What to stream this weekend on all your favorite streaming services.
The second weekend of May has arrived, and summer is fast-approaching. It’s been pretty lovely outside, but here in the mountains the forest service is conducting controlled burns, which means that every day by lunchtime the sky is filled with smoke, and the air is incredibly unpleasant to breathe.
This is a great excuse to stay indoors and binge new TV shows and movies—as well as one very big live-music event. To that end, I offer you the following guide. There isn’t a ton of new stuff this weekend, but there are some gems you definitely won’t want to miss.
Check out last weekend’s streaming guide right here:
Let’s dive right in.
What’s New This Weekend
As always, we’ll kick things off with new streaming content and then move on to VOD, ongoing TV shows, bonus offerings and theatrical releases. A little bit of everything for everyone. Let’s start with . . .
Eurovision Song Contest 2024 (Peacock)
The biggest musical competition in the world—the 68th Eurovision Song Contest—is streaming in the US on Peacock so if you want to see the hottest European musical acts compete for the top spot, now is the time and Peacock is the place. There’s some pretty weird stuff! (I’m not a big Eurovision watcher but I admit the Will Ferrell / Rachel McAdams movie got me into it).
Dr. Who (May 10th on Disney+)
Ncuti Gatwa is the new Dr. Who in the three-part Season premiere airing on Disney+ this weekend. Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) is the Doctor’s companion, and the show is helmed by Russell T. Davies. Weekly episodes will follow. I also have a confession to make: I’ve never watched Dr. Who. It always seemed like there was just way too much of it to ever get caught up or even know where to start. I’ll take pointers from fans . . . .
Bodkin (May 9th on Netflix)
I wrote about this show the other day, noting how it looked something like Only Murders In The Building, but darker and more Irish. I think it looks really interesting and darkly funny, but reviews are pretty mixed at this point. Both critics and audiences are hovering around the 60 - 65% range on Rotten Tomatoes.
Pretty Little Liars: Summer School (May 9th on Max)
I’ll be honest, I really have no idea what Pretty Little Liars is about but I know it’s popular among a certain crowd and this Summer School spinoff is probably something people are interested in, so I’m including it here just in case. It really doesn’t look like my cup of tea. And it’s getting pretty good reviews on RT (100% audience score, and 100% critic score though only 3 critics seem to have chimed in) so that’s good!
The Iron Claw (May 10th on Max)
A weirdly jacked Zac Efron stars alongside Jeremy White and Holt McCallany in the true story of the Von Erichs, a family of professional wrestlers and all the drama, fame and tragedy that overwhelm their lives. This looked great but I didn’t really feel like seeing it in theaters. Now that it’s out on Max I can stream it from the comfort of my couch. Huzzah!
Abigail (VOD)
A young ballerina who also happens to be Dracula’s daughter, Abigail, hunts down her would-be captors in what looks like a very fun, very gory horror comedy.
Rent or buy Abigail on Prime Video.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (In Theaters)
I’ve seen all of the new Planet Of The Apes movies and I have pretty mixed feelings overall. They seem to always get good-to-great reviews but I find them sort of lackluster and too reliant on a whole bunch of CGI apes. Even 2014’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, which got great reviews and had one of my all-time favorite actors, Gary Oldman, left me a little cold. Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes brings us into a mostly ape-dominant future, where humans are hunted down much like the original Charlton Heston film. It looks as uninspiring as all the others, but it’s gotten strong critical and audience reviews so who knows?
Ongoing Shows
Many of the same shows that have been airing for the last few weeks continue to air, though several are nearing their season finales. Here’s what I’ve been keeping tabs on over the last few weeks and are still dropping episodes:
- The Sympathizer is a Vietnam-era spy show about a Viet Cong operative who infiltrates the South Vietnamese army and eventually comes to the United States, starring Robert Downey Jr. airing every Sunday on HBO / Max.
- Sugar on Apple TV+ stars Colin Farrell as a private detective in a neo-noir missing persons case. New episodes come out each Friday. The series finale lands next Friday.
- Under the Bridge on Hulu is a true story looking into the murder of a teen girl in British Columbia and the teen girls accused of her murder. New episodes air on Wednesdays.
- Star Trek: Discovery’s fifth season is airing every Thursday on Paramount+.
- A Gentleman in Moscow on Paramount+ starring Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, about a Russian aristocrat under house arrest following the Soviet Revolution. New episodes come out on Sundays.
- X-Men 97 on Disney+ brings back the classic, vintage feel of the old X-Men series. It continues airing on Wednesdays and really is a lot of fun. The finale drops this coming Wednesday.
- The Veil is an international spy-thriller on Hulu starring Elisabeth Moss that has gotten fairly mixed reviews, though readers have told me they’ve enjoyed it. New episodes land each Tuesday.
- Scrublands is a four-part mini-series about an Australian investigative journalist trying to figure out what happened at a bizarre murder in a small town. New episodes land on Thursdays on AMC+.
- Hacks is back for a third season on Max (Hacks on Max!) with new episodes of the comedy-drama dropping each Thursday.
Bonus:
River (Amazon Prime / Britbox)
I’ve been devouring British police dramas, mostly on Amazon via Britbox, and I’m on the penultimate episode of River as we speak. I think sometimes the reason I’m not as up-to-date on current shows is that I spend so much time catching up on older stuff I missed. River came out way back in 2015 and it’s only six episodes long. It’s also terrific and fascinating and includes one of Stellan Skarsgård’s most incredible performances—which says a lot given what a damn fine actor he is. I can’t recommend this highly enough.
Further Reading from yours truly:
- James Gunn’s new Superman suit image is bad, but I have a theory about it.
- Line Of Duty is one of the best police procedurals I’ve ever watched.
- Some good news and some bad news about the new The Office spinoff.
- The real-life Martha from Baby Reindeer has given her first (wild) interview.
- I finally got back to making videos and did a Fallout TV show review.
Be sure to check out last week’s streaming guide right here.
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