The best new movies to watch on streaming this week include some of the biggest blockbuster movies of the year, the latest originals from the top streamers, and some smaller movies audiences might have missed in theaters. With the fall season, many of the summer’s biggest blockbusters and the best movies from early in 2024 are now available to stream on platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Peacock, and Paramount+ — including many that have only recently left theaters. There are also some streaming releases gaining award-season buzz.
The whole family can now enjoy the latest offering from Pixar as Inside Out 2 becomes available for streaming at home. However, there are also some new horror selections for those looking to get in the Halloween mood, with Salem’s Lot and In a Violent Nature. Audiences can check out the latest projects from some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, such as Zendaya, Will Ferrell, and the combined star power of George Clooney and Brad Pitt. The streaming world is open with options, but these are the best new movies to check out right now.
10 Salem’s Lot (2024) – Max
The Latest Adaptation Of Stephen King’s Vampire Tale
During the spooky season of Halloween, many viewers want to get cozy at home with a good horror movie and the latest Stephen King adaptation seems like the ideal selection for this time of the year. Salem’s Lot is the latest movie version of King’s 1975 novel of the same name which has often been called his scariest work. It is a reputation that proves daunting for any adaptation looking to capture the creepy vibes of the source material, but 2024’s Salem’s Lot is a solid vampire horror movie.
The movie follows Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman), a writer who returns to his childhood hometown to write his latest work, only to discover an eeriness throughout the town. As Ben and some of the other brave citizens of Jerusalem’s Lot begin to take a deeper look at the strange behavior, new residents, and missing people, they discover an ancient vampire has chosen their town as its new hunting grounds.
Salem’s Lot is an adaptation that many fans feared would never actually see the light of day. The movie was originally slated for release over two years ago but met various delays. For a long time, there was no news on when and whether it would be released, raising concerns about its quality. However, those fears proved unfounded as Salem’s Lot presents a solid and effectively creepy take on King’s work and an ideal horror movie for October.
9 Will & Harper (2024) – Netflix
Will Ferrell’s Heartwarming Documentary Of Friendship
The promise of the new Will Ferrell movie arriving on streaming might have many fans expecting a laugh-out-loud comedy, but the comedic star has something different to offer with Will & Harper. The movie is a documentary that deals with an important friendship in Ferrell’s life and speaks to some of the issues of the day through a simple look at this friendship. Harper Steele is a writer who worked with Ferrell on Saturday Night Live as well as movies like Casa de mi padre and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.
Will & Harper explores Steele’s journey to transition to a woman, which led to her reaching out to friends like Ferrell, letting them know of her journey. The documentary follows Ferrell and Steele on a road trip as they deal with the evolution of their friendship through conversation, humor, and love. Part of the brilliance of the documentary is how it addresses deep, important topics, particularly the hatred aimed at the trans community, in nuanced ways.
There is a lot of humor and fun in seeing these two funny people spending time together while also being an honest look at the struggles of Steele’s journey. It is a movie that can change people’s minds by simply observing real people interacting in a loving way. It shows tolerance and acceptance are not hard concepts yet they can make all the difference.
8 Inside Out 2 (2024) – Disney+
Pixar’s Financial And Critical Hit Sequel
There have been a lot of negative headlines swirling around Pixar in recent years with a number of their theatrical movies underperforming at the box office and the over-reliance on sequels suggesting there was a lack of creative excitement. However, Inside Out 2 came along and quickly changed the narrative by proving Pixar could still dominate the box office and that its sequels could be worthwhile new stories for audiences to enjoy.
Inside Out 2 returns to the examination of the young Riley as she navigates life and the struggles of a child with the help of her Emotions, led by the ever-optimistic Joy (Amy Poehler). However, as Riley gets older, Joy and the others find themselves sharing their space with a wide range of new Inside Out Emotions with Anxiety as one of the latest who seems to be taking over everything. Joy finds herself dealing with Riley’s changing world and understanding what these new emotions mean for her future.
Aside from the money,
Inside Out 2
is another triumph in storytelling…
There was a long wait for Inside Out 2 to come around and there were some fans who questioned how necessary the movie was. However, those doubts were quickly gone when the movie was released to massive box office numbers and enthusiastic critical acclaim. Inside Out 2 is poised to be the highest-grossing movie of the year, with nearly $1.7 billion worldwide (via Box Office Mojo). Aside from the money, Inside Out 2 is another triumph in storytelling with a sequel that once again serves as a funny, insightful, and emotional message to people of all ages.
7 Wolfs (2024) – Apple TV+
George Clooney And Brad Pitt Reunite For A Crime Comedy
While the news that George Clooney and Brad Pitt would reunite for a new Ocean’s movie excited many fans, the wait for their A-listers’ next project together is over with the arrival of Wolfs. Though the duo is best known for playing allies on screen, this time their partnership is a lot more reluctant. Clooney and Pitt star as two rival handlers who are called in to clean up sticky situations discretely and effectively before the authorities get involved. However, they find themselves working the same job, which quickly spirals out of hand.
As fun as it is to see the buddy dynamic between the two stars in the Ocean‘s movies, Wolfs has a lot of fun pitting Clooney and Pitt against each other. The constant bickering and disagreements add a lot of comedy to the fun and stylish crime movie from director Jon Watts. The more complicated the job gets, the more fun it is to see the two stars playing off each other.
