If there’s ever been a week of new streaming movie or TV series that is star-studded, this is it. Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Jared Leto, Anne Hathaway, Lily Collins, Jesse Plemons, Noomi Rapace, Mel Gibson, and much more all headline new releases that span genres from psychological thrillers to dystopian action to oddball comedies to true story drama among others.
MOVIES
Deep Water
Amazon Prime Video – 18 March 2022
Easily the biggest release of the week, this steamy thriller stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas and is helmed by Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal director Adrian Lyne. On paper, that sounds like a dynamite team and the pitch – Affleck plays a man who knowingly allows his wife to cheat as he doesn’t want a divorce, only for her lovers to turn up dead and him becoming the prime suspect – is a pretty potent one as well. But be warned, Deep Water was held back from press until quite recently and the early reviews have not been too kind. Actually an original Hulu release, we score through an international release deal with Prime Video.
Windfall
Netflix – 18 March 2022
Another A-list Hollywood thriller, this one leans a bit more Hitchcockian though. Recent Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons plays tech billionaire who arrives with his wife (Lily Collins) at their remote holiday home, only to find a man (Jason Segel) in the process of breaking in. What begins as a robbery, turns into a hostage situation, and then it gets really weird.
Black Crab
Netflix – 18 March 2022
In case you haven’t noticed, Netflix has really got into the Noomi Rapace business as of late. The Swedish-born actress has had several feature films pop up on the streamer in the last year or so, many productions from her native homeland. Black Crab is the latest, a action thriller set in a dystopian near-future Sweden wracked by a civil war, in which Rapace’s speed-skater Caroline accepts a military mission to transport a mysterious package across a huge ice shelf, with major consequences.
Last Looks
Google Play Movies – 18 March 2022
Released in February in limited cinemas to almost zero fanfare, Last Looks is now available for rental on Google Play Movies. Charlie Hunnam stars as a retired private eye pulled back onto the job to uncover the truth behind the claims that Mel Gibson’s flamboyant movie star killed his wife. This one may be worth it just to hear Gibson do a crazy posh accent and act like a loon for two hours.
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin
Google Play Movies – 18 March 2022
As a YouTube comment on this trailer says, “The spookiest thing about paranormal activity is that this franchise will never die”. This is like the seventh or eighth Paranormal Activity movie – I’ve honestly stopped keeping track after two – and I can’t even remember the last time any of them drew any major buzz, but clearly some of you folks keep watching them or they wouldn’t keep making them. And now you get to watch this latest one at home as it hits Google Play Movies for rental after COVID disrupted its theatrical release late last year.
SERIES
WeCrashed
AppleTV+ – 18 March 2022
In a couple weeks time, Jared Leto will be headlining comic book adaptation Morbius, and I still don’t know whether to take that movie seriously or not. If you’re looking for something a lot less silly-looking though, then check out this four-part miniseries (first three episodes drop today with the final one arriving next week) based on the true story of the meteoric rise and plummeting fall of shared office space startup WeWork. Leto stars as founder Adam Neumann, with Anne Hathaway as his wife/”muse”, with the story focusing on how their tumultuous relationship played a part in WeWork’s fate.
Human Resources
Netflix – 18 March 2022
If you enjoyed Netflix’s R-rated adult animated comedy Big Mouth, then you will definitely get a kick out of Human Resources, a spinoff focusing on the metaphysical corporate world from which Maurice the Hormone Monster comes. Think of this like Monsters Inc. but for grown-ups who love dirty words and gross jokes.
Young, Famous & African
Netflix – 18 March 2022
Look, I am 100% not the target audience for a reality show following various wealthy and good-looking African celebs telling us how wealthy and good-looking they are, but I guess some of you will want to watch it.
Cracow Monsters
Netflix – 18 March 2022
Polish-language (sorry, could only find a dubbed trailer) fantasy-horror series Cracow Monsters follows a young woman haunted by her past who joins a mysterious professor and his group of gifted students who investigate paranormal activity – and fight demons. So basically Eastern-European Buffy the Vampire Slayer but moody and with way less snark. I can dig it.