The newest streaming movies this week: Exhuma, Monkey Man, and more

• Release date: June 14, 2024 
• Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
• Rating: PG
• Director: Shannon Tindle
• Cast: Christopher Sean, Gedde Watanabe, Tamlyn Tomita, Keone Young, Julia Harriman

Ken Sato, a star baseball player in Tokyo, must reluctantly follow in his father’s footsteps and become the next Ultraman, humanity’s legendary defender against giant kaiju monsters. As Ken struggles to balance his sports career with his new responsibilities as a superhero, he also grapples with a strained relationship with his father and the recent disappearance of his mother.

An encounter with a baby kaiju forces Ken to examine what truly makes a hero. Amidst epic battles to protect Tokyo, Ken and his father must learn to work together and mend their family bonds, all while deciding the fate of this mysterious young creature. This anime film offers a fresh, modern take on the classic Ultraman story, delving into complex familial themes while delivering thrilling kaiju action.

• Release date: May 3, 2024
• Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
• Rating: N.A.
• Director: Jang Jae-hyun
• Cast: Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hai-jin, Lee Do-hyun, Kim Jae-chul, Jeon Jin-gi, Kim Sun-young

In the forested countryside near the North Korean border, a wealthy immigrant family finds themselves plagued by a dark force targeting their newborn son. Desperate for help, they turn to Hwa-rim and Bong-gil, two young shaman siblings, and Sang-deok, a veteran geomancer, and his Christian apprentice Yeong-geun. As the spiritual experts dig deeper into the family’s past, they uncover terrifying secrets linked to the colonial-era traumas and the region’s rich tapestry of shamanist, Buddhist, and Christian traditions.

Mixing elements of exorcism thrills and creature feature horror with a strong basis in Korean mythology and history, Exhuma delivers a chilling ghost story that will make you think twice about the consequences of disturbing the past.

Clotilda: The Return Home – June 18, Disney Plus

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/L6U5oV71dXM

• Release date: April 13, 2024
• Genre: Documentary
• Rating: N.A.
• Director: Tara Roberts
• Cast: Tara Roberts

Nearly 90 years after the abolition of slavery, the schooner Clotilda carried 110 kidnapped Africans to Alabama in 1860, the last known slave ship to bring human cargo to the United States. Among the captives was Oluale Kossola, who was later interviewed about his experiences by author Zora Neale Hurston in the 1930s.

Now, Kossola’s descendants journey to his home village in Benin, hoping to finally fulfill his last wish of returning his spirit to where it was stolen. Along the way, the family confronts the brutal realities of slavery at historical sites in both Benin and America. Watch an African-American family’s quest to reclaim their ancestor’s story, find healing, and ensure that the truth of the Clotilda’s survivors will never be forgotten.

• Release date: February 27, 2024
• Genre: Horror
• Rating: N.A.
• Director: Thomas Walton
• Cast: Kelly Lynn Reiter, Jonathan Lipnicki, Leila Almas Rose, James Di Giacomo, Lacey Burdine, William Delesk, Bonnie Aarons

Two decades after the unsolved Meadows Family murders at Camp Pleasant Lake, the remote site has been transformed into an immersive horror destination where paying guests can live out a “real” 80s slasher movie experience. But as the campers gleefully play along with the staged scares and gory special effects, a very real killer begins stalking the woods, and the lines between fiction and reality blur with deadly results.

Is it the vengeful spirit of young Echo Meadows, who vanished the night of her family’s slaughter? Or a flesh-and-blood killer orchestrating the ultimate horror show? Paying homage to classics like Friday the 13th and Scream, this blood-splattered, Camp Pleasant Lake gleefully hacks its way through the fourth wall for a gory, tongue-in-cheek thrill ride.

• Release date: April 5, 2024 
• Genre: Action, Thriller
• Rating: R
• Director: Dev Patel
• Cast: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Adithi Kalkunte, Sikandar Kher, Makrand Deshpande, Ashwini Kalsekar

On the chaotic streets of an Indian metropolis, a mysterious young fighter enters an underground tournament run by crooked promoters, using the prize money to fund his secret revenge mission. Concealing his identity behind a monkey mask, “The Kid” works his way into the inner circle of the city’s powerful elite, including the ruthless police chief who destroyed his family.

