Every week at Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases for streaming and VOD, and highlight the biggest and best new movies to watch at home.
This week, Bad Boys: Ride or Diethe new buddy cop film starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, comes to VOD this week, along with the Hindi action thriller Kill. There are many more exciting releases to choose from that are also new to streaming this week, such as Ghostbusters: Frozen Realm on Netflix, the crime thriller directed by Michael Keaton Knox is leaving about Max, the science fiction drama The beast on Criterion Channel, and more.
Here’s everything new to check out this weekend!
New on Netflix
Ghostbusters: Frozen Realm
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Photo: Sony Pictures
Genre: Supernatural comedy
Playing time: 1h 56m
Director: Gil Kenan
Form: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard
The Ghostbusters are back with an all-new movie, and this time it’s Bill Murray! Set three years after the events of Ghostbusters: AfterlifeThe Spengler family must join forces with the veteran Ghostbusters to stop a raging demonic entity from freezing all of New York City. Oh, and Slimer is there, because of course.
From our review:
The Ghostbusters franchise doesn’t really seem to have anyone in it anymore. It’s not funny. It’s not scary. It’s largely abandoned its new younger characters and the older actors hardly seem to care. Frozen Kingdom‘s unintended answer to the question seems to be that Ghostbusters is now a nostalgic corporate culture given cinematic form. Sure, it lacks all the charm and silliness that the original Ghost Hunters so many fans — but stick around long enough and the filmmakers will bring out the proton packs again, and there’s always someone new to slime. It’s a franchise that’s been reduced to nothing more than a parade of hollow, familiar images, lightly repackaged in the hope that we’ll buy another ticket and try to relive the emotions we felt when we first encountered its world.
New on Hulu
Woman
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Image: Anton/Utopia
Genre: Thriller
Playing time: 1h 39m
Directors: Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping
Form: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, George MacKay, Aaron Heffernan
After being brutally attacked by an unknown man and their group of friends, a drag queen named Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) confronts their attacker — a closeted young man named Preston (George MacKay) in a gay sauna. Jules begins an affair and plots his revenge on Preston, unaware of Jules’ true identity and intentions.
Sleeping dogs
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Image: Nickel City Productions/The Avenue
Genre: Crime thriller
Playing time: 1h 50m
Director: Adam Kuiper
Form: Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan, Marton Csokas
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, retired detective Roy Freeman (Russell Crowe) is motivated to reopen an investigation into the murder of a professor when a mysterious new witness comes forward with a compelling piece of evidence. As he tries to find the true perpetrator, he must fight to convince those around him to trust his intuition and theories.
New on Max
Knox is leaving
Where to watch: Available to stream on Maximum
Image: FilmNation Entertainment/Saban Films
Genre: Crime thriller
Playing time: 1h 54m
Director: Michael Keaton
Form: Michael Keaton, Al Pacino, James Marsden
Sixteen years ago, Michael Keaton made his directorial debut with The Merry Gentlemanabout a hitman who is struggling. Now he is back with his second directed feature, also about a hitman who is struggling. This time the hitman is John Knox, a hitman separated from his family who takes on one last job after being diagnosed with dementia.
New on Criterion Channel
The beast
Where to watch: Available to stream on Criterion Channel from July 28
Image: Kinology
Genre: Sci-fi romance
Playing time: 2h 26m
Director: Bertrand Bonello
Form: Léa Seydoux, George MacKay, Guslagie Malanda
To suggest Cloud Atlas meets The Age of Innocence meets Mulholland DriveThat’s about the easiest way to describe it The beastthe science fiction romantic drama by Bertrand Bonello. Léa Seydoux (Ghost) plays Gabrielle, a woman living in the near future who undergoes a process to “purify” her DNA of strong emotions by reliving her past lives. Her procedure becomes more complicated after she crosses paths with Louis (George MacKay), a man she may or may not have loved in a past life.
From our review:
The beast‘s three timelines play with genres that seemingly cannot be mixed: a classic period romance, a gripping horror thriller, and dystopian sci-fi. That places them on a logistical divide, but Bonello binds them together aesthetically and emotionally. Through his long, thought-provoking close-ups of Gabrielle and Louis in each section, he creates a sense of longing and isolation across time, tying together human experiences from the past, present, and future and placing them in a sharp and chilling context.
New on Shudder
Humane
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder
Image: IFC Films
Genre: Horror
Playing time: 1h 33m
Director: Caitlin Cronenberg
Form: Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire, Peter Gallagher
Caitlin Cronenberg’s feature film debut is a horror thriller worthy of the family name. Set during a global ecological collapse, Humane follows estranged siblings who discover that their mother and father have chosen to participate in a national euthanasia program as a form of public service. When things go wrong, the family will have to choose one of their own to act as a replacement participant. Of course, things get personal.
New for rent
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Where to watch: Available to rent at Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Photo: Frank Masi/Columbia Pictures
Genre: Buddy police action
Playing time: 1h 55m
Directors: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Form: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens
The Bad Boys are back for another tour! Bad boys for life Directors Adil & Bilall return for the latest installment in the franchise, this time following partners and best friends Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) as they attempt to clear the name of their late boss Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) when he is posthumously implicated in a criminal conspiracy.
From our review:
The direction of El Arbi and Fallah is the most striking aspect of Ride or dieThe couple has evolved since then Bad boys for lifewho cast themselves as enthusiastic Bayhem students, eager to deploy camerawork that’s as thrilling as the shootouts they capture. Frantic drone shots zoom through gunfire, cameras pan over the barrel of a gun, and nothing ever, ever stays still. It’s a little overwhelming: restrained compared to Bay’s previous effort, they go a little too far here. Their action shines most when it features someone who can credibly kick ass on screen, like Jacob Scipio, who returns as Mike Lowrey’s long-lost son of Bad boys for life.
Kill
Where to watch: Available to rent at Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Image: Lionsgate
Genre: Action thriller
Playing time: 1h 45m
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Form: Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Ashish Vidyarthi
In this thriller, an army commando leads a mission to rescue his girlfriend from an arranged marriage – only to find himself in a Also saving a train from a gang of bandits. Kill premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won second prize for the People’s Choice Award: Midnight Madness.
This is what Pete Volk, curator-editor of Polygon, said had to say about it:
Kill makes the most of the close-quarters setting and the wide variety of weapons on display — knives, limbs, fire extinguishers, and the architecture/layout of the train itself all play a part in the fight. It’s a real treat for action fans, especially when things take a turn 45 minutes in and the violence ramps up significant. Dead doesn’t go from 0 to 60; it starts at 60 and goes to 200. The action design of the film is basically divided into two halves, allowing the team (and Lakshya as the lead) to show different approaches to the fight scenes. I won’t say at a lot, to avoid spoilers, but the action design becomes much more deadly in response to the events of the story, which allows Kill starting with a more classic, non-lethal martial arts approach to the action, before moving on to something more akin to what you’d find in a horror film.