Now Stream This: 'Destroyer', 'A Quiet Place', 'Lizzie', 'The Legend Of Cocaine Island', 'The Fly', 'Between Worlds' And More
(Welcome to Now Stream This, a column dedicated to the best movies streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and every other streaming service out there.)
It's that time again! Time for more great movies you can stream right now. In this edition of Now Stream This, you'll find a Nicole Kidman cop drama, Kristen Stewart deconstructing the story of Lizzie Borden, a quiet horror film, Nicolas Cage going full Cage, some disturbing body horror, a hilarious documentary, and more! These are the best movies streaming right now. Let's get streaming!
Now Streaming on Hulu
Release Date: 2018Genre: Crime DramaDirector: Karyn KusamaCast: Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Tatiana Maslany, Scoot McNairy, Bradley Whitford, Sebastian StanNicole Kidman gives an intense, unforgettable performance in Karyn Kusama's brutal character study/crime drama Destroyer. Kidman plays a role that's primarily reserved for men: the washed-up, broken-down, hard-drinking cop with an itchy trigger finger. Haunted by the terrible outcome of previous undercover operation, Kidman's LAPD detective Erin Bell gets wrapped up in a case that might involve someone from her troubled, blood-soaked past. Kusama crafts a tense, unflinching saga full of twists, turns, and some genuinely shocking surprises. At the same time, the filmmaker also knows that she doesn't have to get too flashy when she has Kidman's fiery performance front and center. Destroyer didn't get nearly as much attention as it deserved in theaters last year. Thankfully, you can now stream it on Hulu.For fans of: Heat, Bad Lieutenant, The Invitation, Nicole Kidman smashing people in the face.
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Hulu
Release Date: 2018Genre: Horror-ThrillerDirector: John KrasinskiCast: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah JupeJohn Krasinski had directed films before A Quiet Place, but none of them hinted at anything like this. Perhaps Krasinski's previous work was all a warm-up for this tense, creepy horror-thriller about a family trying to evade monsters sensitive to sound. Krasinski is pulling from a playbook of masters – Steven Spielberg, George Romero, Ridley Scott, even M. Night Shyamalan. And while his own directing is nowhere near those aforementioned talents, he still has a great grasp on camera placement, camera movement, and the grammar of filmmaking itself. Boiled down to its bare elements, A Quiet Place is almost painfully simple. But Krasinski's grasp on the material, and the winning performances – particularly Millicent Simmonds as Krasinski's daughter – help elevate A Quiet Place into something special. This is the type of studio thriller that Hollywood should be making more of: high in concept, modest in budget, and big on thrills.For fans of: Signs, Jaws, 10 Cloverfield Lane, well-groomed beards.
Now Streaming on Shudder
Release Date: 2018Genre: DramaDirector: Craig William MacneillCast: Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Jay Huguley, Jamey Sheridan, Fiona Shaw, Kim Dickens, Denis O'Hare, Jeff PerryLizzie is a slow-burn, low-key affair...until it isn't. The story of Lizzie Borden and her (alleged) infamous hatchet murders are deconstructed into this quiet, somber character study about two women trapped in the roles their time period has placed them in. Chloë Sevigny is Lizzie, who longs to have a carefree and social life – something that clashes with the wishes of her stodgy, abusive and cruel father Andrew (Jamey Sheridan). Kristen Stewart is Bridget Sullivan, a new maid in the Borden household who finds herself the latest victim of Andrew's abuse. Lizzie and Bridget find a friendship with one another, and soon that friendship is growing into something more. All of this is building towards those bloody murders that will forever be associated with Lizzie Borden, and indeed, when the murders arrive, director Craig William Macneill takes the film into full-blown horror movie territory. The bloody, ultra-violent killings are particularly jarring when contrasted with how quiet and reserved the film has been up until this point. But in many ways, that's a perfect reflection of Lizzie and Bridget as characters – two women who have taught to be seen and not heard, suddenly pushing back. Sevingy's performance feels a bit too modern here, but Stewart is remarkable as the awkward, melancholy Bridget.For fans of: Jane Eyre, Personal Shopper, The Witch, pretty good fake Irish accents.
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Release Date: 2001Genre: Biographical Sports DramaDirector: Michael MannCast: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Jeffrey WrightWill Smith gives the best performance of his career in this biopic of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. Director Michael Mann avoids the typical biopic pitfalls, creating a time-jumping narrative that doesn't shy away from presenting Ali's flaws as well as his strengths. Smith perfectly embodies the boxer, nailing down both Ali's manner of speech and his showboating, boisterous style. Ali didn't K.O. the box office (see what I did there, I referenced the sport of boxing), but time has been kind to the film. Mann's later career has been a bit wishy-washy, but Ali is one of his better 21st century films.For fans of: When We Were Kings, Raging Bull, Malcolm X, lots of wigs!
Now Streaming on Shudder
Release Date: 1986Genre: HorrorDirector: David CronenbergCast: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John GetzDavid Cronenberg's disturbing, disgusting remake of The Fly is many things. It's a great display of Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis' talents. It's a wonderful showcase for some truly mind-blowing special effects that still hold up to this day. And, believe it or not, it's actually kind of a romantic yet tragic love story. Oh, and there's a lot of body horror. Goldblum plays a brilliant oddball scientist trying to develop a machine that can instantly teleport someone from one place to another. Unfortunately, when he tries the device out on himself, a fly gets into the pod with him, splicing his own DNA with that of the insect. For the rest of the movie, his body falls apart, while Davis, playing a reporter who falls in love with Goldblum, struggles to deal with her boyfriend's declining health. This is plenty horrific, but also serves as an apt metaphor for the conflicting emotions of dealing with a loved one succumbing to a terminal illness. Did I mention there's a lot of gross stuff, too?For fans of: Videodrome, The Thing, The Blob, regurgitation.
