Deadpool & Wolverine, Twisters, Netflix’s Emilia Pérez, and every movie new to streaming
Each week on Polygon, 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, Deadpool & Wolverine, the 34th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, arrives on Disney Plus following its VOD premiere early in October. There’s plenty of other new releases to enjoy this week, like Twisters on Peacock, Transformers One on Paramount Plus, the “geri-action” revenge comedy Thelma on Hulu, and the scintillating crime-drama musical Emilia Pérez starring Zoe Saldaña (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) on Netflix. Not to mention a bunch of new movies arrive on VOD, like Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis starring Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) and Magpie starring Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Last Jedi).
Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
Emilia Pérez
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Crime musical
Run time: 2h 12m
Director: Jacques Audiard
Cast: Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez
Cannes Jury Prize winner Emilia Pérez is a crime film, a comedy, and a musical. Based on an opera libretto of the same name, Emilia Pérez follows a cartel leader who wants to complete her gender transition. She hires a lawyer to help her find a surgeon, fake her own death, and hide her family away for their safety. But Emilia can’t quite run from her life of crime, and when she tries to reunite with her family, that shady past comes back to haunt her.
Close to You
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 40m
Director: Dominic Savage
Cast: Elliot Page, Hillary Baack, Peter Outerbridge
Elliot Page stars as a man named Sam who travels to his hometown for the first time in four years to celebrate his father’s birthday. In the face of familial tension, a lot involving his family struggling to accept his gender transition, Sam reconnects with an old flame. Close to You premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, with critics praising Page’s naturalistic performance.
Widow Clicquot
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Thomas Napper
Cast: Haley Bennett, Tom Sturridge, Natasha O’Keeffe
This period drama stars Haley Bennett (Swallow) as Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, the widow of an 18th-century vigneron who becomes the head of their fledgling vineyard after his untimely passing. Weathering financial difficulty and political turmoil, Barbe-Nicole must struggle to make a name for herself and nurture the company to fruition.
Hot Frosty
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Fantasy rom-com
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Jerry Ciccoritti
Cast: Lacey Chabert, Dustin Milligan, Katy Mixon
This questionably titled romantic comedy follows Kathy (Lacey Chabert), a recently widowed woman who finds herself alone for the holidays. After accidentally bringing a handsome snowman named Jack (Dustin Milligan) to life, Kathy quickly finds herself head over heels for our sexy new beau. As their relationship heats up, can both of them keep their cool?
New on Hulu
Thelma
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Action comedy
Run time: 1h 38m
Director: Josh Margolin
Cast: June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree
Thelma is a revenge flick about one woman journeying across Los Angeles to reclaim what’s been taken from her… and also she happens to be 93 years old, so a lot of that trekking is done on a senior mobility scooter.
From our review:
Thelma watches a Mission: Impossible film during the movie, and her Tom Cruise inspiration is not just there in spirit, but in the text itself. After she gets scammed, it’s seeing Cruise’s face on a magazine that inspires Thelma to take justice into her own hands. But that kind of sincerity wouldn’t work without Thelma’s terrific and committed performances, particularly from Squibb and Roundtree. Both actors are terrifically funny, and Roundtree’s charm gives the movie a tremendous amount of heart. For her part, Margolin says Squibb was adamant about owning the Tom Cruise mantle and doing as many stunts as she could herself.
It’s rare that a summer action movie also happens to be one of the funniest and sweetest movies of the year, but Thelma manages to pull it off. So if you’re feeling the lack of Tom Cruise at movie theaters this year, just remember that Thelma and June Squibb are there, carrying the torch in his honor.
New on Disney Plus
Deadpool & Wolverine
Where to watch: Available to stream on Max
Genre: Superhero action
Run time: 2h 8m
Director: Shawn Levy
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Ryan Reynolds reprises his role as Deadpool, the so-called Merc with a Mouth, in his first-ever appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After being abducted by the Time Variance Authority, Deadpool embarks on a quest to recruit an alternate universe version of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to help prevent his own universe from being destroyed. Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) plays Mr. Paradox, a rogue member of the TVA, and Emma Corrin (A Murder at the End of the World) portrays Cassandra Nova, Professor X’s evil twin sister from an alternate universe.
