After a stellar crop of top new movies landed across the best streaming services last week, this week’s offering might look a little slimmer, but there’s still plenty of great watches in the lineup. Hulu subscribers can look forward to a sweet watch featuring Brendan Fraser and Harris Dickinson’s feature directorial debut, while HBO Max is due to board an icy thriller with Emma Thompson.
Plus, there’s a strong selection of movies due to hit Premium Video On-Demand storefronts this week, too. I’ve rounded up the films that need to be on your radar this week below. For more streaming recommendations, check out our guide to the top new TV shows streaming this week, or the new Netflix releases you can look forward to streaming over the coming days.
’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ (PVOD)
My top pick this week would be “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” which has its digital premiere this week. Nia DaCosta’s follow-up to last year’s “28 Years Later” brings us back into the action for a brutal follow-up that finds Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) striking up a new relationship with potentially world-changing consequences.
Meanwhile, young Spike (Alfie Williams) finds himself trapped in a whole other waking nightmare after his chance encounter with Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) and his sadistic, tracksuit-clad followers in the closing moments of the previous film. “The Bone Temple” serves as a visceral reminder that, while the Infected still roam the land, the depravity of some of the remaining human survivors is altogether more terrifying…
Watch “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” on PVOD from Feb. 17
‘Dead of Winter’ (HBO Max)
Brian Kirk’s stark psychological thriller takes us to northern Minnesota for a tense, taut watch that puts Emma Thompson’s grieving widow, Barb, through the wringer.
Barb sets out to fulfill her husband’s last request — to have his ashes scattered in Lake Hilda, where the pair had their first date — but she’s forced to detour when a snowstorm hits while she’s en route. There, Barb makes a shocking discovery: a desperate couple (Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca) has imprisoned a terrified young woman (Laurel Marsden). That discovery pushes our unlikely hero into the limelight in a desperate fight to ensure the girl’s (and her own) survival.
Watch “Dead of Winter” on HBO Max from Feb. 20
‘Firebreak’ (Netflix)
Netflix’s big release this week is the third season of its spy thriller “The Night Agent,” but subscribers can also look forward to streaming what looks to be an intense Spanish-language thriller this coming Friday, too.
“Firebreak” whisks us off on a trip alongside Mara (Belén Cuesta) and her daughter Lide (Candela Martínez). Mara’s headed off with Lide and other members of the family to their summer home in the woods in an effort to heal old wounds (and to prep the property for sale). That vacation/final goodbye to their past is turned upside down when Lide disappears just as a forest fire breaks out in the area. Isolated and without help, Mara tries to find and save her daughter before it’s too late. And as the fire’s apparently not the only threat, “Firebreak” looks to be a real tense race against time…
Watch “Firebreak” on Netflix from Feb. 20
‘Rental Family’ (Hulu)
Hikari’s “Rental Family” is a feel-good story about human connection set in modern-day Tokyo, and it’s coming to Hulu this week. In it, we meet Phil (Brendan Fraser), an American actor who is struggling to find purpose until he lands an unusual new gig as part of a Japanese “rental family” agency, playing stand-in roles for lonely strangers.
As he commits to his new roles and immerses himself in his clients’ worlds, Fraser’s actor starts to form some genuine bonds, ones that blur the lines between the professional and personal realm. “Rental Family” is a sweet, warm-hearted watch that should fit the bill if you’re in the mood for a fuzzy feeling this week.
Watch “Rental Family” on Hulu from Feb. 18
‘The Dreadful’ (PVOD)
In the mood for some horror this week? Natasha Kermani’s “The Dreadful” is pitched as a “chilling Gothic tale” that could fit the bill. This new arrival (which hits theaters and PVOD storefronts this week) reunites “Game of Thrones” stars Sophie Turner and Kit Harington for a new tale that takes us back in time to medieval England.
There, we meet Anne and her domineering mother-in-law, Morwen, who are struggling to survive on the outskirts of society. When a man from Anne’s past returns from the war, a curse begins to take shape through a mysterious knight and threatens to destroy them all.
Watch “The Dreadful” on PVOD from Feb. 20
‘The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants’ (Paramount+)
Need something to entertain the whole family this week? SpongeBob’s latest big-screen adventure is splashing down on Paramount+ this week, and it should fit the bill.
“Search for SquarePants” sees everyone’s favorite sponge heading off on a quest to prove his “Big Guy” bravery to Mr. Krabs. How? By following the mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate, The Flying Dutchman, on a seafaring adventure that takes him on an adventure way down to the deepest depths of the ocean.
Watch “The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants” on Paramount+ from Feb. 17
‘Urchin’ (Hulu)
“Babygirl” star (and soon-to-be John Lennon in Sam Mendes four-part Beatles biopic project) Harris Dickinson made his feature directorial debut with the drama “Urchin” last year, and this acclaimed, empathic British drama is set to land on Hulu later this week.
“Urchin” introduces us to Mike (Frank Dillane), a man who has spent five years sleeping rough on the streets of London and trapped in a cycle of self-destruction while trying to turn his life around. He’s juggling the rush of a fresh start with his past.
Watch “Urchin” on Hulu from Feb. 17
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