Trying to stay on top of Prime Video‘s horror-movie offerings? The streaming service in February added the slasher flick Halloween Ends and the psychological horror movie Smile. You can also stream recent releases The Black Phone and Nanny.
Hopefully all that, plus the additional flicks listed below, adds up to enough creepy content to satisfy your cravings. Dim the lights, grab the popcorn, and let the nightmares begin.
An unnatural grin can be utterly terrifying. This recent release takes full advantage of that. Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon, actor and daughter of Kevin Bacon) goes on a horrific journey after she witnesses a traumatic incident involving a patient.
World War Z explored the ramifications of a worldwide disease all the way back in 2013, but in this case the affliction turned sufferers into mindless zombies. Starring Brad Pitt as a former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane, the film follows the spread and potential cure of this widespread zombie plague.
Universal
Jordan Peele and Nia DaCosta are at the helm of this gripping slasher. A sequel to the 1992 film of the same name, Candyman tackles issues such as gentrification and police brutality. Prepare for blood, swarming bees and people making the unfortunate decision to recite Candyman’s name in front of a mirror.
Amazon Studios
Nanny is an increasingly unnerving movie about a mother working in the US and separated from her son in Senegal, whom she hopes will soon join her. The powerful, chilling, 97-minute film — led by a captivating Anna Diop — takes viewers though her difficult, haunting wait.
Universal Pictures
In this tense new release, a cute kid is abducted and locked away by a sadistic killer played by Ethan Hawke. One of the spare objects at his disposal is a disconnected phone that seems to be of little use. Or is it? Tune in to see a young protagonist attempt to outsmart a murderer.
Amazon
If you like your horror films interspersed with a bit of contemporary dance (and who wouldn’t!) then Suspiria is definitely the one for you. It tells the story of a supernatural dance academy run by a coven of witches and features themes like motherhood, guilt and abuse of power. An homage to the original 1977 film, Suspiria stars Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton.
The sequel to John Krasinski’s runaway hit, A Quiet Place Part II revisits the Abbott family as they’re forced to leave their home and travel into the unknown. With a brand new baby in tow, the journey is perilous and tense, as younger members of the family have to step up and take the lead.
Amazon Prime
Coherence is a huge favorite here at CNET and it’s a terrifying watch. Not necessarily in the traditional, gory, horrific sense but more in terms of the concepts. It’s a multiverse movie released before multiverses were cool and it’s not what you expect. Coherence is the kind of movie you’ll finish and immediately rewatch to try and rewire your brain. It’s a fantastic achievement. A must watch.
Well Go USA Entertainment
If you’re looking for a seriously impressive zombie film, look no further. Train To Busan is an action horror about a family stuck on a train amidst a horrifying zombie outbreak. Not only is it gripping and intense, it’s also surprisingly human for a movie about zombies. Well worth a watch!
New Movies Coming in 2023 From Marvel, Netflix, DC and More
Disney+ has plenty of new content joining the streaming platform this month, from original films “Finding Michael” and “Chang Can Dunk” to new episodes of “The Mandalorian” and seasons of “Africa’s Deadliest.”
Premiering March 3, “Finding Michael” depicts director Spencer Matthews’ journey to find his brother Michael 20 years after he went missing upon reaching the summit of Mount Everest. Streaming March 10, “Chang Can Dunk” centers a 16-year-old high school student on a mission to dunk a basketball by Homecoming.
“The Mandalorian’s” third season will begin to stream on the platform on March 1, with new episodes dropping on Wednesdays. “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” and “Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever” will also get new episodes in March. Disney+ is adding four seasons of “Africa’s Deadliest” March 8, which provides insight on how African wildlife has evolved to sustain itself throughout time.
“The Mandalorian” (S3, Episode 1) “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” (S2, Episode 11) “Eureka!” (S1, four episodes) “Going Fur Gold” (S1)
March 3
“Finding Michael” “Dino Death Match” “The Next Mega Tsunami”
March 7
“Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever” (Episode 2)
March 8
“The Mandalorian” (S3, Episode 2) “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” (S2, Episode 12) “M Power” “Africa’s Deadliest” (S2, S3, S4, S5) “Chibiverse” (S1) “Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” (S1, five episodes) “Spidey and His Amazing Friends” (S2, four episodes)
March 10
“Chang Can Dunk”
March 14
“NHL Big City Greens” “Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever” (Episode 3)
March 15
“The Mandalorian” (S3, Episode 3) “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” (S2, Episode 13) “Kiff” “Turning the Tables With Robin Roberts” (S2) “Engineering Connections” (S1, S2) “Firebuds” (S1, four episodes) “Doogie Houser, M.D” (S1, S2, S3, S4)
March 17
“Bono The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman” “Hippo vs. Croc”
March 22
“The Mandalorian” (S3, Episode 4) “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” (S2, Episode 14) “How to Win at Everything” (S1) “Kiya the Kimoja Heroes” (S1, four episodes) “Restaurants at the End of the World” (S1) “Superstructures: Engineering Marvels” (S1)
March 24
“Witness Disaster”
March 25
“Saturdays” (S1, six episodes) “Secrets of Sulphur Springs” (S3)
March 29
“The Mandalorian” (S3, Episode 5) “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” (S2, Episodes 15 and 16) “Crimes Against Nature” (S2) “Disney Junior Mickey Mouse Funhouse” (S2, four episodes) “Incredibly Small World” (S1)
New year, new phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Phase Five kicked off with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, out now in theaters. (The Disney Plus release is currently in the ether.) Part of the Multiverse Saga (beginning with Phase Four and ending with Phase Six), Ant-Man 3 hasn’t raked in the most glowing reviews, but Jonathan Majors as villain Kang is a universal highlight.
