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Taylor Swift serenades her way onto streaming this week
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Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.
This week, the 2023 concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour finally comes to streaming on Disney Plus. Not a die-hard Swiftie? That’s OK; there’s tons of other exciting movies available to stream this weekend. The new rom-com Irish Wish starring Lindsay Lohan comes to Netflix, Dream Scenario arrives on Max, and the animated children’s comedy Trolls Band Together pops its way onto Peacock. Plus, there’s several new VOD releases to choose from this week, like Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls and the horror film Stopmotion, as well as reduced pricing for critically acclaimed movies like Ferrari and The Zone of Interest.
Here’s everything new to watch this weekend!
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Romantic comedy
Run time: 1h 31m
Director: Janeen Damian
Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Ed Speleers, Alexander Vlahos
Lindsay Lohan stars in this new rom-com as Maddie, a young woman whose best friend is marrying the love of her life. Flying to Ireland to serve as a bridesmaid, Maddie makes a wish for true love… and wakes up the next morning as the bride-to-be herself! Things seem perfect, until Maddie discovers that her true love might be someone else entirely.
From our review:
Netflix’s new, vaguely St. Patrick’s Day-themed romantic comedy, Irish Wish, is basically built on a whole bed of rom-com tropes that I actively hate. So even though I love a Lindsay Lohan-led rom-com — Just My Luck was one of my favorites growing up, and Lohan’s recent Netflix Christmas rom-com was over-the-top cheesy in the best way — I knew the odds of enjoyment were stacked against me. But there are exceptions to every one of my taste rules, if the movie is good enough. I came in hopeful! But while I am not immune to Lindsay Lohan being charmed by a roguish Englishman played by Ed Speleers (Star Trek: Picard, Eragon), the rest of Irish Wish failed to sweep me off my feet.
Where to watch: Available to stream on Disney Plus
Genre: Concert movie
Run time: 2h 49m
Director: Sam Wrench
I don’t need to tell you who Taylor Swift is. Don’t pretend you don’t know who she is; you know who she is, OK? Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is exactly what it sounds like: a concert film that follows the singer-songwriter during the course of her 2023-2024 Eras Tour.
It came out last year and made boatloads of money, and now it’s streaming on Disney Plus!
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 33m
Director: Nick Broomfield
Cast: Nick Broomfield, Eric Burdon, Marianne Faithfull
This documentary follows the story of the Rolling Stones and the legacy of the band’s oft-forgotten founding member, Brian Jones. As much about the culture of the rock era as it is about the band itself, Broomfield’s film features interviews with several of the remaining members of the band as well as contemporaries and fans.
Where to watch: Available to stream on Max
Genre: Horror comedy
Run time: 1h 42m
Director: Kristoffer Borgli
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera
Nicolas Cage (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) continues his streak of meta self-referential projects in this horror-comedy about a mild-mannered biology professor who inexplicably becomes famous overnight after appearing in the dreams of people around the world.
From our review:
Dream Scenario’s vague, nebulous type of fame gives Borgli an avenue to comment on celebrity and its price without taking a specific stand. He’s just exploring the cost of being highly visible, being up for endless interpretation by total strangers, and being disconnected in the public eye from any actual real-world intentions or actions. Once Paul starts deliberately taking a more active role in people’s dreams, the script takes a Charlie Kaufman-esque approach, playing with the ideas around so-called cancel culture as part of the world of instant fame. He also keeps the visuals refreshing and interesting, fully veering into dream-sequence horror, with enjoyably weird results.
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 27m
Director: Carla Gutierrez
Composed from excerpts from the late artist’s journals and writings and archival footage, this new documentary on the life of Frida Kahlo combines animated visuals and Kahlo’s own paintings to bring new dimensions to her work and legacy.
Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock
Genre: Adventure comedy
Run time: 1h 31m
Directors: Walt Dohrn, Tim Heitz
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Kenan Thompson
The Trolls have returned, and they’re getting the band back together! After Branch’s brother Floyd is kidnapped, he’ll have to team up with Poppy to reunite with his other brothers in order to find the culprit and save the day.
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Road comedy
Run time: 1h 24m
Director: Ethan Coen
Cast: Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein
Ethan Coen’s second film without his brother, Joel, is an offbeat crime comedy about a pair of young women who embark on an impromptu road trip. Things get dicey after the two cross paths with a group of incompetent criminals sent to retrieve a mysterious briefcase on behalf of their shady employer.
From our review:
Drive-Away Dolls’ well-worn beats are buttressed by tremendous style, a deep care taken with the film’s production and costume design. All that attention to the era that isn’t fully present in the script comes out in the visuals instead. There isn’t much narrative texture to Marian and Jamie’s various stopovers — in particular, there isn’t much for Jamie or Marian to connect with. While the pair have frequent and funny interactions on their trip, the people they meet are more or less cartoon characters setting up a gag.
