I spoke too soon when last week I said movie theaters were biding their time until Labor Day weekend because … where are the movies??? Thankfully, 4DX wants us to ride our fears (and watch Twisters and Twister in a body-rattling theater). Aside from that, it’s looking like a movies-at-home type of weekend. There’s plenty of movies coming to streaming from, M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap to Ishana Night Shyamalan’s Watchers. We also have returning TV faves in The Rings of Power and Only Murders in the Building. Here are all the best picks for this long weekend.
Featured Presentations
Only Murders in the Building season 4
Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez return, this time to figure out who killed Steve Martin’s longtime stunt double (Jane Lynch) while watching their podcast get made into a movie. New guest stars this season include Molly Shannon, Zach Galifianakis, and Richard Kind. —Jen Chaney
Streaming on Hulu
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2
The worst people complained about Galadriel wielding a sword in the show’s first season, so kudos to the creators for giving her more warrior content in the second. And there’s just more overall: characters, battles, and, yes, rings. —Roxana Hadadi
Streaming on Prime Video
➼ Max has the rest of the Middle-earth stories on film, by the way.
English Teacher
It’s not easy being a high-school teacher, something that Evan Marquez repeatedly learns in this comedy created by Brian Jordan Alvarez, who also stars as Evan. —J.C.
Streaming on Hulu
Kaos
Greek mythology with a modern twist? Percy Jackson is calling. Jokes aside, Jeff Goldblum takes up the lightning bolt as Zeus in this new Netflix series from creator Charlie Covell. Instead of a preteen summer camp, Kaos deals with the gods as they bicker and plot and mix in with mortals in the real world. Along for the ride are Janet McTeer, Debi Mazar, Billie Piper, Suzy Eddie Izzard, and Stephen Dillane.
➼ It looks like Succession, but apocalyptic.
Streaming on Netflix
Afraid
Practically every piece of parental tech these days is connected to Wi-Fi and perhaps bit too “smart.” What makes Blumhouse’s new horror feature Afraid scary is that the question Katherine Waterston asks — “The A.I. is bribing our children?” — already cuts pretty close to home. —Eric Vilas-Boas
In theaters now
Back in Theaters
Twister/Twisters in 4DX
The people (me) were begging for a Twister/Twisters double feature back in July, but you know what, it’s appropriate that we have to ride our fears and see this double feature in 4-damn-DX. If you need more information or persuasion, our resident 4DX enthusiast Rebecca Alter wrote a whole piece about the vibe, which you can read in full here:
In theaters now
Finally Streaming
A Quiet Place: Day One
If you’re looking for thrills, the prequel to John Krasinki’s A Quiet Place may hit the spot. Apparently the aliens in these films are called death angels?? I learned that at basically the same time Lupita N’yongo, the star of Day One, did.
Streaming on Paramount+
Kinds of Kindness
Yorgos Lanthimos’s return to the unpleasant is making its way to Hulu. A triad of stories in one film, Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, and Margaret Qualley star in fables about a man whose wife has returned after a long disappearance, a boss controlling the life of his worker, and the lives of two cult members. It’s all quite strange; it’s all totally Lanthimos.
➼ “We’re a cult now.” —Yorgos Lanthimos, 2024
Streaming on Hulu
The Fall Guy (and its extended cut)
The Fall Guy didn’t have enough time to let theatrical audiences fall in love with it, but nowadays, films like that get a new life on streaming. Now on Peacock with an extended cut, this stunt spectacle makes for a perfect movie night of romance, action, and laughs. Ryan Gosling stars as a stuntman pulled out of semi-retirement to work on his ex-girlfriend’s (Emily Blunt) first big directing gig (without her knowledge). There’s also a murder-mystery bubbling under the surface with an on-point performance from Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Streaming on Peacock
The Watchers
Dark woods can be scary! Scary enough to hang a horror premise on in a post–Blair Witch world? You be the judge now that it’s streaming. M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana directed it. —E.V.B.
Streaming on Max
➼ More horrors: The elder Shyamalan’s Trap and Mike Flanagan’s Hush are now on VOD. (Hush after being pulled off of Netflix a year ago.)
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of August 23.
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