Apple Offers Apple TV+ Free Preview
Courtesy Apple Studios
Apple is offering an old-style free preview weekend to non-subscribers of their Apple TV+ streaming service. The free preview will be available on Saturday January 4th and Sunday January 5th, 2025.
Apple has been teasing the preview with a ‘See For Yourself’ social media campaign the last few days, and made the preview official today.
In addition to the hundreds of episodes of original series Apple TV+ offers, non-subscribers will be able to stream their original films. This year’s slate includes:
Elly Conway, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, is the reclusive cat-loving author of a series of bestselling espionage novels about the impossibly glamorous secret agent Argylle (Henry Cavill) on a mission to unravel a nefarious spy syndicate. When Elly, with the help of feline-hating real-life spy Aidan (Sam Rockwell), discovers that her story mirrors the actions of an actual spy organization, a dangerous game of cat and mouse results. In order to stay one step ahead of the syndicate’s assassins, while also working to prevent a global crisis, these two unlikely conspirators, accompanied by Alfie the cat, find themselves in an adventure story of their own.
Since her sister’s disappearance, Jax (Lily Gladstone) has cared for her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) by scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma. Every spare minute goes into finding her missing sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. At the risk of Jax losing custody to Roki’s grandfather, Frank (Shea Whigham), the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki’s mother in time for the powwow. What begins as a search gradually turns into a far deeper investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Indigenous women moving through a colonized world while at the mercy of a failed justice system. Gladstone stars alongside Deroy-Olson, Ryan Begay, Crystle Lightning, with Audrey Wasilewski and Whigham.
Rory (Matt Damon) and Cobby (Casey Affleck) are reluctant partners: a desperate father and an ex-con thrown together to pull off a robbery of the ill-gained earnings of a corrupt politician. But when the heist goes wrong, the two find themselves engulfed in a whirlwind of chaos, pursued not only by police, but also backwards bureaucrats and vengeful crime bosses. Completely out of their depth, they convince Rory’s therapist (Hong Chau) to join their riotous getaway through the city, where they must put aside their differences and work together to evade capture — or worse. Directed by Doug Liman and written by Chuck MacLean and Affleck, “The Instigators” also stars Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina and Toby Jones, with Jack Harlow and Ron Perlman.
“Napoleon: The Director’s Cut” stars Joaquin Phoenix as the French emperor and military leader. The film is a fresh and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby. The director’s cut delves deeper into Josephine’s origin story and features more extravagant costumes, new larger-than-life sets, and the previously unreleased Battle of Marengo scene. The audience is also given more details about Napoleon’s demise, from his attempted assassination to his failed invasion of Russia.
Global superstars George Clooney and Brad Pitt team up for the action comedy “Wolfs.” Clooney plays a professional fixer hired to cover up a high-profile crime. But when a second fixer (Pitt) shows up and the two “lone wolves” are forced to work together, they find their night spiraling out of control in ways that neither one of them expected.
In “The Last of the Sea Women,” an extraordinary band of feisty grandmother warriors wage a spirited battle against vast oceanic threats. Often called real-life mermaids, the haenyeo divers of South Korea’s Jeju Island are renowned for centuries of diving to the ocean floor — without oxygen — to harvest seafood for their livelihood. Today, with most haenyeo now in their 60s, 70s and 80s, their traditions and way of life are in imminent danger. But these fierce, funny and hardworking women refuse to give an inch, aided by a younger generation’s fight to revive their ancestral lifestyle through social media. Peering into what drives haenyeo young and old, this moving documentary zeroes in on their tight-knit friendships, savvy independence and infectious sense of empowerment. The story unfolds into an uplifting tale of women taking on world powers to protect their beloved ocean and inspire a new generation.
Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” follows the epic journey of George (Elliott Heffernan), a 9-year-old boy in World War II London whose mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to his mom and his grandfather Gerald (Paul Weller) in East London, embarks on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.
Starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, “Fly Me to the Moon” is a sharp, stylish comedy-drama set against the high-stakes backdrop of NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing. Sparks fly in all directions as marketing maven Kelly Jones (Johansson), brought in to fix NASA’s public image, wreaks havoc on launch director Cole Davis’ (Tatum) already difficult task. When the White House deems the mission too important to fail, Jones is directed to stage a fake moon landing as backup, and the countdown truly begins.
Of course, you’ll also have access to Apple Films’ older titles, including KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, FLORA AND SON, and (ug) GHOSTED.
Enjoy the weekend binge!
