Gladiator II, The Return, Y2K, and every movie new to streaming
Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.
This week, Gladiator II, the long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning historical epic, wades into the open waters of VOD. That’s not all; the epic drama The Return starring Ralph Fiennes, the anime fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the disaster comedy Y2K starring Jaeden Martell (2017’s It) and Rachel Zegler (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), and more are competing for your purchase and attention this weekend.
Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!
New on Hulu
The Arctic Convoy
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Historical thriller
Run time: 1h 48m
Director: Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken
Cast: Tobias Santelmann, Anders Baasmo, Heidi Ruud Ellingsen
This wartime drama takes place in the midst of World War II, as a Norwegian cargo convoy carrying military supplies navigates the Arctic seas while dodging German naval and air attacks. The stakes are high, because this shipment of supplies could very well turn the tide of war and help the Allied forces push the Germans back.
Nightbitch
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Body horror
Run time: 1h 39m
Director: Marielle Heller
Cast: Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Arleigh Snowden
Amy Adams leads this surreal dark comedy about a frustrated stay-at-home mom who begins to exhibit increasingly doglike characteristics. Eventually, she transforms into a dog and finds joy in embracing her primal side. Based on the 2021 novel of the same name, Nightbitch first premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Adams was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in this movie.
From our review:
Yes, Nightbitch is a werewolf story — sort of. Whether trying to keep the story grounded or Mother’s transformation ambiguous (does she literally shape-shift, or just tap into primal urges?), Heller treats the story’s body-horror elements gingerly, cautiously. She also has the misfortune to do so just months after moviegoers fell in love with the unapologetic wildness of The Substance. That movie similarly illustrates something many people already understood about the female experience: Women are valued and commodified for their bodies, then heartlessly discarded when they show normal human signs of aging.
New on Starz
Borderlands
Where to watch: Available to stream on Starz
Genre: Sci-fi comedy
Run time: 1h 41m
Director: Eli Roth
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black
Excited for Borderlands 4? You should watch Borderlands, the Eli Roth-directed adaptation based on the popular looter-shooter franchise. The plot follows Lilith (Cate Blanchett), a bounty hunter hired by one of the most powerful and wealthy men in the universe to rescue his daughter Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), who has been kidnapped. A lot of other stuff happens too, but whatever, let’s be honest: You don’t come to Borderlands for the story; you come for the action and the toilet humor. Question is, does Roth’s film deliver on either?
From our review:
Borderlands isn’t a smart movie, but it isn’t meant to be. Roth and co-writer Joe Crombie are much more interested in moving snappily between necessary plot points and neat environments. The film never drags, and the sets — while noticeably enclosed, for a wasteland world — make for lively, engagingly staged action. There’s a palpable style to the movie’s version of Pandora, resting firmly on the immediately identifiable visuals of the Borderlands games.
New on Mubi
Bird
Where to watch: Available to stream on Mubi US
Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 59m
Director: Andrea Arnold
Cast: Nykiya Adams, Franz Rogowski, Barry Keoghan
American Honey director Andrea Arnold returns to feature-length fiction with this coming-of-age story about life on the fringes of society. Nykiya Adams stars as Bailey, a 12-year-old girl living with her volatile single father Bug (Barry Keoghan) and wayward brother (Jason Buda) in Gravesend, north Kent. Bailey’s life is transformed after she crosses paths with Bird (Franz Rogowski), a mysterious stranger who inspires her to see the world differently. If that’s not enticing enough, Bird also boasts a soundtrack scored by the reclusive EDM maestro Burial.
New to rent
Gladiator II
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Period epic
Run time: 2h 28m
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal
Ridley Scott finally returns with a sequel to his Oscar-winning historical epic Gladiator. Paul Mescal (Aftersun) stars in Gladiator II as Hanno, a Numidian warrior who is enslaved and taken to Rome after his home is sacked and conquered. After being discovered by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a former gladiator turned mentor, Hanno is promised he’ll be granted his revenge against General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) in exchange for his victories in the arena.
The Return
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 56m
Director: Uberto Pasolini
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Charlie Plummer
Uberto Pasolini’s dramatization of Homer’s Odyssey stars Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus, the king of Ithaca who washes ashore in his homeland 20 years after departing for the Trojan War. Scarred mentally and physically by his decades-long ordeal to return home, Odysseus must muster all of his cunning and strength to reclaim his household from a band of squatting suitors vying to marry his wife, Penelope (Juliette Binoche).
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Fantasy epic
Run time: 2h 14m
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Cast: Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Miranda Otto
Set hundreds of years before the War of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim centers on the story of Héra (Gaia Wise), the daughter of King Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox). When Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), a ruthless Dunlending lord, embarks on a campaign of revenge against her father, Héra and her family must make a last stand to protect their kingdom.
From our review:
Director Kenji Kamiyama (Blade Runner: Black Lotus) takes on the task of making an animated Middle-earth that feels like part of the same tapestry as Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies. This attention to detail and reproduction is the movie’s greatest strength — The War of the Rohirrim looks and feels like Jackson’s LotR in the best way. It’s packed full of sword-swinging adventure, kingly drama and riveting monster mayhem. Unfortunately, it also reproduces the aspect of the Jackson movies that has aged most poorly.
The Order
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Crime drama
Run time: 1h 56m
Director: Justin Kurzel
Cast: Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan
An action thriller based on a true story, The Order follows an FBI agent who realizes that a pattern in recent crimes points to white supremacist group the Silent Brotherhood — also known as the Order. Led by cult leader Bob Mathews (played here by Nicholas Hoult), the Silent Brotherhood was active in the United States in the 1980s. The Order competed for the Golden Lion at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival.
Werewolves
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Horror
Run time: 1h 33m
Director: Steven C. Miller
Cast: Frank Grillo, Katrina Law, Ilfenesh Hadera
’Tis the season for… lycanthropes? This supernatural horror thriller stars Frank Grillo as a man attempting to protect his family from a horde of werewolves summoned by a supermoon that has awakened a dormant gene in a subset of the human population. Does that make much sense? No, but it does sound like a bloody good time.
Y2K
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Horror comedy
Run time: 1h 31m
Director: Kyle Mooney
Cast: Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison
Remember when everyone thought the year 2000 would cause a bunch of electronics errors? Well, in Kyle Mooney’s Y2K, the error isn’t so much an error as it is electronic devices coming to life and trying to enslave humanity. Aren’t we glad that that didn’t happen IRL? There are some brutal and hilarious deaths, including a kill by Tamagotchi, and a very 2000 soundtrack.