Every single week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.
10. Yellowjackets – Showtime series streaming on Paramount+
This Showtime series got a nice boost by landing on Netflix before the show’s third season surfaces next year, so a whole new audience will likely be watching live, if they caught up with the second season on Paramount+. Sure, the series isn’t always an easy watch due to grueling conditions for the characters, but the soundtrack is killer, the dynamics are raging, and Christina Ricci seems to be having the time of her life. Her antagonistic era also includes the first Wednesday season on Netflix, too.
9. Caddo Lake – Max film
M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap is new to streaming this week, but he also produced this Max film that is best viewed after looking up absolutely zero about its premise. Does it have twists? Come on, that’s a Shyamalan signature.
8. Outer Banks – Netflix series
Those Pogues tried to be less Pogue-y, and only one of them has succeeded and not the way that he wanted this to happen. In fact, this semi-Pogue’s newfound knowledge will rattle his Pogue-self down to its very core. Oh, and there’s also more treasure hunting afoot. Not even the El Dorado gold discovery could top their current hunt, and this season also sees them face off with dangerous new forces, including a character portrayed by Pollyanna McIntosh. It’s not a Jadis crossover, but it’s the closest we’ll probably come to a second season of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
7. Sweetpea – Starz series
Ella Purnell is currently dominating video-game adaptations, but here, she’s pulling an American Psycho-meets-Heathers-type character in a “coming of rage” story based upon C.J. Skuse’s same-named novel. Purnell’s character, Rhiannon (inspired by the Fleetwood Mac song), has had enough of being walked all over as a wallflower, so watch out, world.
6. Alien: Romulus – 20th Century Studios film on VOD & Amazon Prime
Fede Álvarez’s Evil Dead reboot is well worth a rewatch on either Hulu or Max since this interquel movie isn’t streaming on Hulu yet, but that hasn’t stopped it from flying into space via VOD platforms. Following this facehugging-good time for an unfortunate group of space scavengers, FX will unleash Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth (which will star Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, and Timothy Olyphant) upon Hulu. Everything is coming up Xenomorphs, y’all.
5. Smile – Paramount film streaming on Paramount+
You know the drill. With a sequel currently in theaters, audiences are heading back to where it all began. In this case, a viral marketing success led to this franchise being instantly recognizable by those unsettling expressions that likely took this movie from streaming to theatrical. Of course, the subject matter of the movie is anything but cheery and involves trauma and upsetting visions plaguing a psychologist trapped in the most effective “curse” since the Ringu (and Americanized The Ring) movies.
4. Teacup – Peacock series
Get your James Wan fix on with this horror series that takes inspiration from Robert McCammon’s Bram Stoker Award-nominated Stinger. Future seasons are being spoken of although not confirmed, but my god, do not cross any lines if you ever see a gas mask-wearing dude spray painting them near your property. No wonder Yvonne Strahovski mentioned that she expected to be filming a production that was less stressful than A Handmaid’s Tale, but it didn’t turn out that way.
3. The Penguin – Max series
Don’t get the wrong idea, this is still very much the show “with Colin Farrell in prosthetics,” but HBO, Craig Zobel, and Matt Reeves are pulling out every available stop to elevate this series beyond expectations. Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot has been navigating the Gotham underworld’s power vacuum and finding exactly where he fits in after the murder of mob boss Carmine Falcone by Paul Dano’s The Riddler, and Cristin Milioti is also periodically stealing the spotlight as Sofia Falcone.
2. Woman Of The Hour – Netflix film
Daniel Zovatto can pull off about eight different moods in a single moment of silence while portraying serial killer Rodney Alcala. That should be enough to convince anybody who’s on the fence on whether to watch this potentially triggering true-crime dramatization of what happened when Alcala decided to compete on The Dating Game. First-time director Anna Kendrick also stars as 1970s aspiring actress Cheryl Bradshaw, who unfortunately made the wrong choice on the show, but it didn’t take along for her alarm bells to go off. Each of Alcala’s victims are portrayed with nuance, and a breakout performance comes from Autumn Best as a drifter, Amy, whose story takes the tightly scripted film into its climax.
1. The Lincoln Lawyer – Netflix series
Be careful with this one because those who have already watched have been so drawn in by a cliffhanger that questions about a fourth season are swirling like mad. On the bright side, this season’s take on Michael Connelly’s The Gods Of Guilt ties up the Glory Days storyline and should lead to more justice for Mickey Haller if that Netflix renewal happens. Also, this season brought back Neve Campbell’s character, Maggie, so there’s plenty of win-win-win going on aside from that gut-punching season finale.