With the fall season finally in swing and the advent of full-time Spooky Season, I thought I'd take one last look back over the summer's releases to give some love to a few gems that I don't feel got enough eyes on them on release. Some of these are theatrical releases, some of them went straight to streaming, but all of them are worth a watch and they're pretty easy to find even if you're only just now hearing about them.
And it's possible that more than a few of them will make good watching for Halloween prep.
I'm going to assume folks are more or less aware of the obvious summer hits like Elvis, Nope, Maverick, and the new Thor and Doctor Strange entries. We're looking at the worthy B-sides here. Entries will alternate between theatrical and streaming exclusives, and will end with a tag about where you can see them.
BARBARIAN (theatrical) - Directed by Zach Cregger
Why You Should See It: The tricky part of starting with Barbarian is that it's a legendary entry in the annals of "oh, you gotta see this shit, it's nuts!" horror cinema. What begins as a seemingly straightforward story about a young woman (Georgina Campbell) who finds herself double-booked at her Air-BnB with a strange man (Bill Skarsgard) and decides to spend the night anyway morphs into what seems like multiple other movies before circling back to a delightful finale. I would dream of spoiling it for you, but suffice it to say that I'm always a fan of Subtext Is For Cowards - especially how it's used here.
But what makes Barbarian more than a one-off curio is that it's pieces are all genuinely well-crafted in addition to looking batshit when initially placed down next to each other. Not only is Skarsgard used perfectly, but Campbell is doing some insanely heavy lifting in her performance and Cregger's showcases an able visual style. But the sharpest tool on its belt is the way the film is paced so that the unpredictability of "what the fuck is gonna happen next?" is used to heighten tension and scares throughout the film.
Why You Might Have Missed It: Okay, this one might be cheating a bit as Barbarian is proving something of a word-of-mouth hit (for a film this size), so this one might have already crossed your radar. But if it hasn't, you should absolutely make time for it - assuming you don't mind your horror with a mean streak and a righteous axe to grind.
Where You Can Find It: Barbarian is currently in theaters.
PREY (streaming) - Directed by Dan Trachtenberg
Why You Should See It: It's the best Predator film since the first Predator, and arguably the only thing keeping it from being the best Predator film is that the original is such a landmark of multiple genres. What makes Prey so special is that in addition to smartly using the "the Predator interrupts a different genre movie already in progress" that make the first two films work (in this case, a coming-of-age story in the Comanche nation early in the 18th century), it also uses the alien hunter's lethal exploration of the food chain as a metaphor for the incursion of European interlopers in Comanche territory.
Anchoring this slickly-paced and gorgeously shot adventure is Amber Midthunder as Naru, the young woman yearning to prove herself as a hunter among her tribe. Midthunder not only carries the dramatic scenes and the well-paced wry comedy with an easy grace, but her commitment to the impressive physical work is outstanding. Both she and Dakota Beavers (who plays her brother, Tabe) establish a winning rapport with each other in moments and prove themselves modern action stars in the making once it's time to take the fight to the Predator.
Speaking of, the creature itself (Dane DiLiegro) gets a minor overhaul thanks to the period setting, retaining rougher versions of recognizable Predator gear as well as cutting a deliciously primeval new profile in a space-faring neolithic vein. And while there's a coupe bits where added CGI elements stick out, most of this film is fast, fierce, and satisfyingly physical.
Why You Might Have Missed It: This
was unfortunately a casualty of mergers and streaming deals - it would
have debuted on HBO Max following a theatrical run, so rather than
putting it in theaters, Disney made a Hulu exclusive. Which is a damn
shame, as this is a film that would absolutely slay with a big audience
and who's wide visual canvas really begs for theatrical exhibition.
Where You Can Find It: Prey is streaming on Hulu (or Disney+, depending on your territory).
BEAST (theatrical) - Directed by Baltazar Kormakur
Why You Should See It: There's an affectionately ribbing refrain among fans of Joe Carnahan's 2011 survival thriller The Grey about how it was sold as "Liam Neeson punches wolves: The Movie!" in all the trailers and yet delivered something very different (but still heavily featuring the wolves). The reason I bring this up is that Beast plays like a film that watched The Grey and said "Ok, but what if we make a survival thriller that's also a meditation on grief and had our acclaimed lead actor throwing hands against predators?"
In Beast's case, it's a rogue lion threatening a wildlife park that Idris Elba's Nate, his daughters (Iyana Halley & Leah Jeffries), and his best friend (Sharlto Copley) are touring as Nate's family works through the loss of Nate's estranged wife. Kormakur not only has a rock solid script to work off of (just absolutely stuffed with satisfying planting and payoff), but also uses carefully constructed long takes to establish setting and geography, switch between character perspectives, and ratchet up tension as the viewer tries to find the killer lion lurking in the frame.
Why You Might Have Missed It: As a late August horror release with no franchise or megastars attached (due respect to Idris Elba, who is fantastic), Beast didn't exactly tear up the box office charts, and got a fairly lukewarm critical reaction. However, given it's a razor sharp example of "what it says on the tin" while also providing a fresh visual approach and potent emotional beats, I put it on the same shelf of "people vs. nature" as Crawl and The Shallows.
Where You Can Find It: Beast is still playing in a few theaters and is available on digital platforms.
