Netflix’s Falling for Christmas, Terrifier 2, and every new movie to watch at home

Check out the latest Christmas romcom this weekend It’s Christmas EveNetflix releases Lindsay Lohan’s film, as well as the action crime thriller “The Killer” Lost Bullet 2, the animated children’s film My Father’s DragonThe studio is behind WolfwalkersThe new documentary Are You able to see the black?!And much more.

Are you not feeling all of these? What about a horror film about a murderous clown? Or a horror comedy about someone who eats hallucinogenic bugs? A National Geographic documentary on a French scientist and his eccentric wife that was killed in a volcano eruption? Did you somehow miss Olivia Wilde’s new psychological thriller starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles when it was released on VOD last week ? Well don’t worry, darling… It’s now streaming on HBO Max!

There’s lots to choose from in terms of what to watch and rent this weekend on streaming and VOD. Here are the top picks for this week’s new releases.

It’s Christmas Eve

What to Watch:Netflix streaming available

Photo: Scott Everett White/Netflix

Genre:Romantic comedy
Run time: 1h 33m
Director:Janeen Damian
Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Chord Overstreet, George Young

Lindsay Lohan is the star of this Christmas romantic comedy as Sierra Belmont (a spoiled hotel heiress who suffers from memory loss after an accident on the slopes). Finding herself in the care of Jake (Chord Overstreet), a benevolent lodge owner, she adopts the name “Sarah” and gets a new lease on life helping out around the lodge in the days leading up to Christmas.

Terrifier 2

What to Watch:Rentable for as low as $7.99 at Amazon, Apple and Vudu

Image: The Bloody Disgusting

Genre:Horror
Run time: 2h 18m
Director: Damien Leone
Cast: Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, Sarah Voigt

The sequel to Damien Leone’s 2016 splatter slasher film features the return of Art the Killer Clown. Art, who was resurrected from the dead by a sinister entity after the horrors of the last film’s massacre, returns to the streets and terrorizes Miles County residents on Halloween. This time, he targets a teenager girl with her younger brother.

Leone’s sequel has generated an huge upswell of positive buzz since its limited release in theaters, even inspiring a fan-driven Oscar campaign. How scary can it be? Terrifier 2? You’ll just have to watch it in order to find out!

Lost Bullet 2

What to Watch:Netflix streaming available

Photo: Julien Goldstein/Netflix

Genre: Action/thriller
Run time: 1h 38m
Director: Guillaume Pierret
Cast: Alban Lenoir, Stéfi Celma, Sébastien Lalanne

Are You able to see the black?!

What to Watch:Netflix streaming available

Image by Netflix

Genre: Documentary
Run time: 2h 15m
Director: Elvis Mitchell
Cast: Margaret Avery and Harry Belafonte. Charles Burnett

Composed of interviews with Black artists and actors like Harry Belafonte, Laurence Fishburne, Billy Dee Williams, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, and more, film historian Elvis Mitchell’s new documentary charts the history of African American cinema from the era of Blaxploitation films to the modern renaissance of contemporary actors, directors, and writers.

My Father’s Dragon

What to Watch:Netflix streaming available

Cartoon Saloon/Netflix

Genre: Adventure/comedy
Run time: 1h 39m
Director: Nora Twomey
Cast:Jacob Tremblay and Gaten Matarazzo. Whoopi Goldberg

Based on the children’s book by Ruth Stiles Gannett, this new animated adventure film from five-time Academy Award-nominated studio Cartoon Saloon follows Elmer (Tremblay), a young boy who ventures out to a mythical island in search of a young dragon (Matarazzo) waiting to be rescued.

Where the Crawdads Sing

What to Watch:Netflix is available to stream Saturday, November 12

Photo: Michele K Short/Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures

Genre: Mystery/thriller
Run time: 2h 5m
Director: Olivia Newman
Cast: Taylor John Smith and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Harris Dickinson

Based on Delia Owens’ 2018 novel of the same name, this coming-of-age murder-mystery thriller stars Daisy Edgar-Jones (The Banner of HeavenKya Clark is a South Carolina woman, who was raised in the Deep South marshlands. Kya becomes romantically involved to two men from Barkley cove and is soon at the centre of a murder investigation when her boyfriend, who was accused of assaulting her, is killed. The film adaptation has garnered significant publicity as of late, owed almost entirely to the uncanny parallels between the original novel’s plot and an actual 1995 murder investigation involving Owens herself.

