Stream on Demand: DC’s dark hero ‘Black Adam’ comes to streaming

Fri., Dec. 16, 2022

Dwayne Johnson stars in “Black Adam.” (Netflix)

By Sean Axmaker For The Spokesman-Review

What’s new for home viewing on Video on Demand and Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, and other streaming services.

Top streams for the week

Dwayne Johnson is “Black Adam” (2022, PG-13), an ancient god who is out for revenge after being freed from a desert tomb, in the most recent superhero epic in the DCU. A villain in the DC Comics, he makes the transition to dark hero when the Justice Society arrives to battle his destructive form of vengeance-driven justice. Directed by action specialist Jaume Collet-Serra, it costars Sarah Shahi, Aldis Hodge, and Pierce Brosnan. (HBO Max)

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (2022, R), starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as lifelong best friends in an island village off the Irish coast, is a break-up comedy with a dark edge from writer/director Martin McDonagh. It’s nominated for eight Golden Globes and has won awards from numerous critics groups. (HBO Max)

The romantic comedy “Ticket to Paradise” (2022, PG-13) reunites George Clooney and Julia Roberts as estranged exes who team up to stop their daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) from impulsively marrying a kelp farmer in Bali. (Peacock)

Oscar-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu turns inward with “Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Mexico, 2022, R, with subtitles), an ambitious fantasia about a journalist and filmmaker (Daniel Giménez Cacho) and his surreal, dreamlike odyssey. (Netflix)

“Kindred: Season 1” (not rated) stars Mallori Johnson as a young Black writer who is abruptly transported from modern L.A. to a 19th century plantation in the Deep South, a journey that repeats itself without warning. Based on the novel by Octavia E. Butler. All episodes available. (Hulu)

A fledgling CIA lawyer (Noah Centineo) is caught in the middle of an international crisis when a former asset (Laura Haddock) threatens to expose her work for the agency in “The Recruit: Season 1” (TV-MA). (Netflix)

True stories: “Retrograde” (2022, R) looks at the chaotic nine months leading up to the withdrawal of American troops after a 20-year war in Afghanistan. (Disney+ and Hulu)

Holiday highlights

“A Very Backstreet Holiday” (TV-PG) features the Grammy-winning boy band performing songs from their new holiday album. (Disney+ and Hulu)

Pay-Per-View / Video on Demand

Viola Davis is “The Woman King” (2022, PG-13) in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s historical drama inspired by a real-life all-female warrior regiment in early 1800s Africa. Also on DVD and at Redbox.

Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver star in “Call Jane” (2022, R), a drama about the volunteer network who helped women seeking abortions in the years before Roe v. Wade.

Netflix

“My Next Guest with David Letterman” (TV-MA) presents an in-depth conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine.

Aubrey Plaza stars as a desperate young woman in debt who discovers a gift for credit card theft in “Emily the Criminal” (2022, R).

Disney+

“National Treasure: Edge of History: Season 1” (TV-14) brings a new chapter to the action movie franchise with a new, young adult hero (Lisette Olivera).

Amazon Prime Video

An undocumented nanny (Anna Diop) in New York City becomes possessed by an evil spirit in the horror film “Nanny” (2022, R), witch won the top prize at Sundance.

New on disc and at Redbox: “Ticket to Paradise,” “The Woman King,” “Smile,” “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile”