Peacock has come in from behind with a strong bench of original shows (the greatest of these was/is Poker Face)—but also a solid assortment of original or exclusive movies, some brand new, and some that dropped during quarantine times that you might have missed, being otherwise occupied. There’s some prestige stuff here, but also some slightly more disreputable fare, including a drama from some people you may have liked in Real Housewives, and a bunch of clever Blumhouse horror. There’s a little bit here for everyone.
Drive-Away Dolls (۲۰۲۴)
Ethan Coen goes solo as director (co-writing with Tricia Cooke) on this gloriously unhinged tribute to ’70s exploitation romance movies. Marian and Jamie are a couple of friends who, setting off on a road trip to Tallahassee, Florida, discover that they’ve taken the wrong car. They learn this when they discover a briefcase full of sex toys and a human head. Of such things are great lesbian adventures born.
The Holdovers (۲۰۲۳)
Paul Giamatti stars alongside Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph in this Alexander Payne-directed movie about a curmudgeonly teacher at a New England prep school who winds up getting stuck babysitting a bunch of students stuck on campus over a Christmas break. Randolph plays Mary Lamb, a cafeteria worker who recently lost a son; the two bond over shared loss and changing times.
Lisa Frankenstein (۲۰۲۴)
Written by Diablo Cody and directed by Zelda Williams, Lisa Frankenstein didn’t do much business at the box office, which is a shame. It’s the unique and funny story of a misunderstood ’80s goth girl (Kathryn Newton) who accidentally reanimates the corpse of a young man who died in 1837 (Cole Sprouse). Blending tones and genres with a 1980s neon-lit visual style, it’s a fun—and surprisingly charming—horror-comedy.
Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie (۲۰۲۳)
Tony Shalhoub is back as America’s favorite obsessive-compulsive detective, Adrian Monk, picking up the role 14 years after the end of the series. Impressively, he doesn’t have appeared to miss a beat in a movie that, very sensibly, addresses the impact of Covid on the life of the fastidious and phobic Monk as he becomes embroiled in a case involving his stepdaughter’s dead fiancé.
If You Were the Last (۲۰۲۳)
An unlikely rom-com in space stars Anthony Mackie and Zoë Chao as a couple of astronauts who’ve been adrift for three years on a ship without navigation. Everybody back home thinks they’re dead, so, for them, they’re literally the last two people around. Kristian Mercado’s movie finds them poles apart, on opposite ends of almost every conversation, but with a need to communicate that draws them closer together. It’s charmingly old-fashioned in its willingness to rely on dialogue to carry us forward.
Sick (۲۰۲۲)
This Blumhouse slasher dropped on Peacock at the height of the Covid pandemic which was, well, a lot. Now that enough time has passed that we can pretend it never happened/isn’t still happening, it’s a bit easier to swallow this wonderfully nasty cabin-in-the-woods slasher. Scream’s Kevin Williamson wrote the tale of murder in quarantine.
Oppenheimer(۲۰۲۳)
You might have heard of the latest Christopher Nolan joint, the explosive story of Manhattan Project director and ambivalent father of the atom bomb: J. Robert Oppenheimer. The movie took home seven Academy Awards, including for Best Picture. Its box office success offers hope for a post-superhero future.
Bros (۲۰۲۲)
Billy Eichner (who also co-wrote the movie) stars alongside Luke McFarlane in this cute, funny, and charmingly old-school rom-com that blends genre tropes with a refreshingly pro-queer context. Bros turned off a lot of straight moviegoers at the box office, but it makes for fun home viewing.
They/Them (۲۰۲۲)
Another unique Blumhouse slasher, this one set at an LGBTQ conversion camp. Scary enough, even before the bodies start to drop. The talented cast includes Carrie Preston, Anna Chlumsky, and Kevin Bacon. Not everything lands perfectly, but everyone’s having fun with the spin on a classic premise.
Mid-Century (۲۰۲۲)
That gorgeous rental property that you’re looking at might not be all it’s cracked up to be—particularly when the architect was an occult-obsessed polygamist who keeps making his presence known decades after the house was built. A Covid-stressed doctor and her husband head off for a rest at the very cool house, only to get caught up in a bunch of deeply weird shit. It doesn’t all hang together, but it’s effective enough at moments to make for a spooky time at the rental office.
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (۲۰۲۲)
This effective Peacock original documentary serves as a still-needed reminder that the Rosa Parks of our collective imagination is largely a work of fiction. Far from the little old lady too tired to give up her seat, Parks, at the time of the Montgomery bus boycott, was a young-ish activist who’d been planning and strategizing around civil rights for years. Her resolve and radical politics shine through here.
