Moana 2, Pushpa 2 on Netflix, and every movie new to streaming

Each week on Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

This week, Moana 2, the sequel to the mega-hit animated musical starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Auliʻi Cravalho, washes ashore onto VOD. There’s tons of other exciting new releases to rent and purchase this week too, including a new adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, the steamy erotic drama Babygirl, and the Oscar-nominated prison drama Sing Sing starring Colman Domingo. Plus, David Byrne’s True Stories is streaming for free on YouTube!

Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 44m
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany

Tom Hanks and Robin Wright reunite in this drama based on a 2014 graphic novel, itself based on a six-page comic story about the same location viewed at different points in time. The movie follows the same concept, told in a nonlinear fashion, centering on the same piece of land from the time of dinosaurs to modern day. Oh, also, Benjamin Franklin’s son owns it at one point! Nice.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Genre: Action drama
Run time: 3h 21m
Director: Sukumar
Cast: Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Faasil

Pushpa: The Rise was one of my favorite movies of 2021, and I’ve been waiting with bated breath for the sequel ever since. My anticipation has only risen since people have been able to see the movie — I’ve heard the final fight scene might be the most spectacular of any released in 2024 — but more than anything, I’m just excited to see Allu Arjun’s particular brand of swagger as this character again.

Where to watch: Available to stream on Max

Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 50m
Director: Hallie Meyers-Shyer
Cast: Michael Keaton, Mila Kunis, Laura Benanti

Michael Keaton stars in this family comedy as Andy, an art gallery owner whose wife leaves him and checks into a 90-day rehab program. With no one else to lean on, Andy resorts to asking Grace (Mila Kunis), his daughter from his previous marriage, to help him as he looks after her 9-year-old twin half-siblings.

You’re Cordially Invited

Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video

Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 49m
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Cast: Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon, Geraldine Viswanathan

The director behind Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Neighbors is back with a new wacky comedy. Two weddings are booked at the same venue on the same day, much to the chagrin of one bride’s father (Will Ferrell) and the other’s sister (Reese Witherspoon). They both set out to make sure that the day is still the best day ever for their respective brides — even if that means shafting the other wedding.

Where to watch: Available to stream on YouTube

Genre: Musical comedy
Run time: 1h 29m
Director: David Byrne
Cast: John Goodman, Annie McEnroe, Swoosie Kurtz

You probably know David Byrne for his role as lead singer in the band Talking Heads. You might know Byrne for his solo music career, documentaries, photography, books, and philanthropy. You should know David Byrne for the single film he directed, True Stories, which combines his many talents — musician, storyteller, visual artist, and assembler of cool people — into one thrillingly strange autopsy of Americana.

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

Genre: Musical adventure
Run time: 1h 40m
Directors: David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller
Cast: Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualālai Chung

The Moana sequel was originally supposed to be a Moana Disney Plus show. But now it’s a full-fledged theatrical adventure, with Moana once again setting off on a sailing journey. This time, she’s joined by a ragtag crew, including a Maui fanboy, a quirky inventor, and a farmer who doesn’t know how to swim. Dwayne Johnson returns as Maui, too, and Moana and her friends search for a distant, legendary island in an effort to make contact with other people who might live on the islands in the sea.

Moana 2 may grow on me as well — frankly, my feelings for it could only go up from where they started. It’s been less than a day since I saw the long-awaited sequel (Disney screened the film for press just 17 hours ago), but unlike with the overwhelming let-me-hear-that-again rush of experiencing Moana for the first time, I don’t have the lingering gut feeling that I’ve missed something. In the end, Moana 2 is a vehicle for one banger, a feel-good throwback, and a few songs we’ll never talk about again, which doesn’t feel like enough for a brand-new Moana.

The Count of Monte Cristo

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

Genre: Historical action adventure
Run time: 2h 58m
Directors: Alexandre de La Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte
Cast: Pierre Niney, Bastien Bouillon, Anaïs Demoustier

The directors of the two-part 2023 adaptation of The Three Musketeers are back, this time with an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ acclaimed revenge story. The Count of Monte Cristo centers on Edmond Dantès (Pierre Niney), a merchant sailor who, after being falsely accused and imprisoned without trial, mounts a daring escape and embarks on a decade-long quest to exact vengeance on the men who stole his life from him. These movies are some of the biggest blockbuster productions coming out of France, and are well worth your time.

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

Genre: Erotic thriller
Run time: 1h 54m
Director: Halina Reijn
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas

In Babygirl, Romy, a stressed and sexually unsatisfied CEO (Nicole Kidman) starts a dominant-submissive affair with her intern Samuel (Harris Dickinson). As the affair intensifies, Samuel starts interjecting himself more into Romy’s life, threatening to upset both her career and her home life. The erotic thriller generated a lot of buzz when it came out, with comparisons to Fifty Shades of Grey and Secretary and praise for Kidman’s vulnerable performance.

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera

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

Genre: Action crime
Run time: 2h 24m
Director: Christian Gudegast
Cast: Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Evin Ahmad

“Dirtbag Heat” is back on the menu. Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. reprise their roles as scumbag Sheriff “Big Nick” O’Brien and career criminal Donnie Wilson, this time teaming up to pull off a massive heist of the world’s largest diamond exchange in Nice, France. Polygon spoke to director Christian Gudegast about the making of the film, including pulling off the world’s first electric-car chase and his future plans.

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

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 47m
Director: Greg Kwedar
Cast: Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, Sean San José

Colman Domingo (Zola) stars in this prison drama as John “Divine G” Whitfield, a man recently imprisoned at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility for a crime he didn’t commit. Acting in a theatre group designed to bring incarcerated men in touch with their own feelings, John finds solace and purpose in connecting to his fellow inmates through the transformative power of art. Sing Sing has received three Oscar nominations, including a Best Actor nomination for Domingo’s lead performance.

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

Genre: Biographical sports
Run time: 1h 49m
Director: Rachel Morrison
Cast: Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry, Oluniké Adeliyi

Written by Moonlight director Barry Jenkins, this biographical sports drama stars Ryan Destiny (Grown-ish) as Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, an aspiring boxer training to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic gold medal in the sport. Together with her coach, Jason (Brian Tyree Henry), Claressa must overcome the institutional hurdles of the sport if she’s to have any chance of achieving her dream.

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

Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 37m
Directors: Yōko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita
Cast: Munetaka Aoki, Mirai Moriyama, Noa Gotō

If Totoro was a massage therapist with a gambling problem, you’d get Anzu. The 37-year-old ghost cat was once a regular house cat who just continued to age and somehow transformed into an anthropomorphic cat. Anzu finds himself in charge of 11-year-old Karin, a surly preteen who does not want to be spending the summer with her grandfather and his weird adult human cat. The two clash, but eventually embark on an adventure into the underworld to break out Karin’s mother. Ghost Cat Anzu sparkles with wonderful animation, particularly when it comes to the character expression and design.

Ghost Cat Anzu works best when the mix of the mundane and the mythical is balanced. For instance, Anzu inviting a host of forest spirits to his temple for a party is a hilarious setup that gives Karin a chance to relate her feelings to the ragtag group. But the eventual journey to the land of the dead ends up dragging and muddling the movie’s message.