New Movies Streaming This Weekend on Netflix, Prime Video and HBO Max, October 16-18

Happy weekend. Theaters have something for most tastes this week. Genre films include Street Fighter and Whalefall, and a new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility brings corset romance to the movies. If you would rather stay home, plenty of options are on VOD and streaming.

French auteur Luc Besson returns with a new take on Dracula, starring Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz. Buddy is also available. It follows a group of kids trapped inside the surreal and creepy world of “It’s Buddy!”, a TV show hosted by an orange unicorn that looks a lot like Barney.

Two much-discussed releases have reached streaming. Hope is a South Korean film about a community under attack from an alien force, and it has one of the most controversial twists in recent memory. Practical Magic 2 is the legacy sequel starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.

Other releases include the action film Runner, starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson. The Death of Robin Hood features Hugh Jackman as a weathered, jaded version of the figure from English folklore. Happy watching.

1. Dracula

• Available on Paramount Plus
• Genre: Horror
• Run time: 2h 9m
• Director: Luc Besson
• Cast: Christoph Waltz, Caleb Landry Jones, Zoe Bleu

Dracula, also titled Dracula: A Love Tale, reimagines the Bram Stoker classic. Vlad the Impaler (Caleb Landry Jones) is a lovelorn soldier who loses his great love Elisabeta (Zoe Bleu) and is cursed with immortality, becoming Dracula. Four hundred years later, he meets the reincarnation of the woman he lost. He becomes obsessed with her, and a relentless vampire-hunting priest (Christoph Waltz) comes after him.

From Polygon’s review:

Dracula opens with similarly grandiose gestures. Like the Coppola film, Besson’s movie declares more explicitly than Stoker’s novel that Count Dracula is actually real-life warrior-prince Vlad the Impaler, whose name (“Vlad Dracula”) inspired Stoker. In both Coppola and Besson’s tellings, Vlad renounces God and embraces vampirism following his wife’s death. In Besson’s version, Prince Vladimir (Caleb Landry Jones) is even more dedicated to his beloved Elisabeta (Zoë Bleu) than to impaling his rivals; after a montage of the couple pawing at each other and smearing each other with porridge, fellow soldiers must literally peel Vladimir away from his beloved to lead his men in battle.

2. Buddy

• Available on VOD
• Genre: Horror
• Run time: 1h 35m
• Director: Casper Kelly
• Cast: Cristin Milioti, Keegan Michael Key, Delaney Quinn

It’s Buddy! is a bright, colorful kids’ show starring a cute, plushy unicorn (voiced by Keegan Michael Key) who leads children in song and dance. As the movie develops, the show’s twisted nature comes into view. Buddy demands obedience and perfection from the children, and they push to escape into the real world.

From Polygon’s review:

Earlier this year, the indie horror phenomenon Obsession pulled off the impossible: it made more money on its second weekend in theaters than it did in its first. This month, that happened again with another horror film, Buddy, which earned $5.3 million during the weekend of August 28, and then raked in another $5.7 million over Labor Day weekend. While that’s nowhere near Obsession’s blockbuster numbers, it’s a big win for a horror flick with a mere $3 million budget.

3. Hope

• Available on VOD
• Genre: Sci-fi
• Run time: 2h 36m
• Director: Na Hong-jin
• Cast: Jung Ho-yeon, Hwang Jung-Min, Michael Fassbender

Hope premiered at Cannes and has become one of the most polarizing movies of the year. Viewers have responded with love and puzzlement in about equal measure. A police chief (Hwang Jung-Min) and a rookie officer (Sung-ae) investigate a mutilation at an animal farm, which coincides with the arrival of aliens.

From Polygon’s preview:

So far, the critical reaction to Hope has been tempered by how it’s built around a big plot twist. The first trailers make it look like a high-budget action movie, with Sung-ae blazing away at aliens with a rifle from the window of her car. However, multiple critics have mentioned a genre shift in the second half, tied to when the non-Korean cast shows up, which makes Hope difficult to discuss without major spoilers.

