Viewers are in for several treats this week, as a number of great movies have been added to Netflix, BBC iPlayer and more over the past few days.
Among the new highlights on streaming are a “memorable” thriller starring newly-minted Oscar-winner Jessie Buckley that proved to be her breakout role, as well as a 2009 blockbuster that helped reboot a massive sci-fi franchise.
Digital Spy has handily rounded-up five of the best to keep an eye out for, as well as a few additional highlights. Check out our list below.
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Best movie new to Netflix this week
Lady Bird: Saoirse Ronan headlines this indie modern classic, which centres on the titular high school student as she navigates a complicated relationship with her mother.
Directed and written by Greta Gerwig, the 2017 movie earned a near-perfect 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes, InSession Film calling it “one of the most earnest coming-of-age films of our time, and also one of the funniest”.
The film also features memorable supporting turns from The Conners’ Laurie Metcalf, Dune’s Timothée Chalamet and Manchester by the Sea’s Lucas Hedges, and went on to earn five Oscar nominations including Best Actress for Ronan and Best Director for Gerwig.
Also new to Netflix this week: Zombieland, Nanny McPhee, Salt, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
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Best movie new to Prime Video this week
Django Unchained: This 2012 Quentin Tarantino movie was called one of the director’s “finest works to date” by Loud and Clear Reviews.
Starring Jamie Foxx, the revisionist Western follows an enslaved man who teams up with a German bounty hunter (an Oscar-winning Christoph Waltz) with the aim of freeing his wife, who is being held at a plantation owned by the evil Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).
Django Unchained also stars Scandal’s Kerry Washington, Marvel’s Samuel L Jackson and The White Lotus’ Walton Goggins.
Also new to Prime Video this week: Robin Hood (2010), About Time, Saw, American Pie, Let the Right One In, Scarface, Anchorman, Collateral
20th Century Studios
Best movie new to BBC iPlayer this week
The Martian: Based on a book by Andy Weir – who is also behind Project Hail Mary – this film follows an astronaut who is left stranded behind on Mars after being presumed dead, as he tries to survive while NASA desperately attempts to bring him back to Earth.
Matt Damon takes on the central role, with supporting turns from Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, Doctor Strange’s Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong, Bridesmaids’ Kristen Wiig and The Newsroom’s Jeff Daniels.
Legendary director Ridley Scott helms this sci-fi, which was called “exactly the reason why we watch movies” by Battleship Pretension.
Also new to BBC iPlayer this week: Mrs Brown, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Far from the Madding Crowd (2015), American Fiction
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Best movie new to ITVX this week
Star Trek (2009): The classic space franchise was successfully revived with this noughties flick, which is helmed by JJ Abrams.
Wonder Woman’s Chris Pine takes on the classic William Shatner role of James T Kirk alongside Heroes’ Zachary Quinto as Spock, Avatar’s Zoe Saldaña as Nyota Uhura, The Boys’ Karl Urban as Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy and Harold & Kumar’s John Cho as Hikaru Sulu.
The movie takes place in an alternate Star Trek reality and follows the USS Enterprise’s crew as they face off against Romulan Nero (Eric Bana), who threatens the United Federation of Planets.
Also new to ITVX this week: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Kung Fu Panda 3, The Spy Who Loved Me
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Best movie new to Channel 4 this week
Beast: If you’re keen to catch more of Jessie Buckley in the wake of her Oscar win last weekend, then you can’t get much better than this 2017 movie.
Marking her breakout role, Beast sees the star play a troubled young woman in a small island community who falls in love with a mysterious outsider – though when he is suspected of a series of murders, she defends him.
Also starring One Life’s Johnny Flynn and Anne with an E’s Geraldine James, the movie boasts a near-perfect 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the Toronto Star calling it “memorable”.
Also new to Channel 4 this week: The Lodge, Howard’s End (1992), Captain Phillips, Dark River, Wild Rose
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.