What to stream this weekend: Netflix's 'Operation Christmas Drop,' 'Proxima,' 'Triggered'
New streaming movies are coming to entertain you and your family during socially distanced times.
This weekend, Netflix keeps the holiday movie train humming, plus debuts Spain's selection to compete for the international film Oscar, Eva Green is a mom going to space, and a few freaky flicks remind us that the horror continues even after Halloween.
If you're feeling the itch to get back to the movies in person, and there's a drive-in or it's safe enough to return to your local theater, the new drama "Let Him Go" teams up Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as a retired sheriff and his wife who, after their son dies, have to rescue their grandson from some shady in-laws.
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But if you'd rather stick closer to home, here's a rundown of new movies hitting streaming and on-demand platforms this week, for every cinematic taste:
If you need a feel-good escape this election week: 'Operation Christmas Drop'
A real-life annual humanitarian mission in the Pacific is the inspiration for this sugary holiday romantic comedy. When her boss needs to make some cuts, Kat Graham is a determined congressional aide sent to a tropical air base – known for dropping goods to needy islanders – to check out its efficiency, and Alexander Ludwig is the good-hearted Air Force captain assigned to show her around and trade barbs. Anybody who's seen a Hallmark movie knows how this'll go, but at least an incoming typhoon and Virginia Madsen as a Scrooge-y congresswoman liven things up.
Where to watch: Netflix
If you dig space movies AND family dramas: 'Proxima'
In this look at motherhood and parenting through an out-of-this-world lens, Green stars as a French mom and astronaut training at Germany's European Space Agency who's chosen for a year-long Mars mission, but fulfilling her dream also means leaving behind her 7-year-old daughter (Zélie Boulant-Lemesle). Director Alice Winocour's film ably tweaks the usual space tale by having Green's stoic engineer weather all the usual training struggles – and a somewhat sexist American astronaut played by Matt Dillon – as well as the emotional toll it takes on both mother and daughter.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Google Play, FandangoNOW
If you're paranoid about your in-laws: 'Kindred'
Gaslighting, disturbing animal imagery – including a scene worthy of "The Birds" – and a pervading sense of dread run rampant in a psychological thriller that's not exactly innovative but decently effective. Tamara Lawrance plays Charlotte, a pregnant British woman planning a move to Australia with her boyfriend (Edward Holcroft) when he dies after being attacked by a horse and she's taken in by his family. As she gets closer to her due date, Charlotte's distrust grows for her dead lover's mom (Fiona Shaw) and his stepbrother (Jack Lowden), though are they the problem or is it all in her head?
Where to watch: Apple TV, Google Play, FandangoNOW
If you want an emotionally complex war story: 'The Endless Trench'
Beginning in 1936 at the start of the Spanish Civil War, Republican newlywed Higinio (Antonio de la Torre) is hunted by Nationalists, betrayed by a neighbor (Vicente Vergara) and hidden by his seamstress wife Rosa (Belén Cuesta) for the next 33 years. While it helps to know a bit about the politics of the time (a quick Google will hook you up), the core relationship dynamic fuels the well-acted drama. In the film – Spain's choice to tussle for the international Oscar – Rosa yearns for normalcy yet Higinio's crippling paranoia turns his need to stay hidden into a choice rather than a necessity.
Where to watch: Netflix
If you're really hard up for a superhero movie: 'Mortal'
The latest from filmmaker André Øvredal (who directed the very cool "Trollhunter") is a strange beast, a film with some cool moments that ultimately loses itself between expansive indie thriller and odd fantasy franchise-starter. Nat Wolff plays an American backpacker with crazy powers he doesn't understand who, when venturing through a Norwegian town, accidentally kills a bullying youngster without even touching him. A psychologist (Iben Akerlie) is brought in but soon enough they're on the lam and trying to figure out what his deal is, leading them to some old-school Viking mythology and a lot of iffy computer-generated images.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Google Play, FandangoNOW
If you haven't had enough bleakness in your life: 'The Dark and the Wicked'
Bryan Bertino ("The Monster") writes and directs a brutally unnerving creepfest set on a farm where a bedridden man is dying (Michael Zagst), darkness has infected his wife (Julie Oliver-Touchstone), and their grown-up daughter (Marin Ireland) and son (Michael Abbott Jr.) show up right in time for things to get really bad. A shapeshifting figure makes itself known and the family wrestles with a foreboding doom that's entrenched in the house. It's good but be warned that it's extraordinarily dreary, if that's not your jam.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Google Play, FandangoNOW
If you're curious to see a millennial version of a 'Saw' movie: 'Triggered'
Nine friends, all a part of a dark secret no one wants to talk about, return for their high school homecoming, party hard in the woods and then wake up in the middle of the night with high-tech time bombs attached to their chests. The gory survival thriller has an interesting premise that twists familiar tropes (from horror traps to final girls) and offers a few bloody good kills, yet wears out its welcome with an overlong run time and a bunch of nondescript characters played by relatively unknown faces. (In other words, good luck trying to keep them all straight in the dark.)
Where to watch: Apple TV, Google Play, FandangoNOW
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Operation Christmas Drop,' 'Proxima,' more new movies to stream
