After two weeks of horror releases, Spooky Season gets a bit of a break as this week’s movie-heavy streaming releases are headlined by Netflix’s star-studded fantasy epic The School for Good and Evil, Shakespeare revisionist comedy Rosaline, critically acclaimed crime thriller The Stranger, and much, much more!
MOVIES
Rosaline
Disney+ – 14 October 2022
It’s the greatest love story ever told… just not told how you remember it. Booksmart breakout Kaitlyn Dever leads this revisionist comedic take on Romeo and Juliet as Rosaline, the previously unknown ex-girlfriend of Romeo Montague, who will stop at nothing to break up the fabled “star-crossed lovers” and get her beau back.
Clerks III
Google Play Movies – 14 October 2022
Kevin Smith’s very, veeeeeery long-awaited threequel to his breakout slacker comedy Clerks finally hit theatres just over a month ago. But if you missed out the return of Dante, Randal, Becky (sort of), Jay, Silent Bob, and all the rest of the gang on the big screen, you can now watch it at home! Clerks 3 is not available for rental yet, but you can purchase it on Google Play Movies for roughly the price of single movie ticket!
The Curse of Bridge Hollow
Netflix – 14 October 2022
Well, I guess there’s a little spookiness this week, but this one is the type of spookiness the whole family can enjoy. Marlon Wayans stars as a father who doesn’t really care for Halloween, who has to move to a Halloween-crazy town with his teenage daughter. But when an evil spirit inhabiting their new house manages to free itself and unleash a spell causing all Halloween decorations to come to life, father and daughter have to team up to save the town.
Malignant
Showmax – 17 October 2022
Ok so maybe there’s more than just a little spookiness… Horror master James Wan’s Malignant finally hits a local streaming service next week after it debuted on HBO Max in the US late last year. I have to admit, after loving Wan’s other slow burn, nerve-shredding horror offerings, I really didn’t like Malignant, as it just dials everything up to 11 from its opening scene. However, I am seemingly in the minority as fans and critics have loved its absolutely bonkers, go-for-broke story and over-the-top scares. I will say this though: I highly doubt you will be able to guess just what is actually going on here.
The Stranger
Netflix – 19 October 2022
Intense actors Sean Harris and Joel Edgerton lead this brooding crime thriller as a pair of men whose chance encounter on a plane sets off a series of unsettling events, as one of them may just be a man wanted by Australian authorities for kidnapping and murdering a boy. The film had its debut at the Melbourne International Film Festival earlier in the year and has drawn rave reviews with many declaring it a masterpiece of the genre, heaping tons of praise on its leading men and its gripping narrative which slowly unfurls to reveal the truth of what is going on.
The School for Good and Evil
Netflix – 19 October 2022
Undoubtedly this week’s biggest release based purely on star-power alone, The School for Good and Evil is directed and co-written by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy) and sees its adult cast feature the likes of Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne, and Michelle Yeoh. This big budget fantasy blockbuster adapts Soman Chainini’s novel of the same name and follows two best friends, Sophie and Agatha, one a daydreaming lover of fairy tales and the other a grim goth into spookiness. However, when the pair are essentially kidnapped and swept off to the School for Good and Evil, they learn that not only are the heroes and villains of fairy tales real, but Sophie and Agatha will be living right among them, discovering their roles in a new story that could change the world.
SERIES
Shantaram S1
Apple TV+ – 14 October 2022
Charlie Hunnam leads this drama-thriller series adaptation of Gregory David Roberts’ beloved 2003 novel of the same name. Allegedly inspired by Roberts own life-experiences, the 1980s-set Shantaram sees Hunnam as an Australian bank robber and drug addict who escapes prison and flees to India in hopes of starting a new life. And in the streets of Bombay, he finds new purpose, new friends, and new love… but unfortunately, new danger as well. The 10-episode series is co-directed by acclaimed Aussie filmmaker Justin Kurzel (Macbeth, Assassin’s Creed) and Emmy-nominated Indian-born British filmmaker Bharat Nalluri (MI-5, Tsunami: The Aftermath).