Finding something to watch is easy — just check out the new movies and shows to watch this weekend on Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu and more streaming services.
This weekend’s lineup is led by The Sandman, the long-awaited adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s beloved comic books. After escaping captivity, protagonist Dream aka Morpheus, sets out to restore order to his realm and the human world.
A couple of returning shows start their second seasons. Reservation Dogs is maybe the best show you’re not watching, while Industry is a high-stakes kick in the pants. Mike Judge revives his ‘90s animated classic Beavis and Butt-head, with an au courant spin.
On the movie side, Prey is the latest and possibly greatest Predator movie since Arnold Schwarzenegger encountered the deadly alien.
Here is our guide on what to watch this weekend.
The Sandman (Netflix)
Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman graphic novels have taken a long and winding road to the screen. Various adaptation attempts have languished in development hell over the last 30 years (including a movie that would’ve starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt). But finally, at long last, The Sandman is ready to haunt all our dreams.
Tom Sturridge stars as Dream aka Morpheus, ruler of the Dreaming realm. After he is captured by occultists in 1916, he’s imprisoned for over a century. When he emerges, he finds his kingdom in disarray. Living nightmare The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook) has escaped. Finding him and setting things to rights won’t be easy, as Morpheus also finds himself facing off against Lucifer Morningstar (Gwendoline Christie) and contending with occult detective Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman).
Streaming now on Netflix (opens in new tab)
Reservation Dogs season 2 (FX on Hulu)
One of the best shows on television — and one of the most underrated — returns for a very welcome second season. Reservation Dogs elevates the indigenous perspective, following four Native teens living in rural Oklahoma. The first season followed Bear (D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai), Elora (Devery Jacobs), Cheese (Lane Factor) and Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) as they schemed to get enough money to hightail it off the reservation and head to California.
Now, only Elora is on her way, with bully/nemesis Jackie (Elva Guerra) along for the ride. Left behind, Bear feels betrayed, while continuing to grapple with his grief for Daniel. He, Cheese and Willie Jack must all face the question of “what now?” Meanwhile, Elora finds that the California dream isn’t all that she imagined it to be.
Streaming now on Hulu (opens in new tab)
Prey (Hulu)
Reviews are hailing the Predator prequel as the best movie in the franchise since the original. It seems they move forward by looking back, as it follows a young Comanche warrior in 1717. Naru (Amber Midthunder) yearns to hunt like her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) and the other men in her tribe, but faces skeptical teasing about her gender.
Her strength and skills are tested when Naru detects a new creature lurking on their land. She sets out to track down the prey, then discovers it is a dangerous, almost unstoppable alien lifeform. Naru must call upon her inner reserves to not only survive but hunt down this deadly threat to her people.
Streaming now on Hulu (opens in new tab)
Thirteen Lives (Prime Video)
Hollywood loves making melodramatic movies that rip from the headlines about real-life perilous events. Tom Hanks has starred in several of them (see: Sully, Captain Phillips). He is surprisingly not involved in Thirteen Lives, though it’s directed by frequent collaborator Ron Howard.
The survival flick chronicles the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue of a local junior football team and their coach, who were trapped by a heavy rainfall for 18 days. Their plight gained worldwide interest and drew international rescue teams. Viggo Mortenson stars as Richard Stanton and Colin Farrell is John Volanten, the divers who found them. They must race around the clock to extract the teens from the cave before the next monsoon hits.
Streaming now on Prime Video (opens in new tab)
Industry season 2 (HBO)
In an article about Industry, I wrote, “if The Bear, Succession and Euphoria had a threesome, Industry would be their wild child.” The drama is an adrenaline rush that mixes workplace pressure, cutthroat competition, sex, drugs and lots of money. In season 1, a group of college grads start trial jobs at Pierpont investment bank, knowing only half will earn permanent positions.
Season 2 ushers in another group of new arrivals, while continuing to follow the highs and lows of the previous grads. Harper (Myha’la Herrold) reluctantly returns to the office after working remotely during COVID, earning her side eye from nemesis Yasmin (Marisa Abela). Determined to boost herself in their bosses’ eyes, Harper is trying to sign a new client, an obscenely wealthy pandemic profiteer (Jay Duplass).
Streaming now on HBO Max (opens in new tab)
Beavis and Butt-head (Paramount Plus)
Hehehe, they’re back! And they haven’t changed one bit. Mike Judge is reviving his animated series following the dopey teen slackers who essentially pioneer trolling. In the original iteration of the series, which ran from 1993 to 1997, they did very little but comment on music videos.
Well, one thing has changed — now they also issue their non-witticisms about TikToks and viral videos. Beavis and Butt-head have typically imbecilic responses to everything from ASMR to college acceptance letter openings. But aside from the existence of streaming, nothing about their world is different than it was in the ‘90s — which is comforting in its own way.
Streaming now on Paramount Plus (opens in new tab)
Luck (Apple TV Plus)
If Luck looks, sounds and feels like a Pixar movie, there’s a reason for that — it comes from Skydance Animation, run by disgraced former Pixar co-founder John Lasseter. The story centers on Sam, possibly the unluckiest person in the world. Dumped at a foster home as a child, she’s now about to turn 18 and age out of the system.
Things seem about to turn around when Sam finds a lucky penny, which she wants to give to a friend — but of course, she accidentally loses it, her quest to retrieve it introduces her to a lucky black cat named Bob. He takes Sam to the Land of Luck, a realm filled with four-leaf clovers and other tokens of good fortune. There, she searches for a lucky penny to take back home.
Streaming now on Apple TV Plus (opens in new tab)
What else to watch this weekend
LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation (Disney Plus)
Finn organizes a holiday for Rey, Finn and friends, but gets separated from them.
Streaming now on Disney Plus (opens in new tab)
All or Nothing: Arsenal (Prime Video)
A docu-series chronicling the inner workings of the world-famous football club.
Streaming now on Prime Video (opens in new tab)
The Hillside Strangler: Devil in Disguise (Peacock)
A docu-series about the women terrorized by a serial killer in 1970s Los Angeles.
Streaming now on Peacock (opens in new tab)
Jessica spends 12 hours a day on the internet managing security for web assets and loves her macha tea
