‘The Boy and the Heron,’ ‘Rebel Ridge,’ and More

It’s a short week for many this week thanks to Labor Day weekend, and if you’re looking for something to stream in your spare time, you won’t have to look much further than here. From the long-awaited streaming debut of a recent Oscar-winner to some of the year’s most underappreciated flicks, you can check out the list below to find out what’s coming to streaming this week.

Editor’s Note: This piece was updated on September 6, 2024.

New on Max:

‘The Boy and the Heron’

Available Now

Academy Award winner Hayao Miyazaki‘s latest animated epic, The Boy and the Heron, is finally arriving on Max this week, joining the streaming service’s impressive collection of Studio Ghibli films.

The most recent winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature follows Mahito, a young boy who loses his mother during World War II. His father, Shoichi, marries his late wife’s sister and moves his family to a rural estate. Mahito is quick to form a pseudo-rivalry with an obnoxious grey heron who leads him to a mysterious and abandoned tower. Upon entering, Mahito is whisked away to a fantastical world full of inhabitants who all hold some form of connection to his past.

Both the original subtitled Japanese version and the English dub will be made available to stream on Max. Like most Miyazaki movies, the English dub has an incredible all-star cast, including Academy Award winner Christian Bale (American Psycho), Robert Pattinson (The Batman), Karen Fukuhara (The Boys), Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians), Mark Hamill (Batman: The Animated Series), Academy Award nominee Florence Pugh (Midsommar), Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), Dave Bautista (Dune: Part Two), Barbara Rosenblatt (Orange Is the New Black), Melora Harte (Akira), Barbara Goodson (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), Luca Padovan (You), Mamoudou Athie (Elemental), Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel), and Dan Stevens (Solar Opposites).

Watch on Max

New on Netflix:

‘I Used To Be Funny’

Available Now

Rachel Sennott (Bottoms) stars as a young stand-up comedian who is trying to cope with her traumatic past in I Used to Be Funny.

Sam may be cracking jokes on stage, but in her personal life, she is suffering from both PTSD and depression, after the young girl she used to nanny went missing. As her stage life and her personal life begin to intertwine, Sam debates with herself about whether or not she should join the search.

Directed by Ally Pankiw (Black Mirror), I Used to Be Funny also stars newcomer Olga Petsa, Sabrina Jalees (Carol’s Second Act), Caleb Hearon (Jurassic World Dominion), Ennis Esmer (Blindspot), Dani Kind (Workin’ Moms), and Jason Jones (The Daily Show).

Watch on Netflix

‘Rebel Ridge’

Available Now

From Jeremy Saulnier, the celebrated filmmaker behind Blue Ruin, Green Room, and Hold the Dark, comes his latest gritty thriller: Rebel Ridge.

Aaron Pierre (Old) plays Terry Richmond, who arrives in the southern town of Shelby Springs to post bail for his cousin. His plans are interrupted after he is pulled over by the local police department and his savings are seized. Aided by the young court clerk Summer McBride, Terry seeks vengeance on the corrupt cops and their slimy chief Sandy Burnne, and he’ll go to great lengths to get back what’s his and free his cousin.

Rebel Ridge also stars Don Johnson (Knives Out), AnnaSophia Robb (Soul Surfer), David Denman (Mare of Easttown), Emory Cohen (Brooklyn), Steve Zissis (Togetherness), Zsane Jhe (Black Lightning), Dana Lee (Dr. Ken), and Academy Award nominee James Cromwell (Babe).

Watch on Netflix

New on Prime Video:

‘Snack Shack’

Available Now

Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans) and Conor Sherry (The Terminal List) star in the R-rated teen comedy Snack Shack, by director Adam Carter Rehmeier (Dinner in America). Set in the summer of 1991, two Nebraskan teens, A.J. and Moose, win a city council auction to run the “Snack Shack” at a community pool. While the best friend’s new money-making venture proves to be successful at first, the two’s friendship is put to the ultimate test with the arrival of Brooke, a young woman who begins working as a lifeguard.

Snack Shack also stars Mika Abdalla (Sex Appeal), Nick Robinson (Jurassic World), David Costabile (Billions), Gillian Vigman (The Holdovers), and JD Evermore (True Detective).

Watch on Prime Video

New on VOD:

‘Dìdi’

Available Now

One of the most criminally underrated movies of the year, Dìdi is an ode to growing up in the age of the internet.

Directed by Academy Award nominee Sean Wang (Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó), this coming-of-age comedy is set in the summer of 2008 as 13-year-old Chris Wang spends most of his time making outrageous YouTube videos with his best friends. Constantly at odds with his single mother and his older sister, Chris begins to rebel, and seeks out a way to learn how to be a “normal teenager,” whatever that means.

Dìdi stars Izaac Wang (Good Boys), Joan Chen (The Last Emperor), Shirley Chen (Quiz Lady), Chang Li Hua, Raul Dial, Aaron Chang, Mahaela Park, Chiron Denk, Sunil Maurillo, Montay Boseman, and Georgie August.

Buy on Prime Video

‘The Good Half’

Available Now

Nick Jonas (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) gets a chance to flex his dramatic acting muscles in the drama The Good Half.

The film follows Renn Wheeland, who returns to his home in Cleveland, Ohio, for his mother’s funeral. In the years since Renn left home, he has become estranged from most of his family, and upon his return, he begins to forge new relationships, all while slowly realizing that he can’t escape his family.

Robert Schwartzman (The Princess Diaries) directs the film, which also stars Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect), David Arquette (Scream), Alexandra Shipp (Barbie), Matt Walsh (Veep), and Academy Award nominee Elisabeth Shue (The Karate Kid).

Buy on Prime Video

‘Skincare’

Available Now

Elizabeth Banks is best known for her comedic roles in movies and franchises, such as Pitch Perfect, Wet Hot American Summer, The Lego Movie, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Heck, even her role as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games is much more upbeat than the rest of her cast members. Her new film, Skincare, sees her taking her rare foray into darker territory.

Banks stars as Hope Goldman, a celebrity aesthetician who is about to make the massive leap of launching her own skincare line. She is thrown a curveball when her longtime rival, Angel Vergara, decides to open her own skincare boutique right across the street from her store. Hope begins to believe that somebody is trying to deliberately set her up for sabotage, and she ends up roping in her friend Jordan to reveal the truth.

Austin Peters makes his narrative feature debut with Skincare from a script he co-wrote with Sam Freillich and Deering Regan. Alongside Banks, the movie also stars Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick), MJ Rodriquez (Pose), Luis Gerardo Méndez (Murder Mystery), and Nathan Fillion (Firefly).

Rent on Prime Video