Look forward to five more Phase Five movies in the coming couple of years, including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels — which recently pushed its release date from July to November 2023 — Captain America: New World Order, Thunderbolts and Blade.
Higher. Further. Faster. Together.
Check out the brand-new teaser poster for Marvel Studios’ The Marvels, coming to theaters November 10. pic.twitter.com/zSlozSfQrz
As for Phase Five TV shows heading to Disney Plus, look out for season 2 of What If…?, Secret Invasion, season 2 of Loki, Ironheart, Echo, Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Daredevil: Born Again. Yep, it’s almost like you’ve got a lot of homework to do to stay up to date with the MCU.
MCU Phase Five (and Six): Films
Movie
US release date
UK release date
Australia release date
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Feb. 17, 2023
Feb. 17, 2023
Feb. 16, 2023
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
May 5, 2023
May 5, 2023
May 4, 2023
The Marvels
Nov. 10, 2023
November, 2023
TBA
Captain America: New World Order
May 3, 2024
TBA
TBA
Thunderbolts
July 26, 2024
July 26, 2024
TBA
Blade
Sept. 6, 2024
TBA
TBA
Deadpool 3
Nov. 8, 2024
TBA
TBA
Fantastic Four
Feb. 14, 2025
TBA
TBA
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
May 2, 2025
TBA
TBA
Untitled movie
Nov. 7, 2025
TBA
TBA
Avengers: Secret Wars
May 1, 2026
TBA
TBA
Armor Wars
TBA
TBA
TBA
MCU Phase Five: Disney Plus series
New Movies Coming in 2023 From Marvel, Netflix, DC and More
We’re heading into the halfway point of The Multiverse Saga which will culminate with the Avengers double-bill of The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars. More than ever, the MCU will lean into its interconnected storytelling across its movies and TV shows.
It’s a lot to keep up with and we wouldn’t blame you if you’ve got some gaps in your MCU viewing history. But that’s where we come in to help to make sure that you’ll know who did what and when.
You could approach an MCU watch in chronological order and we’ve got that for you right here. However, if you’d rather a simpler version, you could watch all the movies, TV shows and shorts of the MCU in the order that they were released.
If this is your plan, fret not – we’ve got a list of every MCU movie or TV show up to and including Quantumania in release date order. Happy bingeing! (Movies are in bold type. Shorts are in italic. TV shows are neither.)
Laughter truly is the best medicine, whether you’re actually under the weather or just gravitate toward parodies, romantic comedies or slapstick humor to melt away life’s stresses. Luckily, we have a prescription for some new comedy movies guaranteed to cure whatever ails you. Maybe classic family movies with a dash of humor are your jam? Or maybe you prefer the perfect combination of hysterical comedy and superhero action movie? No matter your preference, 2023 is chock-full of funny movies both in theaters and on streaming services, including the much-anticipated Barbie, You People and a Book Club sequel, as well as funny kids movies.
With so many good movies releasing this year, it’s hard to keep track of when and where to watch, so we’ve assembled the need-to-know info about some of the most anticipated comedy movies coming to theaters, as well as comedies on Netflix, Prime Video and other streaming services. Here are the new comedy movies you won’t want to miss in 2023.
House Party
via housepartymovie.com
Where to watch: In theaters
Release date: Jan. 13, 2023
Starring: Tosin Cole, Jacob Latimore
House Party is a remake of the classic ’90s movie, which starred hip-hop duo Kid ‘n Play. In the new version, broke best friends and aspiring club promoters Damon (Cole) and Kevin (Latimore) need to make some money, and fast. After getting fired from their last gig as house cleaners, they decide to throw an exclusive party at a mansion they just cleaned, which belongs to NBA superstar LeBron James. James, who produced the film, makes an appearance, as do dozens of other celebs, including Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne.
For years, Jennifer Lopez has owned a very specific film genre: rom-coms about marriage. From Marry Me and The Wedding Planner to Monster-in-Law, she’s played brides who have to deal with all sorts of shenanigans in the lead-up to their nuptials. Amazon Prime Video’s Shotgun Wedding adds “hijacked marriage ceremony” to that list. In the film, Lopez and Duhamel play a couple whose destination wedding gets hijacked by a group of pirates, and the families of the bride and groom are all taken hostage. What makes this film one of the biggest new comedy movies of the year is the incredible supporting cast, which includes Cheech Marin, D’Arcy Carden, Lenny Kravitz and recent Golden Globe winner Jennifer Coolidge.
Starring: Jonah Hill, Lauren London, Eddie Murphy, David Duchovny, Nia Long, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
One of the most anticipated new comedies on Netflix is You People, written and directed by black-ish creator Kenya Barris. The stacked cast includes Hill (whose past flicks feature some of the most recited funny movie quotes of all time) and London. The two play an interracial couple navigating new love as well as family, cultural and racial dynamics. Their marriage plans are getting derailed by their respective families—Long and Murphy playing the role of protective parents over their headstrong Black daughter who’s dating a socially awkward white hipster, while Louis-Dreyfus and Duchovny play his woke Jewish parents.
