Disney’s Jim Henson doc, Boy Kills World, and every movie new to streaming this week (2024)

Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

It’s a good week for horror, with the surprisingly good Omen prequel out on Hulu and a terrifyingly creepy stop-motion flick (...titled Stopmotion) on Shudder. But if you’re not a horror person, then Disney Plus’ Jim Henson documentary is sure to be a heartwarming balm. Or you can go with Chris Pine’s quirky pool-based comedy mystery.

Here’s everything new available to watch this weekend!

New on Netflix

A Part of You

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Netflix

Genre: Coming-of-age drama
Run time: 1h 40m
Director: Sigge Eklund
Cast: Felicia Maxime, Edvin Ryding, Zara Larsson

This Swedish coming-of-age film is about a teenage girl named Agnes who’s really jealous of her sister, who seems to have everything in the world. But when a terrible tragedy strikes, Agnes has a chance to reinvent herself — at a really high cost.

New on Disney Plus

Jim Henson: Idea Man

Where to watch: Available to stream on Disney Plus

Image: Disney

Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 51m
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Rita Moreno, Frank Oz, Brian Henson

The new documentary by Ron Howard (The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, Apollo 13) centers on puppeteer, animator, and filmmaker Jim Henson — creator of Kermit the Frog and the Muppets. It features a lot of interviews with Henson’s family and frequent collaborators, including Frank Oz.

New on Hulu

The Promised Land

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

Image: Magnolia Pictures/Everett Collection

Genre: Epic historical drama
Run time: 2h 7m
Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Simon Bennebjerg

A hidden gem among 2024’s best new releases, The Promised Land is a period drama anchored by a terrific leading performance from the always reliable Mads Mikkelsen. He plays a retired Danish officer of the German Army who is trying to establish a homestead in an area thought to be impossible to settle — but a powerful local politician has other ideas.

The First Omen

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

Image: 20th Century Entertainment

Genre: Horror
Run time: 1h 59m
Director: Arkasha Stevenson
Cast: Nell Tiger Free, Sônia Braga, Ralph Ineson

A prequel to the 1976 Omen, The First Omen is actually surprisingly scary and good.

From our list of the best horror movies of the year:

The First Omen is impressively scary, with dread seeping into every frame of its Catholic conspiracy. Ralph Ineson uses his excellent voice to great effect here as a priest who has been excommunicated after finding out the Church’s secrets, but it’s Free who winds up the standout, as her character slowly spirals as the plot gets thicker and more confounding.

New on Shudder

Stopmotion

Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder and AMC Plus

Image: IFC Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

Genre: Horror
Run time: 1h 33m
Director: Robert Morgan
Cast: Aisling Franciosi, Stella Gonet, Tom York

This horror movie follows an animator who takes over her ailing mother’s stop-motion movie. This involves using fox carcasses to create the terrifying entity at the center of the movie, among other frankly disturbing stop-motion creations.

New on Starz

Silent Night

Where to watch: Available to stream on Starz

Photo: Carlos Latapi/Lionsgate

Genre: Action thriller
Run time: 1h 44m
Director: John Woo
Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, Catalina Sandino Moreno

It’s a Christmas movie! Also an action thriller about a man who has limited use of his vocal cords who decides to avenge the death of his son, who was killed by a gang in a drive-by shooting on Christmas Eve. It’s also John Woo’s first Hollywood movie in 20 years — we talked to him about it.

New to rent

Boy Kills World

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Roadside Attractions/Everett Collection

Genre: Dystopian action comedy
Run time: 1h 51m
Director: Moritz Mohr
Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery

A young man in a gritty dystopian future who has a love of video games is sent on a mission to destroy the city’s totalitarian ruler. From our review:

The film was largely built strictly for a specific brand of video game movie fans: It’s a checklist of retro beat-’em-up references and meta comedy tropes that some audiences are inevitably going to find broad, excessive, and off-putting, and some are going to find playful and energizing.

The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Magnolia Pictures/Everett Collection

Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 28m
Director: Joanna Arrow
Cast: Joanna Arrow, Scott Cohen, Babak Tafti

50 Shades of Grey gets a mundane twist. A listless young woman drifts through life, looking for a more fulfilling sexual relationship when her on-again-off-again BDSM relationship doesn’t tickle her fancy anymore.

Poolman

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Vertical Entertainment/Everett Collection

Genre: Comedy mystery
Run time: 1h 40m
Director: Chris Pine
Cast: Chris Pine, Annette Bening, DeWanda Wise

Chris Pine directs this movie, in which he also stars as a pool cleaner inspired by Erin Brockovich who begins to pester his city council about improvements. Danny Devito and Annette Bening play the couple who owns the apartment complex where Pine’s character works, and they provide him with a parental relationship.