Welcome to When To Stream’s Weekly Preview! Every week, we take a closer look at the major film streaming releases scheduled to launch in the next 7 days. As always, release dates are subject to change.
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Here are this week’s highlights:
Tuesday, April 28th, 2026
EXIT 8 – $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental
Cast: Kazunari Ninomiya, Yamato Kochi, Naru Asanuma, Kotone Hanase, and Nana Komatsu
Synopsis: The story follows a man trapped in an endless sterile subway passageway, who sets out to find Exit 8. The rules of his quest are simple: do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don’t, carry on. Then leave from Exit 8. But even a single oversight will send him back to the beginning.
What we like:
- The film is adapted from a 2023 indie game where you simply walk through a subway corridor and spot “anomalies.” There’s almost no story or dialogue in the game, so the filmmakers had to build a full narrative from a minimalist concept.
- Instead of jump scares, the film focuses on subtle changes. Posters are slightly different, objects are moving, people are behaving “off.” The tension comes from questioning your own perception, which mirrors the anxiety of the game.
- At the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it world premiered, the film won an award for Best Poster Design.
What we don’t like:
- The Japanese film attracted some controversy in its home country over a scene that depicts a tsunami, as well as the production company’s delay in issuing an official warning about this potentially upsetting content, which came three days after the film’s release.
FORBIDDEN FRUITS – $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental
Cast: Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Chamberlain, and Gabrielle Union
Synopsis: Free Eden employee Apple secretly runs a witchy femme cult in the basement of the mall store after hours – with fellow fruits Cherry and Fig. But when new hire Pumpkin challenges their performative sisterhood, the women are forced to face their own poisons or succumb to a bloody fate.
What we like:
- Director Meredith Alloway makes her feature film debut with this horror comedy. She also co-wrote the screenplay with Lily Houghton, which is based on Houghton’s stage play Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die.
- The script was featured on the 2023 Black List of the “most liked” screenplays currently not in production.
- Canadian costume designer Sarah Millman, who’s work includes the upcoming Tuner, collaborated with famed designer label Rodarte for a number of looks in the film.
What we don’t like:
- After world premiering at the 2026 SXSW Festival, critics gave the film mixed reviews. It currently has a 56 score on Metacritic. We’re intrigued to see if this can become The Craft for a new generation.
HOPPERS – $29.99 Sale / TBD Rental
Cast: Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Meryl Streep, Dave Franco, Kathy Najimy, Eduardo Franco, Melissa Villaseñor, Ego Nwodim, Vanessa Bayer, Sam Richardson, Aparna Nancherla, Nichole Sakura, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Steve Purcell, Karen Huie, Tom Law
Synopsis: Scientists have discovered how to “hop” human consciousness into lifelike robotic animals, allowing people to communicate with animals as animals. Animal lover Mabel seizes an opportunity to use the technology, uncovering mysteries within the animal world that are beyond anything she could have imagined.
What we like:
- Daniel Chong, best known as the creator of Cartoon Network’s television series We Bare Bears, helms his first Pixar feature film. He previously worked as a storyboard artist on the animated films Bolt (2008), Cars 2 (2011), Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (2012), Free Birds (2013), and Inside Out (2015).
- A side character known as “Tom the Lizard” unexpectedly blew up online, becoming one of the film’s biggest marketing boosts through memes.
- While not exactly a blockbuster in classic Disney/Pixar terms, this original film did mark a bit of a comeback for the beleaguered studio. Debuting with a $45-46M domestic and $88M global, it was the studio’s best opening for an original film since 2017’s Coco.
What we don’t like:
- A MAGA influencer complained the film was ‘non-biblical’ and that “None of the main human characters are likable.” She went on to say, negatively, that the movie promoted ideas that “all people are good inside” and that “animals should be elevated to the same level as humans.” She sounds like a fun hang!
A MAGNIFICENT LIFE – $19.99 Sale / TBD Rental
Cast: Laurent Lafitte, Géraldine Pailhas
Synopsis: In 1955, 60-year-old Marcel Pagnol is a well-known and acclaimed playwright and filmmaker. When the editor-in-chief of ELLE magazine commissions a weekly column about Pagnol’s childhood, he sees this as a great opportunity to go back to his artistic roots: writing. Realizing his memory is failing him and deeply affected by the disappointing results of his last two plays, Pagnol starts doubting his ability to pursue his work. That is until Little Marcel – the young boy he used to be – appears to him as if by magic. Together, they will explore Marcel Pagnol’s incredible life and bring back to life his most cherished encounters and memories…
What we like:
- The first film in 15 years from acclaimed French animator Sylvain Chomet, who’s best known in the US for his Oscar-nominated 2003 film The Triplets of Belleville.
- The film follows Marcel Pagnol, a hugely influential French writer, playwright, and filmmaker from the early 20th century. He was behind famous works like the “Marseille Trilogy,” and the movie traces his rise from a curious child to a major artistic figure.
- The film received multiple award nominations, including citations from theAnnecy International Animation Film Festival (Best Feature), the Annie Awards (Best Independent Feature), and the Lumière Awards (Best Animated Film).
What we don’t like:
- This one received decidedly mixed reviews from critics. It currently sits at a 60 score on Metacritic. Those reviews likely kept arthouse audience away, as the film earned a dismal $127K for distributor Sony Pictures Classics.
SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT – Screambox
Cast: Rohan Campbell, Ruby Modine, David Tomlinson, Erik Athavale, Mark Acheson, David Lawrence Brown
Synopsis: After witnessing his parents’ brutal murder on Christmas Eve, Billy transforms into a Killer Santa, delivering a yearly spree of calculated, chilling violence. This year, his blood-soaked mission collides with love, as a young woman challenges him to confront his darkness.