Starring: Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, Jane Fonda, Sally Field
Just in time for the Superbowl, 80 for Brady is a comedy about four longtime friends who share a common love for quarterback Tom Brady. Based on a true story, the film follows Hollywood royalty Tomlin, Moreno, Fonda and Field (legendary actresses in some of the most timeless, classic movies), who play New England Patriots fans who will go to any length and travel any distance just to see their hero play in the Superbowl. Brady himself, as well as his former teammate Rob Gronkowski, appear in the film.
If a patron saint of romantic comedy movies existed, Witherspoon might be it. In Your Place or Mine, she stars as Debbie, a single L.A. mom who decides to do a house swap with her longtime New Yorker best friend, Peter, played by that other rom-com mainstay Kutcher. While their lives are drastically different, there may be some lingering romantic feelings, and they may just find out that opposites really do attract. The film arrives just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Gird your loins! The final film in the Magic Mike comedy-drama franchise, Magic Mike’s Last Dance, will be out in February. The first Magic Mike film starred Tatum as a stripper named Mike Lane and was loosely based on the actor’s own experiences as a dancer in Florida. His resume runs the gamut (from slapstick comedies and action flicks to tearjerker films and dance movies), and Tatum will reprise his role for the third film, joined by Salma Hayek, Caitlin Gerard and Gavin Spokes. Director Steven Soderbergh, who helmed 2012’s Magic Mike but not its 2015 sequel, Magic Mike XXL, returns as director for this one.
Starring: Ray Liotta, Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr.
Judging from the name alone, Cocaine Bear seems destined to become a cult classic, and we have high hopes for this one. It’s directed by Elizabeth Banks and based on a real story of a black bear that ingested too much cocaine. The film ran with the scary movie inspiration, turning the bear loose in a Georgia town where it terrorizes the locals and goes on a murderous rampage. The oddball cast of characters includes cops, criminals, tourists and teens—and Liotta’s final performance.
Starring: Zachary Levi, Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, Grace Caroline Currey
Levi is back as Shazam, the superhero who doesn’t quite know what to do with his powers. In the new action comedy sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Levi’s character is the adult superhero alter-ego of Billy Batson, the teen who can transform into a superhero by saying the word “Shazam!” In the new film, Mirren, star of one of the best royal movies of all time, The Queen, trades in her crown to play the villainous demi-god Hespera, a daughter of Atlas. Liu and Rachel Zegler play her sisters, Kalypso and Anthea, who help Hespera wreak havoc.
Starring: Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Anya Taylor-Joy
There have already been a few movies based on the video games, but The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the first of them to be rendered using computer animation. The movie stars Pratt as Mario, Day as his brother Luigi, Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach and Black as Bowser, the fire-breathing Koopa attempting to take over Mushroom Kingdom. Vying for its spot as one of the best animated movies of the year, it’s also chock-full of comedians rounding out the smaller roles, including Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen and Saturday Night Live alum Fred Armisen. It’s clear that there will be plenty of laughs as the plumbers-turned-heroes evade Koopalings and save the kingdom.
Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Menu) stars as Renfield, the loyal, tortured assistant to Dracula (Cage). After hundreds of years working for the bloodthirsty vampire, he’s ready to break away from the master he has served dutifully and live his own life. In Renfield, Cage is at his most over-the-top as Dracula, playing up the role of campy vamp for big laughs. With its thrills, jokes and adventure, it’s bound to be one of the best new comedies of the year.
Starring: Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Zoe Saldana
The Guardians of the Galaxy films are an amalgam of action, comedy and adventure, plus they can lay claim to having some of the best movie soundtracks of the past few years, thanks to the 1970s rock classics they feature. The third film in the series marks the return of Pratt as Star-Lord, Bautista as Drax, Gillan as Nebula and Saldana as Gamora (if you’ll recall, time travel brought Gamora back to life after Thanos sacrificed her in The Avengers: End Game). The films in this franchise are widely considered to be some of the funniest in the Marvel world, and while many of the plot points of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 remain under wraps, anything writer-director James Gunn makes is sure to have plenty of laughs.
Starring: Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Will Forte, Isla Fisher
With a cast this humorous, there’s no doubt that Strays is going to be one of the best new comedies of 2023. With its R rating, the live-acton/CGI hybrid dog movie is decidedly not for kids. In it, an abandoned dog (voiced by Ferrell) teams up with a group of other dogs (including one voiced by Foxx) to get revenge on his former owner (played by Forte).
Starring: Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen, Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda
Book Club: The Next Chapter is one of the many sequels on our list of new comedies of the year, following the 2018 hit about older friends who rediscover the joys of sex after reading Fifty Shades of Grey (one of the most popular book-to-movie adaptations of the past decade). We couldn’t be more thrilled to watch the reunion of Steenburgen, Bergen, Keaton and Fonda, who take their book club to Italy for a European romp that soon goes off the rails. You can also expect to see Don Johnson, Andy Garcia and Craig T. Nelson on screen.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Ed Norton, Tilda Swinton, Margot Robbie
Asteroid City is the latest film from director Wes Anderson, and it brings together one of the most impressive casts he has ever assembled. Billed as a romantic comedy-drama, it features Anderson’s longtime collaborators, including Schwartzman, Norton and Swinton, as well as Scarlett Johansson and Bryan Cranston. Set in 1955, Asteroid City follows a catastrophic event that occurs while a large group has gathered in the desert for a Junior Stargazers convention.
