It’s Friday. It’s October. Which means, if you’re anything like us, your plans this evening will involve a sofa, a blanket, and a fab film or two on the ‘box. But if you’ve already been hitting spooky szn a little too hard and are in need of a break from witches and ghosts et al, good news – there’s also other films you can watch. Hooray!
The issue is, there's often TOO many films to choose from - and three hours of debates and flicking later, there's no time to actually watch the film you landed on.
So, here’s what we think you should stream on Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime and others this weekend.
The Gentlemen
Released in January 2020, it’s likely a first viewing of this was lost to lockdown trauma. But, trust us, it’s worth a rewatch. An ensemble cast of extremely hot men and an intricate plot which allows for precisely zero scrolling (seriously, you’ll lose the thread of what’s going on watching even one cat video), this is a mile-a-minute gangster dramady that’ll have you glued to your sofa.
Set It Up
A feel good 00s style romcom with none of the problematic characters, Set It Up follows two overworked and underpaid personal assistants try to trick their highly powered and highly strung bosses into falling in love, if only to get some peace while they’re boning. Hilarity ensues, but so too does more than one blossoming romance (we’ll leave you to work out who that might be). Plus it's got Pete Davidson in it, and everyone loves Pete Davidson.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
This criminally underrated film was one of Disney’s last feature length cartoon animations to hit cinemas and is the perfect antithesis to any of the creepy early ones we suggested here. It’s a wonder it took Disney until the new millennium to take on the legend of Atlantis, but when they did it had all the makings of a classic, with the added bonus of humour you definitely didn’t get the first time round.
Battle Of the Sexes
Emma Stone and Steve Carrell take on the true story of the 1973 tennis match between women’s world champion Billy Jean King and former world champion Bobby Riggs, with the back story that wasn’t shown on the court. A killer wardrobe and soundtrack, from the producer of Little Miss Sunshine and the director of Slumdog Millionaire, what’s not to love?
Lightyear
Although it went straight to streaming, Lightyear is every bit as good as the blockbusting Toy Story films and is the film that the Buzz Lightyear toy was from (also making an appearance are the aliens from the claw machine in the arcade). It feels truly serendipitous to finally learn Buzz’s backstory after knowing Woody’s since the second film. And it’s got love, laughs and action by the bucketful. Animatronic cat-bot Sox really steals the show, though.
The Sound of Metal
This 2021 release was nominated for spades of awards, including an Oscar for best picture (it lost out to Nomadland) and is a real feat of film-making genius. It’s a moving story following Riz Ahmed as Reuben, who plays drums in the metal band he formed with his girlfriend, as he gradually loses his hearing. Coming to terms with things like hearing aids and learning sign language (and the prospect of giving up on his dream career) is an emotional process for Reuben but you’ll be rooting for him every step of the way.
Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga
With the Eurovision host city being revealed TONIGHT by Graham Norton himself, it seems like the perfect opportunity to get stuck into the best tribute ever made to the yearly extravaganza – The Story of Fire Saga. Beats us how an American and a Canadian managed to capture the spirit of the competition so perfectly, but they did. In the film, the song contest is hosted by Edinburgh, which isn’t even a million miles away from one of the two contenders IRL, Glasgow (fifty miles to be precise).
Knives Out
You may not have caught it, but a Knives Out 2 is premiering in London later this month, so do yourself a favour and remind yourself of what made the first one so great. Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is sent to investigate an achingly kitsch murder mystery in this instant classic whodunnit. The sequel promises similar hijinks.
Elvis
Biopics of the rich and famous always well, usually make for brilliant films and the life and times of The King make for possibly the best (special shout out to Respect, the Aretha Franklin biopic, though – that slaps too). It’s only just hit streaming services after making nearly $300m at the box office, so if you didn’t manage to catch it in cinemas, a wide screen TV and a bowl of microwave popcorn is the next best thing.