6 His Three Daughters (2024) – Netflix
Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, And Carrie Coon As Sisters
Following its strong reception out of the Toronto International Film Festival, His Three Daughters has become a must-watch movie for many this fall. The drama-comedy features an incredible trio of actors with Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, and Carrie Coon playing three estranged sisters who reunite in adulthood to prepare for the passing of their ill father. Together, they attempt to live together again while also addressing some of the issues that tore them apart.
This highlights the tricky tone the movie manages to strike as it takes a look at relationships and family struggles in an honest way…
Obviously, the ensemble is the most exciting aspect of the movie and the chemistry between Lyonne, Olsen, and Coon makes the movie worth a watch on its own. They are funny and complex, sharing moments of tension and moments of laughter together. This highlights the tricky tone His Three Daughters manages to strike as it takes a look at relationships and family struggles in an honest way with the comedy of real life mixing with the drama nicely.
5 Challengers (2024) – Prime Video
Zendaya Leads A Sexy And Intriguing Tennis Story
Challengers made a splash in theaters earlier this year and is still being talked about as one of the best films of 2024. With a mix of sports drama and a love triangle, Challengers strikes an intriguing balance that is handled brilliantly by director Luca Guadagnino. Zendaya gives a tour de force performance as a star tennis player whose injury takes her out of the sport and leads her to become the coach for her husband Art (Mike Faist). However, as Art squares off with his former best friend Patrick (Josh O’Connor), flashbacks reveal the trio’s complicated history.
While Zendaya shows new levels of her talents in the lead role, Faist and O’Connor are also excellent as the two men battling over her throughout the years.
The movie is a sexy, funny, and intense ride that hooks the audience right up until Challengers‘ satisfying ending. While Zendaya shows new levels of her talents in the lead role, Faist and O’Connor are also excellent as the two men battling for her affection over the years. Though Challengers was available earlier on streaming, Amazon Prime Video users now have the chance to check it out as well.
4 Civil War (2024) – Max
A Pulse-Pounding Looks At Wartime Journalists
One of the most intense and controversial movies of the year is now available to check out on streaming. Alex Garland’s Civil War is a hard-hitting story that imagines a reality in which the United States of America has fractured to the point of another Civil War erupting as rebel states seek to take down the corrupt President. The film is told from the perspective of a group of wartime journalists covering the battles in towns across the country, all leading to the final showdown in Washington DC.
Civil War earned controversy, with some feeling that a story of the divisions in America resulting in war is poor taste. However, the war of the movie is not the point. Instead, it is a story of these characters, played by the likes of Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny, as they juggle their responsibility to capture the reality of the situation with the detachment from humanity that causes them. It is an intense ride from beginning to end with some thought-provoking ideas.
3 In A Violent Nature (2024) – AMC+, Shudder
A Brutal Low-Budget Horror Movie
As the fall season gets more people in the mood for horror movies, there will be a lot of fans of the genre checking out the much-talked-about In a Violent Nature. This Canadian horror movie features a fairly standard premise for a project of this kind, as it centers around a group of young people vacationing out in a secluded forest when they become targeted by a masked killer. However, In a Violent Nature manages to set itself apart by telling the story from the perspective of the killer.
The movie premiered early in the year at the Sundance Film Festival, where it created quite a stir for its unique approach to this horror story and its brutal kills. It offers plenty for the horror-loving crowd who enjoys the brutality, low-budget, and grimy films of the genre even if it doesn’t offer much else. In a Violent Nature seems poised to become a new horror cult classic while also establishing Johnny as one of the latest memorable masked killers in the genre.
2 Rebel Ridge (2024) – Netflix
Jeremy Saulnier’s Latest Hard-Hitting Thriller
Jeremy Saulnier is an exciting new filmmaker who burst onto the screen with a pair of brutal and stylish thrillers in Blue Ruin and Green Room. While his follow-up film, Hold the Dark, was not met with quite the same enthusiasm as his other movies, there was still a lot of excitement about what his next project would be. After a long wait, Saulnier returns with the new Netflix thriller Rebel Ridge, which continues to solidify him as a voice in modern cinema worth paying attention to.
The movie serves as a bit of an updated reimagining of the John Rambo story First Blood. Aaron Pierre stars as a former Marine who is traveling through a small American town where he is harassed by corrupt police officers. When his attempts to bring justice to the offenders fall on deaf ears, he decides to take matters into his own hands, waging war on them and making them realize they picked the wrong man to mess with.
Pierre delivers a star-making turn as the determined and relentless complex hero. There is an intimidating intensity, but Pierre never loses touch of the character’s humanity. Don Johnson also gets a standout role as the sheriff of the police department who refuses to hold his men accountable but finds that they are now outmatched. Saulnier clearly has a love for hard-hitting and brutal stories and any fans of his past movies should make Rebel Ridge a must-see.
1 A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) – Paramount+
The Prequel To The A Quiet Place Franchise
The A Quiet Place franchise expanded into its first spinoff movie with A Quiet Place: Day One, taking the audience back to the initial invasion. These aliens who hunt based on sound add to the tension and terror of these movies and that is only elevated in this new approach to the story. Instead of once again following the Abbott family in their rural fight for survival, the movie stars Lupita Nyong’o as a woman on her own mission when New York City is thrown into chaos.
The big-city setting immediately puts the audience on edge as they know to fear even the slightest sound in these movies. A Quiet Place: Day Oneadds to the mythology of the franchise with some more revelations about the aliens, but wisely still makes it about the grounded characters. Nyong’o gives a powerful performance and Joseph Quinn is excellent as a fellow survivor whom she meets along the way.