Many recommendations are for new shows, while others are for under-the-radar releases you might have missed or classics that are about to depart a streaming service at the end of the month.
Have a new favorite movie or show you think we should know about? Let us know in the comments, or email[email protected]. Looking for even more greatstreaming options? Check out previous editions of ourmust-watch list here.
New Movies Streaming
“Will & Harper”
One of the biggest standing ovations at this year’s Sundance Film Festival went to “Will & Harper,” a new documentary starring Will Ferrell and his longtime best friend, former “SNL” head writer Harper Steele, who has recently transitioned to living as a woman. The pair embark on a cross-country road trip with a dual purpose: Harper wants to find out whether she still feels comfortable in her favorite types of spaces (dive bars, sports arenas), while Will wants to support his friend and ask the kind of questions many Americans have about living as a trans woman.
Steele wrote many of Ferrell’s most popular characters on “SNL” and on the big screen, and the pair have an easy comic chemistry. There are moments that feel a bit too scripted for the documentary conceit, but there are also genuinely harrowing moments of self-reflection for both Will and Harper as they criss-cross the deep South. “Will & Harper” not only offers a path to understanding for Americans who know little about the lived trans experience, but reminds all of us that open and candid conversations with our friends, no matter how tough they might be, are always worth having.
In “Wolfs,” George Clooney is a fixer (a la “Michael Clayton”) called by a district attorney (Amy Ryan) to a hotel room to dispose of a dead body. Brad Pitt is also a fixer, called by the hotel’s owner (Frances McDormand) to handle the same issue. Forced to work together, their problems compound when the dead body isn’t dead, and the powers that be decide that the entire situation needs to be cleaned up, fixers included.
There’s an advanced stat in baseball called Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) that boils down a player’s multiple skills into a single number that tells us how much better they are than an average MLB player. “Wolfs” may have the plot of a replacement-level action thriller, but Clooney and Pitt’s VORP is off the charts. If you were already sold on the Clooney-Pitt pairing without reading a single review, you won’t be disappointed.
If you want to enjoy a top-tier British historic drama, go watch old seasons of “Downton Abbey” in honor of Dame Maggie Smith, who passed away Friday at age 89. But if you’re looking for something new to scratch the itch left by “The Crown,” Prime Video’s “A Very Royal Scandal” offers royal intrigue of a more recent vintage.
Based on the Prince Andrew’s disastrous 2019 interview with journalist Emily Maitlis about his involvement with disgraced philanthropist Jeffrey Epstein, “A Very Royal Scandal” splits the drama into three parts, covering the lead-up to the interview, the actual sit-down, and the ramifications. Ruth Wilson plays Maitlis as the audience surrogate, sitting at home furiously Googling connections between Andrew and the convicted sex trafficker. As Andrew, Michael Sheen is the perfect mix of slimy and clueless, convinced even as he ruins his family name that he can charm his way out of any situation.
Husband-and-wife duo Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer co-created and star in “Colin from Accounts,” an Australian rom-com about a pair of single people with surface-level flaws who are drawn together by a car crash and an injured dog. Season 1 saw the pair’s relationship blossom and then end, while Season 2 has them back together again, much to the chagrin of their friends and family.
“Colin from Accounts” is a lot like a lighter version of Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan’s “Catastrophe,” an overseas romcom about two imperfect lovers trying to stop self-sabotaging and accept love into their lives, often with very funny results.
If you never watched Matt Reeves’ 2022 movie “The Batman,” you might be surprised by how normal Colin Farrell is playing the lead role in “The Penguin.” Farrell has almost nothing in common with the grotesque villain portrayed by Danny DeVito in Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns.” First of all, he’s just Oz Cobb, not Oswald Cobblepot. And he’s a mid-level crime boss, not a self-employed villain living with penguins in the sewers.
In the new HBO series, Oz races to fill the power vacuum caused by the death of his former boss, Carmine Falcone. There are others who covet the same grip on the criminal underworld, however, including Carmine’s children Sofia (Cristin Milioti) and Alberto (Michael Zegen), and the head of a rival crime family (Clancy Brown). “The Penguin” has more in common with “The Sopranos” (or, given Oz’s facial disfigurement, “Scarface”) than most of the “Batman” films. You won’t see Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader here. Instead, “The Penguin” is a compelling mob drama that makes the most of Farrell’s talents.
Kevin Slane is a staff writer covering entertainment and culture who joined Boston.com in 2014. He has spent 10 years covering the biggest cultural events in Boston, including museum openings, movie premieres, and every single Boston Calling since the music festival’s 2013 debut. Along with publishing weekly movie reviews and streaming guides, Kevin is the author of the BosTen newsletter, a weekly roundup of the best things to do in Boston each weekend.
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