In the newest Disney Pixar film, Elemental, a fiery young woman named Ember (Lewis) befriends a fun, lighthearted guy named Wade (Athie). Although they’re quite literally opposites, they form a friendship that challenges each of their assumptions about the world. Many of Pixar’s films manage to combine humor and heart, teetering on the edge of comedy and a sad movie that pulls at the heartstrings, and Elemental definitely looks like it will span a full spectrum of emotions.
There are plenty of things you never new about Barbie, the wildly popular doll. But luckily, you’ll no longer have to wonder which actress is best suited for the role. Director Greta Gerwig co-wrote the script for the new Barbie movie with her partner, director and screenwriter Noah Baumbach, and the hype for it has been pretty huge. The film stars Robbie as the title character and Gosling as Ken, but details about the plot are still thin. All you have to know is that it also co-stars Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon and Issa Rae, and with a pedigree like that, it’s a shoo-in to be one of the year’s best new comedy movies.
If you’ve already watched all the best ’90s kids movies and you’re looking for a new family comedy, Poppy (Kendrick) and Branch (Timberlake) are back for yet another installment of the successful Trolls franchise. While it has yet to be announced who else will be joining the cast, Trolls 3, which is tentatively titled Trolls Band Together, sees Poppy and Branch going on an epic adventure along with some new friends.
No, you’re not remembering wrong—there was already a Disney film called The Haunted Mansion, which came out in 2003 and starred Eddie Murphy. But this new Disney movie, Haunted Mansion, is a fresh take on the concept. The film stars Dawson as a woman who moves into a New Orleans mansion that’s full of spirits, along with her son. The film co-stars Wilson as a priest who tries to help exorcise the demons; LaKeith Stanfield as a paranormal expert; and Jared Leto and Jamie Lee Curtis as two of the ghosts who haunt the home. It’s the perfect movie to watch around Halloween, and Disney lovers will recognize Curtis’s character, Madame Leota, as the psychic whose face appears inside the crystal ball during the Haunted Mansion rides at Disney World and Disneyland.
In the upcoming romantic comedyA Family Affair, Joey King plays a young woman who unexpectedly and rather embarrassingly walks in on her mother (Kidman) and her former boss (Efron) during an intimate moment together. This obviously complicates things for all of them, and they spend the rest of the film dealing with the consequences. The movie is the second time Kidman and Efron have worked together; they also starred in the 2012 Lee Daniels film The Paperboy.
Sandler has turned in some of the best dramatic performances of his life in the past few years, with films like Uncut Gems and Hustle (the latter being one of the best Netflix movies of the year in 2022). But in Murder Mystery 2, he returns to his comedy roots, alongside Aniston. In the original, the pair played Nick and Audrey Spitz, a married couple who become unwittingly entangled in a murder investigation. Now, after deciding to lean into their new calling by opening a private investigation firm, their services are needed when a friend is kidnapped at his own wedding.
It’s been more than 20 years since Chicken Runcame out, and in that time, the film has become a beloved kids classic. The original stop-motion animated feature came out in 2000 and featured an all-star cast of British actors, including Imelda Staunton, Miranda Richardson and Julia Sawalha as a group of chickens inspired by an American rooster named Rocky (Mel Gibson) to escape their farm. In Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, the film’s original characters, Ginger and Rocky, are now played by Newton and Levi, and they’re joined by The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey and Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed for yet another fowl-filled adventure.
In late 2021, the world the first look at a hotly anticipated new Jason Statham-Guy Ritchie movie. It had the silly title of Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. It had Aubrey Plaza and Hugh Grant and Josh Hartnett and Cary Elwes. It had a great poster. It was supposed to come out the following month, then it was bumped to March. Then it went mysteriously AWOL from the release schedule. Now over a year later, it’s resurfaced as suddenly as it disappeared.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Operation Fortune will finally hit theaters very soon, on March 3, when it will open opposite Creed III. Statham plays a super spy with the unbelievable name of Orson Fortune. Orson Fortune seeks to take down a dangerous billionaire (Grant) peddling dangerous new weapons technology. To do so, Orson Fortune enlists the baddie’s favorite actor (Hartnett) to help deceive him. Judging from the trailer, action and hilarity appear to ensue.
Why Operation Fortune went missing is a bit complicated. Last year The Evening Standardreported that the film was removed from the release calendar because it featured “Ukrainian baddies,” and after Russia invaded Ukraine it was seen as being in bad taste, at least then. There’s also some business involving its initial distributor, STX, which ended its distributing wing due to restructuring. Its U.S. distribution rights were only recently purchased by Lionsgate, who will release it instead.
Operation Fortune will be Richie and Statham’s fifth film together. The two got their big break with 1998’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. They reunited for Snatch and Revolver, then they didn’t do a movie together again until 2021’s Wrath of Man. Now look at them.
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre will be released on March 3. You can watch the trailer in the video above.
Another evening, another scroll through a “best movies on Netflix” list.
But this isn’t just any best movies on Netflix list. Oh no. This list has slightly more to offer: It’s also a rundown of what’s new each week and whether they’re watch-worthy. Plus, the list itself is confined to movies that have scored a lucrative 70 or more on Metacritic, which describes itself as aggregating the “opinions of the most respected critics writing online and in print.” Basically, it’s more snooty than Rotten Tomatoes.
