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M3GAN, Netflix’s You People, and every other movie you can stream from home this weekend

The newest killer doll on the block comes dancing and slashing onto VOD this week

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M3GAN, the lifelike robot-doll from M3GAN, faces the camera with an expressionless yet somewhat threatening look on her face. Image: Universal Pictures

M3GAN fans (“M3FANs”), rejoice: The supreme queen bee of sentient doll-based brutality finally arrives on VOD this weekend. If watching a creepy plasticine child perform infectious dance moves before proceeding to butcher a man with a makeshift machete doesn’t quite sound like your kind of vibe, not to worry; there’s a ton of new releases available to choose from on streaming and VOD.

You People — no no, not “测辞耻” people — the latest comedy-drama from Black-ish creator Kenya Barris starring Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy comes to Netflix this week, along with a new documentary on the life and music of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. The new action rom-com Shotgun Wedding, starring Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel, premieres on Prime Video; meanwhile, Todd Field’s Oscar-nominated psychological drama 罢á谤 is finally available to stream on Peacock. There’s plenty more new releases to enjoy on VOD this weekend besides M3GAN, including a new dark comedy-drama starring Julianne Moore and Stranger Things Finn Wolfhard.

Here are the new movies available for you to watch at home this weekend.


Netflix

You People

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

A man in sunglasses (Eddie Murphy) stands with his hands against his waist next to a man (Jonah Hill) in a red hoodie. Image: Parrish Lewis/Netflix

Genre: Comedy/romance
Run time: 1h 57m
Director: Kenya Barris
Cast: Jonah Hill, Lauren London, Eddie Murphy

Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy star in this new buddy comedy from Black-ish creator Kenya Barris that could best be described as a Meet the Fockers-type scenario crossed with a race-swapped version of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Look, there’s a tone-deaf comment about police brutality! Oh, and there’s an uncomfortable offhand joke about Louis Farrakhan’s incendiary remarks about Jewish people! One thing is certain: You People is edgy; it is saying things; and boy howdy, it is going there! Jury’s out on whether that’ll make for a funny comedy.

From our review:

There’s this weird notion that good comedy is offensive, when in fact it’s empathetic. In order to make someone laugh and do it consistently, it’s necessary to understand something about them first. This is why the impulse behind a film like You People can be a good one, as comedy can make a lot of hay out of the misunderstandings people have about one another as they bumble toward understanding. You People, however, is mostly interested in ignorance, and as such it gets old fast. Because the most offensive comedy isn’t ignorant or bigoted, it’s simply boring.

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

A black-and-white archival photo of Leonard Cohen in a dark suit sitting in a chair holding a cane next to a table with a cat on it. Image: Sony Pictures Classics

Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 58m
Directors: Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine
Cast: Leonard Cohen. Nancy Bacal, Steve Berkowitz

This documentary digs into the writing and cultural impact of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s music, particularly his 1984 folk rock song “Hallelujah.” Directors Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine combine archival footage of past interviews and performances by Cohen, who passed away in 2016 due to complications stemming from leukemia, and interviews with past collaborators, loved ones, and artists who have covered the song in the past to create a tribute to Cohen’s life and his art.

An Action Hero

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

A handsome man waves to a crowd from a balcony with his shirt open in An Action Hero. Image: AA Films

Genre: Action comedy
Run time: 2h 10m
Director: Anirudh Iyer
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Jaideep Ahlawat

I’ve [ed. note — PV] heard great things about this Hindi action comedy, about a movie star who gets accused of murder and then his life turns into an action movie. The spotlight on Indian cinema recently has largely been focused on Southern India after the breakout international success of RRR, but Bollywood is hoping to bring some of the attention back to the country’s most historically dominant film industry with this thrilling and funny meta story about the movie industry.

Prime Video

Shotgun Wedding

Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video

A woman in a torn wedding dress (Jennifer Lopez) kneels on a beach beside a man (Josh Duhamel) in a tattered tuxedo with a bloodied bruise on his cheek. Image: Lionsgate/Amazon Studios

Genre: Action/rom-com
Run time: 1h 40m
Director: Jason Moore
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Coolidge

Weddings sure are murder, am I right? (ba-dum-tss) Haha, we have fun here. Anyway, Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers) and Josh Duhamel (Transformers) star in this romantic action-comedy as a couple whose destination wedding is imperiled when a group of heavily armed criminals storm their venue and hold their guests and families hostage. In order to survive, the two will have to work together to take down the kidnappers and rescue their loved ones.

