It’s a bear-y good week for streaming offerings with the return of award-winning series The Bear, the release of Jessica Alba action movie Trigger Warning, the VOD debut of Sydney Sweeney-led horror Immaculate.
SERIES
Land of Women S1
26 June 2024 – Apple TV+
Apple TV+ has been dropping a lot of high-profile sci-fi shows lately, but the streamer still likes to keep it ground. Case in point, Land of Women, a new six-episode dramedy series based on Sandra Barneda’s bestselling novel of the same name. The show stars Eva Longoria once again being a desperate housewife whose life is turned upside down when her husband implicates the family in financial improprieties, and she is forced to flee the city alongside her aging mother and college-age daughter. Expect some laughs and some tears.
Supacell S1
26 June 2024 – Netflix
I am admittedly not very well versed on the UK rap scene, so when the name “Rapman” popped up on my radar, I thought this was some new Megaman boss. But no, Andrew Onwubolu, as he was officially born is a celebrated British multi-hyphenate musician and filmmaker, known for producing socially conscious media in various genres. And his latest effort is the Netflix superhero series Supacell, on which he serves as showrunner and lead director. The six-episode series follows a group seemingly ordinary black people living in South London who unexpectedly develop super powers, turning the lives upside down.
The Bear S3
27 June 2024 – Disney+
If you follow me on social media, you will know I’m quite a foodie. So much so that a few people have asked if I’ve considered opening a food truck or entering the cooking industry. Yes, I have considered, but no, not a damn would I do that. And this is why. The Bear is the most brilliant yet relentlessly stressful show about a small family-run New York restaurant that you will ever see. The critically acclaimed first two seasons launched the careers of its cast – notable lead Jeremy Allen White and co-lead Ayo Edebiri – into the stratosphere and for very valid reason. The Bear is simply a masterpiece. And now it’s finally back.
MOVIES
The Iron Claw
16 June 2024 – Prime Video
The Bear only debuts next Thursday but if you can’t wait that long for some Jeremy Allen White, the actor also stars alongside a pumped Zac Efron and Harris Dicksinon in The Iron Claw. The biographical sports drama follows the Von Erich brothers, the latest generation in a famous wrestling family who were allegedly “cursed” by tragedy. The film was massively acclaimed upon its release earlier this year with Efron especially being praised for a career-best performance. And for some reason it was just dropped onto local Prime Video earlier this week with zero fanfare.
Trigger Warning
21 June 2024 – Netflix
If the emotional drama of The Iron Claw sounds a bit much and you would rather just switch off your brain for two hours of skop, skiet, en donder, then Netflix has you covered. Trigger Warning sees Jessica Alba getting the John Wick treatment (same producer of that franchise here) as she stars as Parker, a highly-skilled Special Forces commando suffering her own post-service trauma, who has to step up and take ownership of her father’s bar after he suddenly dies. However, it’s not long before Parker finds herself at odds with a violent gang running rampant in her hometown, forcing her to put her particular set of skills to use.
The Old Way
24 June 2024 – Showmax
There’s a longtime running gag that Nicolas Cage never says no to any role, no matter how absurd. Looking at the legendary Oscar-winning actor’s ridiculously all-over-the-place filmmography, it’s hard to deny the truth of that joke. Which is also why it’s such a surprise to discover that The Old Way is Cage’s very first western of his career. The direct-to-VOD film sees Cage star as Colton Briggs, a cold-blooded gunslinger turned respectable family man. When an outlaw and his gang put Colton and his family in peril, Colton is forced to take up arms with an unlikely partner: his 12-year-old daughter (award winner Ryan Kiera Armstrong from Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and Black Widow).
Infinity Pool
27 June 2024 – Showmax
Brandon Cronenberg has definitely followed in his acclaimed filmmaking father David Cronenberg’s footsteps when it comes to making weird and out-there movies. And his latest unsettling effort is last year’s Infinity Pool, a sci-fi horror starring fan-favourite Alexander Skarsgård and modern scream queen Mia Goth. The film follows follows a struggling writer and his wife on vacation in the fictional seaside country of Li Tolqa. When the pair, along with another couple they’ve just met, decide to take a trip into the countryside despite warnings that tourists should not leave the resort grounds, it leads to a fatal accident and dark fate.
VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Immaculate
Purchase: Google TV – R161
Rental: Google TV – R50
We’ve already seen Sydney Sweeney star in other horror movie this year – Madam Web – but this time she’s leading another that’s actually intentionally horrific. Immaculate – which Sweeney also produced – stars the Euphoria alum as Sister Cecilia, a young novice who turned to Christianity at an early age after a near-death experience as a child. When she receives an invitation to attend a Roman Catholic convent in Italy to take her final vows, it is an honour she has been looking forward to all her adult life. But as she explores the old convent, she soon realizes that this holy place harbors some terrifying secrets.