Another week under our belt means another weekend to enjoy. Now that you've got time to catch up on your to-watch list, narrowing down what movies are worth your time is no small task given everything coming and going from the best streaming services each week.
That's why we're highlighting all the best new movies on streaming to check out this weekend. Leading the pack is the pulpy action-comedy "Boy Kills World" on Hulu that sees Bill Skarsgård go full John Wick on the rich jerks who killed his family. Netflix also has a new dystopian YA drama, "Uglies," that calls to mind "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent" series. On Prime Video, you can catch "Colette," a raunchy literary biopic starring Keira Knightley, as well as the surprisingly terrific "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish."
If you’re looking for new movies to watch this weekend, then you’ve come to the right place. For more streaming recommendations, be check out our guide to the best new shows to stream this week and the most outrageous comedy of the year that's 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.
'Robot Dreams' (PVOD)
Based on Sara Varon's comic of the same name, "Robot Dreams" is one of last year's Oscar nominees that I've been dying to catch since I missed it in theaters. I'm a sucker for a slice-of-life, quietly poignant animated movie, and everything I've heard about "Robot Dreams" so far has me convinced to sit down, grab some tissues, and get ready to turn into an emotional wreck over some cartoon characters.
Set in 1980s Manhattan, "Robot Dreams" follows the heartwarming friendship between an anthropomorphic Dog and his mail-ordered Robot best pal. Over the summer, the two become inseparable, but tragedy strikes when a day at the beach leaves Robot rusted and unable to move. Dog is forced to leave his best friend there for the night, but when he comes back the next day with tools to try to fix Robot, he discovers the beach has been closed until the next summer. What follows is a heartfelt exploration of friendship in all the many forms it takes throughout our lives.
Buy or rent on Amazon now
'Boy Kills World' (Hulu)
Action movie fans, buckled up. "Boy Kills World" is a bloody high-octane adventure that blends "John Wick" and "A Clockwork Orange" in a gleefully warped revenge tale. Set in a future dystopia filled with madcap characters and hyper-violence, this directorial debut from Moritz Mohr stars Bill Skarsgård ("Hemlock Grove," "It") as the eponymous boy, a young man rendered deaf and mute by an attack that left the rest of his family dead.
His inner thoughts are voiced by H. Jon Benjamin, a.k.a. Bob in "Bob’s Burgers," a perfect match for the film's absurdist brand of comedy. He's on a quest for vengeance against the ruthless Van Der Koys family, who executed his family during an annual televised event called The Culling. Trained in martial arts by a mysterious shaman (Yayan Ruhian), Boy will stop at nothing to bring down those responsible, carving a path of destruction along the way.
Watch it now on Hulu
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Prime Video)
While I was a big "Shrek" fan as a kid, by the time the first "Puss in Boots" movie came out, I'd aged out of the target audience and the incessant commercials for this movie didn't make it look like I was missing much. So imagine my surprise when last year all my animation nerd friends started singing the praises of "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish."
More than a little skeptical, I finally sat down and watched it. And I agree with my colleague Rory Mellon: "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" has no right to be this fantastic. Instead of a cliche spin-off, it's a sharp reimagining of the character with some of the best animation since “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," blending 3D and 2D animation to evoke the feeling of a fairy-tale storybook illustration with lush-painted backgrounds, stylized visuals and vibrant colors. Antonio Banderas returns as the famed feline along with Salma Hayek’s Kitty and a new cast of fairy-tale cohorts, including the delightfully evil Jack Horner (John Mulaney) and a cockney Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) along with her Three Bears Crime Family (Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, and Samson Kayo).
Watch it now on Prime Video
‘Uglies’ (Netflix)
We've been overdue for a new YA sci-fi drama like "The Hunger Games" and "Divergents" that flooded the 2010s. While Netflix's new movie "Uglies," based on Scott Westerfeld's novel of the same name, seems unlikely to reach the same heights as its predecessors, it may still be a hit for any tweens or teens in your life.
Set hundreds of years in the future, "Uglies" imagines a dystopian society straight out of "The Twilight Zone" where every 16-year-old must undergo cosmetic surgery to become "pretty." Then you're free to live your Instagram-perfect life with the caveat that you're identically "beautiful" as everyone else. Also somehow this is the solution to class divides and climate change — yeah, maybe don't think about it too hard. Joey King stars as Tally Youngblood, a teen eagerly awaiting her transformation until she loses her best friend to the "Pretties," at which point she sets out to overthrow the whole system with some unlikely allies (Brianne Tju and Laverne Cox).
Watch it now on Netflix
'Colette' (Prime Video)
Keira Knightley, in the title role of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, brings the 20th-century writer to life in this exhilarating, sharp, and inspiring literary biopic. A young woman born in the rural French countryside, Colette is whisked away into marriage by the worldly self-declared "literary entrepreneur" known simply as Willy (Dominic West), who makes a living employing ghostwriters to publish works under his name.
She begins to write semi-autobiographical novels under his name, and upon their success (and with her husband's wandering eye a constant thorn in their relationship), she fights to make her talents known and become recognized as an author in her own right. There’s no shortage of domestic drama in the meantime, with both Colette and Willy cheating on each other with the same woman at one point.
Watch it now on Prime Video
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