Big stars and mega-true stories top the seven new movies to watch this week. And this week feels somewhat like a respite from all the horror movies and shows we’ve seen filling the top streaming services in recent times.
Netflix’s biggest movie of the week is The School for Good and Evil, the latest from director/producer Paul Feig. Here, we get a more modern version of Hogwarts, in which Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, and Michelle Yeoh play teachers training the world’s future heroes and villains.
Another Netflix release to look forward to is The Stranger, which looks like an actual Netflix crime document, but rather like a movie. Here, Joel Edgerton plays a deeply undercover cop on a cold case, and the film’s painful feelings make it seem like they’ll stay with you.
Meanwhile, Apple TV Plus introduces a touching new feature film starring Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke in which half-brothers are reunited with the death of their father.
Then we also have a few attractive looking documentaries. Peacock tells the full story of Rosa Parks, while HBO Max explains the life of the man who wrote Milk and “the fastest woman on four wheels.”
Do I need more? Be sure to check out our list of New movies and shows to watch this past weekend. And you can fill your calendar with new movies and shows to watch in October 2022 across all the top streaming channels.
Mama Boy (HBO Max)
Dustin Lance Black, the Academy Award winner for screenwriting for the movie Milk, had a very difficult and closed up upbringing. Before he climbed to the Oscars stage to accept the award, he grew up in Mormon, and was told that his sexuality would send him to Hell. This documentary, based on his own memoirs, shows his deep relationship with his mother – who did not react favorably when he came to her.
But, over time, Black’s mother (who has polio) began to listen to him and his friends. Mama’s Boy documents Black’s life story throughout all of this, and shows how Black’s mother encouraged him to become an active figure in the fight for gay rights.
See HBO Max (Opens in a new tab) Starting today (Tuesday, October 18) at 9 PM ET
School of Good and Evil (Netflix)
Suman Chinani’s bestselling Young Fantasy Books now has a movie of the same name, which appears to be the first in a series. At the School of Good and Evil, we’ve learned that not all schools of magical abilities can have a little more style than Hogward’s. Here, under the tutelage of Professor Anemone (Michelle Yeoh), Mrs. Lisso (Charlize Theron) and Professor Duffy (Kerry Washington), young people learn how to unlock their powers.
But when best friends Agatha (Sofia Wiley) and Sophie (Sofia Ann Caruso) discover the school’s existence, they are also shocked at where it puts them. Sophie wanted to be a princess, but she enrolled in Lady Lisue’s School of Evil, while the temperamental Agatha was sent to the School of Goodness, run by Professor Duffy (Kerry Washington). The film’s strongest selling point, to us, is that it was directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, a simple favourite), which we hope will give it its own spark to replace what it lacks in subtlety.
See Netflix (Opens in a new tab) Starting tomorrow (Wednesday, October 19)
The Stranger (Netflix)
Selected at the Cannes Film Festival, The Stranger looks to bring some prestige to the world of Netflix movies. In it, Joel Edgerton plays Mark, a veteran cop undercover on a dangerous mission: going undercover to solve a missing persons case in Australia that has been cold for eight years.
Stranger may be about the investigation, but his focus is stressing the relationships that revolve around this case. Mark approaches prime suspect Henry Teague (Sean Harris), to follow his lead, but the two soon form a friendship. The Stranger sounds similar to Black Bird (one of the best Apple TV Plus shows), but is more meditative and tense.
See Netflix (Opens in a new tab) Starting tomorrow (Wednesday, October 19)
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (Peacock)
We can all tell the story of Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat by heart. But does the average person know anything else about Mrs. Parks’ life? They’ll see just by watching this new documentary, The Rebel Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. For example, do you know how Ms. Parks was on the front line with the Black Panthers? And that it was seen as extreme and dangerous?
It turns out that the portrayal of Ms. Parks in the media was softer than the truth. Based on the bestselling biography of Jeanne Theoharis, this film looks to illustrate a lifetime via new interviews, as well as archival footage of interviews with Mrs. Parks.
watch it peacock (Opens in a new tab) Starting tomorrow (Wednesday, October 19)
Fastest Woman on Earth (HBO Max)
Contestant and TV personality Jesse Combs may be one of the most specific examples of “those who shine the brightest burn faster.” Known as the “Fastest Woman on Four Wheels,” the biggest competition comps, was herself, while penetrating the men’s-filled world of racing.
The Fastest Woman On Earth looks to show how utterly fearless Combs was in her seven-year battle to break sprint records on Earth. Sadly, the documentary will also show how she lost her life trying to record one of these records.
See HBO Max (Opens in a new tab) Starting Thursday (20 October)
Raymond & Ray (Apple TV Plus)
The topic of separated family members reunited at a funeral isn’t entirely new soil, but Raymond & Ray seems to offer a winning idea for the formula with solid performance. Ethan Hawke plays Ray, the sweet half-brother of Raymond (Ewan McGregor), and they both spend time together as one of their father’s last demands in his will.
Through this encounter, they will meet one of their father’s lovers, and discover that they have a brother whom they did not know. Raymond & Ray, produced by Alfonso Cuarón, might land a spot on our list of the best Apple TV Plus movies by sheer charisma.
See Apple TV Plus (Opens in a new tab) Starting Friday (October 21)
Descendant (Netflix)
A powerful week of documentaries concludes with a descendant of Netflix, which highlights the story of Clotilda: the last shop that smuggled stolen Africans to America. Narrated by the descendants of stolen Africans, this documentary talks about the cover-up of the ship and how it was burned to hide secrets. But this is just an entry point for the story.
32 West Africans brought in Clotilda formed the community known as Africatown (near Mobile, Alabama), a city now entirely surrounded by factories and industrial towns. The descendant of Netflix looks to educate the public about the untold stories of the citizens of Africatown, from the original generation to those who live there today.
stream it Netflix (Opens in a new tab) Starting Friday (October 21)
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