From a Little House on the Prairie revival to a martial arts showcase and a Burning Man docuseries, here is what to watch this weekend.
Summer programming tends to slow down for television, but this weekend still brings a solid lineup of premieres, along with a few movies making their way to digital platforms to stream. Below is a rundown of the best new movies and shows streaming across Netflix, HBO Max, Peacock and more.
The Furious brings the action
Action fans have likely already circled The Furious on their calendars. Veteran fight coordinator Kenji Tanigaki directs, with choreographer Kensuke Sonomura assembling a roster of martial arts talent that includes Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Yayan Ruhian and Joey Iwanaga. The plot follows a father on a violent mission to rescue his kidnapped daughter, but the story mostly exists to set up a string of tightly edited, bone crunching fight sequences that critics have called some of the best action filmmaking of the year.
The Long Walk arrives on HBO Max
Last year’s Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk is now streams on HBO Max after a strong theatrical run. Directed by Francis Lawrence, the film follows fifty teenage boys forced into a deadly walking competition where falling behind means execution. David Jonsson and Cooper Hoffman anchor the film with performances widely praised as devastating.
Little House on the Prairie gets a modern retelling
More than fifty years after the original series debuted, Netflix has revived Little House on the Prairie with a new take on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s frontier novels. Rebecca Sonnenshine serves as showrunner, and the full first season is available to binge, following the Ingalls family as they settle land outside a growing Kansas town. Alice Halsey stars as Laura alongside Luke Bracey, Crosby Fitzgerald and Skywalker Hughes.
Hamnet lands on Netflix
Jessie Buckley’s award winning performance in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet is now streams on Netflix. Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, the film pairs a love story between William Shakespeare, played by Paul Mescal, and his eventual wife Agnes with a devastating account of loss that the film imagines inspired Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy.
The Five Star Weekend brings beach read energy to Peacock
Peacock’s new adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s The Five Star Weekend offers a soapy weekend binge to stream led by Jennifer Garner as a recent widow who invites friends from every era of her life to reconnect. Regina Hall, Chloë Sevigny, D’Arcy Carden and Gemma Chan round out the ensemble, with Judy Greer and Timothy Olyphant in supporting roles.
The Man Will Burn goes inside Burning Man
HBO’s four part docuseries “The Man Will Burn” offers rare access to the organization and community behind Burning Man, filmed over several years starting in 2021. Directors Jehane Noujaim and Vikram Gandhi explore both the creative spirit of the festival and the bureaucracy required to keep it running each year in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.
Big Brother returns with a time travel twist
“Big Brother” kicks off season 28 with a Time Trip theme, transforming the house into rooms inspired by different historical eras. Fourteen new houseguests will compete under host Julie Chen Moonves, with additional surprise contestants promised after the premiere.
The Westies brings 1980s crime to MGM+
For crime drama fans, “The Westies” now streams on MGM+ with a two episode premiere set in 1980s Hell’s Kitchen. The series follows an Irish gang facing pressure from encroaching development, internal conflict and an FBI investigation into the Five Families. J.K. Simmons and Titus Welliver lead a cast that includes Tom Brittney, Stanley Morgan and Sarah Bolger.
