Alongside the premiere of the final season of Cobra Kai, it’s a super stacked week for high-profile VOD movie debuts with the likes of Civil War, Challengers, The Watchers, Lisa Frankenstein, and more.
SERIES
Exploding Kittens S1
12 July 2024 – Netflix
I’ve always maintained that cats are from the devil, but maybe I got it wrong. Kinda. Based on the hilariously messed-up card game, Exploding Kittens is a new adult animated show that sees Tom Ellis (yes, Lucifer himself) star as God. Having lost touch with humanity, God is fired and sent to Earth to reconnect with his creation. The catch? He’s been trapped in the body of a chubby house cat and has to live with a dysfunctional family of losers. To make matters worse, the next-door neighbour’s cat is oddly familiar. And that’s because it’s actually Godcat’s nemesis, the Antichrist! Chaos ensues!
Sausage Party: Foodtopia S1
12 July 2024 – Prime Video
2016’s Sausage Party sure was… something! Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s adult animated film caused a whole lot of people to not be able to look at their food the same way again as it followed an anthropomorphic supermarket sausage who discovers the horrifying truth about what happens when humans purchase groceries and take them home and sets out on a quest to save his friends from being consumed. And there’s a food orgy. No, not a group of humans having sex where food is involved. Food actually f—ing. In the most explicit way possible. I mention this because surely nobody would ever want to even think about the possibility of that happening ever again. Apparently, I was wrong. Sausage Party: Foodtopia is a new 8-episode animated series that serves as a direct sequel to the movie that features the return of Rogen and an ensemble cast of voice talent including Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, David Krumholtz, Edward Norton, and more. After establishing a food safe haven in the previous film, Frank the sausage and his friends see their precious home destroyed by a flood, forcing them to team up with the very humans who want to consume them to ensure their survival.
The Regime S1
15 July 2024 – Showmax
And now for something far less messed up and more stacked top to bottom with award-winning talent than we know what to do with. Created by The Menu screenwriter Will Tracy, and co-produced/directed by Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, Dangerous Liaisons) and Jessica Hobbs (The Crown), The Regime is a six-episode political satire miniseries starring Oscar winner Kate Winslet (Mare of Easttown, Titanic) Chancellor Elena Vernham, the ruler of a fictional modern European autocracy. The show depicts a year in the rule of an increasingly unstable Vernham, stuck inside her crumbling palace and haunted by paranoia, as she turns to volatile soldier, Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts), as an unlikely and dangerous advisor. Alongside Winslet and Schoenaerts, look out for the likes of more award winners such as Hugh Grant and Andrea Riseborough.
Cobra Kai S6: Part 1
18 July 2024 – Netflix
Cobra Kai may never die, but it will end. Arguably the most unlikely comeback story in modern entertainment, the Karate Kid sequel series launches the first half of its sixth and final season next week. With the events of last season seeing Cobra Kai eliminated from the Valley, the senseis and students of the brand-new Miyagi Do – none of whom see eye-to-eye have to figure out how to work together to compete the auspicious karate world championship known as the Sekai Taikai. The five-episode Part 1 premieres July 18 with the remaining five-episode Part 2 flying kicking its way onto screen on November 28.
MOVIES
BlackBerry
18 July 2024 – Showmax
Kids of today won’t know, but once upon a time BlackBerry changed the world. Bolstered by its cheap internet data plan and physical keyboards, the world’s first smartphone had a meteoric rise in popularity/ And then flamed out in catastrophic fashion. It was a Silicon Valley whirlwind ride filled with ruthlessness, drama, and absurdity. And the whole bizarre timeline is laid out in BlackBerry, the critically acclaimed biographical comedy starring Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, and Matt Johnson, who also wrote and directed. The film flew under the radar for many audiences last year, but it was one 2023’s most widely praised, earning a staggering 98% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Definitely a must-watch.
VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Civil War
Purchase: Apple TV – R170
Rental: Apple TV – R45
Since transitioning from just writing to also directed, filmmaker Alex Garland has yet to give us a boring film. Even when the message gets a little clumsy, such as in Men, it’s always intriguing and gripping. And in Civil War, once again Garland has a lot to say in the most intense way possible. What he actually says – or rather doesn’t say – may just be a little surprising. As Noelle noted in her 8/10 review, despite being about a near-future USA in the final days of a devastating civil war that tore the country apart, Garland isn’t really there to soapbox about current real-world political debates raging in America, never throwing its lot behind one side or the other. That toothlessness is a little disappointing, but Garland makes up for it with a white-knuckled masterclass in suspense and intensely realistic battle sequences, all underpinned by a tale about journalistic neutrality and the toll these types of conflicts take on war correspondents.
Challengers
Purchase: Apple TV – R170 / Google Play Movies – R170
Rental: Apple TV – R45 / Google Play Movies – R45
Love triangle stories are a dime a dozen in movies, but you don’t often find them in sports dramas. Definitely not ones as intense as acclaimed filmmaker Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers. In his 8.5/10 review, Sam calls the film “stylish and sexy to the core”, saying that “it takes a love triangle and upends the usual gender power balance and its depiction in eye-opening, impactful ways”. The film stars a never-better Zendaya as a former tennis prodigy turned coach, and her relationships – both professional and romantic – between two former doubles partners turned fierce rivals, played equally electric by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.
The Watchers
Purchase: Apple TV – R200
Rental: Apple TV – R170
The last name Shyamalan is intrinsically linked to some of the best and most high-profile supernatural stories of the late 1990s/early 2000s. Unfortunately, M. Night Shyamalan sullied that reputation a bit with a string of flops, even though the filmmaker has slowly been making his way back into the critical good books. But now it’s time for another Shyamalan to see if they can give that name its shine back. Ishana Night Shyamalan is the daughter of the aforementioned “M”, and she recently made her feature film directing debut with the Dakota Fanning-led horror The Watchers. Unfortunately, the film didn’t have many of those – watchers, that is – when it debuted in cinemas just a month ago. And the ones that did see weren’t very impressed by it, as Tracy’s 4/10 review attests. She found that “while it’s beautifully and thoughtfully filmed, horror fairy tale The Watchers is an ultimately frustrating experience, lacking in cohesion and compelling characters but full of plot holes and annoying choices.” If you’re still interested though in seeing what a different Shyamalan can do, at least you can rent it cheaply in your own home.
Lisa Frankenstein
Purchase: Apple TV – R170 / Google Play Movies – R170
Rental: Apple TV – R45 / Google Play Movies – R45
And speaking of feature film directing debuts for progeny of famous Hollywood elite, Lisa Frankenstein sees Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late great Robin Willams, stepping behind the camera for the first time. Written by Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Juno, Jennifer’s Body, Young Adult, and more, this romantic comedy horror stars Kathryn Newton as Lisa, a misunderstood and lonely teenage goth girl, traumatized by the violent murder of mom, who finally meets the man of her dreams. The catch? He’s a reanimated Victorian-era corpse, played by Riverdale’s Cole Sprouse. As their relationship develops, Lisa realizes that her new undead beau will need to become a better man – literally – and only some freshly acquired body parts will do the trick! Lisa Frankenstein has seen some mixed reviews but looks to be fun horror romp overall.
Night Swim
Purchase: Apple TV – R170
Rental: Apple TV – R45
Adapted from his own acclaimed 2014 short film, Night Swim is written and directed by Bryce McGyuire. Of course, the real big names on this horror-thriller are producers James Wan and Jason Blum, the undisputed maestros of modern Hollywood horror films. Unfortunately, this collaboration hasn’t earned the best reviews but could still be worth a thrill. Night Swim stars Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon as Ray and Eve Waller, a young couple who move into a new home with their teenage daughter and young son. Ray sees the house’s eye-catching pool as a great spot for their kids and a way to help him with the physical therapy required for a shoulder injury that forced him into early retirement from major league baseball. Unfortunately for the Wallers, the blue waters of their new pool hides a dark secret from the home’s past that will try to drag them all under, into the depths of inescapable horror.