Every single week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.
TIE: 10. Beau Is Afraid (A24 film streaming on VOD and Amazon)
Joaquin Phoenix joins forces with Hereditary director Ari Aster for a new, mother-focused nightmare that follows the protagonist’s battle to exist in the outside world. The story crosses generations to follow Beau, a “[a] paranoid man [who] embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother in this bold and ingeniously depraved new film.” Mother is played by Patti LuPone, and this film sure feels like an acquired taste and a wilder-than-usual swing from A24. The film has been described by critics as being both “gobsmacking” and “exhausting,” so prepare your own sense of panic accordingly.
TIE: 10. Reality (HBO movie streaming on Max)
Sydney Sweeney shakes up her body of work with this tense drama about an Air Force vet and former NSA translator whose run-of-the-mill civilian existence is shattered when FBI agents descend upon her home. Soon enough, her name, “Reality Winner,” trended on social media and didn’t seem quite real to most, but Reality was eventually very much imprisoned for leaking classified documents related to 2016 election interference. Sweeney makes an impressive, textured turn as a seemingly ordinary 20-something who has seen some sh*t and feels the walls closing in on her.
9. Platonic (Apple TV+ series)
In an overcrowded area of streaming, this raunchy comedy is not-so-quietly toiling away to resurrect that golden era of entertainment. Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen are absolutely charming here while attempting to resurrect their college debauchery, and sometimes, it’s nice to contemplate a few hours where “adulting” can take a break. Not sure it’s worth the hangover, of course, but Rose Byrne remains funnier than a lot of people give her credit for being, and Seth Rogen lives and breathes jolliness combined with a chaotic fashion sense that rivals Portia on The White Lotus. Come for the horse tranquilizer jokes and stay for the portrayal of friendship’s rollercoaster ride.
8. The Crowded Room (Apple TV+ series)
Some hefty creative liberties don’t exactly help this inspired-by-true-crime story land in a believable way, but this show still gives us Tom Holland as you’ve never seen him before. Here, he portrays “Danny Sullivan,” who is arrested for a shooting, among other crimes, and Amanda Seyfried plays an investigator who is charged with piecing together a complicated chain of events that raises more questions than answers about the defendant’s own inner turmoil. This fictionalized spin on actual events follows long after Leonardo DiCaprio was floated to star as the real-life version of this character who successfully invoked a certain criminal-defense strategy for the first time.
7. The Idol (HBO series streaming on Max)
HBO recently spoke out against rumors that this series had already been taken out of the running for a second season. So, we may or may not have too many more chances to sit through exceedingly uncomfortable sex scenes starring Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp. Euphoria creator Sam Levinson sure didn’t skimp on the controversy with this series, and no one expected prestige drama, so we’ll see if the show can rally more of an audience who isn’t mostly curious about how far the scandal will go. At least we can see more of the rise of Blackpink’s Jennie and Rachel Sennott.
6. Silo (Apple TV+ series)
This series just received a second-series renewal, and it does justice to Hugh Howey’s best-selling Wool omnibus, which is a minor miracle, considering the difficulty that must have been involved with building this underground world. Still, it deserves to be much higher on the list, and perhaps with the approaching finale, it will get there. Justified creator Graham Yost brings us the story of Rebecca Ferguson’s Juliette, who rises to the top of an 180+ story silo after saving the entire joint from an eternal blackout. The show painstakingly fleshes out some character who don’t receive much airtime in the book series, which brings a procedural vibe, and the mysteries that further unfurl prove that this was the right storytelling move.
5. I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson (Netflix series)
This show’s rabid audience proves that there’s always a place for awkward comedy these days, especially while the world awaits more highly uncomfortable content from Nathan Fielder. If you’ve watched this season already, do take a gander at Brian Grubb’s comprehensive ranking of sketches, and get ready to watch these sketches be meme-d into oblivion while people hope that another installment will swiftly be on its absurd way to the audience.
4. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony movie available for rental on Amazon)
The wait was fully worth this sequel, which swung into theaters with an even better dazzling display than its predecessor, which landed at the top of our Favorite Comic Book Movies (of last decade) list, so people are reliving the original film before heading out for the second offering that proves extra-delightful for Gwen lovers. The franchise remains a game-changer that proves how well both Disney and Sony are filling in infinite facets of Spidey for the masses. Peter Parker and all his incarnations are served well here, and let’s check back at the end of the year to see if this film remains the top comic book movie of 2023.
3. Based On A True Story (Peacock series)
Kaley Cuoco can’t seem to miss, and that’s a glorious realization, given how underestimated she was following the Big Bang Theory‘s lengthy run. Cuoco’s comedic bent takes on the true crime with a frothy mystery involving a married couple who might be too close for comfort to stories about a local serial killer. Chris Messina portrays Cuoco’s husband, and since this show hails from producers of The Boys and Ozark, one can expect an incredibly bent ride.
2. Flamin’ Hot (Searchlight Pictures film streaming on Hulu and Disney+)
Eva Longoria presents her directorial debut, which follows the “true” story of Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia), a Frito Lay janitor who rose up through his Mexican-American heritage to transform Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in the eye of the American snack-craving public. Actually, this was no mere snack but a full-on sensation. After this film quickly became Searchlight Pictures’ most streamed movie ever, Longoria is apparently buried under a deluge of additional scripts from which to pick her next project.
1. Black Mirror (Netflix series)
After four years of real-life dystopia, Charlie Brooker’s brainchild is finally following up on those endless permutations of Bandersnatch — because clearly, there are more than enough technologically-fueled existential crises from which to draw material. The “Joan Is Awful” episode (starring Salma Hayek) has been trending on social media, and Netflix even allowed this show to take shots at Netflix, so you won’t want to miss this one. Other episodes feature Aaron Paul, Annie Murphy, Josh Hartnett, Michael Cera, Paapa Essiedu, Rob Delaney, Rory Culkin, and Zazie Beetz as an unlikely paparazzo.
