What’s Streaming This Week (11/23 – 11/30)

2000 METERS TO ADRIIVKA – PBS App, PBS Website (10p ET)

Synopsis: Amid the failing counteroffensive, a journalist follows a Ukrainian platoon on their mission to traverse one mile of heavily fortified forest and liberate a strategic village from Russian occupation. But the farther they advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realize that this war may never end.

What we like:

• Directed by Mstyslav Chernov, a Ukrainian journalist, war correspondent, photojournalist, and filmmaker. He previously made the critically acclaimed documentary 20 Days in Mariupol, which won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
• The film won the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award for Chernov at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. 

What we don’t like:

• As anyone who’s seen 20 Days in Mariupol can attest, these documentaries are a tough sit. The harrowing footage captured by soldiers is unnerving and heartbreaking. It’s an important document of history…but man…it’s bleak stuff.

BLUE MOON – $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Scott

Synopsis: On the evening of March 31, 1943, legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart confronts his shattered self-confidence in Sardi’s bar as his former collaborator Richard Rodgers celebrates the opening night of his ground-breaking hit musical “Oklahoma!”.

What we like:

• Richard Linklater’s second streaming release this month is the flip side of his recent Nouvelle Vague. Where that movie examined the beginning of an artist’s career (Godard), Blue Moon looks at the end of Lorenz Hart’s relevance. A great double feature!
• To play Hart, Ethan Hawke drastically changed his look: he shaved his head, wore a combover, and used posture tricks (and camera angles) to appear about a foot shorter than his real height. Here’s hoping he’s remembered at Oscar time.

What we don’t like:

• We wish this Sony Pictures Classics release had done better at arthouse theaters. It earned less than $2M at the domestic box-office, which isn’t great. The good news: Because it’s an SPC release, it will eventually hit Netflix in the US, so it should reach a wider audience eventually.

I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST – $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental

Cast: Corey Fogelmanis, Alexandra Daddario, Cole Sprouse, and Lena Dunham

Synopsis: A non-binary teen is kicked out of their North Carolina home after coming out to their ultra-religious parents. As a result, they move in with their estranged sister and her husband. Though the two are welcoming, they continue to struggle with anxiety further exacerbated by their parents’ rejection. As such, they try to keep a low profile at school. However, after they meet a proudly bisexual classmate, their life begins to look a little more hopeful.

What we like:

• An adaptation of Mason Deaver’s bestselling YA novel of the same name, this is actress Tommy Dorfman’s feature directorial debut.
• Dorfman respected the tone of the book by focusing less on typical dramatic “big reveal” tropes and more on inner life, self-acceptance, and found family.

What we don’t like:

JINGLE BELL HEIST – Netflix

Cast: Olivia Holt, Connor Swindells, Lucy Punch, Peter Serafinowicz, and Poppy Drayton

Synopsis: Sophia (Olivia Holt), a sharp-witted retail worker, and Nick (Connor Swindells), a down-on-his-luck repairman, are small-time thieves with their eyes on the same Christmas Eve score: robbing London’s most notorious department store. Forced into an uneasy alliance, as secrets surface and feelings for each other deepen, Sophia and Nick put their relationship and the heist in jeopardy.

What we like:

• It’s not just a holiday rom-com! There’s a heist angle too: two unlikely thieves team up to rob a London department store on Christmas Eve. 
• The screenplay (by Abby McDonald and Amy Reed) was previously on the 2022 “Black List”, which is a list of Hollywood’s most-liked unproduced scripts. 
• Lead Olivia Holt actually learned sleight-of-hand magic tricks for her role. She worked with a magician to become “super sly” with coins and other small tricks.

What we don’t like:

• We’ve watched the first two high-profile Netflix Christmas movies, A Merry Little Ex-Mas and Champagne Problems, and have been quite underwhelmed. We come to these films with open hearts and low expectations. The London setting sounds encouraging, we suppose. But yeesh…so far, not so great.

THE BALTIMORONS – AMC+

Cast: Michael Strassner, Liz Larsen, Olivia Luccardi

Synopsis: After cracking a tooth on Christmas Eve, newly sober Cliff embarks on an adventure through Baltimore with Didi, his emergency dentist.

What we like:

• The film is directed by Jay Duplass, of the Duplass Brothers indie filmmaking team, who co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Strassner, who also stars in the movie.
• Though it’s a Christmas movie, it’s not typical holiday fluff…it’s described as a “cringe-comedy” mixed with heartfelt realism. We can’t wait to catch up with it.