Here are this week’s new releases and the list of absolute best movies on Netflix, at least according to highly rated critics.
What’s new this week (Feb. 13 to 19)
Note:These movie descriptions have been pulled straight from Netflix press releases and occasionally IMDb.
Monday
Squared Love All Over Again (2023): Polish romcom. “A celebrity journalist and a down-to-earth teacher find their relationship in rocky waters when a job gets in the way of their new life together.”
Tuesday
A Sunday Affair (2023): Drama. “Lifelong best friends Uche and Toyin fall for the same complicated man, which tests their loyalty to each other as they face a heartbreaking revelation.”
All The Places (2023): Mexican dramedy. “Two siblings who haven’t seen each other in 15 years mend their relationship while fulfilling a childhood dream: a motorcycle road trip through Mexico.”
Jim Jefferies: High n’ Dry (2023): Standup. “No topic is off limits for Jim Jefferies as he muses on stoned koalas, his dad’s vasectomy confusion and his sex drive.”
Re/Member (2023): Japanese teen horror. “Six high schoolers stuck in a murderous time loop must find the scattered remains of an unknown victim to break the curse and finally see another day.”
Wednesday
Possessed/Rasuk (2022): “A teacher must put aside his personal traumas to rally his school in a fight for survival against a group of violent, possessed students.”
Thursday
47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019): British thriller. “Two sisters join their two classmates on a cave dive to explore submerged ruins, only to find themselves hunted by a shark with heightened senses.”
Cirkus (2022): “Chaos and comedy take the spotlight when a ringmaster and his band of acrobats set out to revive the fading culture of classic circus entertainment.”
Ouija (2014): Horror. “When their friend mysteriously dies, a group of grieving teens seeks connection via an old ouija board that conjures up a nightmare from the other side.”
The Woman King (2022):Historical drama. “A historical epic inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.”
The Womb (2022): Indonesian horror. “Grappling with an unplanned pregnancy, a woman turns in desperation to a mysterious older couple who promise to take care of her baby.”
Friday
Unlocked (2023): Korean mystery. “A woman’s life is turned upside-down when a dangerous man gets a hold of her lost cell phone and uses it to track her every move.”
Sunday
Whindersson Nunes: Preaching to the Choir (2023): Standup. “It’s the end of the world and he knows it. Whindersson Nunes reflects on current affairs, social media, religion and more in this stand-up special.”
This YA movie tells the story of Ellie Chu, a shy Asian American discovering her sexuality in the remote town of Squahamish. A straight-A yet friendless student who has a side-hustle writing papers for her classmates, Ellie helps footballer Paul Munsky write a love letter to Aster Flores. But it turns out Aster is perfect for Ellie instead. A story of self-acceptance told with a delicate touch, The Half of It is a joy.
The Incredible Jessica James introduces a delightfully self-possessed main character played by an equally delightful Jessica Williams. The confident and independent Jessica James goes on a blind date where she ends up talking about nothing but her ex. A fresh take on the breakup movie with an empowering lead, this is an easy hit for an entertaining night in.
2017’s Okja comes from Parasite director Bong Joon-ho — which should be incentive enough to watch it. Part cheeky dark comedy, part surreal environmental thriller, Okja follows a young South Korean farmer girl whose pet pal is a genetically enhanced super-pig. But Okja is the target of a big corporation that wants her delicious flesh. With an English supporting cast including the likes of Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal, Okja sucks you in with its sweetness before showing you a distressing close-up of the meat industry.
Inspired by a true story, this crime drama out of Australia is an effectively unsettling — and grim — psychological thriller. Sean Harris stars as a man suspected of the abduction and murder of a teenager. Joel Edgerton plays an undercover cop tasked with drawing out the truth via an unlikely friendship.
A psychological thriller that dives deep into the surreal. I’m Thinking of Ending Things definitely won’t be for everyone, but it connects you to the frustrations of the young woman (Jessie Buckley) at its heart, who grapples with breaking off her seven-week-relationship with her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons). While it overstays its welcome a little, I’m Thinking of Ending Things always keeps you on your toes, with atmospheric cinematography and strong performances from Toni Collette and David Thewlis as Jake’s fairly odd parents. Fans of director-writer Charlie Kaufman will be pleased.
Two movies named The Call came out in 2020. Watch the South Korean one, a time travel thriller revolving around, yep, a phone call. Twenty-eight-year-old Seo-yeon finds a phone buried in a closet in her childhood home. It rings — and the caller, it turns out, is living in the same house 20 years earlier. Twists right up to the final moment, plus a wild cat-and-mouse chase that alters the past and present make this a must-watch.
This taut thriller set in the remote Scottish Highlands is far from an idyllic getaway. Prepare for a full-on nerve-wringing nightmare that its protagonists are desperate to wake up from. Vaughn and Marcus set out on a lads’ weekend hunting trip, but after a night of drinking, they find themselves facing events they never could have planned for. Calibre lives up to its name, delivering a slick package of grim, gripping drama. Let the full force of this one wallop you.
The fifth film on Angelina Jolie’s directing CV turned out to be her best. Based on Cambodian author and human rights activist Loung Ung’s memoir, the biographical thriller recounts the horrors Ung suffered as a child under the rule of the deadly Khmer Rouge. With an empathetic lens framing a shocking story from the perspective of a child, First They Killed My Father is a unique war movie made with control and finesse.
