One of the biggest blockbusters of the year, horror from the arthouse to the depths of hell, and a new film from one of our greatest living actors, this week in the world of streaming has plenty to offer no matter where your interests lie.
Barbie
Release Date: Tuesday, September 12 on VOD
Starting things off is a little indie movie called Barbie that you may have heard of being a part of that whole Barbenheimer thing. Directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie, it is an adaptation of the infamous toy that it attempts to turn upside down. It is a film that is defined by its influences. Everything from the enduring The Truman Show to Jacques Tati’s magnificent PlayTime is interwoven into a world of plastic that is often quite fantastic. Most interestingly, the story then becomes about a character forging her own identity. Bouncing between the world of Barbieland and our own, it is a film that all comes down to Robbie’s stereotypical Barbie having to make a choice. Will she stay behind in a world where every day is a perfect one that she has grown to realize may not be what she wants or come to Los Angeles which has its own fair share of problems she must face? There’s only one way to find out.
El Conde
Release Date: September 15 on Netflix
Pablo Larraín‘s bloody and visceral vampire satireEl Conde is a film that is easily one of the year’s weirdest horror films. Full to the bloody brim with macabre humor that recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won for best screenplay, it reimagines the monstrous dictator that was Augusto Pinochet (Jaime Vadell) as a wretched vampire who is still feeding on the world. It posits that the recent demise of the man in our reality was actually a fake and he has continued his parasitic existence unbeknownst to those who thought they were free of him. Now, at 250, he wants to die out of self-pity. As his greedy offspring then gathers at his decaying mansion in the remote corner of Chile to try to collect their inheritance, a dark comedy of painfully familiar historic and mythological milieu unfolds.
Elemental
Release Date: Wednesday, September 13 on Disney+
A formulaic rom-com that sees Disney/Pixar replaying its greatest hits, Elemental has still proven to be a hit despite getting more mixed reviews. First premiering back at the Cannes Film Festival, it follows the characters Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis) and Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie) as they begin to form a relationship with the other. The only problem? One is fire and the other is water. It plays out about exactly as one would think with so-so animation to boot, making it one of those films that you’ll likely put on and have an okay time with though still wish you were watching better romantic comedies from this year.
John Wick: Chapter 4
Release Date: Friday, September 15 on Starz
Though it is not the last part of this action saga by any means, as early development has already begun on a fifth entry, John Wick: Chapter 4 is the series at its most ambitious, goofy, and thrilling. Starring the great Keanu Reeves as the man himself, it never misses a step even when he gets thrown down flight after flight of stairs.
My Animal
Release Date: Friday, September 15 on VOD
A meandering werewolf story in which Amandla Stenberg and Bobbi Salvör try to find love, My Animal had its premiere back at Sundance though is now being more fully unleashed upon the world. That they are in a story about love, hockey, and, yes, werewolves, sounds like it could be something really special. There may be those who end up discovering this film and get wrapped up in the cold corner of the nondescript Canadian town where it is set. Alas, for every moment where it seems to find an edge like the skaters we see zooming around the ice, there are too many others where it begins to stumble and fall. While frequently alluring in its exploration of desire and identity, this horror as a metaphor tale has a bark more impactful than its bite.
Shortcomings
Release Date: Tuesday, September 12 on VOD
A dramedy about the most unlikeable character you’ll see this year (other than Passages), Shortcomings is the feature debut of Randall Park that had its premiere way back at Sundance. Based on Adrian Tomine’s original story with him also serving as writer here, it follows the troubled Ben Tanaka (Justin Min) who seems to be his own worst enemy. He has driven away his girlfriend, can’t seem to stop insulting other people, and is soon to be out of a job. When he decides to follow said girlfriend to New York where he believes her to be for an internship, things go from bad to worse. The movie, however, is great!
Talk to Me
Release Date: Tuesday, September 12 on VOD
A strong debut from debut directors Danny and Michael Philippou, Talk to Meis a horror spectacle of spirits, toe-sucking, and the worst party game you could ever play that is also good family fun. Operating in close proximity to the transmissible curse subgenre, it begins with a man wandering through a party looking for his friend who is not acting like himself these days. When he finds him, we see that he is clearly having a really rough time. More than just a bad trip of some kind, he subsequently kills his friend and then himself while shocked partygoers record on their phones. We then meet Mia, played by a spectacular Sophie Wilde in her feature debut, who is drawn to taking part in a ritual that allows you to let the spirit of someone who has passed on into your body. It is like a supernatural Russian roulette as you have no control whatsoever over who may come knocking or what they may want to take from you once they do. This is merely the beginning of a hellish journey that will threaten to destroy all it is that Mia holds dear. Whether you can stomach it enough to make it all the way will depend on the viewer, but Talk To Me has plenty that promises to capture the souls of horror sickos looking for a sinister spectacle.
Theater Camp
Release Date: Thursday, September 14 on Hulu
Another Sundance film now getting its streaming release, Theater Camp is for all of you who spent any time as a youth acting on stage. Following a group of counselors and kids at a failing summer theater camp, it digs into about every odd detail you’ll remember from that time. It does fall into making the version of the same jokes a bit, but the cast of youngsters do kick it into a higher gear with a closing musical that is good fun.
The Unknown Country
Release Date: Tuesday, September 12 on VOD
A meditative journey through the American West that marks the beginning of the year of Lily Gladstone, The Unknown Country is a road drama that takes time for the beauty of the people we find along the way. At the core of this is Gladstone’s Tana. She has just lost her grandmother who she had been caring for up until the very end. Devastated by her death, she hits the road to travel from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota after getting an invitation to her cousin’s wedding. As she then goes further and further from home, she also gets closer to understanding what it is that will begin to help her heal. Even in the moments where it can feel a little rough around the edges, the portrait being painted is a breathtaking and unrestrained one. It all comes together to ensure that, in the long cinematic history of American road movies, The Unknown Country carves out an indelible legacy of its own all the way to its final series of shattering shots.
