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5 must-watch movies & TV shows streaming right now
The best of what's new streaming on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney Plus, and more.
Welcome to Boston.com’s weekly streaming guide. Each week, we recommend five must-watch movies and TV shows available on streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, and more.
Many recommendations are for new shows, while others are for under-the-radar releases you might have missed or classics that are about to depart a streaming service at the end of the month.
Have a new favorite movie or show you think we should know about? Let us know in the comments, or email [email protected]. Looking for even more great streaming options? Check out previous editions of our must-watch list here.
New Movies Streaming
“My Old Ass”
Calling Aubrey Plaza “middle-aged” seems impossible, and yet the “Parks and Recreation” actress turns 40 earlier this year. That’s the role Plaza plays in “My Old Ass,” in which a free-spirited teen (Maisy Stella) makes contact with her adult self (Plaza) during a mushroom trip on her 18th birthday. After coming back down to Earth, adult Elliott is still able to call teen Elliott, and proceeds to warn her about all of the choices she should avoid — such as hanging out with any boy named Chad — lest she end up like adult Elliott.
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Plaza has cultivated such a spiky on-screen persona over the years that the moments of tenderness she shares with Stella can strain credulity. But “My Old Ass” has its heart in the right place, and the emotional highs and lows coalesce nicely by the time the credits roll.
How to watch: “My Old Ass” is streaming on Prime Video.
“Paddington 2”
If you’re headed to theaters this weekend, it’s worth seeing “Heretic,” a slow-burn horror movie that features a very creepy Hugh Grant subjecting two missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) to his own version of religious truth. If you want to see Grant in a mustache-twirling villain role that also features him hammily delivering soliloquies from the comfort of your own home, however, there’s always “Paddington 2.”
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The universally beloved children’s movie finds Paddington settling into life with the Brown family in London, before he is framed by a local theater legend (Grant) for stealing a pop-up book. Even while surrounded by some of the most fierce prisoners in England, Paddington keeps a sunny attitude and a jar of marmalade for every occasion.
How to watch: “Paddington 2” is streaming on Prime Video.
“Unforgiven”
For some reason, Clint Eastwood’s latest movie “Juror #2” is only playing in 50 theaters nationwide — and only one theater in the Boston area. Until Warner Bros. comes to their senses, you’ll have to content yourself with a Clint classic, like 1992’s “Unforgiven.”
After winning Best Picture, Best Director, and two other Oscars for “Unforgiven,” Eastwood swore he would never direct another Western, worrying he would begin to repeat himself or copy other directors. Though some of Eastwood’s movies have titles that sound like Westerns (“The Mule,” “Space Cowboys,” “Gran Torino”), Eastwood has stayed true to his word. And 30+ years after its release, “Unforgiven” has yet to be topped, remaining one of the all-time greats of the genre. Eastwood plays retired bounty hunter Will Munny, who is drawn into one last job that sets him on a collision course with Sheriff “Little” Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman).
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How to watch: “Unforgiven” is streaming on Paramount+ and Max.
New TV Streaming
“The Penguin”
If you never watched Matt Reeves’ 2022 movie “The Batman,” you might be surprised by how normal Colin Farrell is playing the lead role in “The Penguin.” Farrell has almost nothing in common with the grotesque villain portrayed by Danny DeVito in Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns.” First of all, he’s just Oz Cobb, not Oswald Cobblepot. And he’s a mid-level crime boss, not a self-employed villain living with penguins in the sewers.
This is your last chance to catch up on the surprisingly rich HBO series, which airs its season finale this Sunday. Oz races to fill the power vacuum caused by the death of his former boss, Carmine Falcone. There are others who covet the same grip on the criminal underworld, however, including Carmine’s children Sofia (Cristin Milioti) and Alberto (Michael Zegen), and the head of a rival crime family (Clancy Brown). “The Penguin” has more in common with “The Sopranos” (or, given Oz’s facial disfigurement, “Scarface”) than most of the “Batman” films. You won’t see Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader here. Instead, “The Penguin” is a compelling mob drama that makes the most of Farrell’s talents.
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How to watch: “The Penguin” is streaming on Max.
“Veep”
Regardless of your political leanings, a show like Armando Iannucci’s “Veep” lays bare the hypocrisy and back-stabbing inherent in Washington D.C. Vice President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her army of flunkies (Matt Walsh, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Gary Cole) are never explicitly revealed to be part of one political party or another — and given how low they stoop to appease lobbyists and elected officials of all ideologies, it hardly matters.
Some people may not want to watch a show about politics after Tuesday’s results. Others may take a dark pleasure in watching a British satirist (Iannucci) hold up a funhouse mirror to what some people still unironically call the greatest democracy in the world. Put me in the latter camp.
How to watch: “Veep” is streaming on Max.
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