What to stream this weekend: Hulu's 'Nomadland,' Netflix's 'I Care a Lot,' Disney+'s 'Flora & Ulysses'

Brian Truitt, USA TODAY
·5 min read

New streaming movies are coming to entertain you and your family during socially distanced times.

This weekend features the arrival of a couple of awards-season players: Frances McDormand hits the road for director Chloe Zhao's new Oscar-contending drama on Hulu, and recent Golden Globe nominee Rosamund Pike shows shades of "Gone Girl" in her new Netflix crime comedy. Disney+ has a movie about a superhero squirrel, a "Romeo & Juliet"-type love story gets a mystery twist, there are a couple of dramas about drugs in America, plus Dan Stevens, Leslie Mann and Isla Fisher go for laughs with a 1930s-set Noel Coward adaptation.

If that's not enough to get you online and watching movies, Aaron Sorkin's Globe- and SAG-nominated courtroom drama "The Trial of the Chicago 7" - one of the best films of 2020 - is streaming for free on Netflix's YouTube Channel for 48 hours (beginning at 3 a.m. ET/midnight PT Friday) to commemorate the anniversary of the Chicago 7 trial verdict and sentencing in 1970.

Here's a rundown of new movies hitting streaming and on-demand platforms this week, for every cinematic taste.

Save a seat for Frances McDormand: 'Nomadland' is Oscar-ready

Oscars 2021: Who's up, who's down, and where you can watch this year's contenders

Frances McDormand plays a woman who lives a life on the road in Chloe Zhao's "Nomadland."
Frances McDormand plays a woman who lives a life on the road in Chloe Zhao's "Nomadland."

If you want to see Frances McDormand travel the country: 'Nomadland'

Zhao’s drama brilliantly captures a way of life for many baby boomers who hit the road after the Great Recession of the 2000s. McDormand stars as an aging spark plug who, after her husband dies and their Nevada town goes under, forms a mobile family with fellow nomads and goes where the work is – be it an Amazon fulfillment center in Nebraska or South Dakota’s tourist-friendly Wall Drug Store. And because Zhao cast real-life folks living this existence, the film oozes authenticity.

Where to watch: Hulu

Rosamund Pike plays a legal conservator and grifter who runs a racket taking on the guardianship of elderly folks and Peter Dinklage is the powerful gangster she ticks off in Netflix's "I Care a Lot."
Rosamund Pike plays a legal conservator and grifter who runs a racket taking on the guardianship of elderly folks and Peter Dinklage is the powerful gangster she ticks off in Netflix's "I Care a Lot."

If you dig two actors just acting their butts off: 'I Care A Lot'

In J Blakeson's irresistible crime thriller with a dark comedy edge, Pike plays a conniving legal guardian who takes on older wards, sticks them in a care facility and drains them of their wealth. The grift is going well until she takes on a new client (Dianne Wiest) personally connected to a ruthless gangster (Peter Dinklage). The increasingly volatile battle of wills between Pike's and Dinklage's characters is absurdly entertaining, a vibe that belies but doesn't ignore the serious real-life issues at hand.

Where to watch: Netflix

Matilda Lawler stars as Flora, a girl who adopts a squirrel with superpowers and names him Ulysses in Disney+'s "Flora & Ulysses."
Matilda Lawler stars as Flora, a girl who adopts a squirrel with superpowers and names him Ulysses in Disney+'s "Flora & Ulysses."

If you're down for pet Avengers: 'Flora & Ulysses'

This one might not grab your average Marvel movie fan, but kids will dig it. Flora (Matilda Lawler) is a superhero fan and cynical girl who befriends a squirrel and names him Ulysses after the little dude gets sucked up into a vacuum and is endowed with extraordinary abilities. The flying, crazy-strong rodent might also be the key to getting Flora's parents, an aspiring comic-book artist (Ben Schwartz) and a struggling romance novelist (Alyson Hannigan), back together.

Where to watch: Disney+

Grace Van Patten and Jovan Adepo star as young lovers in the drama "The Violent Heart."
Grace Van Patten and Jovan Adepo star as young lovers in the drama "The Violent Heart."

If you like complicated love stories: 'The Violent Heart'

High school senior Cassie (Grace Van Patten) falls for 24-year-old mechanic Daniel (Jovan Adepo), a young man trying to get a second chance in life and join the Marines after serving jail time for a brutal assault he committed as a teen. Yet their engaging romantic tale gets hijacked by a murder mystery – who killed Daniel's sister 15 years ago? – and an ending that has more forced twists than a pretzel.

Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu, FandangoNOW

Jack Kilmer and Alice Englert play Ohio junkies lured to an L.A. rehab facility for nefarious reasons in the drama "Body Brokers."
Jack Kilmer and Alice Englert play Ohio junkies lured to an L.A. rehab facility for nefarious reasons in the drama "Body Brokers."

If you're already skeptical of our health care system: 'Body Brokers'

The shady rehab industry gets "The Big Short" treatment with this cautionary tale. Jack Kilmer and Alice Englert star as young Ohio junkies who are recruited by a seemingly good Samaritan (Michael K. Williams) to go to an L.A. treatment center that's part of a large-scale grift involving kickbacks and recruitment of clients with excellent health insurance. Frank Grillo plays the shadowy owner of the center and the narrator who explains everything you'd want to know about shenanigans involving "helping" addicts.

Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu, FandangoNOW

Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson, center) watches as his website – which he describes as "Amazon for drugs" – takes off alongside girlfriend Julia (Alexandra Shipp) and Max (Daniel David Stewart) in "Silk Road."
Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson, center) watches as his website – which he describes as "Amazon for drugs" – takes off alongside girlfriend Julia (Alexandra Shipp) and Max (Daniel David Stewart) in "Silk Road."

If you're up for a history lesson about the dark web: 'Silk Road'

A thriller that's pretty devoid of actual thrills, the true-life story digs into how Ross Ulbricht (played by Nick Robinson) created a website on the darknet where users could buy or sell anything anonymously. "Silk Road" depicts how it quickly became an "Amazon for drugs," its creator got obsessed, and everything came on the radar of the feds. Jason Clarke co-stars as a DEA agent who learns computers on the fly and navigates some moral quandaries in his quest to take Ulbricht down.

Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu, FandangoNOW

Dan Stevens plays a struggling author with writer's block and Leslie Mann is the ghost of his dead wife in the period comedy "Blithe Spirit."
Dan Stevens plays a struggling author with writer's block and Leslie Mann is the ghost of his dead wife in the period comedy "Blithe Spirit."

If you live for old-school screwball comedies: 'Blithe Spirit'

The so-so all-star adaptation of Noel Coward's play features an extraordinarily hammy Dan Stevens and plenty of cheese. In 1937, a successful and neurotic novelist (Stevens) is having serious writer's block as he adapts one of his books to the screen, and a séance with a medium (Judi Dench) accidentally conjures his dead wife (Mann), who was also his primary muse. Naturally this causes various ghostly high jinks, and troubles arise with the writer's high-strung current spouse (Fisher).

Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu, FandangoNOW

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Nomadland,' Netflix's 'I Care a Lot': What to stream this weekend