Welcome to the busiest moviegoing season of the year. This weekend at home has everything from Leave the World Behind on Netflix to an animated Batman Christmas special and Martin Scorsese’s latest three-hour epic, Killers of the Flower Moon, which is hitting digital rental before eventually landing on Apple at an unspecified date in 2024. Or you and the family could just watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie again — it’s on Netflix now. But if you need alternatives, there are many, many more. Let’s dig in.
New on Netflix
Leave the World Behind
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Photo: Jojo Whilden/Netflix
Genre: Psychological thriller
Run time: 2h 21m
Director: Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot)
Cast: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke
Adapted from Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel, Sam Esmail’s directorial feature debut is an Airbnb story from hell. Mid-vacation in Long Island, a Manhattan couple hears a knock at the door. It’s the owners of their rented home, who are escaping the apocalypse. What follows promises to be a cerebral, prickly thriller that may not entirely work, but gives its all-star cast plenty to chew on. From our review: “Racial, sexual, generational, and class fault-lines are drawn but then rapidly scuffed over, almost in embarrassment, as the characters sink reflexively into a shared worldview that they can’t seem to let go of […but the] movie is brilliantly cast, at least. Hawke embodies the blinkered insouciance of progressive intellectuals, Ali has the polish and confidence that money breeds, and Roberts, as a secretly insecure striver trapped between these two worlds, flashes with a brittle testiness.”
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Nintendo, Illumination/Universal Pictures
Genre: Animated adventure
Run time: 1h 32m
Director: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go! To the Movies)
Cast: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black
While the combined power of Barbie and Oppenheimer may have eclipsed Nintendo’s foray into animated film, let’s not forget that Mario made a mega impact earlier this year at the worldwide box office, gave its parent company the confidence to announce a live-action Zelda movie, and could very easily get nominated for an Oscar in the year 2024. The Mario movie is, if not good, important — and now it’s streaming on Netflix, ready for kids and their nostalgic parents to watch a zillion times.
New on Hulu
The Mission
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 44m
Directors: Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (Boys State)
Heralded as one of the great documentaries of 2023, The Mission chronicles the repeated attempts by John Allen Chau, an American missionary, to bring Christianity to the Indigenous peoples of the remote North Sentinel Island. Law forbade outsiders from setting foot on the island, but that didn’t stop Chau, who was ultimately killed by arrows during his final attempt to sail ashore. From documentarians Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (who previously directed the searing political doc Boys State), the National Geographic film promises to get the blood pumping and ask a few big questions as it unravels Chau’s life.
New on Prime Video
Merry Little Batman
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Image: Prime Video
Genre: Animated comedy
Run time: 1h 36m
Director: Mike Roth (Regular Show)
Cast: Luke Wilson, Yonas Kibreab, James Cromwell, David Hornsby
David Hornsby from It’s Always Sunny as the Joker? How could this be anything less than good?
Your Christmas or Mine 2
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Photo: Colin Hutton/Prime Video
Genre: Romantic comedy
Run time: 1h 34m
Director: Jim O’Hanlon (Your Christmas or Mine?)
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Cora Kirk, Alex Jennings, Jane Krakowski
Uh oh, new couple James (Asa Butterfield) and Hayley (Cora Kirk) hoped to meet each other’s families during a Christmas vacation in the Alps, but someone messed up the lodging arrangements! Now James’ rich family is staying in a “rustic” lodge and Hayley’s penny-pinching dad is holed up in a five-star hotel! Whoops!
New on Paramount Plus
Showing Up
Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus
Photo: Allyson Riggs/A24
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 48m
Director: Kelly Reichardt (First Cow)
Cast: Michelle Williams, Hong Chau, John Magaro
From our recent list of the top 50 movies of 2023, where Showing Up ranks 10th: Reichardt’s genius is getting the audience giggling at the artists but never the art. For example, it’s funny to think that an artist dedicated a year of her life to crocheting a jumpsuit. Except then, in Showing Up, you see the outfit and it’s beautiful — an intentional undermining of the punchline. A teacher smugly opines on ceramics, but each piece he holds up is so lovingly crafted that they confidently speak for themselves. This decision (rib artists, celebrate art) sets the tone.
New on Shudder
The Sacrifice Game
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder and AMC Plus
Image: Shudder
Genre: Horror
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Jenn Wexler (The Ranger)
Cast: Mena Massoud, Olivia Scott Welch, Gus Kenworthy, Madison Baines
After premiering at the weirdo-approved Fantastic Fest earlier this year, Jenn Wexler’s latest horror joint lands on Shudder in time for the holidays. Our editor Tasha Robinson caught this one at the fest, so I am ceding the floor. Here’s her micro-take (watch out for more on this one soon): Jenn Wexler’s Christmas-set horror movie The Sacrifice Game takes most of its runtime to reveal what it’s really about, and that reveal is a doozy.
New to rent
Killers of the Flower Moon
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Apple
Genre: Drama
Run time: 3h 26m
Director: Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons
Some call it Martin Scorsese’s magnum opus. Others wonder if adapting David Grann’s acclaimed nonfiction book was an impossible task, even for a legend. But everyone seems to agree: You have to find a big chunk of time and watch Killers of the Flower Moon, one of the year’s most ambitious.