Some weeks, these streaming round-ups can be difficult to write – this is not one of those occasions. In fact, there’s so much great content dropping on streamers this weekend that we’ve extended our usual seven slots to eight, and omitted several other new movies and TV shows that might otherwise have made the cut.
Almost every major streamer gets a look in, too. Netflix sees the long-awaited arrival of Sex Education season 3, HBO Max gets Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho and Amazon benefits from several new feature films and series. Hell, even Apple TV Plus gets a look in thanks to the return of The Morning Show.
Below, we round up eight of the biggest additions heading to streaming services this weekend – from blockbuster movies to quirky animated series.
Sex Education (Netflix)
Let’s start with the big one, shall we? After a slew of Covid-related production delays, Sex Education finally returns to Netflix this weekend for more sexually-charged antics from Moordale’s hormone-filled teens.
Season 3 picks up directly after the show’s second season finale, which saw Jean discover that she’s pregnant, Adam declare his love for Eric and Isaac delete Otis’ heartfelt message to Maeve. Oh, and an uber-traditional, sex-averse headteacher joins the school – so expect plenty more tears, tantrums and twists.
The show’s original ensemble all return, while Jason Isaacs, Dua Saleh and Jemima Kirke join the cast for the eight-episode third season.
Now available to stream on Netflix
Cry Macho (HBO Max)
Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood returns to the screen (and the director’s chair) in Cry Macho, an adaptation of the Mexican road-trip novel by N. Richard Nash.
Eastwood stars as Mike Milo, a one-hit wonder rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder, who takes a job from his ex-boss, Howard Polk (Dwight Yoakam), to bring his young son home from Mexico. Naturally, things don’t go according to plan.
Critical reception has been mixed so far, with audiences highlighting the movie’s surprising lack of typical Eastwood grit but welcome helping of sentiment. The guy is 91, lest we forget.
US viewers can find Cry Macho on HBO Max, while those in the UK will need to head for the theater.
Now available to stream on HBO Max
Everybody's Talking About Jamie (Amazon Prime Video)
A feature-length adaptation of the acclaimed West End musical, Everybody's Talking About Jamie follows the titular teenager’s journey from Sheffield high school student to celebrated drag queen.
Newcomer Max Harwood stars as Jamie, Ralph Ineson as his unsupportive father and a much-lauded Richard E. Grant as local drag legend Miss Loco Chanelle. Expect rousing musical numbers and a tear-jerking defiance story from this one – everybody’s talking about it, after all.
If you’re a fan of Billy Elliot, Dear Evan Hansen or Hairspray, add this to your weekend watchlist.
Now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
The Morning Show (Apple TV Plus)
Apple TV Plus’ flagship drama series (although Ted Lasso may have snatched that mantle now) returns to the streamer this weekend, with newsroom hosts Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon once again vying for the limelight.
Steve Carell, Mark Duplass and Emmy winner Billy Crudup all return, too, alongside newcomers Julianna Margulies, Will Arnett, Greta Lee and Hasan Minhaj.
The Morning Show’s first season didn’t take off in quite the same way Apple may have originally hoped, with a “flashy, but somewhat frivolous” consensus leaving the series’ second season with work to do if it hopes to rank among the best shows around.
Now available to stream on Apple TV Plus
Nightbooks (Netflix)
Spider-Man director Sam Raimi returns to producing duties with Nightbooks, a new Netflix movie following a scary story-obsessed boy (Winslow Fegley) who is imprisoned by an evil witch (Krysten Ritter) in her magical apartment.
To stay alive, the young Alex must tell the witch a scary story every night, but he instead chooses to team up with another prisoner, Yasmin (Lidya Jewett), to find a way to escape.
The premise here seems novel, even if the trailer suggests Nightbooks is a relatively child-friendly adventure. Still, Stranger Things’ first season initially seemed made for kids, until it didn’t…
Horror fans, take note.
Now available to stream on Netflix
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (Netflix)
Yes, you read that right. For some reason, yet another He-Man series is landing on Netflix, just months after Masters of the Universe: Revelation (which itself is returning later this year) arrived to breathe new life into the fabled franchise.
This time around, though, the adventures of the titular hero are aimed at younger audiences, and come from the mind of DC Comics’ Bryan Q. Miller. The animation style is different, too, opting for a Fortnite-esque aesthetic that better suits this show’s teenage protagonists.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe reimagines the classic story of the Guardians of Grayskull, so those frustrated by Revelation’s narrative side-stepping may also find something to enjoy here.
Now available to stream on Netflix
The Premise (Hulu)
The Office’s B.J. Novak writes, directs and hosts this mysterious and experimental anthology series, which sets out to tackle "the biggest questions of our modern era."
Called The Premise, the show blends comedy and drama across five half-hour episodes, boasting an all-star cast which includes the likes of Jon Bernthal, Amy Landecker, Beau Bridges, Kaitlyn Dever, Ben Platt, the late Ed Asner and many more.
The first two episodes are available to stream now on Hulu in the US, while UK viewers will have to wait until the show lands on streamers across the pond (possibly Amazon Prime Video).
Now available to stream on Hulu
Uprising (Amazon Prime Video)
Speaking of which, the third of three Steve McQueen documentaries debuting this weekend on Prime Video (which all follow last year’s acclaimed Small Axe film anthology) is a three-part miniseries. Directed by McQueen and James Rogas, the trio draw connections between several key events in 1981: the Brixton riots, the Black People's Day of Action and the New Cross Fire.
Black Power: A British Story of Resistance and Subnormal: A British Scandal join Uprising as the other two documentaries hitting Prime over the next few days, which likewise highlight themes of education, segregation and institutional racism.
It’s likely that none of them will be an easy watch – is anything made by McQueen? – but these docs nonetheless offer essential lessons in Black history.
Now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
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