After Disney Plus and Prime Video stole the headlines last week with The Mandalorian season 3 and Daisy Jones and the Six, respectively, Netflix returns to business this weekend with a stellar lineup of new movies and TV shows for you to choose from.
Leading the charge is Luther: The Fallen Sun, which brings Idris Elba’s titular BBC detective to the big (or small?) screen for the very first time. The second half of You season 4 is also now available on Netflix, while Outlast – a brand new Netflix-produced reality show – looks set to be the internet’s next viral obsession.
There are plenty more new movies and series to enjoy elsewhere this weekend, too. Below, we’ve rounded up the best of the bunch on HBO Max, Hulu, and more.
Luther: The Fallen Sun (Netflix)
One of the most anticipated new Netflix movies of 2023, Luther: The Fallen Sun has arrived to bring Idris Elba’s hard-nosed crime-fighter to a global audience.
This feature-length continuation of the BBC’s celebrated detective series finds the brilliant but disgraced Luther serving time behind bars when a serial killer begins to terrorize London. Dermot Crowley returns to action alongside Elba, while newcomers include Cynthia Erivo and Andy Serkis.
Reviews for Luther: The Fallen Sun have been generally positive so far, though several critics have called out the film’s unnecessarily grisly violence. For those who aren’t squeamish, though, this might well be one of the best Netflix movies of 2023.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
You season 4 part 2 (Netflix)
The second half of You season 4 – which began streaming in February – is now available on Netflix.
Without wishing to divulge spoilers for those who haven’t yet seen part 1, You’s fourth installment finds serial stalker Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgely) living a new life as a literature professor in London (working under the pseudonym Jonathan Moore). This time, though, Joe is the one who soon finds himself being pursued by a mysterious stalker.
You season 4 part 1 ended with Joe uncovering the identity of his pursuer, so these final five episodes chart the fallout of that dramatic discovery. Here’s hoping Netflix renews You, one of the best Netflix shows, for a fifth season.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Chang Can Dunk (Disney Plus)
If you’re into saccharine sports dramas, Disney Plus’ new basketball movie, Chang Can Dunk, could be the uplifting tale for you.
This Jingyi Shao-directed film follows Chang (Bloom Li), an Asian-American high school student who bets the school basketball star that he can dunk by Homecoming. In typical Disney style, though, “before he can rise up, [Chang will] have to re-examine everything he knows about himself, his friendships, and his family”. Cue the eye rolls.
In fairness, reviews for Chang Can Dunk have been surprisingly solid, with THR calling the film a “coming-of-age charmer that’s not as formulaic as it appears”. Perhaps, then, this one will make it onto our list of the best Disney Plus movies, after all.
Now available to stream on Disney Plus.
Outlast (Netflix)
The BBC’s Among Us-style reality show, The Traitors, has already taken the internet by storm in 2023, but Netflix’s Outlast could soon take its crown as the series everybody’s talking about.
Netflix calls the show “a raw survival competition where 16 lone wolves must outlast each other in the Alaskan wilderness in an attempt to win $1 million”. The catch, however, is that these so-called lone wolves must necessarily work together to bag the cash prize.
Critics have called Outlast a “brilliant survival series that ends up in full-on Lord of the Flies wildness”, so we’re excited to see what chaos ensues across its eight-episode first season.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Rain Dogs (HBO Max)
This Country star Daisy May Cooper leads the cast of Rain Dogs, the latest co-production between HBO and the BBC.
This eight-episode black comedy series – from newcomer Cash Carraway – centers on Costello Jones, a working-class single mother who goes from mishap to mishap with the help of her two best friends, Selby (Jack Farthing) and Gloria (Ronke Adekoluejo).
Despite that generic synopsis, Rain Dogs has been near-universally praised for being “like no other family comedy on TV”. Time even went as far as to say: “Like any great album, the show’s eight short, thrilling episodes demand to be played on repeat”. Its first episode is available to stream now on HBO Max, with a UK release date yet to be confirmed.
Now available to stream on HBO Max.
A Spy Among Friends (ITVX, Prime Video, MGM Plus)
Having already streamed on ITVX in the UK back in December – and on Prime Video in Canada last month – A Spy Among Friends finally comes to the US via MGM Plus.
Starring Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce, this six-episode adaptation of Ben Macintyre’s novel of the same name follows a pair of Cold War-era British spies whose friendship is tested when one of them is revealed to be a double agent secretly working for the KGB.
Critics didn’t love A Spy Among Friends when it debuted in the UK last year, but we’re inclined to believe that the combined star power of Lewis and Pearce must count for something.
Available to stream on MGM Plus from Sunday.
95th Academy Awards (Hulu, FuboTV, Sky Go)
It’s that time again, ladies and gentleman: the Oscars are back for another year. Jimmy Kimmel is returning as host of the annual awards show, which is due to kick off at 8pm ET / 5pm PT on Sunday in the US, and 1am GMT in the UK.
Everything Everywhere All At Once leads this year’s pack of films with 11 nominations, while the likes of Elvis, The Fabelmans, The Banshees of Inisherin, Tár and Top Gun: Maverick will all be vying for the coveted Best Picture trophy.
Available to stream on FuboTV and Hulu in the US, and Sky Go in the UK, from Sunday.
