The 5 movies and TV shows you should be watching streaming right now

streaming

The best of the new streaming deals on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney Plus and more.

Welcome to Boston.com weekly streaming guide. Each week we recommend five must-see movies and TV shows available on streaming platforms such as Netflix, hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO MaxPeacock, Paramount+ and more.

Many recommendations relate to new shows, while others pertain to under-the-radar releases that you may have missed, or classics that will disappear from the streaming service at the end of the month.

Do you have a new favorite movie or show that you think we should hear about? Let us know in the comments or via email [email protected]. Looking for even more greatness streaming options? Check out previous issues of our Must watch list here.

movies

“Asteroid City”

With Asteroid City, Wes Anderson has made his most personal film to date – or at least the film that seems to give audiences the most direct insight into the director’s mindset. The film is set in a remote desert town in the 1950s, where families with their precocious children (don’t they always appear in Anderson films?) have gathered at the town’s only hotel for a Junior Stargazer convention. The setting of the film gets a little more confusing right from the start, as Asteroid City is actually a stage play, meaning we get meta breaks from narrator Bryan Cranston and playwright Edward Norton, among others. If you already find Anderson’s films strange, Asteroid City won’t change your mind. But those familiar with his filmic language will appreciate the structure, with particularly strong performances from Jason Schwartzman and Scarlett Johansson.

How to watch: “Asteroid City” is Streaming on Peacock.

“Bones and All”

Luca Guadagnino’s Boston-set tennis drama Challengers has been pushed back to 2024 due to the ongoing Hollywood strikes, leaving audiences with the cannibal romance of the Italian director’s daring 2022 film Bones and All for now. Taylor Russell and Timothee Chalamet, who rose to fame in Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name,” play a couple in love on the run thanks to their insatiable thirst for human flesh. “Bones and All” is a near-perfect marriage of “Call Me By Your Name” and Guadagnino’s “Suspiria,” and some viewers might find the clash of romantic road trip and gory horror elements too much to handle. But if you keep an open mind, “Bones and All” tells a tragic but beautiful story about young love and how it can devour everything – in this case, quite literally.

How to watch: “Bones And All” is Streaming on Prime Video.

“Red, White and Royal Blue”

Based on the romance novel of the same name, Red, White & Royal Blue follows the rivalry that became a transatlantic love story between the first son of the President of the United States (Zakhar Perez) and Britain’s Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine). When the paparazzi learn of the two’s long-standing feud, their handlers agree on a press-friendly truce, leaving the duo at loggerheads. It sounds like a Hallmark Channel movie, but “Red White & Royal Blue” easily surpasses most of its cliche-filled contemporaries, thanks to strong performances from the two leads, not to mention the winning twist from Boston native Uma Thurman (“Pulp Fiction”) as President.

How to watch: “Red, White and Royal Blue” is Streaming on Prime Video.

TV

“Only Murders in the Building”

Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez had one of the biggest hits of the pandemic with “Only Murders in the Building.” They played a trio of true-crime obsessed neighbors who create a podcast while they solve a murder at their Tony Manhattan building. This time, the eponymous building is now a theater where Oliver (Short) hopes to rekindle his career as a Broadway producer with a new musical. When its unlikable lead (Paul Rudd, who plays against the guy) drops dead, one of the suspects is Meryl Streep, who plays a lifelong actress who never found her breakthrough. Beyond Streep and Rudd, Season 3 of Only Murders offers a number of cameo roles that we won’t spoil here, which add the perfect spice to the action. But the main attraction of the series remains the chemistry of the main trio, which hasn’t faltered since their debut in 2021.

How to watch: “Only Murders in the Building” Season 3 is Streaming on Huluwith new episodes airing on Tuesdays.

“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”

“Winning Time,” the HBO sports drama about the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s, had an entertaining if inconsistent first season that was criticized by many of its protagonists for completely obliterating rather than exaggerating the truth. While some of the same issues crop up in Season 2 (along with a disclaimer of veracity at the beginning of each episode), local fans should tune in to see how McKay and co. have shifted much of the focus to the Celtics. Newcomer Sean Patrick Small plays Larry Bird and captures the hick from French Lick in all his boastful, trash-talking glory, a constant thorn in the side of Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah), Jerry West (Jason Clarke), Jerry Buss (John C . Reilly) and the rest of the Lakers Brain Trust.

How to watch: Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty Season 2 is here streaming on maxwith new episodes airing Sundays on HBO.