Now Streaming on Netflix
Release Date: 2018Genre: DocumentaryDirector: Theo LoveCast: Rodney HydenThe Legend of Cocaine Island might be one of the most entertaining documentaries you'll watch all year. This funny, surprising, and often outlandish tale follows Rodney Hyden, a once successful small-business owner hit hard by the recession. Desperate to get his family back on top financially, Rodney cooks up a plan to go searching for a large amount of cocaine that may or may not be buried on an island in the Caribbean. Along for the ride is Rodney's much younger friend Andy Culpepper, who is more or less a real-life version of Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad. The plan is to retrieve the cocaine, and then sell it to a drug dealer. That's the type of scheme that master criminals might be able to pull off, but Rodney and Andy are not master criminals, and things definitely don't go according to plan. The end result is often hilarious, and never, ever dull.For fans of: Drunk History, Finders Keepers, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Florida Man memes come to life.
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Release Date: 2018Genre: HorrorDirector: Matthew HolnessCast: Sean Harris, Alun Armstrong
Hey, do you want to be creeped the fuck out? Then you should watch Possum, immediately. This eerie, unsettling trip through one man's personal hell will make your skin crawl. Sean Harris plays a puppeteer who happens to own the scariest god damn puppet you'll ever see. It has a human head that looks a lot like his own head, and then it has spider-like legs. Fun for the whole family! Harris' character has some sort of trauma in his past – something he's tried to bury deep in his fractured psyche. But the darkness within is in danger of coming out, especially when he has to deal with his nasty uncle (Alun Armstrong). Director Matthew Holness finds clever ways to do so much with so little, turning what is more or less a one-man-show into something highly memorable.
For fans of: Spider, The Babadook, Hereditary, horrifying puppets.
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Release Date: 2001Genre: HorrorDirector: Larry FessendenCast: Patricia Clarkson, Jake Weber, Erik Per Sullivan
If you saw the new Pet Sematary, and were intrigued by the legend of the Wendigo that's mentioned briefly in the film, you might want to check out Larry Fessenden's Wendigo. A low-budget affair, Fessenden knows exactly how to stretch his budget and create an effective, creepy chiller. Jake Weber, Patricia Clarkson and Erik Peter Sullivan play a family who decide to take a vacation from Manhattan and head to a cabin in heavily wooded upstate New York. The trip runs into trouble almost immediately, when the family runs afoul of a group of rude, confrontational hunters. Once everyone gets to the cabin, things only get weirder, as some sort of malevolent presence seems to be lurking about. Is it all in the heads of the characters, or is there something supernatural afoot? You decide.
For fans of: Pet Sematary, The Shining, The Last Winter, retribution via evil woodland spirits.
Now Streaming on HBO Go and HBO Now
Release Date: 2005Genre: Historical epicDirector: Ridley ScottCast: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Ghassan Massoud, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Iain Glen, Marton Csokas, Liam Neeson, Edward Norton, Michael Sheen, Velibor Topic
The theatrical cut of Ridley Scott's Crusades epic Kingdom of Heaven is okay, albeit a bit limp. But the director's cut is a whole different story. The studio requested Scott chop a large chunk out of the film before it reached theaters, but once you watch the director's cut, you'll realize what a mistake that was. This cut, which is now streaming on HBO (along with the theatrical cut) is almost a completely different movie, restoring large plotlines and characters that ended up on the cutting room floor. It's superior in every single way. That's not to say it's perfect. Orlando Bloom is still woefully miscast as the lead, a blacksmith who inadvertently ends up in Jerusalem during the Crusades. But everyone around Bloom – especially Eva Green – does strong work, and Scott's big, epic scope and bloody battle scenes are spectacular.
For fans of: Gladiator, Braveheart, Alexander, Edward Norton wearing a mask.
Now Streaming on Netflix
Release Date: 2018Genre: Who knows!Director: Maria PuleraCast: Nicolas Cage, Franka Potente, Penelope Mitchell, Garrett Clayton, Lydia Hearst, Hopper Penn
What the hell is this movie? I have no idea, but I know you have to see it to believe it. Nicolas Cage has made a lot of crazy movies and given a lot of crazy performances over the years. But Between Worlds might be the ultimate in full-blown Cage. The actor plays a dirt bag trucker who saves a woman (Franka Potente) from being strangled to death in a rest stop bathroom. However, instead of being grateful, Potente's character is furious. It turns out she asked some stranger to choke her, so she could balance between life and death and help her daughter (Penelope Mitchell), who is currently in a coma after a car accident. Cage agrees to drive Potente to the hospital, and then things get even more weird. Mitchell's character wakes up from her coma, and Cage moves in with the family. Soon, Mitchell lets Cage in on a secret. She's no longer Potente's daughter. Instead, the ghost of Cage's dead wife has possessed her body, and now she really wants to fuck. Cage and Mitchell begin an affair that entails a sex scene in which Cage reads from a book of poetry...written by Nicolas Cage. It literally lists the author of the book as "Nicolas Cage" on the cover. That's just a small sampling of the madness on display here, folks.
For fans of: Look, just watch it, okay?