7 new Netflix movies, Sing 2, and everything you can now watch at home

Some weekends are a downright drought of new releases. That is not at all the case this week, with more than a dozen new movies available for you to watch at home, including seven new Netflix movies.

Among the highlights this week: Death on the Nile, Kenneth Branagh’s follow-up to his previous Agatha Christie adaptation, Murder on the Orient Express, which sees Branagh reprise his role at Hercule Poirot alongside an ensemble cast including Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, and many others. The mystery movie is now streaming on Hulu and HBO Max.

Also available at home this week: animated musical comedy Sing 2, Richard Linklater’s coming-of-age story Apollo 10 1/2 on Netflix, Judd Apatow’s meta movie comedy The Bubble on Netflix, and much, much more.

To help you get a handle on what’s new and available, here are the new movies you can watch on streaming and VOD this weekend.

Death on the Nile

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu and HBO Max

Image: 20th Century Studios

Kenneth Branagh returns to direct and star in the follow-up to his 2017 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. In Death on the Nile, detective Hercule Poirot is once again called upon to investigate a murder most foul. With a wide cast of cosmopolitan suspects and tangled web of grievances and motives to parse, Poirot will have to summon every once of his analytical cunning if he has to have any hope of bringing the culprit to justice. From our review,

While the film is slow-moving and at times turgid, its take on love as class warfare gives it a compelling mean streak that’s fun to think about, even when it doesn’t unfold onscreen in the most compelling manner. Beautifully presented and lavishly designed, Branagh’s vision is hamstrung by a large cast that leaves too many characters underdeveloped, and a slow pace that may make viewers feel like they’re trapped on the Karnak with said cast, not in a good way.

Sing 2

Where to watch: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Universal Pictures

The follow-up to the 2016 box-office hit Sing, this animated musical comedy brings back most of the voice talent from the first, including Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, and Scarlett Johansson, while bringing in new characters voiced by the likes of Halsey, Pharrell Williams, Eric André, and Bono. In this one, theatre-owning koala Buster Moon (McConaughey) hopes to coax former rock star lion Clay Calloway (Bono) out of retirement for one last show. As in the first movie, expect a lot of well-known songs performed by a lot of anthropomorphic animals.

Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Netflix

Richard Linklater’s latest personal coming-of-age story takes a science fiction bent, presenting a fictional version of the moon landing from the point-of-view of a 10-year-old boy. Animated using a similar technique to Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life, the movie stars Zachary Levi, Glen Powell, and Jack Black. A headliner at South by Southwest, Apollo 10 1/2 gets its Netflix debut just weeks later. From our review,

By the time Linklater returns to the initial premise of a child going to space, juxtaposed with rotoscoped footage of the real Apollo 11 moon landing and launch, the film has come full circle. Apollo 10 1/2 is a charming, visually striking blend of history and fantasy that captures the way children see and process historical events happening around them, and considers what they choose to remember — and how those choices affect them as adults, and the worlds they choose to build around them.

The Bubble

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Laura Radford/Netflix

Judd Apatow returns with this Netflix original ensemble comedy about the movie business. The movie follows a group of actors who are filming the latest installment in a dinosaur-themed blockbuster franchise while being restricted to their “bubble” in the COVID-19 pandemic. The cast features actors who have themselves starred in such blockbuster franchises (Karen Gillan, Pedro Pascal), as well as a slew of comedians (Keegan-Michael Key, Kate McKinnon, Guz Khan). From our review,

The Bubble was reportedly inspired by the production of Jurassic World: Dominion, which filmed last year in the UK under strict COVID protocols. But aside from occasional cracks from the supporting cast — as underappreciated here as their characters are in the movie —The Bubble fails to really grasp the absurdity of a studio building an elaborate multi-million-dollar infrastructure so rich people don’t have to wear masks on set. Instead, Apatow and Brady take a “These times are hard on everybody” approach, naïvely expecting people quarantining in studio apartments to sympathize with celebrities who have live-in wellness consultants and massive manicured gardens where they could absolutely go out and get some fresh air if they wanted to. In short, it’s the “Imagine” video of movies.

France

Where to watch: Available to stream on Criterion Channel

Image: Kino Lorber / The Criterion Channel

Award-winning filmmaker Bruno Dumont returns with this satire about fame and TV news. Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Color, No Time To Die) stars as a famous French TV journalist who herself becomes a part of the news cycle after a car accident. A 2021 Cannes premiere, France mixes drama with a satirical, comedic approach to modern French society.

The Requin

Where to watch: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Vietnamese director Le-Van Kiet had a quiet hit in 2019 with the stellar martial arts movie Furie, and returns with another classic cinematic genre here: Big Shark. When a couple (Alicia Silverstone and James Tupper) are stranded at sea when a storm interrupts their dream vacation, they have to fight both the open waters and a group of sharks to stay alive. Le-Van has another exciting movie coming around the corner, too: The Princess, starring Joey King, which has been described as “Rapunzel meets The Raid.” So if that sounds half as exciting to you as it does to us, consider checking this one out first.

Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Netflix

A genre-bending Indonesian movie that combines black comedy with action, Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash is a critique of toxic masculinity that won the Golden Leopard for Best Film at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival. When a young man always looking for a fight gets beaten up by a beautiful bodyguard, he falls in love with her. Directed by Edwin (Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly, Postcards from the Zoo), the movie is an adaptation of the novel by Eka Kurniawan, who wrote the screenplay.

Better Nate Than Never

Where to watch: Available to stream on Disney Plus

Image: Disney

Rueby Wood stars in the 2022 musical family comedy Better Nate Than Never as Nate Foster, an affable yet unpopular middle school with a talent for song and dance. Although overlooked by his peers, Nate nurtures a dream of one day becoming a singer on Broadway. After sneaking away to New York City with his friend Libby (Aria Brooks), Nate bumps into his Aunt Heidi (Lisa Kudrow). From there, Nate embarks on an unbelievable adventure that will carry him all the way to the heights of stardom. From our review,

Let’s get one thing out of the way: Better Nate Than Ever isn’t an unabashedly goofy and indulgent Disney Channel Original Movie. It has more budget and polish than the likes of High School Musical, Camp Rock, and Lemonade Mouth. But unlike other Disney Plus Originals, Better Nate Than Ever keeps that same earnest charm that the best DCOMs share. Too often, Disney Plus Originals have held back from embracing the special charm of an unapologetic all-ages escapade, and have tried to appeal to adults instead. But Better Nate Than Ever hits all the sweet spots, balancing the heart and the humor in a delightful feel-good mix.

All Hail

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Marcos Ludevid/NETFLIX

Guillermo Francella stars in the Argentinian drama All Hail as Miguel Flores, a famed weatherman who is ostracized for failing to predict a highly destructive hailstorm. Forced to flee Buenos Aires, Miguel journeys to his birthplace of Córdoba in search of peace as he rediscovers what’s important to him and what it means to be human.

Night’s End

Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder

Image: Shudder

Geno Walker (Chicago P.D.) stars in this 2022 horror movie as Ken Barber, an anxious shut-in who begins to suspect that his new apartment is haunted following a rash of mysterious and disturbing phenomena. After hiring a stranger to perform an exorcism, Ken’s life slowly begins to unravel as nightmarish apparitions begin to invade his waking life. The trailer looks spooky and Michael Shannon makes a supporting appearance as a wise-cracking dude in a Hawaiian shirt — what’s not to like?

Boon

Where to watch: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Cinedigm Entertainment Group

Neal McDonough stars in the 2022 crime drama Boon as Nick Boon, a mercenary trying to live peacefully in atonement for his previous life as an enforcer for a crime syndicate. Moving to a remote region of the pacific northwest, Boon’s path crosses with that of Catherine (Christiane Seidel), a widowed mother trying to protect herself and her son from the malicious intentions of a local crime kingpin (Tommy Flanagan). With no other options, Boon chooses to renounce his oath of peace to save Catherine’s life and restore order and justice.

Jump, Darling

Where to watch: Available to rent for $4.99 on Apple and Vudu

Image: Breaking Glass Pictures

The 2022 drama Jump, Darling stars Thomas Duplessie as Russell, an aspiring drag queen who moves back to his hometown following a demoralizing break-up. Finding his ailing grandmother Margaret (Cloris Leachman) in the nascent stages of mental decline, Russell elects to take care of her in an effort to prevent her from going to a nursing home. While doing this, Russell reflects on the choices that guided his life to this point as he begins to grow towards a new future.

Nitram

Where to watch: Available to stream on AMC+ or rent for $3.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Nitram is the latest movie from director Justin Kurzel (Macbeth, Assassin’s Creed), telling a fictionalized version of the events that led up to the deadliest mass shooting in Australian history. The movie follows a lonely young man (Caleb Landry Jones, who won Best Actor at Cannes 2021 for his performance) who meets a lonely woman (Essie Davis), and the tragic fallout for an entire nation when their relationship suddenly ends.

Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Netflix

The latest Netflix true crime documentary looks into the sudden death of a crypto millionaire and the missing $250 million a group of investors say he stole from them. I suspect after that sentence you already know whether or not you’re going to watch this.

Battle: Freestyle

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Another entry in the fabled genre of Norwegian dance dramas, this is the follow-up to the 2018 movie Battle (also on Netflix). When Amalie’s (Lisa Teige) dance crew qualifies for the world finals in France, she finds herself pulled between the desires of love, family, and competition.

Celeb Five: Behind The Curtain

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Netflix

The meta-mockumentary Celeb Five: Behind The Curtain follows comedians Ahn Young-mi, Song Eun-yi, Kim Shin-young, and Shin Bong-seon as they attempt to brainstorm new ideas for their Netflix special, weaving together roundtable joke segments and improvisational skits that show off each of their quirky personalities.