This week features rom-coms for the lovebirds and a fun and funky mix of sci-fi and horror for the singles. No matter what your plans are this Valentine’s Day, make some time for yourself and these new streaming titles.
What to watch on Netflix
Your Place or Mine
Get your Valentine’s viewing plans off to a sweet start with this new rom-com starring Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher. Written and directed by the woman who brought us The Devil Wears Prada and 27 Dresses, Your Place or Mine is a movie with its mind set on midlife crises: when Debbie (Witherspoon) wants to break out of her routine life as a single mom in LA, her best friend Peter (Kutcher) offers to let her stay at his place in NYC while he flies westward to look after her son. Both are searching for something, but could what they need be each other? Your Place or Mine premieres Friday, February 10th.
Red Rose
This BBC import takes cell phone obsession to a new level. Equal parts Black Mirror and Euphoria, Red Rose introduces a mysterious new app to a group of teens in northern England. It’s summer vacation, but that hardly means freedom for this cast of characters: one struggles to take care of her family after her mother’s passing, while another renews her relationship with her estranged father. Plus, there are the common complexities of party politics and dating. So when an app comes along promising peace of mind and popularity, it seems too good to be true — and it is. Red Rose premieres Wednesday, February 15th.
What to watch on Hulu
Piggy
A favorite from last year’s Sundance Film Festival, Piggy takes all things taboo about being a teenage girl and channels them into a darkly fun slasher film. Teen Sara is a social outcast in her small Spanish town, a victim of incessant bullying from a clique of girls because of her weight. Miraculously, this same group of girls gets violently kidnapped by a stranger, and Sara sees the whole thing! Rather than be the hero or your typical final girl, though, Sara decides to wait things out and explore her options; for her, a killer may very well be preferable to those girls. Piggy streams starting Thursday, February 9th.
Something in the Dirt
A second Sundance selection comes with Something in the Dirt. This COVID-bound sci-fi sees two neighbors discover paranormal activity in their LA apartment building, and, thinking they can make a quick buck, they begin to record it. Their amateur documentary morphs into its own kind of buddy tragicomedy, as each pal tries to make meaning out of this bizarre mystery. One is a recently divorced gay evangelical; the other has a sketchy criminal record with no friends or family to speak of. They each want something different out of this great unknown, but it’s unclear if they’ll find it with their mediocre moviemaking skills. Something in the Dirt starts streaming Friday, February 10th.
What to watch on Amazon Prime
Somebody I Used to Know
For another rom-com to spice up your Valentine’s Day, stay tuned for Somebody I Used to Know. Written by comedic power couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, the film stars Brie as a workaholic who returns to her hometown and is happy to run into her ex, Sean (Jay Ellis). There’s still a spark between the two, but they can’t exactly rekindle their romance: Sean’s engaged to a younger woman (Kiersey Clemons) who feels familiar in more ways than one. And it wouldn’t be a rom com-without a fun ensemble cast, and this one includes the likes of Amy Sedaris and Danny Pudi. Somebody I Used to Know premieres Friday, February 10th.
What to watch on HBO Max
Edge of Tomorrow
Tom Cruise has been an action movie hero for quite some time, but 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow was happy to shine that spotlight on Emily Blunt. In this sci-fi action movie, Cruise stars as a recently demoted military officer forced to fight against a fearsome alien force known as the Mimics. But when the battle goes awry, rather than winding up dead, he finds himself stuck in a time loop. Cruise’s not-quite-macho man enlists the help of Blunt’s super-soldier sergeant, and the two band together to put an end to the invasion. It’s fun, funny, and quite the genre showcase for everyone involved. Edge of Tomorrow started streaming earlier this week.
What to Watch is a regular endorsement of movies and TV worth your streaming time.