But even as The Kid trains his body into a lethal weapon, the sins of the past continue to haunt him. Driven by his commitment to justice and a belief in the mythic Hanuman, The Kid launches a brutal one-man war against the corrupt establishment, leaving a trail of blood and broken bones in his wake.

• Release date: June 19, 2024 
• Genre: Documentary
• Rating: TV-MA
• Director: Lagueria Davis
• Cast: Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins, Stacey McBride-Irby

Since 1959, the Barbie doll has been a blonde-haired, blue-eyed icon of femininity and a mainstay of American girlhood. But for decades, Black girls were denied a doll that reflected their own beauty and experiences — until a group of pioneering Black women at Mattel rewrote the toy’s history.

Told through the voices of Mattel employees, cultural historians, and Barbie fans, this eye-opening film reveals how designer Kitty Black Perkins and others challenged corporate resistance to create the first Black Barbies in the 1960s and 70s. Blending corporate history with cultural critique, Black Barbie takes a searing look at the tangled relationship between race, beauty standards, and the power of representation.

What was new and worth watching over the last month

Here’s an extended list of what you can watch in June. 

• Release date: May 24, 2024
• Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
• Rating: R
• Director: Richard Linklater
• Cast: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, Sanjay Rao, Molly Bernard, Evan Holtzman

Philosophy professor by day, hitman by night, Gary Johnson leads a double life, helping his police pals catch criminals in the act of hiring contract killers. Awkward and unassuming in the classroom, Gary transforms into a suave operator when he goes undercover, donning disguises and adopting personas. But his well-ordered system hits a snag when beautiful Maddy Masters walks into his life, looking to escape her controlling husband.

As “Ron”, Gary talks Maddy out of the hit, but can’t resist falling for her himself. Director Richard Linklater keeps the action popping and the screwball romance sparking. What will Gary have to do to save his girl and his secrets? Sizzling chemistry and whip-smart dialogue make this movie a fun, fizzy ride.

• Release date: June 6, 2024
• Genre: Animation, Action
• Rating: TV-MA
• Director: Toshiki Hirano
• Cast: Nobunaga Shimazaki, Tatsuhisa Suzuki

The hardcore heroes of two hit Netflix anime finally face off in an epic crossover event that will leave only one standing. Baki Hanma, the stoic mixed martial arts champ raised from childhood to fight, takes on Kengan Ashura’s Ohma Tokita, the underground arena brawler with a wild style and a wilder backstory. Teeth will shatter, bones will crunch, and blood will gush as the two trade earth-shaking blows in a battle for the ages.

Flashy animation captures every gouged eye and snapped limb in kinetic detail, Baki Hanma VS Kengan Ashura delivers the goods for fans hungry for a fist-to-face fracas. Lots of humor from secondary characters to look forward to in this one, this movie is as much a fun diversion as it is a true clash of titans.

• Release date: January 19, 2024
• Genre: Drama, History
• Rating: PG-13
• Director: Ava DuVernay
• Cast: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash-Betts, Emily Yancy, Finn Wittrock, Victoria Pedretti, Jasmine Cephas Jones

Isabel Wilkerson’s landmark 2020 book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents brilliantly reframed racism as a caste system with deep historical roots in societies around the world. Now, director Ava DuVernay gives us Origin, telling the story of Wilkerson as she conceived and wrote the book while navigating personal angst. Flashing between eras, the film draws fascinating parallels between American slavery, Nazi Germany, and India’s oppression of the Dalit caste, uncovering disturbing conclusions.

We see a younger Wilkerson studying these grim histories and making potent connections in her work and life. Meanwhile, the present-day author copes with the death of her beloved husband and the decline of her elderly mother, finding solace in family and the hope that her book will make a difference. Origin is thought-provoking, grab a copy of the book once you’re done watching the movie. 

• Release date: June 6, 2024
• Genre: Documentary
• Rating: N.A.
• Director: Ed Watkins
• Cast: Andrew Rannells, Sue Perkins, Christine Wilkinson

As conservatives rant about a “gay agenda”, Peacock cheekily presents Queer Planet, an eye-opening nature documentary that completely rebuffs the idea that homosexuality is “unnatural”. Narrated by actor Andrew Rannells, the special tours the animal kingdom to spotlight same-sex pairings and gender-fluid behavior, from affectionate lady lions to polyamorous bonobos.

