10 New Movies to Stream This Weekend on Peacock, Netflix, and Hulu (July 17-19)

The work week has finally drawn to a close. As you settle into your downtime, there is a fresh wave of cinematic offerings hitting streaming platforms, providing plenty of reasons to stay in and hit play.

Two of this year’s most significant releases have just arrived for home viewing. Backrooms, helmed by the 20-year-old visionary Kane Parsons, is now available on VOD. This breakout horror sensation has dominated the box office and cemented Parsons’ status as a formidable new talent. The film expands upon his viral YouTube series, which follows individuals trapped within uncanny, liminal dimensions.

Simultaneously, Obsession has debuted on Peacock. This directorial debut from Curry Barker highlights another rising filmmaker. While the scale of the story is smaller, the dread is immense; it depicts a man who seemingly secures his dream partner, only to discover there are harrowing, unforeseen consequences to his desire. Happy viewing.

10
Backrooms

• Available on VOD
• Genre: Horror
• Runtime: 1h 45m
• Director: Kane Parsons
• Cast: Renate Reinsve, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Born from Kane Parsons’ YouTube phenomenon and backed by industry heavyweights like James Wan and Shawn Levy, Backrooms has become one of the year’s most compelling cinematic achievements. Set in the 1990s, the narrative centers on Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a disillusioned architect working in a local furniture store who candidly discusses his struggles with his therapist (Renate Reinsve). His mundane life shatters when he stumbles into a surreal, nightmarish realm hidden in the store’s basement.

As noted in our Polygon review:

Parsons masterfully translates his short-form work into a cohesive feature that retains the haunting, alien quality of liminal spaces. The sheer irrationality of the Backrooms is profoundly unsettling; by recontextualizing everyday architecture into impossible configurations, the film achieves a nightmarish aesthetic. The constant, low-frequency hum of fluorescent lighting is enough to keep any viewer perpetually on edge.

9
Obsession

• Available on Peacock
• Genre: Horror
• Runtime: 1h 48m
• Director: Curry Barker
• Cast: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrete

Obsession is now streaming on Peacock. This directorial debut captures the downward spiral of a lonely young man who, in a moment of desperate longing, utilizes a mysterious trinket to manifest his romantic fixation into reality. While he gets his wish, the results are catastrophic.

This film effectively transforms into a supernatural stalker thriller. In classic “Monkey’s Paw” fashion, the affection sought becomes a suffocating, terrifying obsession that evolves into an unhealthy fixation, the full extent of which must be seen to be believed.

Source: Polygon