What’s new on Netflix, Prime, Crave, DisneyPlus and Criterion this week

A weekly roundup of the new movies and TV series on Netflix, Crave, Amazon Prime Video, DisneyPlus and Criterion Channel

New on Netflix

The description “dog days of summer” could also apply to what is currently being squeezed out of streaming services as most have simply decided to go ahead with the downsized programming they had originally planned for a period where vacations and blockbusters in the multiplex would dominate. Netflix’s original movie this week is something called The Sleepover, an action comedy with shades of a YA Adventures in Babysitting or something of that ilk; Trish Sie (Pitch Perfect 3) directs and Malin Akerman and Joe Manganiello co-star. Otherwise you can catch season 5 of Lucifer as of today, season 6 of How to Get Away With Murder as of Aug. 22 and something called Million Dollar Beach House as of Aug. 26. (It’s supposedly a version of Selling Sunset set in the Hamptons. If that means anything to you, I’m sure you’re very excited.) Catalogue titles include the Fantasia hit 1BR (Aug. 23), the Arnold Schwarzenegger / Sylvester Stallone two-hander Escape Plan (Aug. 22) and The Equalizer 2 (Aug. 26).

New on Amazon Prime Video

There are even slimmer pickings over at Amazon Prime Video, where the big title this week is Chemical Hearts, an adaptation of a YA romance novel by Krystal Sutherland. Austin Abrams (Paper Towns) and Lili Reinhart (Riverdale’s Betty Cooper) star in the Richard Tanne-directed film. If YA romance isn’t your bag (even if Our Chemical Hearts is billed as being “not your average boy-meets-girl story”), you can always fall back on Playing With Fire, a family comedy of the “people you wouldn’t picture taking care of kids must take care of kids” variety. In this one, John Cena, Keegan-Michael Key and John Leguizamo play a trio of smokejumpers who are tasked with taking care of some children.

New on Crave

Crave has the newest season of Corporate, the comedy sitcom set in a multinational corporation, as well as a new stand-up show hosted by Jon Dore dropping today. In terms of movies, you can now stream Kitty Green’s The Assistant as well as Birds of Prey, the Harley Quinn spinoff of Suicide Squad. Also hitting the service on Aug. 26 is the miniseries version of Four Weddings and a Funeral, which was released on Hulu in 2019; Natalie Emmanuel stars in the show co-created by Mindy Kaling.

New on DisneyPlus

There’s only one movie of note on DisneyPlus this week, though it’s another one that seems like it would have had a theatrical release in a different world. The One and Only Ivan, based on a popular childrens’ book, stars Bryan Cranston as a man who runs a zoo in a mall whose star attraction, a gorilla named Ivan (voiced by Sam Rockwell), dreams of freedom away from captivity and performance.

New on Criterion Channel

Criterion Channel’s curated collection this week is Bad Vacations, which, as you may surmise, focuses on films where vacations take a turn for the worse. Highlights include Rohmer’s La collectionneuse, Catherine Breillat’s Fat Girl (which, if you’ve seen it, is a much worse vacation than the one in La collectionneuse) and Michael Haneke’s Funny Games. On Monday, you can catch the innovative documentary John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection, while Wednesday sees the release of Amy Seimetz’s Sun Don’t Shine. ■

See what’s new on Netflix Canada here.

For what’s new on Crave, click here.

Find out what’s new on Amazon Prime Video here.

For what’s new on DisneyPlus, click here.

See what’s new on Criterion Channel here.

For more coverage of new movies and TV series, visit the Film & TV section.

A weekly roundup of the new movies and TV series on Netflix, Crave, Amazon Prime Video, DisneyPlus and Criterion Channel