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Discover the best movies and TV shows streaming now, with handpicked recommendations from Boston.com.
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.
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For even more great streaming options, check out previous editions of our must-watch list here.
WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND
New Movies Streaming
“A Complete Unknown”
Timothée Chalamet is electric (pun very much intended) as Bob Dylan, firing off folk song classics in scene after scene and slouching his way through 1960s New York City with the weight of everyone’s expectations on his shoulders. Chalamet isn’t the only standout in James Mangold biopic, however. Monica Barbaro fully deserved her Best Supporting Actress nomination as Joan Baez, and Edward Norton almost steals the show as Pete Seeger.
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The climactic Newport Folk Festival set — somewhat apocryphal in the details but emotionally true for dyed-in-the-wool folk music believers — ties the film’s themes together in a neat little bow. It leaves you sympathetic both to Dylan’s desire to chart his own path (i.e. go electric) and to fans for whom Dylan’s music offered stability in a tumultuous era.
How to watch: “A Complete Unknown” is streaming on Hulu.
“Mufasa: The Lion King”
The box office failure of Disney’s live-action “Snow White” may spell a pause in the studio’s efforts to update (or essentially copy) all of its animated classics for a new generation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as most of the CGI fests were pale impersonations of their forbearers.
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Barry Jenkins’ “Mufasa: The Lion King” at least had the decency to tell a vaguely new story, serving as (mostly) a prequel and (sort of) a sequel to 1994’s “The Lion King.” Simba and Nala have a daughter, Kiara, and are expecting a second cub. When they retreat to a birthing oasis, the wise old sage Rafiki tells the tale of young Mufasa and his eventually traitorous younger brother Scar. The uncanny valley created by the CGI is still a problem, but Jenkins’ storytelling and new songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda at least make “Mufasa” significantly better than 2019’s “Lion King” remake.
How to watch: “Mufasa: The Lion King” is streaming on Disney+.
New TV Shows Streaming
“Adolescence”
Since its March 13 debut, “Adolescence” has been pinned to the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s global viewing charts. The series, about a 13-year-old boy named Jamie accused of murdering his female classmate, unfolds like a contemporary murder mystery. Each episode is filmed in one unbroken shot, giving the show an immediacy that puts you on edge.
The question of whether Jamie, the teen accused of the murder, is innocent or not quickly becomes immaterial. Instead, a team of puzzled adults — including his parents, police, and a therapist — try to follow the digital footprints that led to the crime. “Adolescence” is a disheartening crash course in Instagram cyberbullying and the mind-altering power of the manosphere, where online influencers have brainwashed a generation of boys.
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How to watch: “Adolescence” is streaming on Netflix.
“Mid-Century Modern”
“Mid-Century Modern,” the new Hulu comedy from “Will & Grace” creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, has nothing to do with architecture. But like the design movement it’s named after, the show artfully blends the retro and the cutting-edge. The multi-camera, laugh-tracked show is built on a “Golden Girls” concept — three gay best friends move in together after a fourth friend’s funeral — but is filled with enough ribald jokes about the men’s love lives that it would never last a second on network TV.
Bunny (Nathan Lane) is the wealthy elder statesman, Arthur (Nathan Lee Graham) is the haughty New Yorker, and Jerry (Matt Bomer) is the good-hearted but dimwitted himbo. Bunny’s mother (the late Linda Lavin) completes the group, offering withering putdowns of the trio’s worst tendencies. Like most sitcoms, there are some groan-worthy punchlines. But “Mid-Century Modern” is an easy watch, bolstered by Lane’s impeccable comic timing.
How to watch: “Mid-Century Modern” is streaming on Hulu.
“The Studio”
“The Studio,” Seth Rogen’s new Hollywood satire, is a love letter to an industry in decline. After his boss (Catherine O’Hara) gets fired, Rogen’s Matt Remick is tasked with running the fictional Continental Studios. Despite his dreams of blending arthouse taste with commercial appeal, his overlord (Bryan Cranston) makes one thing clear when he hires him: “We don’t make films, we make movies.”
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Rogen and co-writer Evan Goldberg (“Superbad”) keep the action moving at a breakneck pace. In the span of a single episode, Matt goes from making the next “Barbie” with his favorite filmmaker to feigning enthusiasm for the four-quadrant potential of a Kool-Aid Man movie (“Oh Yeah!”). It’s soul-sucking stuff, but at the end of the day, he’s still making movies for a living.
Note: For those of you not subscribed to Apple TV+, the company has put the first episode of “The Studio” on Prime Video as a free preview.
How to watch: “The Studio” is streaming on Apple TV+.
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