Horror stories, fairy tales, and dystopian action films are on the list this week, along with the return of the Star Wars universe to your streaming line up. A good scare, a good laugh, and a good cry are all up for grabs, so press on to see what’ll make you press play.
What to watch on Netflix
The Conjuring
James Wan is easily the king of modern horror, from Saw to Insidious, but nothing has made an impact on the genre quite like The Conjuring. Not only did the film kick off the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time, but it’s the rare horror movie to nail its dramatic beats just as well as its frightening ones. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson star as the Warrens, a husband-and-wife duo that investigate the paranormal. They’re asked to do a house call when a family that’s recently moved begins to hear some especially bad bumps in the night, but what awaits them is a curse like they’ve never seen before. The Conjuring streams until Wednesday, March 1st.
What to watch on Hulu
Bruiser
A boy is stuck between his father and his father figure in this impactful coming-of-age drama. Bruiser stars Till actor Jalyn Hall as Darious, a fourteen-year-old filled with pent up frustration. His father is strict and constantly busy, and the private school they’ve saved money for is home to a host of spoiled white kids who bully Darious. When the teen meets a tough-looking drifter (Trevante Rhodes), he warms to him immediately. This new role model isn’t just a stranger, though, and the connection he has to Darious and his family soon complicates things. The men in his life come to blows, and the boy must learn who he wants to be. Bruiser premieres Friday, February 24th.
The Shape of Water
Though Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a favorite to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, the filmmaker already netted quite a few Academy Awards—seven, four of them with Best Picture winner The Shape of
What to watch on Amazon Prime
The Consultant
Christoph Waltz is at his most creepily charismatic in the new series, The Consultant. In this dark workplace satire, Waltz stars as a consultant who waltzes into a massive mobile gaming company after the shocking loss of its CEO and claims it as his own. It’s a smartly cynical look at the state of the American workplace, from harsh judgments cast on remote workers to the Sisyphean struggle for office space. A thriller with bite and a comedy with spite, it’s the perfect watch for anyone who’s ever had doubts about their job. The Consultant premieres Friday, February 24th.
The Hunger Games
The 2010s saw the boom and bust of the young adult novel adaptation, but thankfully one franchise came out unscathed. The Hunger Games and its three sequels provided a stirring series of action-packed dramas, blockbusters with a beating heart. Jennifer Lawrence stars as heroine Katniss Everdeen in one of her most iconic roles, with names like Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland, Julianne Moore, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman making up just some of the impressive ensemble. Heart-pounding, heartbreaking, and particularly politically poignant, it’s a great franchise to watch and rewatch. The Hunger Games series streams until Tuesday, February 28th.
What to watch on Disney Plus
The Mandalorian
If you can’t get enough of Pedro Pascal on The Last of Us, fear not! The actor reprises his role as a grizzled loner looking after an important child (Baby Yoda, not a fourteen-year-old girl) in Season 3 of The Mandalorian. Though the end of last season saw the beloved duo say farewell, they thankfully reunited during the events of The Book of Boba Fett. The two are now off to Mandalore, where Pascal’s bounty hunter must go to redeem himself for the sin of taking his helmet off — and deal with the tension simmering between other Mandalorians. The Mandalorian Season 3 premieres Wednesday, March 1st.
What to Watch is a regular endorsement of movies and TV worth your streaming time.
