This week’s streaming landscape is headlined by high-octane survival and grotesque heroics. Glen Powell finds himself hunted for sport in Edgar Wright’s visceral adaptation of The Running Man, now streaming on Paramount Plus. Over on Hulu, Peter Dinklage delivers a standout comedic performance as the titular mutant in the long-anticipated The Toxic Avenger.
For those craving psychological and supernatural chills, Netflix offers the provocative slasher Bone Lake, while Peacock presents The Black Phone 2, a sequel that manages to surpass its predecessor in sheer atmospheric dread.
Here is your definitive guide to the most essential new releases available on streaming and VOD this week.
New on Netflix
Bone Lake
- Genre: Erotic thriller / Slasher
- Run time: 1h 34m
- Director: Mercedes Bryce Morgan
- Cast: Maddie Hasson, Alex Roe, Andra Nechita
Director Mercedes Bryce Morgan balances camp and carnage in this stylized thriller. What begins as a secluded romantic retreat for a young couple quickly devolves into a nightmare when they are joined by a pair of manipulative strangers. These interlopers don’t just aim to dismantle the couple’s relationship through temptation—they are lethal predators with a penchant for violence.
One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things Season 5
- Genre: Documentary
- Run time: 2h 2m
- Director: Martina Radwan
This deep-dive documentary offers an intimate look at the Herculean effort required to bring the final chapter of Stranger Things to life. From the intricate construction of massive Hawkins sets to the emotional atmosphere in the writers’ room, fans get a front-row seat to the production’s most ambitious sequences and heartfelt farewells.
The Rip
- Genre: Action thriller
- Run time: 2h 13m
- Director: Joe Carnahan
- Cast: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Steven Yeun
Inspired by actual events, this gritty thriller follows two morally compromised Miami detectives (Damon and Affleck) who stumble upon a fortune during a drug bust. Their plan to disappear with the cash is quickly derailed as internal suspicion and external threats turn their “perfect” heist into a paranoid struggle for survival.
New on Hulu
The Toxic Avenger
- Genre: Superhero comedy / Splatter
- Run time: 1h 43m
- Director: Macon Blair
- Cast: Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige
After a celebrated debut on the festival circuit, Macon Blair’s reimagining of the Troma cult classic finally hits streaming. Dinklage shines as a downtrodden janitor transformed into a radioactive vigilante, squaring off against a hilariously villainous pharmaceutical tycoon played by Kevin Bacon in a film that embraces gore and absurdism in equal measure.
New on Paramount Plus
The Running Man
- Genre: Dystopian sci-fi
- Run time: 2h 13m
- Director: Edgar Wright
- Cast: Glen Powell, William H. Macy, Lee Pace
In a bleak future, Ben Richards (Powell) enters a lethal reality show to save his dying daughter. To win the grand prize, he must evade a gauntlet of professional assassins and a bloodthirsty public for an entire month. Realizing the system is designed to fail him, Richards pivots from survival to revolution.
While the film features a winning, sympathetic performance from Powell, it occasionally struggles to balance its “eat-the-rich” escapism with meaningful social commentary. The action is competent and the stakes are clear, but as the plot progresses, the unique nuances of the character give way to more traditional action-hero tropes.
New on Peacock
The Black Phone 2
- Genre: Supernatural horror
- Run time: 1h 54m
- Director: Scott Derrickson
- Cast: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Ethan Hawke
Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill expand the haunting world of their 2021 hit. Years after their encounter with “The Grabber,” siblings Finn and Gwen find their psychic burdens intensifying. As the past refuses to stay buried, they must navigate a new wave of supernatural terror that forces them to confront the ghosts of their trauma.
New on Shudder
Beast of War
- Genre: Survival thriller
- Run time: 1h 27m
- Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
- Cast: Mark Coles Smith, Joel Nankervis, Sam Delich
Set during World War II, this intense survival story follows Australian soldiers stranded in the Timor Sea after their vessel is destroyed. Caught between the threat of enemy patrols and rising internal tensions, they soon realize their greatest danger lies beneath the surface: a relentless Great White shark stalking their raft.
Killer Whale
- Genre: Thriller
- Run time: 1h 29m
- Director: Jo-Anne Brechin
- Cast: Virginia Gardner, Mel Jarnson, Mitchell Hope
A serene Thai vacation takes a dark turn for two friends who find themselves trapped in a remote lagoon. Their paradise becomes a prison when an escaped, traumatized orca begins hunting them, turning a simple swim into a desperate fight for life against an apex predator.
New to Rent
Dust Bunny
- Genre: Horror / Dark Fantasy
- Run time: 1h 46m
- Director: Bryan Fuller
- Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Sophie Sloan, Sheila Atim
Visionary creator Bryan Fuller makes his directorial film debut, reuniting with Mads Mikkelsen for this twisted fairy tale. The story follows a young girl who enlists the help of her mysterious neighbor—a professional hitman—to eliminate the monster hiding under her bed. It is a unique blend of childhood wonder and macabre violence.
Fuller maintains his signature visual flair and razor-sharp wit, successfully pivoting into “kid horror” without losing his edge. He transforms the mundane fear of a dust bunny into something genuinely menacing, creating a film that feels both whimsically sweet and profoundly disturbing.
Source: Polygon
