Looking for something to watch this weekend on Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, or Hulu? Check out our list of the best new shows and movies on various streaming services, including the acclaimed neo-noir Gone Baby Gone, the overlooked We Own the Night, the new season of Harlots, and more.
Streaming entertainment is bigger than ever, and with so many streaming services adding new shows and movies every week, it can be nearly impossible to sort through the good and the bad. If you need something to watch and don’t want to wade through the digital muck that washes up on the internet’s shores, follow our picks below for the best new shows and movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Amazon, and other services.
On the list this week: An overlooked crime drama, an acclaimed neo-noir, and more.
James Gray’s 2007 crime drama We Own the Night flew under the radar for a lot of people, coming so soon after Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed The Departed, and those who did see it drew unfavorable comparisons to Scorsese’s film. That’s a shame, because Gray’s film, the story of a man divided between two warring factions, stands on its own as a focused tale of familial loyalty and tension. Set in Brooklyn circa 1988, the film follows Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix), the manager of a nightclub owned by Russian mobsters. Bobby’s ties to the mob have eroded his relationships with his father, Burt Grusinsky (Robert Duvall), and brother, Joseph (Mark Wahlberg), both cops in the NYPD. As the conflict between the cops and criminals intensifies, both sides try to enlist Bobby, putting his life in danger.
Watch now on:
Netflix
In the early aughts, Ben Affleck’s reputation as an actor took a hit due to his involvement in a number of disastrous movies (including Daredevil and the wretched Gigli), but he redeemed himself in the eyes of critics with his directorial debut, 2007’s Gone Baby Gone, a crime thriller based on a novel by Dennis Lehane. The film begins with a child abduction; a woman named Beatrice (Amy Madigan) hires private detective Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and his partner, Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), to find her missing niece. The PI has connections in Boston’s criminal underworld, giving him access the cops can’t get, but as they delve deeper into the case, Kenzie and Gennaro butt heads with the police, and learn that not everything is as it seems. Gone Baby Gone is a tense detective story, a film masterfully constructed by Affleck, who turns Boston into a labyrinth of shadows and dread.
Watch now on:
Netflix
Hulu’s Harlots is a lurid drama about women working in the brothels of 18th-century London, a world in which cunning, money, and well-timed betrayals are the keys to survival. The show focuses on two brothels — one back-alley, one nestled among the upper crust — and their owners, Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton) and Lydia Quigley (Lesley Manville), respectively. Their professional and personal rivalry grows more intense as Wells seeks to rise out of London’s slums and establish herself as a high-class madam. Despite the show’s subject matter, it’s never a mere peep show — it instead creates a cast of unique, complex characters whose motives and alliances are often at odds.
Watch now on:
Hulu
This Ecuadorian thriller from director Sebastián Cordero follows a flashy reporter named Manolo Bonilla (John Leguizamo), who comes to Ecuador to cover the story of a prolific serial killer. While Manolo is attending the funeral of one of the victims, a salesman named Vinicio (Damian Alcazar) runs over a local child. After a mob attacks Vinicio and he ends up in jail, the salesman tells Manolo that he has information on the serial killer, a lead Manolo can’t resist following. Crónicas moves at a vigorous pace, given additional life by Leguizamo’s terrific performance.
Watch now on:
Amazon Prime
One of David Lynch’s greatest films, Mulholland Drive is also one of his most perplexing — a layered, delirious journey that unfurls slowly and never quite gives up all of its secrets. The movie begins with a car crash; an unnamed, dark-haired woman (Laura Elena Harring) emerges from the wreckage, stumbling toward an apartment where Betty Elms (Naomi Watts), a bright-eyed young woman looking to make it as an actress, finds her. The woman, who has amnesia, calls herself Rita after seeing a picture of Rita Hayworth, and together the two set off in search of clues to her identity. The path they take is a long and winding one, and the film often takes detours into other subplots, some more obviously connected than others, until the big picture starts to emerge from the darkness. For those who enjoy slow-burn films, films that linger, Mulholland Drive is a treat to be savored.
Watch now on:
Amazon Prime
