Your weekend streaming options - 9-10 Dec 2023

We’re in that lead-up to Christmas where new releases are swamped with terrible Christmas movies. That said, there’s a couple of really interesting new movies on streaming you should pay attention to - even if they lay on the nostalgia pretty heavily.

• One of my favourite films of 2023 is the Netflix original Leave The World Behind. Directed by Sam Esmail, with a cast led by Julia Roberts, it is a drama about two families who meet on the cusp of the fall of society. I wrote a glowing review for it a few weeks ago in the newsletter, but I do appreciate the film will be a bit decisive. Rotten Tomatoes reviews have it at about 75% - you’ll either lock into its vibe or you won’t.

• I never thought I would see an Indian take on all-American comic book Archie, but Netflix delivers it with The Archies. I’m expecting a large-scale Bollywood style musical number set to Sugar Sugar.

• The BBC this month have launched a new series of specials/movies based on The Famous Five. What makes this a bit more interesting is the involvement of director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive).

• Prime Video has a new animated Batman film Merry Little Batman. It’s a family film very much made for 8-12 year-olds, focused on Batman’s kid Damien dressed as Batman fighting villains trying to rob stately Wayne Manor. Yeah, it’s Batman meets Home Alone (at least for the first half of the film - the rest is, well, Batman meets Home Alone 2). It’s fine, but the animation style is a bit too unappealing. Plus the film is a bit too juvenile for the discerning, mature-minded Batman enthusiast.