We’re in a bit of a doldrums period for viable movie awards contenders on streaming, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t good movies hitting streaming services all the time. Today, for example, Apple TV+ is putting up “Fancy Dance,” our top streaming movie pick of the weekend. The drama stars Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone in her first movie released since “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
In “Fancy Dance,” Gladstone stars as Jax, a resident of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation Reservation. Her sister is missing, and she and her niece Roki (Isabel DeRoy-Olson) set out to find her. The film was a hit at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and has earned positive reviews for first-time writer-director Erica Tremblay and Gladstone, who gives a powerhouse performance as a woman trying to care for her family in the face of a system that doesn’t care about women like them.
Here are some other movies to stream this weekend:
“The Devil’s Bath”: The latest film from acclaimed psychological horror filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (“Goodnight Mommy”) isn’t exactly a horror movie, but it’s very psychological. It’s a bleak thriller set in a small, rural village in 18th century Austria. Agnes (Anja Plaschg) feels very alienated within the village. Her husband isn’t interested in her and her mother-in-law actively dislikes her. As her isolation grows, her mental condition deteriorates, with severe consequences. This Berlinale breakout has a 94% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s available to stream on Shudder now.
“A Family Affair”: This Netflix romantic comedy has a Nancy Meyers-esque premise: Zara (Joey King) works as a personal assistant to annoyingly self-absorbed movie star Chris (Zac Efron). She finds out that Chris and her widowed mother, Brooke (Nicole Kidman), are having an affair. She wants them to break up, but unfortunately for her, her mother is her own person, and she’s actually happy with Chris. Complications ensue. If this were a true Nancy Meyers movie, it would be all about Brooke and Zara would be a supporting character, but Netflix got out of the Nancy Meyers business. This one is directed by Richard LaGravanese, a past Oscar and Emmy nominee for “The Fisher King” and “Behind the Candelabra,” respectively.
“Problemista”: Julio Torres, one of contemporary comedy’s most unique voices, wrote and directed this (very) semi-autobiographical A24 comedy. He stars as Alejandro, an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador who takes a job as an assistant to an eccentric art critic and gallerist (Tilda Swinton) in order to keep his work visa. Like all of Torres’ work, the film’s droll surrealism is a Trojan horse for astute observations about human nature and a warm, beating heart. “Problemista” is now streaming on Max.
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