New Movies Streaming on Netflix, HBO Max, and Hulu for the Weekend of August 28

Viewers looking for something new to watch at home have several fresh streaming and digital rental options alongside the current slate of theatrical movies. This week brings psychological thrillers, animated comic adaptations, live musicals, and action features across major platforms.

The Whisper Man

• Available on Netflix
• Genre: Thriller
• Run time: 1h 52m
• Director: James Ashcroft
• Cast: Robert De Niro, Adam Scott, Michelle Monaghan

Director James Ashcroft channels the tension of The Silence of the Lambs in this psychological thriller starring Adam Scott. The plot centers on a widowed crime writer whose eight-year-old son gets kidnapped. Desperate for answers, the writer reconnects with his estranged father, a retired police detective. Their investigation uncovers ties between the boy’s disappearance and a notorious serial killer known as the Whisper Man.

Ashcroft discussed the emotional core of the film in an interview for Polygon’s summer preview:

Ultimately, as a parent and a son, it’s the relationships at the heart of this story that resonated with me the most. It’s about fathers and sons. It’s a story about acceptance; acceptance that everything we experience becomes a part of who we are. And it’s a timely reminder that all things, good and bad, stem from the home. Those aren’t the usual fare found in this genre, and it was the potential of exploring those relations and emotions that made me lean in.

Her Private Hell

• Available on VOD
• Genre: Thriller
• Run time: 1h 50m
• Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
• Cast: Sophie Thatcher, Havana Rose Liu, Charles Melton, Diego Calva

Following a polarizing debut at the Cannes Film Festival, Nicolas Winding Refn returns to feature filmmaking after spending a decade working in television. The story tracks a young woman searching for her missing father across a futuristic cityscape shrouded in an unnatural mist. Early reactions highlight the director’s signature visual style alongside a divisive narrative.

The Last Sunrise

• Available on Prime Video
• Genre: Romance
• Run time: 1h 46m
• Director: Carlson Young
• Cast: Maia Reficco, Eva Longoria, Fernando Lindez

Adapted from the novel by Anna Todd, this romantic drama follows Ry, a young American dealing with health struggles. Ry relocates to the island of Majorca, where she forms a deep connection with a local young man.

Batman: Knightfall Part 1

• Available on VOD
• Genre: Animation
• Run time: 1h 19m
• Director: Jeff Wamester
• Cast: Anson Mount, Michael Mando, Pablo Schreiber

The first chapter of a new animated trilogy adapts one of DC Comics’ most famous story arcs. When a massive breakout empties Arkham Asylum, Batman must track down his most dangerous adversaries through Gotham City. The production leans into an R-rated approach that showcases heavy action and comic book violence.

Polygon highlighted the film’s take on the central villain in an advance preview:

Bane has proven a tricky character to adapt. He was treated as a joke in Joel Schumacher’s 1997 film Batman & Robin. Christopher Nolan used some elements of Knightfall in The Dark Knight Rises, but the final film in The Dark Knight trilogy undermined him to focus more on Talia al Ghul and Catwoman. Knightfall director Jeff Wamester aims to do Bane justice by using the R rating to let him become a real monster who rips people apart. Studio Mir brings the animated carnage to life with the same panache they’ve shown in Devil May Cry.

Motor City

• Available on VOD
• Genre: Action
• Run time: 1h 43m
• Director: Potsy Ponciroli
• Cast: Alan Ritchson, Ben Foster, Shailene Woodley

Set against the backdrop of 1977 Detroit, this revenge thriller stars Alan Ritchson as factory worker and former convict John Miller. After getting framed and losing the woman he loves, Miller launches a relentless campaign against the gangster responsible.

Polygon praised the film’s storytelling approach in its review:

Motor City belongs in that tradition. Not because it’s trying to reinvent the revenge thriller, but because it remembers that audiences enjoy connecting the dots on their own. The satisfaction comes not from solving some impossible mystery but from realizing the movie has quietly been giving you the information you needed all along. That’s what makes its release feel so refreshing. Not because movies like this no longer exist, but because they no longer dominate the genre the way they once did.

Desert Warrior

• Available on Hulu
• Genre: Action
• Run time: 2h 6m
• Director: Rupert Wyatt
• Cast: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Sharlto Copley, Ben Kingsley

Reported as the most expensive feature film produced in Saudi Arabia, this historical action epic is set in seventh-century Arabia. A princess and her father escape into the desert to prevent her forced concubinage to a ruthless emperor, placing their survival in the hands of a mysterious outlaw.

Penny Lane is Dead

• Available on Shudder
• Genre: Horror
• Run time: 1h 28m
• Director: Mia Kate Russell
• Cast: Bailey Spalding, Alexandra Jensen, Fletcher Humphrys

Set during the late 1980s, this Australian horror release centers on three close friends spending time together at a remote beach house. The relaxing trip spirals out of control when a mean-spirited family prank turns dangerous, forcing the group to fight for their lives.

Hadestown: The Musical

• Available on VOD
• Genre: Musical
• Run time: 2h 30m
• Director: Brett Sullivan
• Cast: Reeve Carney, Andre De Shields, Amber Gray

Director Brett Sullivan captures the hit stage production on film with a high-definition recording from London’s West End. The film preserves the acclaimed musical retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, featuring key members of the original stage cast.

Above & Below

• Available on VOD
• Genre: Horror
• Run time: 1h 36m
• Director: Jesse V. Johnson
• Cast: Antonio Banderas, Christina Ochoa, Laura Marano

A group of vacationers visiting Mexico finds trouble on two fronts when a shark-diving adventure collides with a violent regional drug cartel led by Antonio Banderas.

The Deb

• Available on VOD
• Genre: Musical
• Run time: 2h 1m
• Director: Rebel Wilson
• Cast: Natalie Abbott, Charlotte McInnes, Rebel Wilson

Rebel Wilson directs this musical comedy about an outcast high school girl who pins her hopes of social acceptance on the upcoming local Debutante Ball. Her preparations turn upside down when her cousin arrives from the city and openly challenges the town tradition.

Source: Polygon