Code Name Banshee

What to Watch:Hulu streamable

Screen Media Films Image

Genre: Action/drama
Run time: 1h 28m
Director: Jon Keeyes
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Jaime King, Tommy Flanagan

Antonio Banderas stars in this assassin action drama as Caleb, a former government “cleaner” in hiding who resurfaces with his protégé “Banshee” (King) after discovering a hit has been placed on his head.

Don’t Worry Darling

What to Watch:On HBO Max, you can watch it live.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Genre: Mystery/thriller
Run time: 2h 3m
Director: Olivia Wilde
Cast: Florence Pugh, Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde

Florence Pugh stars in Olivia Wilde’s follow-up to 2019’s BooksmartAlice is the loving wife of Harry Styles, a hardworking husband. She lives in 1950s-styled town in the middle of a desert. Alice questions the truth of Alice’s idyllic life and her husband’s supposedly good intentions. She sets off to find answers, which bring her face-to–face with an unimaginable, terrifying horror. But don’t worry, darling, everything’s fine!

From our review:

Pugh’s performance is enough of a recommendation to see this shiny, smoothly finished movie-that-feels-like-a-movie. Pugh’s performance is a highlight of the movie. The costuming and cinematography are stunning, as well as the production design. Musically, it’s even richer and a little edgier, pitting crooning doo-wop and civilized jazz against John Powell’s unsettling, nervy score. The space between the discordant sounds and luxurious images can be felt as a gateway to a more challenging, provocative film. Wilde is determined to ensure everyone understands the point and has closed it.

Love is the Fire of Love

What to Watch:Disney Plus streaming available

Image courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films

Genre: Documentary/biography
Run time: 1h 38m
Director: Sara Dosa
Cast: Maurice Krafft and Katia Krafft

This National Geographic documentary film follows the life, and final days, of Katia and Maurice Krafft, two French volcanologists who passed away in the 1991 eruption of Japan’s Mount Unzen. Composed of archival footage shot by the couple themselves, Dosa’s film attempts to chart the extraordinary story of the Kraffts and their all-consuming dedication to science.

It’s All True

What to Watch:Rentable for as low as $6.99 at Amazon, Apple and Vudu

Screen Media Films Image

Genre: Horror/thriller
Run time: 1h 37m
Director: Kevin Lewis
Cast: Mena Suvari, Sarah Grey, Meg Foster

Elly (Grey), after agreeing to help Foster (an elderly woman) for a couple of days, begins experiencing disturbing hallucinations. Learning more about her mysterious host and the house, Elly begins to suspect that she has in fact been lured here by a malevolent spirit who hides inside the old woman’s body.

Full of Worms and All Jacked Up

What to Watch:For $4.99, Amazon or Apple. Vudu is $3.99.

Screambox Image

Genre: Comedy/horror
Run time: 1h 12m
Director: Alex Phillips
Cast: Phillip Andre Botello, Trevor Dawkins, Betsey Brown

The trailer for director Alex Phillips’ new horror film certainly lives up to the movie’s title, featuring an assortment of odd and colorful characters who are either (a) all euphemistic forms of “jacked up” or (b) full of worms. Roscoe Botello (the story’s protagonist) is a maintenance man, who after consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms and going on an errand through Chicago, falls in love and becomes a mother to a moped enthusiast.

Okay, that’s it. C’mon now.

Aqua Teen Forever – Plantasm

What to Watch:Amazon, Apple and Vudu are available for purchase at $19.99

Image: Williams Street/Adult Swim, Bento Box Entertainment

Genre: Comedy/action
Run time: 1h 19m
Director: Dave Willis, Matt Maiellaro
Cast: Carey Means. Dana Snyder. Dave Willis.

In this feature-length direct-to-video movie, the Aqua Teen Hunger force (i.e. Frylocks, Master Shakes, Meatwad and their forever suffering neighbor Carl), returns. Reuniting years after a bad fallout, the group finds themselves faced with a new enemy: an evil mega-corporation called “Amazin” led by an unscrupulous tech mogul named Neil (Peter Serafinowicz).

Fight for Bars

What to Watch:For $4.99 and $3.99, rentable on Amazon or Apple.