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Superhero action
Run time: 1h 54m
Director: S.J. Clarkson
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced
Sony’s latest entry in its Spidey-less Spidey Universe stars Dakota Johnson as Cassie Webb, a paramedic living in Manhattan who gains the ability to see visions of the future after a near-death experience. When a mysterious superpowered stranger (who was with Cassie’s mom when she was in the Amazon researching spiders right before she died) begins hunting a trio of young girls, Cassie takes it upon herself to protect them.
From our review:
Madame Web might be the most shameless superhero movie of all time. Far from just the cash-in that it seemed like a few years ago when this movie headlined by an F-tier superhero was first announced, Sony’s latest Marvel offshoot is a two-hour post-credits scene, made only intermittently tolerable by Dakota Johnson’s underappreciated knack for comedy.
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Romantic drama
Run time: 1h 34m
Director: Rachel Lambert
Cast: Daisy Ridley, Dave Merheje, Parvesh Cheena
Star Wars icon Daisy Ridley takes a dramatic turn in this new existential drama, playing the role of a socially awkward office worker who tentatively attempts to come out of her shell. It’s dark, funny, awkward, and achingly human.
From our review:
Not much happens in Sometimes I Think About Dying, but that’s the point of the movie. Even the smallest thing, like Fran mustering up the courage to say goodbye to someone after work, is given huge weight. The movie lingers on the mundane, using it to paint a thorough portrait of who she is, without having her say or act much. The steps she takes to help overcome her social anxiety might seem small, but they’re all hurdles to her. It’s a movie made up of quiet moments: pauses in conversation, lingering glances, and outstretched hands. Lambert emphasizes the importance of these small interactions, and the ways they build up to connections. It’s a quiet story that aches in the best sort of way.
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Hybrid horror
Run time: 1h 43m
Director: Robert Morgan
Cast: Aisling Franciosi, Stella Gonet, Tom York
This new horror film follows Suzanne (Aisling Franciosi), a talented stop-motion animator who, dealing with arthritis in her hands, grows increasingly more obsessed with the macabre world of her own creations. As Suzanne grows more and more isolated, the line between reality and fiction blurs and an unknowable terror is unleashed.
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Fantasy adventure
Run time: 2h 10m
Director: Thomas Cailley
Cast: Romain Duris, Paul Kircher, Adèle Exarchopoulos
In a world where humans have been stricken with a genetic mutation that transforms them into animal hybrids, a desperate father (Romain Duris) takes his son (Paul Kircher) to search for his wife, who has disappeared into a nearby forest along with other similarly affected hybrids. It’s kinda like Sweet Tooth meets The Lobster.
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Biographical drama
Run time: 2h 21m
Director: Ava DuVernay
Cast: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga
Ava DuVernay’s latest film is a drama based on the life of Isabel Wilkerson, the author of the 2020 book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. The film follows Wilkerson’s (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) journey through Germany, India, and the United States as she researches material for her book.
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Biographical sports drama
Run time: 2h 10m
Director: Michael Mann
Cast: Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley
The new sports biopic from Michael Mann stars Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, the race car driver turned automotive tycoon who, in the summer of 1957, is faced with his greatest challenge yet as the fate of his company hangs in the balance. Pushing his drivers to the edge, as well as straining his relationship with his wife, Laura (Penélope Cruz), Ferrari prepares to wager his life and legacy on Mille Miglia, a treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy.
Where to watch: Available to purchase on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Historical drama
Run time: 1h 46m
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Cast: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Johann Karthaus
Based on the novel by Martin Amis, Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar-winning film follows the story of Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, who chose to build his family home just outside the camp’s walls.
From our review:
The Zone of Interest may be the most powerful movie about complicity that’s ever been made, particularly about the Holocaust. The movie’s true warning isn’t that regular life can go on even amid atrocity, it’s that people are capable of pretending that atrocity isn’t happening. Glazer seems to suggest that people aren’t unaware of destructive historical events going on around them, but rather that they actively close their ears to it. The Höss family doesn’t drown out the camp, or begrudgingly ignore the roar of its furnaces or the gunshots from over the wall. They just keep going like it isn’t there at all. The effect of all their silence is one of the loudest and most unique views a film has ever taken on one of history’s most horrific atrocities.
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu (and to stream on Hulu)
Genre: Dark comedy
Run time: 2h 22m
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo
Emma Stone stars as a young woman brought to life from a brain transplant in this twist on the Frankenstein formula, adapted by Greek dark comedy filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos from Alasdair Gray’s novel. The film won a total of four Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards, including a second Best Actress win for Emma Stone and an award for Best Production Design.
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Mystery
Run time: 2h 5m
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Cast: Sakura Andō, Eita Nagayama, Sōya Kurokawa
I can not speak more highly of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s (Shoplifters) Monster. It’s a beguiling thriller about a mother trying to figure out what is going on with her son, who has been acting up recently and got into a conflict at school with his teacher. Kore-eda is an incredibly deliberate filmmaker, with every detail deeply considered, and uses the film’s complicated narrative to unspool one of the best mysteries in years. It’s an absolute gem. —Pete Volk
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