If you’ve had a bad day, this might be the movie for you. When the police refuse to help with a robbery, nursing assistant Ruth and her weird neighbor Tony take matters into their own hands. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore spots the idiosyncrasies of everyday life, before escalating its story into dark places with even darker humor. With a touch of Coen Brothers’ flair, its perfectly packed 96 minutes will leave you surprisingly emotional.
The third time Erich Maria Remarque’s classic novel about World War I has been adapted into a film. The 2022 version, directed by Edward Berger, adds the perspective of a German official trying to negotiate an armistice to end the war. Mainly, we follow 17-year-old Paul Bäumer, an idealistic young German soldier who’s confronted by the painful realities of war. A visual spectacle that can, unsurprisingly, be distressing.
Spike Lee’s fierce war drama follows a group of aging Vietnam War veterans who return to the country in search of the remains of their squad leader — as well as buriedtreasure. With a frenzied energy coursing through it, Da 5 Bloods gives you a look at the Vietnam War through Black experiences, delivering an all-too-timely critique of racism and warfare.
Spanning the lives of its mobsters over multiple decades, The Irishman pulls off a 3-and-a-half-hour crime saga. But don’t worry — you can break up this tour de force if you need to. Always clever and entertaining, with Martin Scorsese favorites Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci commanding the screen, The Irishman creeps up on you, offering a haunting look at aging mobsters and the havoc they wreak.
Director Cary Joji Fukunaga gives you a sobering look at the life of a boy who becomes a child soldier in a West African country embroiled in civil war. Idris Elba stars as the ruthless Commandant along with the astonishing Abraham Attah as the young Agu. A confronting yet quietly hopeful snapshot of war from a human perspective, Beasts of No Nation needs to be on your radar if it isn’t already.
Mystery
Some would say Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is better than 2019’s Knives Out. Some. Rian Johnson’s followup to his masterfully subversive whodunit wisely puts on a different coat. It sends Daniel Craig’s benevolent private investigator Benoit Blanc abroad to a mysterious get-together with tech billionaire Miles Bron and his friends. The satirical characters are big, the laughs are big and there’s even a stunning message about bending the truth. Is it at least comparable to 2019’s Knives Out? Definitely.
The film adaptation of Tim Minchin’s hit musical, based on Roald Dahl’s classic book. It offers something different from the 1996 movie starring Mara Wilson — what you want when retreading familiar territory. Alisha Weir plays Matilda, the child genius who stands up to a stunningly realized Miss Trunchbull, played by Emma Thompson. A clear theme of how to handle bullies runs through this retelling, with impressive child performers and surprisingly pump-you-up tunes. Not as memorable as the original, but still a supremely entertaining time.
The title of this comedy-drama might sound familiar, but its focus is an unconventional tale. The Forty-Year-Old Version follows Radha, a playwright and teacher who finds herself drawn to the forgotten passion of her youth: rapping. Inspired by writer, director and star Radha Blank’s real life, this beautiful diary of a struggling artist will inspire and hit home, with relatable themes of failure and unfulfilled potential.
Tennis-playing buddies Michael (Mark Duplass) and Andy (Ray Romano) receive devastating news: Michael has terminal stomach cancer. Struggling to let go of his dying friend, Andy joins Michael’s road trip in search of medication to end things before they get too painful. Folding comedy into melancholy, Paddleton eases the touching friendship at its core into deftly-affecting places.
Eddie Murphy returned from his acting break with a glorious performance as Rudy Ray Moore, a comedian who played a character called Dolemite in stand-up routines and blaxploitation films from the ’70s. Dolemite Is My Name follows Moore from his job at a record store to the big screen. Tracking Moore’s rise to fame and its bizarre and enthralling turns, Dolemite Is My Name does justice to both Moore’s and Murphy’s talents.
Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn starring in a comedy-drama with something to say about modern marriage? Private Life is a unique and relatable slice of a New York middle-age couple’s struggles with different avenues to have a child. But because Hahn and Giamatti are in it, it sparkles with wit and charm. Add Kayli Carter to the mix as Sadie, a college dropout, and you have another layer to this compelling movie about the unpredictability of heading into a new stage of life.
Jake Johnson co-writes this comedy from prolific indie director Joe Swanberg (he was behind the Netflix anthology TV series Easy as well). Win It All follows Eddie, a gambling addict who agrees to stash a duffel bag of cash for a local thug heading to prison. Making one of many questionable decisions, Eddie dips into the funds. If you’re a fan of simple, grounded storytelling with a focus on character, Win It All is a delight that brings out Johnson’s humor and charisma.
The Meyerowitz Stories is a bittersweet comedy-drama told through Noah Baumbach’s grounded lens. The titular stories concern dysfunctional adult siblings, played by Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller, trying to live in the shadow of their father. An effervescent cast, including Dustin Hoffman, play these intelligent, albeit miserable, characters as they weave their poignant tales.
This indie gem might have flown under the radar, so if you’re looking for a modern romcom overflowing with charm, definitely give Tramps a watch. Callum Turner and Grace Van Patten star as Danny and Ellie, a sincere good kid and a streetwise girl who attempt to carry out a shady deal for a little cash. Tightly scripted and deftly avoiding hackneyed territory, Tramps will effortlessly win your heart.