4. Practical Magic 2

• Available on VOD
• Genre: Fantasy
• Run time: 2h 10m
• Director: Susanne Bier
• Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Lee Pace

Practical Magic 2 picks up 25 years after the first film. The Owens sisters (Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock) try to shield their daughters and nieces from the curse that has plagued their lives. Their plans fall apart when the boyfriend (Xolo Maridueña) of Kylie Owens (Joey King) falls into a coma after confessing his love for her.

From Polygon’s preview:

The love Practical Magic inspired has led to a legacy sequel, out on Sept. 10. Directed by Susanne Bier, Practical Magic 2 continues the story of sisters Sally (Bullock) and Gillian Owens (Kidman) while introducing a new generation of witches: Sally’s daughters, Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams). As the girls grow, they reckon with the curse that has plagued their family for centuries: Any man who falls in love with an Owens woman will meet an untimely death. When Kylie, the eldest daughter, discovers dark abilities of her own, she embarks on a quest to understand her powers, with her family seeking help from unlikely allies in hopes of ending the curse once and for all.

5. Runner

• Available on VOD
• Genre: Action
• Run time: 1h 38m
• Director: Scott Waugh
• Cast: Alan Ritchson, Owen Wilson, Rodrigo Santoro

Runner stars Alan Ritchson as Hank, a former Navy SEAL living in Australia. He makes ends meet as a runner for legal and illegal items. His new job is to transport Ben Bishop (Owen Wilson), an organ courier carrying a life-saving organ. The organ has to get from Hawaii to Brisbane for transplant within three hours.

6. The Death of Robin Hood

• Available on HBO Max
• Genre: Action
• Run time: 2h 2m
• Director: Michael Sarnoski
• Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer, Bill Skarsgard

The Death of Robin Hood offers a fresh take on the English legend. Hugh Jackman plays Robin Hood as an aging thief and killer who feels guilty over the harm he has done. A man seeking revenge for all his killings chases him.

From Polygon’s preview:

However, A24 and director-writer Michael Sarnoski, known for his work on the indie film Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One (and soon, A24’s upcoming Death Stranding movie), are about to change that perception for good. In The Death of Robin Hood, the titular character is less of a hero than he is a brutal murderer, whose tales have been glorified by the common folk. And who better to take on that role than Hugh Jackman, whose portrayal of the outlaw in the reveal trailer shows him as a grizzled, cynical older man who’s all too aware of the brutality he has brought to himself and others.

7. Masterplan

• Available on Prime Video
• Genre: Action
• Run time: 1h 47m
• Director: Thomas Vincent
• Cast: Stanley Tucci, Simona Tabasco, Victor Balmondo

If you want a heist film led by Stanley Tucci, Masterplan fits the weekend. Tucci plays Roger, a legendary thief who comes out of retirement for his biggest job yet, stealing the Mona Lisa.

8. The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable

• Available on Netflix
• Genre: Documentary
• Run time: 1h 45m
• Director: Joanna Natasegara
• Cast: Tarik Azzougargh, RZA, members of the Wu-Tang Clan

The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable is Netflix’s newest music documentary. It follows the rise and career of Tarik Azzougargh, a Moroccan rapper and producer. He started out as a fan of the Wu-Tang Clan and is now one of RZA’s biggest collaborators.

9. Sacrifice

• Available on Netflix
• Genre: Black Comedy
• Run time: 1h 43m
• Director: Romain Gavras
• Cast: Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Salma Hayek

Sacrifice has a star-studded cast that includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Evans, Vincent Cassel and Charli XCX, yet it remains relatively unknown. Evans plays a fading movie star who becomes the prisoner of an eco-terrorist group. He falls into their hands after attending an environmental fundraiser on a remote Greek island.

10. Love of Your Life

• Available on Prime Video
• Genre: Romance
• Run time: 1h 46m
• Director: Rachel Morrison
• Cast: Margaret Qualley, Aaron Pierre, Gabriel Basso

Love of Your Life follows the love and tragedies of Maya (Margaret Qualley), an ER nurse. At 26, she has her life figured out when she meets the love of her life. Five years later, her partner dies. Her life is uprooted, and she travels the world to avoid dealing with her grief.

Source: Polygon