/drama
Run time: 1h 28m
Director: Jesse Eisenberg
Cast: Julianne Moore, Finn Wolfhard, Alisha Boe
Ziggy (Finn Wolfhard), a high school student with a passion for folk music, and his mother, Evelyn (Julianne Moore), the head of a women’s shelter, just can’t seem to get along. As their relationship increasingly frays, the two begin to seek out emotional reciprocity in others and question what it is exactly they are searching for in their relationship, in Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut.