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It's almost the weekend, which means that we're inching closer to being able to kick back and chill with some of the best new movies and shows. It's a big week for releases, too, with a buzzy horror movie, plus the return of Daredevil: Born Again and For All Mankind.
That's only scratching the surface of what's new this week, though! There's also a brand new time travel crime comedy, one of this year's Oscar Best Picture nominees, debuts on streaming, and there's a terrifying brand new horror show that counts Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers among its producers.
New movies
Primate (Paramount Plus)
Available: Worldwide
Watch now: Paramount Plus
This killer chimpanzee movie from writer/director Johannes Roberts has a deliciously simple premise: a wealthy family's adopted pet Ben – a highly intelligent chimpanzee – contracts rabies and goes on a violent rampage. College student Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) and her family must try to survive as it marauds around their home.
Yes, this is effectively a slasher movie with a chimpanzee rather than a serial killer – and it's an effective one too. Ben is played by Miguel Torres Umba in a chimp suit, rather than created with CGI, and that lends the horror of the attacks a real physicality. If you want a short (the film clocks in at just 89 minutes), sharp shock, then Primate may be the film for you this weekend.
Watch Primate.
Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice (Hulu)
Available: Worldwide
Watch now: Hulu
This Hulu original time travel comedy gives us a double-dose of Vince Vaughn. He plays Nick, a gangster who travels back in time by six months to the night where his colleague Mike (James Marsden) is murdered, in an attempt to save him. The trouble is, that will mean crossing paths with himself, as well as a mysterious cannibal assassin known as The Baron.
This looks like a fun blend of the gangster, sci-fi, and comedy genres. Vaughn and Marsden are usually good value, as is Eiza González as Alice, the woman with whom both men are romantically embroiled. Can the three – or rather four – of them survive the most dangerous night of their lives?
Watch Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice.
Sentimental Value (Hulu)
Available: Worldwide
Watch now: Hulu
This terrific drama from director Joachim Trier was one of the Best Picture nominees at this year's Oscars, and star Stellan Skarsgård won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Golden Globes. It's easy to see why. Despite the title, which perhaps implies a degree of schmaltz, this is a nuanced character drama with world-class performances from its cast.
Film director Gustav Borg (Skarsgård) returns to Norway to take back the house he lost in his divorce to his late wife, Sissel. He hopes to reconcile with his estranged daughters, Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) and Nora (Renate Reinsve), but his alcoholism and bitter temperament make that a difficult proposition. Tempers flare, egos clash, but Sentimental Value finds redemption in its cast of troubled characters.
Watch Sentimental Value.
New TV shows
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen (Netflix)
Available: Worldwide
Watch now: Netflix
Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers are teaming up with showrunner Haley Z. Boston for this intriguing horror miniseries. Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen follows a couple, Rachel (Camila Morrone) and Nicky (Adam DiMarco), as they prepare for their wedding day. Nicky takes Rachel to meet his parents at their secluded cabin in the woods (oh oh...), where things take a very dark and sinister turn.
Part relationship drama, part nerve-shredding horror, this eight-episode series looks very promising. Netflix has kept the precise details of exactly what very bad things are going to happen in the show secret, but we can't wait to find out.
Watch Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen.
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 (Disney Plus)
Available: Worldwide
Watch now: Disney Plus
Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) is back in action as Daredevil, for the second season of this superhero revival. Daredevil has always stood slightly apart from the rest of the MCU in its tone: this is a darker, tougher show that's a far cry from the bright and hopeful tone of most of the franchise.
Daredevil: Born Again season one had a lot of promise, but was undermined by the challenging circumstances of its creation (several episodes were throwbacks to a previous, much lighter iteration of the show that was abandoned mid-production). Season 2 concentrates on what this show should have been about all along: the compelling war between Murdock and the villainous Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) for the soul of the city.
Watch Daredevil: Born Again.
For All Mankind season 5 (Apple TV)
Available: Worldwide
Watch now: Apple TV
One of the best Apple TV shows returns for its fifth year. For All Mankind is a fascinating, cerebral sci-fi show that imagines a world where history followed a very different course: one where the Soviets won the space race. In season 5, the colony on Mars is thriving, but that doesn't mean that humanity's troubles are over, as tensions between Earth and the Red Planet are heating up.
Fans will need no further encouragement to dive into this new run, which has recently been confirmed as the show's penultimate series. Everyone else, head back to the beginning and get lost in one of the best sci-fi shows currently streaming.
Watch For All Mankind.
Looking for something else to watch? Check out our list of the best Netflix movies or the best movies on Disney Plus.