AMC Plus

The Lair

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

A man screams as a zombified arm with a wristwatch visibly enmeshed in its flesh grabs hold of his right shoulder while shrouded in darkness. Image: RLJE Films/Shudder

Genre: Sci-fi/horror
Run time: 1h 36m
Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: Charlotte Kirk, Jonathan Howard, Jamie Bamber

After being shot down over Afghanistan, a Royal Air Force pilot (Charlotte Kirk) inadvertently stumbles upon a bunker home to a hideous half-human, half-alien creature that threatens to kill every human it comes across if unleashed.

?Peacock

罢á谤

Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock

Lydia 罢á谤 (Cate Blanchett) makes a vigorous full-body downward gesture while conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in Todd Field’s 罢á谤 Image: Focus Features

Genre: Psychological drama
Run time: 2h 38m
Director: Todd Field
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss

Cate Blanchett stars in Todd Field’s first feature film since 2006’s Little Children as the eponymous Lydia 罢á谤, a famous composer and the first female conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra. A literal virtuoso, 罢á谤 is mere weeks away from realizing what might be her magnum opus. When her reputation and legacy are suddenly jeopardized by a series of scandals, she’ll have to weather the consequences of her own indiscretions and face a bracing new reality. One of the best movies of 2022, 罢á谤 was recently honored with a handful of Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

VOD

M3GAN

Where to watch: Available to rent for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

The killer AI doll M3GAN (Amie Donald) grabs her creator Gemma (Allison Williams) by the face in M3GAN Image: Universal Pictures

Genre: Sci-fi/horror comedy
Run time: 1h 42m
Director: Gerard Johnstone
Cast: Allison Williams, Jenna Davis, Violet McGraw

The latest horror film from Housebound director Gerard Johnstone and Malignant screenwriter Akela Cooper follows Gemma (Allison Williams), a roboticist for a Seattle toy company who creates an artificially intelligent doll to look after her orphaned niece, Cady (Violet McGraw). But when the doll, at first unbeknownst to either Gemma or Cady, begins to commit a series of violent murders ostensibly in service of its prime directive, Gemma will have to fight to protect her niece and the world from what she has created.

From our review:

The graveyard of awful horror comedies is among the saddest and most boring in all of film. It’s filled with hundreds of bad-taste parodies, laughless messes, silly garbage, and probably a few unfortunate movies that weren’t deliberately designed to be laughed at. The worst movies in the subgenre feel like tightrope acts that try too hard to balance what the creators seem to think are two opposite extremes, hoping the audience laughs one moment and screams the next. But following in the footsteps of classics like the original Chucky movie Child’s Play, director Gerard Johnstone and the team behind the new horror comedy M3GAN realize that laughing and screaming aren’t actually that different — and most importantly, that either one can be the key to a great time.

Life Upside Down

Where to watch: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

A haggard looking man (Bob Odenkirk) slumped on the floor against the barren white wall of an art gallery. Image: IFC Films

Genre: Comedy/drama
Run time: 1h 28m
Director: Cecilia Miniucchi
Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Radha Mitchell, Danny Huston

Forced to quarantine in the beginning months of the COVID-19 pandemic, three couples look at their lives, friends, partners, and themselves differently as they reassess everything and everyone they once thought was important. I know that sounds dour, but it’s a comedy— I swear! Look, it even has Bob Odenkirk in it! He’s a funny guy when he’s not playing a disbarred criminal lawyer working on behalf of a methamphetamine empire, right?

When You Finish Saving the World

Where to watch: Available to purchase for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

A teenage boy (Finn Wolfhard) with a guitar case on his back stands next to a older, long-haired woman (Julianne Moore) wearing glasses. Image: A24

Genre: Black comedy/drama
Run time: 1h 28m
Director: Jesse Eisenberg
Cast: Julianne Moore, Finn Wolfhard, Alisha Boe

Ziggy (Finn Wolfhard), a high school student with a passion for folk music, and his mother, Evelyn (Julianne Moore), the head of a women’s shelter, just can’t seem to get along. As their relationship increasingly frays, the two begin to seek out emotional reciprocity in others and question what it is exactly they are searching for in their relationship, in Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut.

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