What we don’t like:

• The film opens with a suicide attempt, so we suppose a trigger warning for sensitive viewers is appropriate. Still…doesn’t It’s a Wonderful Life start with a suicide attempt? It’s cinema tradition!

BRIDE HARD – Hulu

Cast: Rebel Wilson,  Anna Camp, Anna Chlumsky, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Gigi Zumbado, Stephen Dorff, and Justin Hartley

Synopsis: Sam is a secret agent whose toughest mission to date is pleasing her bride-to-be best friend at a lavish destination wedding. When a team of mercenaries crashes the party and takes the guests hostage, Sam is thrown into a fight unlike any before — one where she can’t risk blowing her cover or ruining the big day. As she takes on the bad guys in a high-stakes battle disguised as a fairy-tale affair, she realizes the real threat might be closer than she thinks.

What we like:

• Directed by Simon West, who has helmed some entertaining action spectacles, including 1997’s Con Air and 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Plus, he directed the bonkers 1999 John Travolta thriller The General’s Daughter.
• The film has a stellar ensemble, with star Rebel Wilson supported by Justin Hartley, Anna Chlumsky, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Stephen Dorff.

What we don’t like:

• The movie was panned by many critics calling it “cringingly stupid” and “easy to break up with,” though audiences gave a moderate “B–” CinemaScore.

LEFT-HANDED GIRL – Netflix

Cast: Janel Tsai, Shih-Yuan Ma, Nina Ye, Brando Huang, Akio Chen and Xin-Yan Chao

Synopsis: A single mother and her two daughters return to Taipei after several years of living in the countryside to open a stand at a buzzing night market. Each in their own way, will have to adapt to this new environment to make ends meet and succeed in maintaining the family unity. Three generations of family secrets begin to unravel after the youngest daughter who’s left-handed is told by her traditional grandfather to never use her “devil hand”.

What we like:

• The film is the first solo feature by director Shih-Ching Tsou, who co-wrote it with Sean Baker (multiple Oscar-winner for Anora), a longtime collaborator.
• Much of the movie was filmed entirely on iPhones, which gives the film a raw, immediate feel, especially during the Taipai night-market scenes. Baker famously used an iPhone to shoot his 2015 breakout film Tangerine.
• The film is Taiwan’s submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 2026 Oscars.

What we don’t like:

• Tsou draws on her own childhood experiences, especially around being left-handed. Her grandfather reportedly told her the left hand was the “devil’s hand.” Yikes, people are still saying that???

CAUGHT STEALING – Netflix

Cast: Austin Butler, Matt Smith, Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Vincent D’Onofrio and Bad Bunny

Synopsis: Hank Thompson, a burned-out former baseball player, is unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of ’90s New York City.

What we like:

• Director Darren Aronofsky takes a bit of a tonal shift with his follow-up to the Oscar-winner The Whale (it hurts to write that). Instead of psychological heavy drama, this is a pulpy crime caper.
• The screenplay is by Charlie Huston, adapted from his own 2004 novel, and it takes place in 1998 New York, which gives it a very specific nostalgic feel. Because it’s pre-smartphone era, some plot tension comes from the fact that people don’t have instant access to information. What a time!

What we don’t like:

• With a reported budget between $40–65M, the film will struggle to make its money back. The film’s current worldwide box-office sits at only $28.3M. Do we still think Austin Butler is a movie star? Absolutely. But a star that can automatically pull an audience? Not yet.

SHE RIDES SHOTGUN – MGM+

Cast: Taron Egerton, Ana Sophia Heger, Rob Yang, and John Carroll Lynch

Synopsis: Newly released from prison and marked for death by unrelenting enemies, Nate must now protect his estranged 11-year-old daughter, Polly, at all costs. With scant resources and no one to trust, Nate and Polly form a bond forged under fire as he shows her how to fight and survive — and she teaches him what unconditional love truly means.

What we like:

• The film is based on the 2017 crime-thriller novel by Jordan Harper, who co-wrote the screenplay alongside Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski.
• Taron Egerton not only stars as Nate McClusky, the ex-con father on the run, but also serves as an executive producer.
• Ana Sophia Heger, who plays Polly (Nate’s 11-year-old daughter), delivers a stunning, emotionally raw performance.

What we don’t like:

• Despite stellar reviews (currently 86% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), Lionsgate didn’t give the film much of a marketing push, and did not report box-office grosses. Hopefully it’ll find an audience on streaming (though unlikely on MGM+).

Happy Streaming Everyone!