Along the way, an array of colorful experts outline how pioneering biologists imposed their Victorian mores on the natural world, discounting queer conduct as non-existent for centuries. The ultimate conclusion: love is love, whether you’re a hetero human or a gay goose. Sure, there’s a clear political message here. But the film’s playful, accessible approach and fascinating footage make this an engaging watch for Pride month, or any time of the year. Queer Planet is a blast of fresh air in the often stuffy nature doc genre.

• Release date: December 21, 2023
• Genre: Drama
• Rating: PG
• Director: Wim Wenders
• Cast: Koji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano, Aoi Yamada, Yumi Asou, Sayuri Ishikawa, Tomokazu Miura

A man methodically mops a floor and scrubs a sink in a public restroom. This is no one-off, but a daily ritual for Hirayama, who takes great pride in his work as a Tokyo toilet cleaner. But there’s more to Hirayama than his humble profession in this delicate, deceptively simple character study from director Wim Wenders. Precisely ordered days filled with books, music, photography, and visits to a favorite bar hint at a life rebuilt from some past upheaval.

When the fragile cocoon Hirayama has constructed starts to fray, we see flickers of deep anguish and worry about Hirayama. Will he bounce back, and reenter his days of art and taking pride in his work? Perfect Days finds poetry in an overlooked life and the shadows that can shape us.

• Release date: June 6, 2024
• Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
• Rating: TV-Y7
• Director: Anna O’Brian
• Cast: Chris Houghton, Marieve Herington, Bob Joles, Artemis Pebdani, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Zeno Robinson, Anna Akana

Cricket Green and his offbeat country family trade the Big City for access to space in this action-packed musical comedy based on the Disney Channel series. When wacky tech mogul Gwendolyn Zapp recruits the Greens to test out an experimental asteroid farm, they eagerly volunteer, dreaming of an out-of-this-world adventure. But their cosmic lark turns into a disaster movie mission as everything that can go wrong does.

From worrying about malfunctioning robots to an asteroid knocked off course and hurtling toward Earth. It’s up to the Greens and astronaut Colleen Voyd to put aside their differences and save the day. This is a fun ride — with catchy songs, madcap humor, and a heartwarming message about finding the comforts of home and family wherever you are. But it’s the characters that really shine, with Cricket’s goofy schemes, Gramma Alice’s wisecracks, and Bill’s befuddled charm.

• Release date: January 24, 2022
• Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
• Rating: R
• Director: Stephanie Allynne
• Cast: Dakota Johnson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jermaine Fowler, Kiersey Clemons, Molly Gordon, Whitmer Thomas, Sean Hayes

Lucy and Jane have been inseparable best friends since childhood. But when Jane drunkenly confesses she once kissed a girl as a teenager, it opens up long-suppressed questions about sexuality for the 32-year-old Lucy. Just as Jane is preparing to move across the world to London with her boyfriend Danny, Lucy finds herself undeniably attracted to Brittany, a free-spirited masseuse at the spa where Lucy works.

And after one intimate night with Brittany, everything changes for Lucy.

• Release date: June 5, 2024
• Genre: Action, Horror
• Rating: TV-MA
• Director: Xavier Gens
• Cast: Bérénice Bejo, Nassim Lyes, Léa Léviant, Anaïs Parello, Iñaki Lartigue, Julien Jakout, José Antonio Pedrosa Moreno

Did it finally happen? A shark movie worthy of being compared to Jaws? Under Paris does establish an interesting premise — after a tragic diving accident leaves marine biologist Sophia Marleau permanently scarred. The massive great white shark she was tracking — a female mako nicknamed Lilith — goes rogue. Three years later, Lilith has somehow found her way into the Seine River running through the heart of Paris.

As Lilith starts racking up a terrifying body count, mutilating any unlucky enough to cross her path, Sophia teams up with shark activist Mika and river patrol sergeant Adil. Their urgent mission: capture Lilith and lead her back to her natural ocean habitat before the mayor’s ill-advised decision to allow a major open-water swimming competition turns the Seine’s currents bloodred.

