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Looking to settle in with a good movie? Me too. That's why I've pored over release schedules to bring you the best original and new-to-streaming movies you can watch on Netflix, Prime, Max, Hulu, and other streaming platforms this week.
Almost everything is about Love this week, for Valentine's day. There's a romance in Italy in La Dolce Villa, British love in My Fault: London, and romantic icon Bridget Jones is coming back in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy . If you hate all that mushy stuff, there's a movie for you too: Apple TV+'s The Gorge has monsters.
The Gorge
Apple TV+ is going against the Valentine's grain with The Gorge, a supernatural thriller starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller. They play top secret government operatives whose mission is to live in a heavily armed towers on opposite sides of a mysterious gorge because there's something unspeakably horrible down there, and someone has to keep it from escaping. Spooky!
Where to stream: Apple TV+
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2024)
If you've been following the romantic life of Bridget Jones since 2001's Bridget Jones' Diary, there is no reason to stop now. In the Bridget-verse, Jones, still played by Renée Zellweger, was widowed four years ago, leaving her the single mother to two kids, nine and four. With the help of her former lover Daniel (Hugh Grant) and her mum (Emma Thompson) Jones tries to move on with her life by (you guessed it) signing on to Tinder and looking for love—or at least a good shag. There's also a younger man in the Mad About the Boy mix, and the lad seems quite interested in our plucky, slightly bawdy heroine.
Where to stream: Peacock
La Dolce Villa
Just in time for Valentine's Day comes La Dolce Villa, a Netflix original rom-com set in a romantic Italian village. Scott Foley plays Eric, a businessman who's lost his mojo, who travels to Italy to stop his daughter from wasting her money restoring a crumbling villa she bought for a single Euro. Along the way, he rediscovers his lust for life, laughter, beauty, and love. I bet the old Villa actually isn't even such a dump after all. La Dolce Villa also stars Maia Reficco, Giuseppe Futia, and Violante Placido.
Where to stream: Netflix
My Fault: London
My Fault: London is a British romantic drama based on the novel Culpa mía by Mercedes Ron. It tells the story of Noah, played by Asha Banks, whose mother marries a rich British man and drags her daughter from Florida to London (oh no!). Despite the tony Notting Hill address, things in the U.K. don't go great for Noah, especially after she meets Nick, played by Matthew Broome, her mother’s new husband’s privileged and snobby son. Surprisingly (?), love blooms between the the extremely attractive couple, who then must navigate a chaotic life of partying in Ibiza and driving around in cars worth a million dollars each.
Where to stream: Prime
Last week's picks
Kinda Pregnant
In this Netflix original romantic comedy, comedian Amy Schumer plays Lainy, a woman who is so jealous of her pregnant friend, she straps on a fake stomach and tells everyone she has a baby on board too. Her mountain of lies grows with her fake belly, but things get really complicated when Lainy meets the man of her dreams. If you're into Schumer's brand of comedy or just like a little frothy rom-com action, check out Kinda Pregnant.
Where to stream: Netflix
The Wild Robot (2024)
The beautifully animated movie from Dreamworks is based on the best-selling children's novel by Peter Brown. It tells the story of Rozzum Unit 7134 (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o), a robot marooned on an island who must learn to be a mother to a gosling, despite lacking the programming for it. "Robot tries to be human" is well-worn, often mawkish, territory in film, but The Wild Robot transcends cliches and sentimentality through a sometimes dark script and a stunning visual style influenced by Renoir and Miyazaki. The Wild Robot has earned its nearly perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Where to stream: Peacock
We are the Best! (2014)
There are no recognizable actors in We are the Best! It was made for very little money in Sweden. Although it got good reviews, hardly anyone saw it—it barely broke a million dollars at the box office. It's hard to explain why anyone would care about three twelve-year-olds in Stockholm starting a terrible punk rock band in 1982, but I promise you will care if you watch it. It captures something elusive and true about youth and hope in a way that few films ever have. Seriously, watch this movie.
Where to stream: Max
Gladiator 2 (2024)
Alright, it doesn't quite live up to the 2004 original, but Gladiator 2 is still a solid flick. Directed by Ridley Scott, Gladiator 2 tells the story of Lucious (Paul Mescal), a slave whose only hope for redemption and freedom is surviving the punishing gladiator battles in the Roman Colosseum. Denzel Washington turns in a memorable performance as machiavellian Macrinus, a former gladiator turned power broker who sees potential (and potential utility) in young Lucious.
Where to stream: MGM+
Space Jam (1996)
If you like comforting nostalgia, 1996's cartoons-meet-basketball comedy Space Jam is available on Netflix. The movie pairs ancient sports superstars like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Charles Barkley with ancient cartoon superstars like Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, and Daffy Duck, and then has them play basketball on another planet. Somehow, this weird concept works and results in a movie that's great fun and superior in every way to the recent reboot.
Where to stream: Netflix
We Live in Time (2024)
If you're in the mood for a tragic drama about doomed romance in the vein of The Notebook, this is the movie for you. Anchored by solid performances from Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, We Live in Time takes risks with structure, jumping around in time to tell the story of Pugh's character's cancer diagnoses and her decision to skip treatment to live her last days as fully as possible instead. We Live in Time was produced by A24, a company that rarely misses.
Where to stream: Max
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