Guillermo del Toro rarely disappoints and his take on Pinocchio is no exception. More than just a kids’ story, del Toro unfurls a trademark moving gothic fairy tale rooted in what it means to be alive. With significant deviations from the story we all know and memorable new creature creations, including skeletal rabbits and an ethereal wood sprite, this version of Pinocchio might just be the very best — not least because it keeps the astonishing art of stop-motion animation alive. A must-watch. Warning: You will shed a tear at least once.
The Sea Beast joins Netflix’s collection of stellar family-friendly animated adventures. A young girl named Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) stows away on the ship of sea monster hunter Captain Crow (Jared Harris), becoming wrapped up in a thrilling journey through uncharted waters. Bringing originality to the high seas and swashbuckling characters, The Sea Beast is a must-watch chapter of enchanting fantasy.
One of the best family movies on Netflix. From some of the same people who made Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse comes this adventure to save the world involving Mom, Dad, the kids and their slobbery, bug-eyed dog. But amid the robot apocalypse, led by Olivia Colman’s sinister Siri, really The Mitchells vs. the Machines is about a strained relationship between movie-loving daughter Katie and her technophobe father. The technology-inept parent gags are rife, the colors frenetic and the character growth moving. A near-perfect package with the timeless message that embracing your weirdness is a superpower.
This award-winning French film begins with a severed hand escaping a refrigerator in a laboratory and embarking on a Paris-wide search for the rest of its body. What an opening! With a few flashbacks and elegant animation, this strange, satisfying story delves into loss, both physical and emotional, in the most poetic of ways.
Vampires vs. the Bronx is a unique comedy-horror in more ways than one. Set in the New York borough of the Bronx, it follows young Miguel Martinez, a big-hearted kid helping to raise money for his struggling local bodega. But it’s not just new designer clothing stores threatening to move in: Creepy pale residents with a taste for blood are eating up people and their properties. A commentary on gentrification with goofy charm, twists and thrills, Vampires vs. the Bronx is a fresh, entertaining spin on the genre.
His House is a horror flick that, yep, hits close to home. Revealing its supernatural evils through a harrowing human story, it follows Bol and Rial, a refugee couple from Sudan, who struggle to adapt to their new life in an English town. Don’t expect straightforward jump scares — His House plays into the psychological specters of the past, adding even more corridors of torment. A heartrending, powerful piece.
This smart psychological horror is partially drawn from co-writer Isa Mazzei’s experiences as a camgirl (or webcam model). Yet Cam is no documentary, following Alice Ackerman, a young camgirl who one day discovers an exact replica of herself has taken over her show. This unique thriller flashing red with the threat of technology is an excellent feature to hit play on.
One of the more successful Stephen King adaptations, this horror drama based on the novella 1922 is a slow burn with a mesmerizing performance at its core. Thomas Jane, who you’ll also know from Boogie Nights and 2004’s The Punisher, gives one of his career best performances as the ever proud Wilfred James, a farmer who makes the totally wise decision to murder his wife with the help of their teenage son. The consequences are harrowing on multiple levels (if you don’t like rats, you really won’t like rats after this).
If you were mesmerized by The Haunting of Hill House, then Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Stephen King novel Gerald’s Game is a must-watch. A couple goes on holiday at an isolated lake house, where one thing leads to another… and Carla Gugino’s Jessie ends up handcuffed to the bed with no visible escape. Gugino puts in an immense performance, packing out the enclosed bedroom setting. Expect narratively and emotionally satisfying conclusions, with melancholy-suffused horror that surges into quiet triumph for its haunted characters.
More than a decade after her previous film, Bright Star, extraordinary filmmaker Jane Campion has unfolded the director’s chair again to oversee The Power of the Dog. She ended up winning an Oscar, so it was a good move. The Western centers on Phil Burbank, a domineering rancher who uses the power of toxic masculinity to have his way, mocking his brother for falling in love. The Power of the Dog is a mesmeric exercise in the subtle shifts of emotion and power in relationships. Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst are immense, helping to bring Campion’s masterful vision to life.
Paul Greengrass (Jason Bourne) directs Tom Hanks in this moving Western. Civil War veteran Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd discovers a young girl years after she was captured by Native Americans as a baby. While helping return her to her family, he does his usual job of traveling to towns and reading newspapers for a small fee. Don’t expect high-octane action: This road movie is fueled by character development and the beautiful views. Still, you’ll want to settle in for a comforting ride with pure sympathetic Hanks at the steering wheel.
The Coen Brothers kick up the western dust with an anthology film that gives you six vignettes all set on the American frontier. One of them is about the titular Buster Scruggs, a chipper singing cowboy who casually sets off a shoot-up in a cantina. But there’s a dark twist that keeps you on your toes. Sewing the rest of its stories together with a constant black humor, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a Coen Brothers winner.
From Netflix’s impressive stash of international films comes Spanish sci-fi horror The Platform. Its high-concept story centers on a tower that delivers food to people on each of its many levels via a platform. Those at the top snag the best and most abundant spread, which is devoured as the platform lowers down the levels. Social commentary rings throughout this dystopian thriller, which takes shocking, occasionally gruesome turns all the way to the bottom.
This psychological period drama from Chilean director Sebastián Lelio opens its storybook in the most surprising of ways. Asking you to believe in the power of storytelling, The Wonder centers on an English nurse (Florence Pugh) who’s tasked with watching a young girl in 1862 rural Ireland — a girl who appears not to have eaten for months. Nurse Wright gets to the bottom of what’s going on, while discovering the benefits of her own storytelling. The Wonder can be slow going and owes a lot to Pugh’s simmering performance, but it holds you until the gripping end.