You Should Have Left (۲۰۲۰)
Another Blumhouse horror, another creepy house—and more Kevin Bacon. There might be an emerging flavor to Peacock’s horror offerings and, honestly, I’m not mad about it. Here, Bacon is joined by Amanda Seyfried as his too-young actress wife, of whom he’s perpetually jealous—a situation complicated and exacerbated by their Welsh vacation house. The property itself seems to be loaded with malicious intent, mirroring the marital troubles of our unhappy couple.
Shooting Stars (۲۰۲۳)
Though it hits plenty of stock biopic notes, this sports drama offers an inspiring origin story for LeBron James, starring Mookie Cook as a young LeBron who, along with his friends, formed the #1 high school basketball team in the country. It’s based on the book of the same name co-written by Buzz Bissinger, best known for Friday Night Lights.
Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker’s The Pass (۲۰۲۳)
Awkward name aside (presumably there are a lot of movies named The Pass?), this one’s an entertainingly soapy drama from the titular Real Housewives of Atlanta power couple. Drew Sidora and Rob Riley star as a couple that give each other one night off from fidelity, with predictably steamy results. Nothing wrong with a movie that gives exactly what it promises.
The Year Between (۲۰۲۲)
Writer/director Alex Heller also stars here, alongside J. Smith-Cameron and Steve Buscemi, as a young college dropout coping with bipolar disorder who returns home to her challenging family. Heller’s great, the dialogue is clever, and the movie gets high marks for its more-authentic-than-usual portrayal of life with bipolar disorder.
Nope (۲۰۲۲)
Jordan Peele’s latest managed a thoroughly unnerving atmosphere even as it blends comedy and scares in an alien invasion horror film that’s also a little bit of a western. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer star in another unclassifiable and original triumph.
She Said (۲۰۲۲)
Solid reviews met abysmal box office returns when this docudrama was released way back in 2020, but it’s worth a look. With some of the style of great journalism-themed dramas of days past, She Said looks at the investigation that ultimately exposed Harvey Weinstein’s history of abuse and assault, as led by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan).
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (۲۰۲۲)
A London cleaning lady (circa 1957) becomes enamored with a client’s Dior dress, and heads off to Paris to get one of her own when she comes into a bit of extra money. In the process, she falls into the world of haute couture and high culture. Lesley Manville is an absolute delight as the lead in this adaptation of Paul Gallico’s 1958 novel.
Promising Young Woman (۲۰۲۰)
Cassie (Carey Mulligan) seemed like she had everything going for her before she dropped out of medical school and started spending her nights hanging out at bars, seemingly easy prey for skeezy guys. Except that there’s more to Cassie than meets the eye, and those dudes at the bar have no idea what’s coming. Writer/director Emerald Fennell (who followed this up with the similarly tough-to-classify Saltburn) blends comedy with revenge thriller themes and wraps it all in an ultra-stylish candy-colored package.
Bosco (۲۰۲۴)
Based on a memoir from Quawntay “Bosco” Adams (here played by Aubrey Joseph), who was sentenced in 2004 to 35 years in a maximum security prison for the heinous and unforgivable crime of—well, the movie keeps that under wraps for quite a while. Suffice it to say that it’s not hard to root for him as he plans an ingenious and fairly spectacular escape with the help of a prison pen pal played by Nikki Blonsky.
House of Gucci (۲۰۲۱)
Ridley Scott hasn’t had a ton of luck with his big historical epics, but this very slightly smaller film about the Gucci dynasty had more success at the box office, and generally positive reviews. Lady Gaga and Adam Driver star in the glitzy, moderately campy crime drama about the battle for control of the fashion brand.
Night Swim (۲۰۲۴)
Writer/director Bryce McGuire expands his 2014 short to feature length with somewhat mixed results, but the horror-fantasy kicks off with a fun premise: this one’s about a haunted swimming pool—keeping, I suppose, in line with the “spooky property” theme of other Peacock horrors. It doesn’t all float, but Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon are effective leads, and there’s some legitimately scary stuff going on.
On Fire (۲۰۲۳)
Old school survival drama (based on true events) about a family living in the backwoods confronted by a horrific fire. Peter Facinelli and Fiona Dourif star.
Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power (۲۰۲۲)
A broad approach to the history (and present) of the American Civil Rights movement can be useful, but it’s often more illuminating to zoom in. This smart doc uses interviews and archival footage to tell the story of the title county in the 1960s, a time when the area was rough 80% Black in population, but with zero non-white voters.
Trolls Band Together (۲۰۲۳)
Feels a little late in the day, perhaps, for a movie parodying boy bands, but this third Trolls movie is otherwise well on par with the series: It’s joke-heavy, family-friendly, and just generally silly fun. Justin Timberlake heads up one of those all-star voice casts that includes Anna Kendrick, Keenan Thompson, Ron Funches, and RuPaul. There’s also a sing-along version for brave parents.
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