What’s Popular On Streaming Now
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. X-Men ’97 (Disney+ series)
Deadpool & Wolverine is aiming to resurrect the MCU like “Marvel Jesus,” but the Merc With The Mouth might be distracted with some claws to the #*&@. Fortunately, other backup mutants have arrived as reinforcements in this Disney+ series, which throws back to the uncanny 1990s era. In the process, the mutants will protect those who despise them in this series that acts as a fresh-juice infusion for the nerd contingent.
9. The Sympathizer (HBO series streaming on Max)
Robert Downey Jr. is getting his espionage on (watch out, The Night Agent) while taking on four roles including film director, professor, congressman, and CIA operative. This series adapts Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a Vietnam War-era spy (portrayed by Hoa Xuande) who takes up refuge in Los Angeles, and RDJ’s characters are pivotal along the way. The tone is satiric, so get ready to embrace the unembraceable while marveling at the newly crowned Oscar winner’s range.
8. Ripley (Netflix series)
This limited series (and the streaming service has not hinted otherwise) follows Andrew Scott as the Patricia Highsmith character previously portrayed by Matt Damon on the big screen. However, this series adopts a different aesthetic bent than the sun-dappled 1999 production starring Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. Still, the psychological thriller aspect remains within the more closed confines of the small screen. The results, which partially roll out like a film noir tribute, are astonishing.
7. Late Night With The Devil (Umbrella Entertainment film streaming on Shudder and AMC+)
This Stephen King-approved horror film stars David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy, a late 1970s Johnny Carson rival whose ratings have fallen into Hell, so he ends up (as the title suggests) courting true evil on his show in an attempt to bring the show’s black magic back. Remember the found footage trend in horror films? This movie does things right in that department.
6. Shōgun (FX series streaming on Hulu)
This series has now come to an almost-certain end after arguably delivering the most lushly rendered series in this era of “epic” TV productions. May Cosmo Jarvis forever be a household name for his performance in this superior adaptation of James Clavell’s most well-known novel. Then there’s the most refreshing part of this series: despite too many characters to count and a wide array of historical narrative twists, this series isn’t difficult to follow. That’s (part of) the beauty of how deftly this show weaved in exposition, so that it feels authentic, which is no small feat on several levels for this iconic story.
5. Knuckles ( Paramount+ series)
Idris Elba reprises the beloved role that he originated in Sonic The Hedgehog 2 to bridge the gap ahead of the third movie while taking up the magnificent feat of preparing another Echidna warrior. Man, CGI/live-action combos have come a long way since James Marsden starred in Hop.
4. Under The Bridge (Hulu series)
Lily Gladstone is following up her arresting Killers of the Flower Moon performance in this true-crime series adaptation of the late Rebecca Godfrey’s same-named book that dives tail first into 14-year-old Reena Virk’s murder after it flipped a Canadian town on its head. The story carries some Sharp Objects flavor with True Detective vibes alongside its real-life origins. Riley Keough portrays Godfrey, and Gladstone suits up as a cop as the two women take different approaches to the pursuit of justice.
3. Fallout (Amazon Prime series)
Gamers were undeniably thrilled to binge the entire season in one serving, but the downside is that the wait for a second season might feel longer. Walton Goggins steals the show, like he always does, as the nose-free character of The Ghoul. Yes, he’s missing a nose, but he’s not missing the classic Goggins charisma that oozes into every nook and cranny of the souls that he inhabits. This series also joins the unprecedented wave of successful video-game adaptations that have been handed to audiences with Hollywood finally getting things right in this realm.
2. Anyone But You (Sony Pictures Releasing film on Netflix)
Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell totally knew what they were doing with those dating rumors, and honestly? Good on ’em. The pair has made romcoms viable in theaters again to the tune of $218+ million globally, so let’s hope that Hollywood seizes the moment in a proper way and doesn’t learn the wrong lessons. We need chemistry, people, and we get it with Sweeney and Powell pretending to hate each other but (of course) falling hard in the end. It doesn’t hurt that both leads are easy on the eyes, and long live sleeper movies as the most pleasant surprises in cinema.
1. Baby Reindeer (Netflix series)
Richard Gadd created and stars in this brilliant (although triggering) project that adapts his one-man stage play about his real-life experience of being raped before landing in a traumatic spiral, where a stalker felt free to insert herself. That’s an oversimplistic description of a nuanced series from the Scottish comedian, who embodies Donny with heartbreaking touches also laced with dark comedy. Gadd has cautioned viewers to cease attempting to unravel the true identities of those who plagued him, and if you haven’t watched this series yet, be ready to feel both horrified and spellbound by how Gadd lays himself bare to the world.