Rebecca Hall makes her directorial debut in magnificent fashion with her adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing. It tells the story of two light-skinned Black women, one of whom chooses to “pass” as white. Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga embody the duality at the heart of this delicate story, shot in black and white. Gracefully handled, Passing is a tender portrait revealing powerful psychological depths.
Andrew Garfield takes the spotlight for this biographical musical drama about Jonathan Larson, the late composer behind Rent and Tick, Tick… Boom! The movie, helmed by Lin-Manuel Miranda in his directorial debut, follows Larson’s career and the time pressure he feels to leave a lasting impression. With joy-inducing music, a meaningful narrative about the creative process and a passionate performance from Garfield as Larson, Tick, Tick… Boom! is a graceful and feel-good tribute.
This fine British drama excavates a whole lot of buried treasure with a distinguished cast in Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James and Johnny Flynn. It’s based on the true events around the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo, yielding a priceless trove of Anglo-Saxon artifacts hidden in a burial ship. Romantic, intellectual and moving, The Dig is a full sweep of elegance.
The Boys in the Band sets a new stage for an ensemble cast who all performed the classic play-by-the-same-name’s 2018 Broadway revival. Among them, Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto and Matt Bomer. The movie brings new perspectives to a birthday party celebrated by a group of gay men in 1968 New York City. The party takes an unexpected turn when a visitor from the host’s past calls in. With a cast that knows how to play off each other and compelling themes such as self-loathing and internalized homophobia, The Boys in the Band is a thought-provoking, engaging drama.
A black-and-white David Fincher tale about the unsung screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz who helped Orson Welles write Citizen Kane. Step back into Old Hollywood, with beautiful cinematography and take in the behind-the-scenes of how studio systems functioned in a different time. Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried are among the exceptional cast of this biographical drama filled with the lightness and darkness of its hero’s life.
An Aaron Sorkin drama based on a true story? The Trial of the Chicago 7 lives up to its pedigree, following the real-life trial of a group of anti-Vietnam War protestors charged with conspiracy to incite riots. With a stellar ensemble cast, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, The Trial of the Chicago 7 is both topical and full of compelling theatrical energy.
This sports drama from 2019 marked the second occasion director Steven Soderbergh used an iPhone to shoot a feature film (the first was 2018’s Unsane). High Flying Bird tells the story of a sports agent facing the ax unless he pulls off a company-saving plan in 72 hours. Capturing the high tensions of professional sports through a unique shooting style, High Flying Bird is a fascinating piece put together with expert direction, editing and performances.
A movie about divorce might not sound like the best viewing experience, but Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story is a journey you’ll want to take. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver give two of the best performances of their careers as Nicole and Charlie, a couple who embark on the emotionally and logistically complicated legal processes involved in prying a partnership apart. Painted with an emotional complexity that includes poignantly funny moments along with the painful ones, this is happy-sad at its best.
Set primarily in Vatican City, this biographical drama follows Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in the aftermath of the Vatican leaks scandal. It’s as fascinating as it sounds. The Two Popes carves up a slice of real-life drama with a first-class two-hander featuring Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins.
Carlos Somonte
Alfonso Cuaron’s semi-autobiographical snapshot of the Colonia Roma neighborhood of Mexico City tells a small story with staggering prowess. Let Cuaron steer you through the ups and downs of a live-in housekeeper of a middle-class family. His lens captures intricately beautiful scenes in an album that quietly envelopes you with wonder and grace.
This Italian film has the seal of approval from Bong Joon-ho, so let’s listen to the Oscar-winning director of Parasite and add it to this list. Written and directed by Alice Rohrwacher, Happy as Lazzaro is set in the ’70s on a tobacco farm, where good-hearted young peasant Lazzaro dutifully works. When a nobleman convinces him to help him fake his own kidnapping, a story of friendship, innocence and social commentary unfolds. A gorgeously shot, cinematic fairytale.
Zeta Cinema
This elegant Spanish film will steep you in its rich imagery and phenomenally good performances from its two leads. Susi Sánchez and Bárbara Lennie star as Anabel and Chiara respectively, an estranged mother and daughter who reunite for reasons that aren’t as clear as they first seem. The precision of the filmmaking here is worthy of soaking up for those who are partial to deliberately paced meditations on pain, love and loss. Masterful.
Maggie Gyllenhaal gives a career best performance in The Kindergarten Teacher, a drama about, yep, a kindergarten teacher. Lisa is dissatisfied with her own life, which leads her to make some questionable decisions regarding one of her young students. When Jimmy exhibits child prodigy levels of poetry writing talent, Lisa may or may not take credit for it. The Kindergarten Teacher’s slightly disturbing character study might leave you feeling conflicted, but there’s no question about Gyllenhaal’s mesmerizing performance.
Mudbound gives you a historical look at class struggle through the lens of a Black veteran and a white veteran who both still have one foot stuck in World War II. Dealing with PTSD and racism in the Mississippi Delta, with a cast that includes Garrett Hedlund and Jason Mitchell, Mudbound’s tempest will rivet you to the spot.
New Movies Coming in 2023 From Marvel, Netflix, DC and More
