Looking for the best new movies to watch this weekend? It can be a pain deciding what to watch, given everything coming and going from the best streaming services. That’s why I’m here every weekend, separating the wheat from the chaff to highlight the best of the best. That way, you can skip the scrolling and get to streaming the latest must-watch additions that are actually worth your time.
Leading the pack this week is the quietly poignant “Train Dreams” on Netflix, a historical drama that’s sure to tug at your heartstrings. Music fans can also check out “One Shot with Ed Sheeran” on the streamer, too, a charming documentary shot in one take by the director of “Adolescence.” Over on Apple TV Plus, you can catch a Christmas-themed sequel to Apple’s hit action comedy “The Family Plan.” Meanwhile, Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch go head-to-head in “The Roses” on Hulu, and anyone looking for scares this holiday can see “The Conjuring: Last Rites” on HBO Max.
‘Train Dreams’ (Netflix)
“Train Dreams” stands out as one of Netflix’s must-watch releases this month. It’s a beautifully shot and deeply emotional tale of love, family, and loss that’s sure to hit home with audiences.
This historical drama stars Joel Edgerton as Robert Grainier, a woodsman in the American West whose life unfolds in almost “Forrest Gump”–like fashion on screen. With gentle narration guiding the story along, we follow Robert as he builds a family, experiences love and loss, and carves out his own sense of peace amid the dizzying growth of the early 20th century.
Watch “Train Dreams” on Netflix now
‘The Family Plan 2’ (Apple TV)
‘Tis the season of Christmas movies, and Apple’s hit action comedy just got a yuletide sequel. The Morgan family set out to Europe for what patriarch Dan (Mark Wahlberg) planned to be the perfect cozy Christmas getaway. But those plans go out the window when a ghost from his days as an assassin (Kit Harington) crashes the party.
Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan slip right back into their bickering-but-loving banter as their trip spirals into rooftop chases and a chaotic detour through Paris. It’s the perfect pick if you want a holiday movie that trades mistletoe and cozy vibes for mayhem.
Watch “The Family Plan 2” on Apple TV now
‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ (HBO Max)
“The Conjuring” is one of my favorite horror franchises of all time, and its fourth and supposedly final entry once again serves up plenty of scares with a fresh case for real-life-inspired paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga). Set in 1986, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” sees the couple head into one of their most unsettling encounters yet when the Smurl family in Pennsylvania is tormented by a sinister presence in their new home.
Their daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) gets wrapped up in the case when her ability to sense the dead becomes key to closing a portal that unleashed the evil. It’s a fun watch with plenty of nightmare fuel, even if it largely sticks to the series’ familiar, crowd-pleasing formula.
Watch “The Conjuring: Last Rites” on HBO Max now
‘The Roses’ (Hulu)
All’s fair in love and war, as Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch’s characters find out in director Jay Roach’s cheeky remake of the 1989 film (based on the novel of the same name). They start as a picture-perfect couple, but when his career crashes and burns just as hers takes off, their marriage combusts in spectacular fashion.
I enjoyed watching the tinderbox of competition between them ignite, but the chemistry between the two leads is what really sold me on “Three Roses.” I could watch Colman and Cumberbatch trade barbs all day.
Watch “The Roses” on Hulu now
‘One Shot with Ed Sheeran’ (Netflix)
Philip Barantini, the director of this year’s megahit “Adolescence,” brings the same captivating filmmaking technique to “One Shot with Ed Sheeran,” which blurs the line between documentary and a live performance special. The multi-time Grammy Award winner invites audiences on a seamless trip through one of the busiest cities in the world. It’s a single-take journey that starts with a sound check at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom that spills out into the city streets.
It kicks off a whirlwind tour of Manhattan before he returns to the now-packed theater to kick off the night’s show. The end result is both an impressive feat of carefully choreographed camera work and an innovative music experience in one of America’s most iconic cities.
Watch “One Shot with Ed Sheeran” on Netflix now
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