From our review:
Deadpool & Wolverine has made its hero the worst kind of comic book character: one who doesn’t stand for anything. It’s a terrible irony. Fans worried that Disney’s corporate control and the MCU’s rigid narrative oversight would leech away Deadpool’s edge: the swearing and the jocular violence. Turns out, that part was fine. Instead, the MCU just took his fuckin’ heart.
New on Paramount Plus
Transformers One
Where to watch: Streaming on Paramount Plus
Genre: Sci-fi adventure
Run time: 1h 17m
Director: Josh Cooley
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson
This animated prequel to the Transformers franchise chronicles the origins of Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) — years before they would later become known as Optimus Prime and Megatron. Set on the planet of Cybertron, Transformers One centers on Orion and D-16’s friendship before a quirk of fate set them on the path to becoming bitter enemies.
From our review:
Director Josh Cooley’s semi-reboot of the Transformers cinematic universe — whether it has any association with the Transformers Bay-verse is somehow unclear — is better than its prequel premise (and trailers) suggests. Transformers One is funny, sometimes sweet, occasionally heartbreaking, and utterly convincing in telling an origin story for friends turned foes Optimus Prime and Megatron. Thanks to its strong cast and a solid story buttressed by a classic hero’s journey, Transformers One has a spark that we’ve rarely seen in a Transformers flick outside of 2018’s Bumblebee.
New on Peacock
Twisters
Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock
Genre: Disaster thriller
Run time: 2h 2m
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos
Director Lee Isaac Chung follows up his 2020 breakthrough Minari with a stand-alone sequel to the 1996 film Twister. Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell, Twisters follows a dueling group of storm chasers as they attempt to navigate and survive a outbreak of tornadoes wreaking havoc through Oklahoma.
New to rent
Megalopolis
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Sci-fi drama
Run time: 2h 18m
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel
Francis Ford Coppola has returned with his first film in over a decade! Loosely inspired by the Catilinarian conspiracy of 63 B.C., Megalopolis stars Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina, a visionary architect and the scion of one of the ruling families of the city of New Rome. Cesar clashes with Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), the mayor of New Rome, over their respective visions for the future. The feud only intensifies after Cicero’s daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) meets and subsequently falls in love with Cesar.
Saturday Night
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Biographical comedy
Run time: 1h 49m
Director: Jason Reitman
Cast: Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith
This biographical comedy follows the 90 minutes leading up to the premiere of Saturday Night Live, with an ensemble cast playing some of the iconic comedians in the inaugural SNL lineup. We’ve got Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, and more. The movie comes from Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire duo Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan, but critic reviews indicate it’s much better than those two.
Goodrich
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 50m
Director: Hallie Meyers-Shyer
Cast: Michael Keaton, Mila Kunis, Laura Benanti
Michael Keaton stars in this family comedy as Andy, an art gallery owner whose wife leaves him and checks into a 90-day rehab program. With no one else to lean on, Andy resorts to asking Grace (Mila Kunis), his daughter from his previous marriage, to help him as he looks after her 9-year-old twin half-siblings.
Magpie
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Thriller
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Sam Yates
Cast: Shazad Latif, Daisy Ridley, Matilda Lutz
Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) and Shazad Latif (The Commuter) star in this new neo-noir thriller as Annette and Ben, a married couple whose daughter is cast in a new film. When Annette grows to suspect that Ben is having an affair with Alicia (Matilda Lutz), a famous actor who is their daughter’s castmate, their marriage begins to fracture — prompting Annette to contemplate the unthinkable.
Your Monster
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Rom-com horror
Run time: 1h 43m
Director: Caroline Lindy
Cast: Tommy Dewey, Melissa Barrera, Edmund Donovan
Monster lovers out there — this one’s for you. A soft-spoken young actress going through a rough time in her life ends up falling for the literal monster in her closet. Well, at first, he’s a bit of a prickly asshole à la Beast from Beauty and the Beast, but the two eventually become confidants before a romance sparks between them. It’s based on director Caroline Lindy’s short film of the same name.