Stream on Demand: Tom Hanks offers the ‘News of the World’
What’s new for home viewing on Video on Demand and Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max and other streaming services.
Top streams for the week
Tom Hanks stars in “News of the World” (2020, PG-13) as a Civil War veteran in Northern Texas who takes a traumatized young orphan (Helena Zengel) through hostile territory to find her only living relatives. This western from director Paul Greengrass is a touching drama set against the violence and lawlessness of Texas after the Civil War. (HBO Max)
In the action thriller “Kate” (2021, R), Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays an American assassin in Tokyo who discovers she’s been poisoned and spends her final day taking vengeance. (Netflix)
“On the Verge” (TV-MA), created by and starring director/actress Julie Delpy, follows four women navigating professional, personal, and family lives in pre-pandemic Los Angeles. Elisabeth Shue, Sarah Jones and Alexia Landeau star in the dramedy. (Netflix)
“Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.” (TV-PG) reworks the 1980s series “Doogie Howser” with Peyton Elizabeth Lee as a teenage prodigy balancing high school life with a medical career. New episodes on Wednesdays. (Disney+)
“Come From Away” (2021, TV-MA), the filmed version of the hit Broadway musical about a small Newfoundland town that welcomes passengers stranded after flights were grounded in the wake of 9/11, features cast members of the original production. (Apple TV+)
Pay-Per-View / Video on Demand
A high school teacher embarks on a project to help autistic youths express themselves in “Language Arts” (2021, not rated). Ashley Zukerman and Sarah Shahi star in the drama produced and filmed in Seattle. Available from iTunes.
Netflix
The sixth and final season of the supernatural crime drama “Lucifer” (TV-14) follows the fallen angel (Tom Ellis) as he steps in to (quite literally) play God.
True stories: “Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali” (2021, PG-13) looks back at the brief friendship and falling out between the two men.
Kid stuff: A young dragon searches for a mythical paradise in the animated adventure “Firedrake the Silver Dragon” (2021, Germany, TV-Y7).
Amazon Prime Video
The four-part documentary series “LuLaRich” (TV-14) dives into LuLaRoe, a women’s internet apparel company under investigation as a viral pyramid scheme.
HBO Max
Horror veteran James Wan directs “Malignant” (2021, R) starring Annabelle Wallis as a woman whose waking nightmares of grisly murders are visions of real events. Streams same day it opens in theaters, available for 31 days from Friday. (HBO Max)
Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron star in “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015, R), a visceral action thriller that earned 10 Oscar nominations and won six.
Other streams
Anthony Hopkins won an Academy Award playing an aging man slipping into dementia in “The Father” (2021, PG-13). (Starz)
Charlie Cox and Aidan Gillen star in “Kin” (TV-MA), a drama about a power struggle in a Dublin crime family. (AMC+)
“American Rust” (TV-MA) stars Jeff Daniels as the compromised police chief of a Pennsylvania steel town. First episode streams ahead of cable debut, new episodes on Sundays. (Showtime Anytime)
“Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem” (TV-14) is a five-episode spinoff of the long-running soap opera. (Peacock)
New on disc and at Redbox
“The Girl Who Got Away”
Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and television can be found at streamondemandathome.com.