This week’s streaming premieres are a healthy mix of both movies and TV shows. Three films that were released in theaters earlier this year have made their streaming and on-demand debuts this week. Netflix and Paramount+, meanwhile, have added new episodes of two wildly different, popular shows to their platform. On Friday, Netflix is also set to host the premiere of one of this summer’s biggest and most star-studded sequels.
Here are the eight best new movies and shows that you can stream this weekend.
“Dangerous Animals” (2025)
A savage mash-up of the serial killer and shark survival horror genres, director Sean Byrne’s “Dangerous Animals” is unlike any other thriller you will likely see this year. An Australian and American co-production, it follows a free-spirited surfer (Hassie Harrison) who is abducted by a maniacal serial killer (Jai Courtney) who ritualistically holds his victims captive on his boat before feeding them to hungry sharks in the ocean.
Nail-bitingly tense and delightfully deranged, “Dangerous Animals” is a 98-minute thriller that does not overstay its welcome. It sinks its teeth into you quickly and then does not let go until it has taken you for an intense and grisly ride. It is now available to rent and buy on demand.
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“Lilo & Stitch” (2025)
Not long after it crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, Disney’s live-action remake of “Lilo & Stitch” is now available to rent and buy on demand. Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, the film largely tells the same story as its 2002 predecessor and follows Lilo Pelekai (Maia Kealoha), a young Hawaiian girl who adopts a blue alien (Chris Sanders) and opens the latter’s eyes to the importance and power of family.
While “Lilo & Stitch” received mixed reviews upon its release and divided fans of the animated original, it has nonetheless emerged as the biggest box office film of the year so far. It has, in other words, captured the hearts of countless families, and now more viewers have the chance to finally check it out themselves from the comfort of their own homes.
“Materialists” (2025)
Speaking of divisive hits, writer-director Celine Song’s “Materialists” is one of the year’s most star-studded and buzziest films. It follows a New York City matchmaker (Dakota Johnson) who finds herself torn between her loveless but financially comfortable relationship with a handsome millionaire (Pedro Pascal) and her lingering attraction to her perpetually broke, struggling actor ex-boyfriend (Chris Evans). Inaccurately marketed as a return to a 2000s-era romantic comedy formula, “Materialists” is not all that interested in breezy, heart-swelling emotions.
It is a film overflowing with ideas — about everything from modern dating standards and matchmaking to the role that money plays in love and courtship. It does not explore all of its ideas equally well, but it inspires a level of engagement and discussion that is genuinely surprising. Few movies or TV shows this year have led to as many online debates and watercooler conversations as “Materialists,” which you can buy and rent on demand as of this week. It also, for what it’s worth, looks just as beautiful as Song’s “Past Lives,” and that only makes “Materialists” even more alluring and watchable.
“Washington Black” (Hulu)
Sterling K. Brown is back with his second Hulu original series of the year. Coming off the recent success of “Paradise,” Brown stars this week in “Washington Black.” Based on Esi Edugyan’s novel of the same name, the limited series follows George Washington Black (Ernest Kingsley Jr.) as he escapes slavery in the early 1800s in Barbados and flees to Nova Scotia, where he is taken under the wing of fellow Black refugee Medwin Harris (Brown).
All eight episodes of the adventure series premiered Wednesday on Hulu. Check it out and you will be treated to a show full of awe-inspiring visual imagination and wonder, as well as powerful themes of identity, freedom, growth and change.
“South Park” Season 27 (Paramount+)
“South Park,” one of TV’s longest-running and most beloved comedies, has finally returned with its first episodes in well over a year. The series’ 27th season debuted Wednesday night on Comedy Central, and its premiere installment is streaming now on Paramount+. While long-running comedies have become a bit of a rarity in television’s current, streaming era, it does not seem like fans need to be worried about the animated series’ quality drastically dipping anytime soon, either.
“South Park” has maintained its unrestrained, transgressive ability to make its viewers gasp and laugh with shocking consistency over the years, and that trend does not seem to have changed in the series’ latest season. If you’re a fan of the show, then this weekend would be the perfect time for you to check out its latest episode.
“The Sandman” Season 2 Part 2 (Netflix)
Netflix’s “The Sandman” made its return earlier this month from an almost three-year break with the first half of its second season. Now, several weeks later, the second half of the fantasy series’ sophomore and final season is available to stream on Netflix now. Five new episodes of “The Sandman” Season 2 premiered Thursday on the streaming platform, giving longtime fans the perfect way to spend five hours of their time this weekend.
One more, final episode of the series, which will wrap up its two-season story, is set to premiere on July 31. Viewers, in other words, still have one more week to go before “The Sandman” is officially over. Fortunately, Netflix has given fans no reason to suspect that this week’s episodes are not just as mesmerizing, haunting and substantial as those that have come before them.
“Happy Gilmore 2” (Netflix)
“Happy Gilmore 2” looks more promising than it should. While many of Adam Sandler’s Netflix collaborations over the years have been unfortunate misfires, the new film is a follow-up to one of its star’s most beloved movies, and it looks brighter, livelier and funnier than most legacy comedy sequels audiences have seen in recent years. Set 30 years after its predecessor, the sequel follows its eponymous hockey player-turned-professional-golfer as he decides to return to the latter sport to pay for his daughter’s ballet schooling.
In addition to Sandler, original “Happy Gilmore” stars Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald and Dennis Dugan are all back in the sequel, which also promises to feature cameos from more contemporary celebrities than you will likely be able to count. Based on its trailers, “Happy Gilmore 2” seems to have recaptured the delightfully chaotic spirit of its parent film. Whether or not it holds together as well or elicits as many laughs remains to be seen. Either way, there is no denying that it is one of this week’s biggest streaming premieres, and it also has the potential to be one of its best.
“Trigger” (Netflix)
Netflix has not gone out of its way to promote “Trigger,” its new South Korean crime drama, but the show looks ideal for a weekend binge-watch. The limited series follows a determined cop and a scheming arms broker who end up on opposite sides of an increasingly dangerous standoff after a rush of illegal firearms starts to flood into a gun-free South Korea.
Early footage from “Trigger” has featured flashes of adrenaline-pumping visual style, propulsive drama and bracing violence. “Trigger” looks, consequently, like the type of series that does not just hold your attention but immediately grabs it. If you find yourself looking for something to watch that is less mainstream than some of this week’s bigger streaming titles, then you might want to give “Trigger” a shot.
