The Boy and the Heron, Netflix’s Rebel Ridge and all the new movies to stream this week

Every week at Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases for streaming and VOD, and highlight the biggest and best new movies to watch at home.

This week, The boy and the heronthe latest animated fantasy from acclaimed anime author Hayao Miyazaki is finally coming to streaming on Max. That’s not all, because Rebel Ridge, the new action thriller from director Jeremy Saulnier (Green room) starring Aaron Pierre (Old, The Underground Railroad), also premieres on Netflix this week. We have many more exciting releases to choose from, including a new film based on the hit anime Spy x Family on Crunchyroll, a brutal martial arts thriller set in 1980s Hong Kong, and a hilarious coming-of-age comedy on Prime Video.

Here’s everything new to check out this weekend!

Genre: Action thriller
Playing time: 2h 11m
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Form: Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb

This thriller follows an ex-Marine who uncovers corruption in a small town. After local police wrongfully seize the money he was carrying to post bail for his cousin, he teams up with a clerk to expose the corruption—and get that bail back for his cousin. Rebel Back comes from Real Detective director and executive producer of season 3 Jeremy Saulnier.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Genre: Comedy drama
Playing time: 1h 45m
Director: Ally Pankiw
Form: Rachel Sennott, Olga Petsa, Jason Jones

Rachel Sennott (Bodies Bodies Bodies) plays Sam, a stand-up comedian living in Toronto who takes a job as a nanny to earn some money. After the young girl she was caring for disappears, Sam is stricken with PTSD and stops performing as a comedy performer, haunted by the loss of her caregiver and her own helplessness.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Max

Genre: Fantasy drama
Playing time: 2h 4m
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Form: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Aimyon

After more than a decade, Hayao Miyazaki is back with a new fantasy sequel to his 2013 historical drama The wind is picking up. Inspired by Miyazaki’s favorite childhood novel and his own experiences growing up in Japan after World War II, The boy and the heron follows Mahito, a young boy who loses his mother in a tragic fire. After moving to the countryside with his recently remarried father, Mahito crosses paths with a mysterious anthropomorphic bird who tempts him with the promise of being reunited with his mother.

And after you’re done watching The boy and the heronyou should take a look Hayao Miyazaki and the Heronthe 2-hour documentary that chronicles Miyazaki’s return to anime directing and the film’s seven-year production.

At first glance, this is all normal for a Miyazaki film, with trace elements of Tucked away, My neighbor Totoroor Kiki’s delivery service. The confusion begins when viewers try to reconcile that with the parakeets, the causality-breaking time-lapse characters, and the heron who turns out to be a small, gnome-like man wearing a live bird as a suit. Could all of these elements be deliberate trolling from a director known for his, to put it mildly, sharp personality? Perhaps, but there seems to be a statement beneath the madness: It’s as if Miyazaki is declaring, “This is my life’s work. I don’t care if you enjoyed it. Goodbye.”

Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video

Genre: Coming-of-age comedy
Playing time: 1h 52m
Director: Adam Carter Rehmeier
Form: Conor Sherry, Gabriel LaBelle, Mika Abdalla

Travel back to 1991 in this comedy that follows a pair of teenage boys working at the snack bar of a local Nebraska pool. When a new lifeguard shows up, both boys fall for her instantly, putting their friendship in doubt.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Metrograph

Genre: Documentary
Playing time: 1h 35m
Directors: Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L’Helgouac’h

Filmed entirely in the multiplayer survival game DayZThis documentary follows the filmmakers as they interview a group of players before and during the COVID lockdowns of 2020, exploring the respective philosophies and viewpoints of the game’s player base, Knitting island opens a thrilling and insightful window into the ‘real’ lives of people who seek escape from the challenges of their everyday lives in a post-apocalyptic survivalist world.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Starz

Genre: Horror thriller
Playing time: 1h 44m
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Form: DeWanda Wise, Taegen Burns, Pyper Braun

This supernatural horror film from director Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2) follows the story of Jessica (DeWanda Wise), a children’s book author who returns to her childhood home with her new family. Jessica’s stepdaughter Alice bonds with her old teddy bear, and things quickly spiral out of control when she begins committing heinous acts on behalf of her new imaginary friend.

