This week’s streaming premieres include a new HBO original that appears to be following in the footsteps of “Sex and the City” and “Girls,” as well as an Apple TV original that is very much in the same vein as “Slow Horses,” which just wrapped up its fifth season. Netflix‘s premieres this week, meanwhile, are headlined by the anxiously awaited fourth season of one of the streamer’s most popular shows and the latest film from “Conclave” director Edward Berger.
Here are the eight best new movies and shows you can stream this weekend.
“Ballad of a Small Player” (Netflix)
A year after he made “Conclave,” one of 2024’s most widely beloved crowdpleasers, director Edward Berger has returned this week with his latest film, “Ballad of a Small Player.” Based on a 2014 novel of the same name, the Netflix original follows a reckless high-stakes gambler (Colin Farrell) whose efforts to lay low in Macau are complicated by his run-in with a kindred spirit. The film has firmly split critics over the past few weeks, and it does not look to be nearly as straightforward of a hit as Berger’s previous two efforts, “Conclave” and 2022’s “All Quiet on the Western Front.”
Farrell has gradually become the kind of actor whose mere presence in a project merits attention, though, and he appears — by all accounts, at least — to have left everything on the table here. There are, consequently, many worse ways you could spend two hours of your time this weekend than by checking out “Ballad of a Small Player.”
“Down Cemetery Road” (Apple TV)
“Slow Horses” Season 5 may have ended on Wednesday, but Apple TV has a treat for fans of that spy series in the form of “Down Cemetery Road.” Created by former “Slow Horses” staff writer Morwenna Banks, the new show is based on a different series of books also written by “Slow Horses” author Mick Herron. It follows an unassuming art conservationist (Ruth Wilson) who ends up investigating a dangerous conspiracy involving a missing child, a house explosion and ruthless government agents.
She is aided along the way by an acerbic, determined private investigator (Emma Thompson). The series has the same mix of crime, menace, sarcasm and absurd humor that has made “Slow Horses” such an endlessly addictive watch over the past three years, which is why fans of that dramedy might want to give “Down Cemetery Road” a shot as well. Its first two episodes are streaming now on Apple. Its remaining installments are set to drop one at a time every Wednesday through Dec. 10.
“Hedda” (Prime Video)
“Hedda,” which premiered Wednesday on Amazon’s Prime Video, is the kind of showcase that star Tessa Thompson has long deserved. Written and directed by “Candyman” filmmaker Nia DaCosta, the film is a dramatic reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s 1891 play “Hedda Gabler.” It follows its eponymous heroine (Thompson) over the course of one long night, as the suffocating quality of her domestic life and the reemergence of a past love force her to confront some long-repressed desires and unresolved tensions.
The film has received almost universally positive reviews in the wake of its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September. Now, nearly two months later, it is available to watch from the comfort of your own home. Given its early acclaim and the caliber of the talent involved in it, you’d be wise to consider checking “Hedda” out this weekend.
“Hazbin Hotel” Season 2 (Prime Video)
One of the two animated spots on this list belongs to “Hazbin Hotel” Season 2, the first two episodes of which premiered Wednesday on Prime Video. Created, directed and produced by Vivienne “VivziePop” Medrano, this one-of-a-kind animated musical comedy follows Charlie Morningstar (Erika Henningsen), the crown princess of Hell, as she tries to use her Hazbin Hotel as an avenue for sinners’ souls to be redeemed and allowed entry into Heaven rather than being altogether exterminated due to overpopulation concerns.
What began as a Patreon-funded passion project for Medrano has turned into one of Amazon’s most distinct animated projects. New episodes of its second season drop two at a time every week through Nov. 19, and with third and fourth seasons already in development, fans can dive into “Hazbin Hotel” Season 2 this weekend knowing that the series will not be going anywhere anytime soon.
“Star Wars: Visions” Volume 3 (Disney+)
“Star Wars: Visions” felt like a breath of fresh air when it premiered back in Sept. 2021. In the years since then, the series hasn’t lost that refreshing quality. An animated anthology show, every season — or “volume” — of “Visions” is comprised of different animated short films either set within or inspired by the “Star Wars” universe. This format has not only allowed multiple, wildly different animation studios to try their hands at telling their own kind of “Star Wars” stories, but it has also given fans of the franchise the chance to briefly experience its beloved, sci-fi universe in ways they never have before.
Now, “Star Wars: Visions” Volume 3 has, at long last, premiered on Disney+ this week. With its premiere has come nine new “Star Wars” short films for fans to enjoy and escape into — some of which just so happen to be sequels to past, acclaimed “Visions” shorts.
“The Witcher” Season 4 (Netflix)
It’s not often that a popular TV show tries to survive the replacement of its central star. That is, however, exactly what “The Witcher” Season 4 is attempting. The Netflix fantasy series’ new season is its first without longtime star Henry Cavill, who has been replaced as the fan-favorite, white-haired Geralt of Rivia by “Hunger Games” actor Liam Hemsworth. Fans have been anxiously waiting to see what “The Witcher” would look and feel like without Cavill’s steady presence at the center of it.
Now, well over two years after “The Witcher” Season 3 concluded on Netflix in July 2023, they don’t have to wonder about that anymore. “The Witcher” Season 4 is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix, and fans of the series should certainly check it out, if only to experience the insight provided by Cavill’s sudden absence from it. Can “The Witcher” truly survive without him? This weekend, fans can finally find out the answer to that question.
“I Love LA” Season 1 (HBO Max)
“Shiva Baby” and “Bottoms” star Rachel Sennott headlines “I Love LA,” which premieres this Sunday night on HBO and HBO Max. Created, written by and starring Sennott, the new comedy series has been positioned — either consciously or not — as a Gen Z, sun-dappled west coast successor to iconic, female-led HBO New York shows like “Sex and the City” and “Girls.”
Whether it will be able to actually live up to those shows’ legacies remains to be seen, but “I Love LA” has everything it needs to be an instant hit among younger viewers, including a singular comedic voice at the center of it and a likable cast of both up-and-coming and established faces. The first installment of its eight-episode debut season premieres Sunday, while its remaining seven episodes are set to be released one at a time through Dec. 21.
“Robin Hood” Season 1 (MGM+)
Some folk heroes never go out of fashion, and that is a fact MGM+ is hoping to cash in on this fall with “Robin Hood.” The new series tells the familiar story of Robin Hood (newcomer Jack Patten), a bow-wielding outlaw who lives in the forests and rebels against the tyrannical rule of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Sean Bean) in the Middle Ages by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. The new series, in other words, aims to tell a straightforward, no-nonsense version of the traditional Robin Hood tale, albeit one grounded in more historical specificity than viewers may be used to.
In addition to Bean and Patten, the show’s cast also includes newcomer Lauren McQueen as Robin Hood’s famed paramour, Marian, and Connie Nielsen as Eleanor of Aquitaine. Its first two episodes premiere Sunday on MGM+, with its remaining installments set to debut one at a time moving forward. If you find yourself in the mood for a new, if inevitably familiar, action-adventure series this weekend, look no further than “Robin Hood.”
