Looking to settle in with a good movie? Me too. That’s why I’ve pored over the release schedules of major streaming services to bring you the best original and new-to-streaming movie releases of the week. This week’s standouts: The Greatest Hits, a unique romantic time-travel movie about mourning and pop music, and Unlocked: A Jail Experiment, a documentary about a radical plan to rethink jail.
What Jennifer Did
In this true-crime doc, a Vietnamese immigrant couple is brutally slain in their home, leaving investigators baffled. The sole survivor of the crime, the couple’s daughter Jennifer, lays the blame on masked intruders on a rampage, but there’s something suspicious about her account. What Jennifer Did digs deeply into this shocking crime through interrogation footage of Jennifer and interviews with the people involved, revealing a story with unexpected twists, baffling motives, and a most unlikely perpetrator.
Where to stream: Netflix
The Greatest Hits
The Greatest Hits is a different kind of time travel movie. It doesn’t concern itself with the paradoxes of temporal dislocation or the science behind time machines. Instead, it’s a magical realist take on the genre, in which time travel is used to explore memory, grief, and redemption. Lucy Boynton plays Harriet, who is able to travel backwards in time when she hears music that played when her boyfriend was alive, but she can only stay in the past for the length of the song. Romantic time travel movies are always amazing and Greatest Hits is a worthy addition to the tiny cinematic sub-genre.
Where to stream: Hulu
Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion
I don’t know if you’re aware, but there is a dark side to the fashion industry. Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion tells the story of a fun, flashy fashion brand that was once extremely popular with teen and tween girls, taking viewers behind-the-scenes at the Brandy Mellville company, which turns out to be a scummy cesspit of racism and sexual exploitation. The doc then goes deeper and broader with commentary on the environmental and societal devastation that fast fashion factories can bring to the places where they’re located.
Where to stream: Apple TV
Unlocked: A Jail Experiment
This documentary tells the fascinating story of a radical experiment conducted in an Arkansas jail. Faced with deteriorating conditions, mistreatment of prisoners, and a high recidivism rate, Sheriff Eric Higgins ordered all the cell doors opened and gave the prisoners the authority to make decisions about how the jail should be run. The goal was to see whether autonomy would result in a greater sense of community, a more humane lock-up, and fewer accused criminals returning to the clink. Check out Unlocked: A Jail Experiment to see how well it worked.
Where to stream: Netflix
Blind Date Book Club
The Hallmark Channel might churn out made-for-TV movies on a production line schedule that rivals Henry Ford’s, but with Blind Date Book Club, standardization and repetition results in a romantic comedy as reliable as a Model T. Erin Krakow and Robert Buckley aren’t likely to blow anyone’s doors off as the leads in this story about love in a Nantucket book shop, but they’re nice people who are good for each other (even if they don’t realize when they first meet). If you’re looking for a genial, well-made, smart-but-not-challenging romance flick, baby, you have found the source.
Streaming on: Peacock
Last week’s picks
Scoop
This ripped-from-the-headlines film tells the story of how BBC’s Newsnight secured the TV interview with Prince Andrew that led to his downfall. Based on the account of Newsnight’s booker Sam McAlister, Scoop takes us behind the scenes of the scoop of the century, detailing how McAlister (played by Billie Piper) secured an “un-gettable” interview with Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell), and how journalist Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson) grilled the prince on air about his connection to Jeffery Epstein, leading to his withdrawal from official royal duties.
Where to stream: Netflix
The Zone of Interest (2023)
Winner of the Best International Feature at this year’s Oscars, The Zone of Interest examines the chilling banality of evil by telling the story of concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig raising their children in a charming little house next to Auschwitz. A searing, intense masterpiece, The Zone of Interest will stay with you long after the last frame.
Where to stream: Max
Música
Camila Mendes from Riverdale and internet personality Rudy Mancuso star in this Amazon original romantic comedy. Mancuso co-wrote the screenplay and composed the music in Música too. Described as an “untraditional romantic comedy that moves to its own infectious beat,” Música tells the story of Rudy (natch) a charismatic Brazilian street performer with synesthesia—he experiences everyday noises as music. Rudy’s directionless life is turned inside-out when he meets Isabella (Mendes), a beautiful woman who works at a fish market and seems to understand him much better than his girlfriend.
Where to stream: Prime
The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem
This Netflix documentary pulls open the metaphorical cabinet of 4Chan so we can watch the online roaches scurry. As told by The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem, 4chan started as an online hangout for creative homebound miscreants but devolved into a hive of scum and villainy that pierced the veil between the online and real worlds, turning our entire culture into a message board flame war in the process.
Where to stream: Netflix
How to Date Billy Walsh
If you’re in the mood for a teenage love story, check out How to Date Billy Walsh. Set at a posh British boarding school, Billy Walsh tells the story of Archie’s lifelong crush on his best friend Amelia (Charithra Chandran). Just when Archie is ready to tell his pal how he feels, Amelia meets Billy Walsh, a handsome, charismatic American transfer student, and she falls hard. Complications, as they say, ensue, as Amelia tries to date Billy and Archie tries to secretly keep them apart. It may not be the most original story for a teen comedy, but it’s presented here with sincerity and wit.
Where to stream: Prime
Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal
Bray Wyatt is one of the most intriguing performers in professional wrestling history, and the man behind the character, Windham Rotunda, is equally fascinating. Told through never-before-seen backstage footage and interviews with WWE heavyweights, Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal details its subject’s rise to superstar status, the challenges he faced on the road to the top, and the family and legacy he left behind after his tragic death in 2023.
Where to stream: Peacock
Girls State
This AppleTV+ documentary asks an intriguing question: what would American democracy look like in the hands of teenage girls? A follow-up to directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine’s 2020 documentary Boys State, Girls State takes us inside the Girls State event in Missouri, where 500 adolescent girls from across state meet to form a mock U.S. government, complete with state and national elections and a Supreme Court. Filmed when news of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson was leaked, Girls State offers a look at the challenges democracy faces in the future and details the women who just might save it.
Where to stream: Apple TV+
Wish (2023)
Disney’s Wish received mixed reviews and disappointing box office returns when it was released in 2023, but it might be time for a streaming re-evaluation. This animated musical comedy gathers the collective might of Disney’s artists, songwriters, and voice actors to tell a new tale that’s heavily informed by past Disney magic. Packed with references to Disney history, Wish tells the story of teenager Asha (voiced by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose) who makes a wish so powerful that it’s answered by a cosmic force and might be the key to saving the the kingdom of Rosas from the King Magnifico (Chris Pine).
Where to stream: Disney+
