April showers may bring May flowers, but it also brings plenty of great new movies to watch. But with so many great options coming to Netflix, Max, and more of the best streaming services, narrowing down which ones are worth your time is no small task.
So let us here at Tom’s Guide topple that decision paralysis for you with our round-up of the best movies to kick off your weekend. To start things off, the 2024 Best Picture nominee “The Zone of Interest” made its way to Max this week. Disney Plus adds the Mouse’s latest animated musical, “Wish,” while Peacock gets the newest horror flick from Blumhouse in “Night Swim.” Meanwhile, over on Netflix, the long-awaited sequel to the iconic 90s flick “Space Jam” travels onto the streamer. And there’s also “Scoop,” a new biographical drama based on the real-life 2019 BBC Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew that went off the rails after he staunchly defended his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
So without further ado, here are our top picks for movies to stream this weekend. And for more recommendations, check the 7 best new movies and shows to watch this week on Netflix.
‘The Zone of Interest’ (Max)
Arriving on Max this month is “The Zone of Interest,” a poignant WWII historical drama that took home three Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards, including Best International Feature Film and Best Sound.
Horrific yet undeniably brilliant, “The Zone of Interest” stars Christian Friedel as Rudolf Höss and Sandra Hüller as his wife Hedwig, a German couple building their perfect picket fence life in the literal shadow of the Auschwitz concentration camp, which Rudolf runs.
While this movie doesn’t shy away from the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany against the Jewish people, it’s more like background noise than the main focus. The real horror comes from observing the mundane normalcy the family is able to carve out amid it all, as they see their place in the Holocaust as simply a means to a better life.
‘Wish’ (Disney Plus)
In the mood for something a little more family friendly? Disney’s latest animated musical “Wish” just landed on Disney Plus. Directed by the same talent behind “Frozen” and “Tarzan,” this film commemorates Disney’s 100th anniversary, serving as a throwback to the past, a celebration of the present, and a look to the future for the legendary animation studio.
In “Wish,” Ariana DeBose shines as Asha, a 17-year-old girl who wishes upon a star to save the fictional kingdom of Rosas, set on an island in the Mediterranean Sea, from an impending doom. That star turns into an anthropomorphic ball of light — an homage to the bouncing ball exercise, one of the building blocks of animation. And while the star doesn’t talk, a stellar voice cast that also includes Chris Pine as the smooth-talking villain King Magnifico, Alan Tudyk as Asha’s animal sidekick, and Angelique Cabral as the queen of Rosas certainly does.
‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ (Netflix)
Welcome to the jam. The long-in-development sequel to the iconic 90s flick “Space Jam” arrived in 2021, subbing in LeBron James for Michael Jordon in another vibrant family comedy that mixes the world of Looney Tunes with pro sports.
In “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” LeBron and his young son, Dom, become trapped in digital space by a rogue AI. To escape, he must team up with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the rest of the Looney Tunes gang for a high-stakes basketball game against the AI-generated roster called the Goon Squad. In this digitized showdown, it’s winner takes all and chock full of ridiculous cameos to spot.
‘Scoop’ (Netflix)
In 2019, an infamous BBC Newsnight interview proved to be the public catalyst for Prince Andrew’s downfall after he got defensive about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Now, five years later, an entire movie based on that very interview is headed to Netflix in the form of “Scoop,” a biographical drama that explores all the behind-the-scenes chaos that happened before, during, and after the segment.
Gillian Anderson stars as Emily Maitlis, the Newsnight anchor who conducted the bombshell interview, while Andrew is played by “The Diplomat” star Rufus Sewell. Rounding out the cast is Keeley Hawes as Amanda Thirsk, Andrew’s former private secretary, and Billie Piper as Sam McAlister, the “Newsnight” producer who negotiated with Buckingham Palace to secure the interview and who wrote the book the film is based.
‘Night Swim’ (Peacock)
From the producers of “M3GAN” comes “Night Swim,” a new horror film about a suburban family who get more than they bargained for with their new home. Wyatt Russell plays a former baseball player named Ray who, after being forced into an early retirement due to a degenerative illness, decides to buy a fixer-upper with his wife (Kerry Condon) with a dilapidated swimming pool out back. Spoiler alert: The pool is just as haunted as it looks.
As Ray gets the pool into usable shape, the family discover that not only is it self-sustaining, but it appears to have healing properties that cause Ray’s illness to go into remission. But they soon learn that help comes at a price after their children are attacked by something in the pool and their cat goes missing. When Ray’s wife, concerned about the sinister changes she sees in her husband, contacts the previous residents, she realizes the pool is haunted by a malevolent force that threatens to drag the family under.