It is tempting to try to find meaning or purpose in this maze of digressions, but Imaginary never makes it worth it. There isn’t a single character in the film worth cheering for, and the performances are completely devoid of charisma. The script, written by Wadlow, Jason Oremland, and Greg Erb, is filled with wooden dialogue that feels stiff and often almost completely nonsensical. Characters sometimes introduce new information as if it’s a fact the audience has known forever.

Genre: Action comedy
Playing time: 1h 50m
Director: Takashi Katagiri
Form: Takuya Eguchi, Atsumi Tanezaki, Saori Hayami

Spy x Family Code: WhiteThe first feature film based on the successful action comedy anime franchise, centers on the Forger family: Loid Forger, a spy working undercover in the country of Ostania on behalf of the neighboring nation of Westalis; Yor Forger, Loid’s wife and a former assassin known as the “Thorn Princess”; and Anya Forger, their adopted daughter who is secretly telepathic. When Loid is ordered to be replaced on his assignment, he devises a plan to help Anya with a school assignment that could prevent his replacement. However, this plan inadvertently sets off a domino effect that threatens to throw the world into conflict.

As a TV show, Spy x Family handles these tonal shifts expertly. With seasons of 20+ episodes, there’s a nice balance between the silly and the more serious episodes — and because the episodes are half an hour long, it never feels like there’s too much emphasis on any one thing. But as a film, Spy Family Code: White can’t find that balance. Each half of the film represents a different aspect of Spy x Family‘s profession, and each half is pretty good for what it should be. They just don’t fit together in a feature length. When the tone changes, it gets stuck and doesn’t have as much of a point as the show. But still, regardless of the type Spy x Family If you are a fan, you will like at least half of the movie.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Crime Fighting
Playing time: 2h 6m
Director: Soi Cheang
Form: Louis Koo, Sammo Hung, Richie Jen

Set in 1980s Hong Kong, this martial arts action film centers on Chan Lok-kwun, a fugitive and amateur fighter who steals drugs from a ruthless local crime boss in a desperate attempt to find a better life. Hunted by the boss’s henchmen, Lok-kwun has no choice but to hide out in Kowloon Walled City, the notorious fortified enclave that serves as a neutral ground between Hong Kong’s criminal syndicates. When the search for Lok-kwun inadvertently reignites long-simmering tensions between Kowloon’s ruling class, he must find a way to escape alive before the dangers of the Walled City tear him apart.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Comedy drama
Playing time: 1h 36m
Director: Robert Schwartzman
Form: Nick Jonas, Brittany Snow, David Arquette

Nick Jonas, the very own of the Jonas Brothers, stars as an emotionally distant writer who returns to Cleveland, Ohio, for his mother’s funeral after years of avoiding his complicated family. He forges new relationships and confronts old ones, and ultimately must face his grief—and family drama—full in the eye. The good half first premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Exciting
Playing time: 1h 36m
Director: Austin Peters
Form: Elizabeth Banks, Lewis Pullman, Luis Gerardo Méndez

In Skin careElizabeth Banks plays Hope, a beauty therapist who is about to take the next big step in her career: launching a skincare line. But things start to go wrong when a rival salon pops up across the street and starts stealing her clients. Hope begins to suspect that someone is out to get her and destroy her career. She enlists her boyfriend to help her investigate.

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Genre: Coming-of-age drama
Playing time: 1h 33m
Director: Sean Wang
Form: Isaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen

Set in the late 2000s, this coming-of-age drama follows Chris Wang (Izaac Wang), a 13-year-old boy enjoying his last summer vacation before high school. Simultaneously tempted and intimidated by the opportunities and challenges that come with adolescence, will Chris find a way to grow up on his own terms? If you’re Bo Burnham’s Eighth grade or that of Jonah Hill Mid 90’s, Didi might be something for you.