The Substance, Joker: Folie à Deux, and every new movie to streaming

cnnradionews staff November 1, 2024

4 7 minutes read

Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

This week, The Substance, the new body-horror thriller from director Coralie Fargeat (Revenge) starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, is available to stream on Mubi U.S. (and for rental) following its successful theatrical run. That’s not all, though, as there are tons of new titles to watch on streaming and VOD this week. Time Cut, the new sci-fi slasher film starring Madison Bailey (Outer Banks), comes to Netflix; Despicable Me 4 arrives on Peacock; and Joker: Folie à Deux, the highly anticipated sequel to Todd Phillips’ 2019 film Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix, lands on VOD this weekend, along with several other new titles.

Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Photo: Allen Fraser/Netflix

Genre: Sci-fi slasher
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Hannah Macpherson
Cast: Madison Bailey, Antonia Gentry, Griffin Gluck

This sci-fi slasher film from Netflix involves some time-wimey shenanigans. A high school senior (Madison Bailey) finds a time machine and travels back to 2003 in an attempt to save the older sister she never met from a serial killer. There’s slasher horror, big time-travel ripple effect questions, and also a whole lot of early aughts throwbacks (like Heelys!). Also, boy that trailer is not doing any favors for those of us out there who are a bit terrified of being eaten by an escalator.

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Sony Pictures Releasing

Genre: Comedy adventure
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Cast: Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, Benjamin Bottani

Based on the classic children’s picture book of the same name, Harold and the Purple Crayon follows an adult Harold, who decides to leave the pages of his book and enter the real world. As it turns out, his magical purple crayon has the same powers in the real world. Cue havoc — and also a nefarious librarian trying to use the crayon for his own selfish purposes.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Max

In Janet Planet, Julianne Nicholson and Zoe Ziegler sit together and look off-camera

Image: A24

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 53m
Director: Annie Baker
Cast: Zoe Ziegler, Julianne Nicholson, June Walker Grossman

Janet Planet is a quaint and quiet movie that follows the peculiar relationship between a lonely 11-year-old girl named Lacy and her free-spirited mother, Janet, over the course of one melancholy summer. Through Lacy’s eyes, we learn more about Janet and the close but almost codependent connection between mother and daughter. It’s a movie that captures a specific feeling of meditative loneliness during muggy summer days.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Disney Plus

Genre: Documentary
Run time: 1h 45m
Director: Laurent Bouzereau

This documentary follows the life and career of John Williams, the legendary composer responsible for penning the score for such iconic films as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler’s List, Jaws, and Star Wars.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus

A man with a moustache wearing a cowboy hat and a tan suit sitting beside a smiling woman under the shade of a tree in The Dead Don’t Hurt.

Image: Shout! Studios

Genre: Western
Run time: 2h 9m
Director: Viggo Mortensen
Cast: Vicky Krieps, Viggo Mortensen, Solly McLeod

Kevin Costner isn’t the only one with a new Western out this year, as Viggo Mortensen tries his hand at the genre. The Dead Don’t Hurt follows the story of Holger Olsen (Mortensen) and his lover Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps), who attempt to build a life together after the former returns home from fighting in the Civil War. Irrevocably changed by his experience, Holger must confront the ways both he and Vivienne have grown in a ruthless world where violence and wealth are the law of the land.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock

Bald, pointy-nosed former supervillain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) stands at a crowded gathering wearing a “Hello, my name is” nametag and scowls at former classmate Maxime Le Mal (voiced by Will Ferrell), a skinny man with a gigantic poof of hair and a shiny gold-and-green puffy coat in Despicable Me 4

Image: Universal Pictures / Everett Collection

Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 34m
Directors: Chris Renaud
Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin

Reformed supervillain turned secret agent Gru is back with an all-new adventure! Despicable Me 4 sees Gru relocate his family when his former rival Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) reemerges, seeking revenge. As Gru’s family attempts to adjust to their new home, Gru’s teenage neighbor attempts to follow in his villainous footsteps, while Gru’s Minions decide to become superheroes. That’s a lot, I know!

Despicable Me 4 is full of good ideas, with lots of them specifically appealing to what people like about these movies: Minion antics, Gru’s villain-ness versus his normal family life, and over-the-top Big Bad Guy theatrics among them. But all these bits and pieces are jumbled together and not cohesive enough to make sense as a story. The movie is discordant, like a bunch of musicians playing unfamiliar instruments (or a bunch of — dare I say — Minions given instruments) and trying to make a coherent song. But amid that chaos, sometimes the music starts sounding good — a cool jazzy saxophone solo soars briefly above the cacophony. You just have to grit your teeth and ignore the clanging drums and out-of-tune oboes around it.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Mubi U.S.

Sue doing the splits in front of a portrait of Elisabeth in The Substance

Genre: Body horror
Run time: 2h 20m
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid

Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) has. Once a celebrated Hollywood movie star turned aerobics TV show host, Elisabeth has been pushed out of her longtime job by her producer, Harvey (Dennis Quaid), who is eager to fill the slot with someone younger and hotter. Desperate to regain her sense of worth, she seizes the opportunity to use a black market drug that creates a younger version of herself named Sue (Margaret Qualley). When the symbiotic relationship between the pair begins to strain, the two genetic twins become trapped in a fight for supremacy.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder

Russell Crowe dressed in a priest’s frock in The Exorcism.

Genre: Supernatural horror
Run time: 1h 35m
Director: Joshua John Miller
Cast: Russell Crowe, Ryan Simpkins, Sam Worthington

I know what you’re thinking, and no: This isn’t The Pope’s Exorcist. This the other supernatural horror thriller starring Russell Crowe dressed in a priest’s vestments. Crowe stars in The Exorcism as a troubled actor who is tapped to play a priest in a supernatural horror film after his predecessor is found dead due to mysterious circumstances. It’s only after accepting the job that he realizes that he’s signed on for more than he bargained for.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder

Genre: Documentary
Director: Thommy Hutson
Cast: Brad Dourif, Chris Sarandon, Jennifer Tilly

Few horror franchises are as iconic and enduring as the Child’s Play series. Featuring behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the films, as well as interviews with the cast and crew alongside critics and historians, Thommy Hutson’s documentary touts itself as the ultimate account of the Child’s Play film franchise.