Our weekly guide to new and noteworthy indie and international genre fare, debuting this week on various streaming services.
Made in Korea
The first two episodes are now streaming on Hulu in the U.S., and Disney Plus elsewhere. Subsequent episodes in the 6-episode series debut every Wednesday.
As much as I enjoyed the 'meat and potatoes' espionage drama The Copenhagen Test, debuting tomorrow on Peacock TV, I was even more impressed with the first two episodes of the series, which are much more expansive in style, execution, and ambition. It's propulsive, in that each sequence unfolds in a surprising manner that made me want to watch more.
The first episode begins in the early 1970s, following a businessman who boards an airplane in Korea, bound for Japan, with a mysterious suitcase that must be delivered in person to someone important. Then the airplane is hijacked, and all bets are off.
Three movies are debuting this week after their theatrical releases, two of which we've already reviewed. Let's cover the other one first.
Strange Harvest
The film is now streaming on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney Plus elsewhere.
Presented as a true-crime documentary, Strange Harvest is, in fact, entirely fictional. It follows the re-emergence of an elusive, vicious serial killer in Southern California, who somehow dances out of the reach of the authorities, yet keeps appearing in all manner of media as he wrecks unholy grotesqueries upon an unsuspecting public.
I've seen more than my share of modern true-life docs and series on streaming services, and Strange Harvest gets (just about) everything eerily accurate in its depiction, from interviews with law enforcement officers to recreations of video from a dizzying array of sources, to the point that I had to double check that it was, in fact, entirely fictional. Only a couple of things give it away, but those are quite minor and probably only noticeable to someone looking for the giveaways.
Otherwise, it's quite grueling and gnarly.
(Full disclosure: XYZ Films, which owns this site, is involved in the film, but had no involvement in its inclusion in this article.)
The Life of Chuck
The film debuts Saturday on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney Plus elsewhere.
Director Mike Flanagan adapts Stephen King's beloved story; with Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Jacob Tremblay, Mia Sara, and Mark Hamill.
Our review by Shelagh Rowan-Legg: "I don't think The Life of Chuck pretends to be saying anything new; and it's perhaps being oversold as an extraordinary work of profound revelation. But it is a very enjoyable time at the movies, with a reminder of why we hold close those ideas and people that we do, taking it a little more into that left field of the uncanny and unexplainable."
Cover Up
The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersch talks about his continuing search for truth, directed by Laura Poitras.
Our review by Kurt Halfyard: "As the USA goes through an exceptionally tough decade of crumbling institutions and lack of global leadership or moral clarity, it is a small comfort to get a refreshing nakedly honest conversation about what is on the table, and what is not on the table, from one of the best mensch watchdogs that the country has ever let off the leash."
Other films debuting this week include horror thriller The Jester 2 on Shudder; Ron Howard's drama Eden, starring Jude Law, Ana de Armas, and Vanessa Kirby on Netflix; and Kate Winslet's family drama Goodbye June, starring Helen Mirren and Toni Collette, also on Netflix.
Now Streaming celebrates independent and international genre films and television shows that are newly available on legal streaming services.