• Release date: February 23, 2024 
• Genre: Horror
• Rating: R
• Director: Robert Morgan
• Cast: Aisling Franciosi, Stella Gonet, Tom York, Therica Wilson-Read, Bridgitta Roy, Caoilinn Springall, Alex Freeborn

In Stopmotion, talented stop-motion animator Ella Blake is working on a personal film project after the death of her overbearing mother Suzanne, who used to control and criticize her every creative move. Finally free from her mother’s shadow, Ella moves into an apartment to focus solely on bringing her dark, twisted, stop-motion story to life.

However, Ella finds an unexpected collaborator in the building’s only other resident – a strange little girl who begins “helping” with the animated film. As Ella uses increasingly disturbing and unconventional materials to craft her stop-motion figures, the lines between her art and reality start blurring in dangerous ways. Stopmotion blends mesmerizing stop-motion animation with a disturbing psychological horror tale of artistic obsession and internalized trauma.

• Release date: March 15, 2024 
• Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
• Rating: PG-13
• Director: Kobi Libii
• Cast: Justice Smith, Zachary Barton, Anthony Coons, Robbie Troy, Gillian Vigman, James E. Welsh, David Alan Grier

Part biting racial satire, part supernatural comedy, The American Society of Magical Negroes takes the offensive “magical negro” trope to absurdly literal heights.

Aren is recruited into this organization after displaying supernatural talents. At first, he’s in awe of his new abilities. But soon, he starts questioning everything. Caught between the magical mentor bringing him into the fold and a white love interest oblivious to the society’s influence, Aren must decide whether to keep using his powers to enable white supremacy or reject the society’s antiquated agenda once and for all.

• Release date: May 30, 2024 
• Genre: Action
• Rating: N.A.
• Director: Eric Appel
• Cast: Kevin Hart, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ben Schwartz, John Cena, Paula Pell, Greg Kriek, Melissa Ponzio

To prove he can do his stunts, Kevin Hart hires goons to take over a fancy restaurant. Just so he can fight his way out looking like a badass. This is the last straw for the studios, because who’s going to back his insane vanity project? Apparently, a mysterious European investor will. He swoops in to greenlight Hart’s dream by actually having him and his reluctant co-star Nathalie Emmanuel kidnapped for real.

Convinced it’s all part of his “movie,” the delusional Hart plays along, dodging tranquilizer darts and escaping captors as the body count rises. But who is actually behind this twisted plot? Could it be Hart’s fired stunt double-played by John Cena seeking revenge? As the violent game of make-believe blurs with reality, Hart must finally accept this is not a rehashed reboot – it’s life or death. This movie is action-packed and the stakes are high, but it does have Hart in it, so it is characteristically funny.

• Release date: June 6, 2024 
• Genre: Drama
• Rating: N.A.
• Director: Fatima AlBanawi
• Cast: Fatima AlBanawi, Eissa Hafiz, Yasir AlSasi, Mai Hakeem, Terad Sindi, Mohammed Fawzi

Basma is a 26-year-old Saudi woman who returns home to Jeddah from the U.S. to find her father suffering from paranoid delusions and deteriorating mental health. As she tries to get him proper treatment before having to leave again, Basma confronts the harsh stigmas and lack of resources around mental illness in Saudi society.

Writer/director Fatima Al-Banawi, who also stars, draws from her psychology background to authentically explore one woman’s struggle to help a loved one with a psychological condition in a culture that largely shuns discussions of mental health. Basma’s urgent mission to save her father lays bare the isolating challenges for Saudi families dealing with psychic disorders.

• Release date: April 5, 2024 
• Genre: Horror
• Rating: R
• Director: Arkasha Stevenson
• Cast: Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sônia Braga, Bill Nighy, María Caballero, Nicole Sorace, Tawfeek Barhom

Is there such a thing as too many Omen movies? The answer is no. While my personal favorite remains Omen IV: The Awakening, the newest addition does not disappoint. If you missed this one in the theatres, now’s your chance to get up to speed.

Sent to the crumbling Vizzardeli Orphanage, Margaret is drawn to a troubled young girl, Carlita, whose dark visions hint at an unspeakable fate. As a series of horrifying events unfold, a desperate priest (Ralph Ineson) reveals the Church’s true intentions: to bring forth the Antichrist and drive the faithful back to God through fear.