All The New Movies Coming to Streaming This Week: ‘The Little Mermaid,’ ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ and More

Whether you want one of the year’s best horror films, an offbeat science fiction satire, or a remastered classic revenge story getting a long overdue release, this week in the world of streaming has it all.

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The Banshees of Inisherin

Release Date: Monday, September 4 on Hulu

One of the best movies of last year that thrives off outstanding performances as well as sharp writing that is equal parts hilarious as it is haunting, The Banshees of Inisherintells the story of two friends living on a remote Irish isle who are at odds. Though they have known each other for the better part of their lives, what begins as an unexpected row will spiral into being a more grim depiction of conflict and how, at the end of the day, some wounds may never be healed.

Birth/Rebirth

Release Date: Tuesday, September 5 on VOD

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A reimagining of Frankenstein that comes to life with arresting performances, writer-director Laura Moss’ birth/rebirthis a delightfully dark and grimly humorous experience that plays out almost entirely within the confines of a single apartment though feels vast in ways that sneak up on you. At the center of this is the compassionate Celie (Judy Reyes), who spends most of her days working long hours as a maternity nurse while trying to juggle caring for her own daughter Lila (A.J. Lister) almost entirely alone. Beneath her in the same hospital, there is the pathological Rose (Marin Ireland), who works and lives in isolation with a fixation on death. The lives of the two will be brought together following tragedy and what may be a subsequent second chance at life. Of course, as with any such opportunity, this also comes with a heavy cost which this often brutal body horror explores with an ease that is still no less evocative. Both Reyes and Ireland are spectacular, never overplaying their characters as they go to increasing lengths in trying to hold together an increasingly fragile state of affairs surrounding an act of reanimation. It may not be as goofy as something like the classic Reanimator, but it feels like it has the same passion for its story that it injects with a bold bleakness. This culminates in a great punchline of a final statement that ties its bloody story together beautifully.

Landscape with Invisible Hand

Release Date: Friday, September 8 on VOD

While Landscape with Invisible Hand is not Cory Finley’s best film by any stretch of the imagination, it is still one of the most unique science fiction visions you’ll see this year. Taking us into the near future where aliens have invaded and become the new overlords of all of our lives, it follows a family trying to survive this new repression that also doesn’t feel all that much different than how they were living before. It is a film that doesn’t always connect in its humor, but the ending still leaves a mark that makes it all worth it.

The Little Mermaid

Release Date: Wednesday, September 6 on Disney+

A live-action remake of the classic animated film, Disney’s The Little Mermaidhas already washed away the competition at the box office and now it’s trying to make a big splash on streaming. There is a good chance families that wanted to see this already have, but for those that have not, now is your chance to go under the sea. Just beware the *shudders* the scuttlebutt.

Mafia Mamma

Release Date: Monday, September 4 on Paramount+

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Next is a film with a committed central performance that doesn’t come together in the way it should. Mafia Mamma, starring Toni Collette as a suburban mom who inherits a criminal empire and is swept up in these operations in Italy, is fun for her humorous performance alone. Often violent and chaotic before ultimately playing out in a more predictable fashion, it has some good gags that get drowned out in its more dull repetitions. Still, for anyone who is looking to see Collette really throw herself into a performance, this film certainly offers that.

Oldboy Remastered

Release Date: Tuesday, September 5 on VOD

In a world in which many films can feel all too predictable and safe, there are few works that remain as bold as the 2003 film Oldboy. Directed by Park Chan-wook, it is the type of uncompromising and evocative experience where any cinematic education is incomplete without it. A meticulously detailed portrait of one man’s descent into a madness that will hit him like a train he can’t see coming until it is far too late to save himself, it is now getting a theatrical re-release with a new restored and remastered version for its 20th anniversary. Whether you’ve seen it dozens of times or have yet to take the plunge, it is worth revisiting for just how remarkable it is.

Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America

Release Date: Wednesday, September 6 on Netflix

This week’s documentary offering is the infuriating yet incisive Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America about the decades-long coverup of abuse in the organization. Featuring interviews with those who have since come forward, it is a compassionate yet crushing look at the failures of one of America’s largest groups. It is not an easy watch by any means, but the way it then puts the tough questions to those who were in charge makes it into a more rigorous investigative piece worth seeing.

Sitting in Bars with Cake

Release Date: Friday, September 8 on Prime Video

No streaming meal would be complete without a bit of dessert and this week your sweet selection is Sitting in Bars with Cake. It stars Yara Shahidias Jane, a talented baker trying to make it in an industry that undervalues her. When her friend Corinne, played by Odessa A’Zion, suggests they start making cakes and bringing them to bars, things seem like they may begin turning around. That is until an unexpected complication arises that will upend their lives and bring them closer together than they ever were before.