What we like:
- This is the second reboot of the original 1984 Silent Night, Deadly Night (after a 2012 version called Silent Night), making it the seventh installment in the overall franchise.
- The movie was shot in Manitoba, Canada, especially Winnipeg and nearby small towns, to capture an authentic snowy atmosphere perfect for a Christmas horror backdrop. No fake snow in this one.
- After its world premiere as a ‘Secret Screening’ at the 2025 Fantastic Fest, the film has received mostly positive reviews. It currently sits at 77% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
What we don’t like:
- Cineverse opened this in wide release on December 12th, but it managed only $1.5M at the domestic box-office. Might it have fared better to release it a month earlier in theaters, and then launch it on digital a week or so before the holiday?
THEY WILL KILL YOU – $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental
Cast: Zazie Beetz, Myha’La, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, and Patricia Arquette
Synopsis: A woman answers a help wanted ad to be a housekeeper in a mysterious high-rise in New York City, not realizing she is entering a community that has seen a number of disappearances over the years and may be under the grip of a Satanic cult.
What we like:
- Zazie Beetz gets her first lead role in this Rosemary’s Baby meets The Raid action thriller, which has a talented supporting cast that includes Patricia Arquette, Heather Graham, Tom Felton, and Myha’La.
- Director Kirill Sokolov said the idea for the film came from a strange apartment he once lived in, where he discovered hidden connections between units, sparking the idea of a secret cult inside a residential building.
- The film’s reviews were good…but not great. It currently sits at 64% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
What we don’t like:
- Warner Bros couldn’t get much traction for this one at the box-office, as it grossed only $10.8M domestically. It probably didn’t help that Searchlight Pictures’ very similar-in-concept Ready or Not 2: Here I Come opened in theaters one week earlier. That one didn’t exactly hit big either, so it seems like audiences just didn’t have an appetite for the genre.
Also Streaming Tuesday:
Friday, May 1st, 2026
SWAPPED – Netflix
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Juno Temple, Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer
Synopsis: A buddy comedy about a small woodland creature (voiced by Michael B. Jordan) and a majestic bird (voiced by Juno Temple) — natural sworn enemies of the Valley — who suddenly swap bodies and must team up (while walking in each other’s feathers and fur) to survive the wildest adventure of their lives.
What we like:
- This animated comedy is directed by Nathan Greno, who is best known for co-directing the popular 2010 Disney hit Tangled.
- Swapped was originally intended to be released on Apple TV+, but in October 2023, Netflix took over the film’s distribution rights from Apple, as part of a new multi-year deal with Skydance Animation.
- Michael B. Jordan’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning role in Sinners!
What we don’t like:
- We’re back complaining about generic titles! The movie was originally called Pookoo during development before being renamed Swapped closer to release. Guys! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Pookoo is a perfectly wonderful title that kids would love to say. It’s got Poo right there! Kids giggle when they say Poo! Are any kids giggling when they say ‘Swapped?’ Not unless they’ve gotten in to their parents’ gummies (which would be bad).
“WUTHERING HEIGHTS” – HBO Max
Cast: Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, and Ewan Mitchell
Synopsis: A passionate and tumultuous love story set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors, exploring the intense and destructive relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw.
What we like:
- Director Emerald Fennell follows up her buzzy eat-the-rich confection Saltburn with this literary adaptation. And while Saltburn struggled at the box-office, this was a big fat hit for Warner Bros.
- Although based on the classic novel by Emily Brontë, Fennell made it clear she considers it “a version,” not the adaptation. Her goal was to recreate the feeling of reading it as a teenager, not strictly follow the book.
- Co-lead Margot Robbie is also a producer of the film under her label LuckyChap Entertainment.
What we don’t like:
- The decision to cast Jacob Elordi, a white actor, as the racially ambiguous Heathcliff, described in the novel as a “dark-skinned gipsy” or “Lascar”, sparked controversy. Fennell defended her decision, stating that he “looked exactly like the illustration of Heathcliff on the first book that I read.”
Also Streaming Friday:
Saturday, May 2nd, 2026
HALLOW ROAD – Hulu
Cast: Rosamund Pike, Matthew Rhys, Megan McDonnell
Synopsis: Two parents receive a distressing late-night call from their teenage daughter, who has just accidentally hit a pedestrian. They jump in their car, racing to get there before anyone else stumbles across the scene. As they head deeper into the night, disturbing revelations threaten to tear the family apart as they soon realise they might not be the only ones driving down Hallow Road.
What We like:
- Essentially a car-bound thriller, with the majority of the story unfolding as the parents drive to reach their daughter. But if a film sticks you in one location for the majority of its runtime, it’s essential to have actors as capable and compelling as Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys.
- After world premiering at last year’s SXSW Festival, the film received positive reviews, and even won something called ‘The Duel Threat Special Award’ from the Austin Film Critics Association. Not sure what that means…but a win is a win!
What we don’t like:
- XYZ Films, a prolific production company dipping its toes in to distribution, made a valiant effort to drum up theatrical business for Hallow Road around Halloween, offering it up as a double feature with the acclaimed French/Belgian thriller Vincent Must Die. It was a unique marketing stunt, but didn’t seem to drum up much business or buzz. Let’s hope audiences find this small gem on streaming (and we’ll let you know when Vincent Must Die gets an SVOD date).
Happy Streaming Everyone!
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