Image by IFC Films

Genre:Comedic Comedy
Run time: 1h 24m
Director: Jim Mahoney
Cast: Melissa Fumero, Rachel Bloom, Luka Jones

Nina (Fumero) and Allen (Jones), a recently divorced couple who split everything after their breakup, refuse to give up “custody” over their favorite bar. With neither one willing to budge, Nina’s friend Chelsea (Bloom) steps in to orchestrate a series of challenges to decide which of the two will win the right to frequent the bar. Zany!

Dylan & Zoey

What to Watch:For $4.99 and $3.99, rentable on Amazon or Apple.

Image: Gravitas Ventures

Genre:Drama
Run time: 1h 22m
Director: Matt Sauter
Cast: Blake Scott Lewis, Claudia Doumit and Malcolm Barrett

A group of childhood best friends who have fallen apart reunite in Los Angeles to try to rekindle their friendship.

Friendship Game

What to Watch:Rentable for as low as $6.99 at Amazon, Apple and Vudu

Image by RLJ Entertainment

Genre: Horror/thriller
Run time: 1h 27m
Director: Scooter Corkle
Cast: Peyton List, Brendan Meyer, Maria Hart

Looking for another puzzle-box horror film à la 2022’s Hellraiser? Enjoy the feast of your eyes Friendship GamePeyton List is the star of, the supernatural horror thriller featuring Peyton List.Diary from a Wimpy Kid, Dog Days). A teenager and her friends discover a dodecahedron-like piece in a yard sales. Their close knit bond is threatened when it causes a string of unanswered deaths.

Medieval

What to Watch:You can rent it for $5.99 from Amazon and Apple, or $4.99 via Vudu

Image: Paramount Home Entertainment

Genre: Historical war drama
Run time: 2h 5m
Director: Petr Jákl
Cast: Ben Foster, Michael Caine, Til Schweiger

Czech cinema’s most expensive movie, Medieval tells the story of the legendary military figure Jan Žižka (Ben Foster). This medieval drama is a gritty, violent military story that’s full of court intrigue and military strategy. It also features some brutal fights.

Paradise Pass

What to Watch:Amazon, Apple, Vudu and Vudu are all available for rent at $19.99

Universal Pictures

Genre:Romantic comedy
Run time: 1h 44m
Director:Ol Parker
Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever

George Clooney and Julia Roberts star in this romantic comedy as a divorced couple who put aside their differences to work together with one goal in mind: stopping their lovestruck daughter Lily (Dever) from getting married and making the same “mistake” they did.

Vide Noir

What to Watch:Rentable for as low as $3.49 at Amazon and Apple, or $3.99 at Vudu

Image: Yellow Veil Pictures

Genre: Crime/drama
Run time: 1h 35m
Director: Ariel Vida
Cast: Victor Mascitelli. Ashleigh Cummings. Joanna Bacalso

If you’re looking for a ’60s neo-noir mystery à la 2014’sInherent ViceReacted by the Lynchian surreality New Cherry Flavor and psychotropic visual stylings of Panos Cosmatos’ MandyThis film may just be the right movie for you.

Written by Lord Huron frontman Ben Schneider and named after the band’s 2018 album, which in French translates to “Black Void,” the movie centers on Buck Vernon (Victor Mascitelli), a young man who travels to Los Angeles to track down his missing fiancée. Buck discovers an underground drug ring that is selling a new illicit narcotic. It has the ability to temporarily suspend time and space, and cause ego death. Jinkies! Also, there’s a ton of strobing neon lights and kaleidoscopic transitions, if you’re into that sort of aesthetic!

The Witch: Part 2 — The Other One

What to Watch:For $4.99 and $3.99, rentable on Amazon or Apple.

Image: Well Go USA Entertainment

Genre: Sci-fi/horror/action
Run time: 2h 17m
Director: Park Hoon-jung
Cast: Shin Siah, Jo Minsu, Park Eunbin

Do not confuse this with belated Scary Movie-like parody of Robert Eggers’ 2015 folk horror film, this sci-fi action horror movie is a sequel to a 2018 Korean film and follows a young girl with mysterious psychokinetic abilities who escapes from a hidden laboratory. When a criminal organization threatens both her freedom and the life of the man who rescued her, she’ll have to bring the fight to them in order to survive.