THE PRINCESS (streaming) - Directed by Le-Van Kiet
Why You Should See It: Apart from because it's a movie that plays like someone crossed the story of Rapunzel with The Raid where the titular princess (Joey King) has to fight her way down the tower with swords, knives, shields, and her bare hands? Because it's from the same director as the dynamite 2019 action from Furie and also features Veronica Ngo absolutely tearing shit up alongside genre stalwarts like Dominic Cooper and Olga Kurylenko in the type of movie that they just don't make much anymore.
King clearly put in the work to make her (many and varied) fight scenes look dynamic and believable, as she spends essentially the entire movie challenged by foes who are varying degrees of larger than her. There's not a huge budget on display here (there's a reason it's a one-location spectacle), but Kiet's direction makes good use of the production value afforded him and shoots each fight with distinctive gags and a smart escalation of his clear-yet-dynamic style of shooting action.
Look, you come to a movie like The Princess looking for one thing, and this movie delivers that with confidence to spare.
Why You Might Have Missed It: Yet another streaming casualty, The Princess didn't get a theatrical release or the publicity of being part of a storied franchise.
Where You Can Find It: It's streaming either on Hulu or Disney+.
DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS (theatrical) - Directed by Jared Stern and Sam J. Levine
Why You Should See It: This is one of those ideas that seems obnoxious on first blush but the more you think about it, the more clear the winning pitch is. "Superman's dog has to team up with other talking super-powered animals to save the Justice League" is an obvious sell, but also something you can easily imagine the most annoying version of.
Thankfully (especially for parents for whom watching this is a statistical eventuality), DC League of Super-Pets keeps its tiresome predictable antics to a minimum and delivers solid nuts and bolts superhero business alongside a surprisingly layered and reflective (for a this kind of movie) performance from The Rock. It's no Incredibles, but it's not too far behind the Wreck-It Ralph movies in the realm of "being better than you had to be in this silly genre space."
Why You Might Have Missed It: Other than because "animated family films where everyone does the single raised eyebrow smirk on the poster" start to blend together, the marketing probably turned a few people off.
SALOUM (streaming) - Directed by Jean Luc Herbulot
Why You Should See It: If you're a fan of films like Predator or From Dusk 'Til Dawn, then all you need to know is that this will scratch the same itch. For those who needs a few more details, Saloum is billed as a "southern" (as opposed to "western"), following three mercenaries as they shelter in a hidden refuge on the Saloum river in Senegal near the west coast of Africa. Fleeing the results of a bloody coup with an extracted drug lord in tow, Chaka (Yann Gael), Rafa (Roger Sallah), and Minnut (Mentor Ba) must duck inquisitive locals and visiting lawmen while they finish repairs on their getaway plane - and then things get interesting.
As the entry on Prey may have alluded to, I'm a big fan of movies that get interrupted by completely different movies. Saloum manages to make its big turns not only viscerally engrossing (Herbulot is as good at knowing when to diffuse tension with a well-placed comedic beat as he is with building it), but also resonant with the themes and principal character arcs of the film. The fact that it manages to fit so many interlocking narratives and genres in only 84 minutes practically feels like a magic trick.
Why You Might Have Missed It: This one's a bit niche even as "international films that had their big stateside debut on a specialty streaming site" go, but it's easily worth searching out.
THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING (theatrical) - Directed by George Miller
Why You Should See It: I mean, other than because it's the new film by George "Mad Max: Fury Road" Miller? Three Thousand Years of Longing is a beautiful fairy tale about a "narratologist" (Tilda Swinton) who discovers a genie (Idris Elba) while on a guest lecture trip. Given her familiarity with every story involving wishes being a cautionary tale, she's hesitant to commit to three, and most of the film is taken up with Elba's genie recounting the stories of his adventures through the centuries.
This is a more laid back and romantic adventure than the fever dream fantasy that the trailer sold, but features a gobsmacking pair of dueling performances (Elba has had a good year) and consistently enthralling production design as the film moves through. . . well, three thousand years of longing.
Why You Might Have Missed It: The film was more or less dumped in theaters during summer without much marketing and a very abrupt roll-out, then more or less vanished after baffled audiences failed to turn up.
THE SEA BEAST (streaming) - Directed by Chris Williams
Why You Should See It: We may be nearing the end of this era, but in recent years Netflix animation has been offering some of the best and most varied programming out there - along with a ton of quality feature films. The Sea Beast is a great example of taking a familiar idea (this may as well be called How to Train Your Kraken) and not only making it well, but using the film to say something its viewers could maybe do well to hear.
While older viewers will work out the film's various twists and turns well before the target audiences, it not only commits to a narrative about the dangers of propaganda and war profiteering, it also delivers a rip-roaring high seas adventure. Williams not only directed on Big Hero 6 but was a writer on Moana, and the resulting vibe is somewhere between DreamWorks and Disney, but with an edge reminiscent of Don Bluth's better work. The clashes between the various beasts of the sea and the pirate-esque Hunters deliver a type of action we don't generally see (and do it well), and the movie never goes longer than 10-15 minutes without delivering a new creature or complication.
Why You Might Have Missed It: Netflix and algorithms, what are you gonna do? Honestly, this should have been released in theaters (where it would have made a killing this past summer), but at least it's not hard to find now.
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