What to Stream: Batten down the hatches with these storm movies

It’s hurricane season, and with Hurricane Hilary tearing up the Baja coast over the weekend before making land in Southern California as a tropical storm – the first in 84 years to hit SoCal – hurricanes are on the brain. Whether you’re on the East Coast, West or experiencing extreme late summer weather anywhere, here are a few suggestions of movies to watch while you’re hunkered down during a summer storm.

For a spooky psychological thriller, Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” (2010) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is a horror-leaning mystery set on a New England island housing a mental hospital. DiCaprio plays a U.S. Marshall investigating the disappearance of a patient while a hurricane sweeps over the island, resulting in a tense standoff that reveals much more chilling depths to this twisty tale, based on a Dennis Lehane novel. Stream it on Showtime or rent it elsewhere.

Or slow it down with Bogey and Bacall in “Key Largo,” the last of the four on-screen collaborations of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. This 1948 John Huston picture also co-stars Edward G. Robinson, as a mobster who holds up a group of people at a hotel while a hurricane rages outside. Rent it on all digital platforms.

Alexandre Aja’s creature feature “Crawl” (2019) is a delightful slice of genre filmmaking. Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper co-star as a father and daughter who have to escape a crocodile unleashed during a hurricane. Rent it on all digital platforms.

The extremely silly B-movie “The Hurricane Heist” (2018) is an outlandish and entertaining crime caper set during a hurricane, directed by Rob Cohen. Toby Kebbell stars as a meteorologist who comes to aid of Maggie Grace’s ATF agent. He uses the power of the hurricane to foil a merry band of robbers, while his brother Breeze (yes, Breeze), played by Ryan Kwanten tags along. Take in all the ridiculous fun on Starz or rent it elsewhere. Pair it with Jan de Bont’s “Twister” (1996) for more storm-based action, streaming on Max or available to rent elsewhere.

For something more educational, check out the “Earthstorm” series on Netflix, about storm chases, survivalists and other extreme weather experts. The fourth episode focuses on hurricanes, but all the episodes are worth watching, especially as our climate rapidly changes.

And on a serious note, there’s also the fallout of a hurricane’s destruction, and the dangers of underestimating a storm or mismanaging the response. Spike Lee’s four-part series “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts” (2006) takes a look at the events before and after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005. As more and more extreme weather and hurricanes come our way, it’s imperative to be prepared for the worst, hope for the best and have systems in place to manage the aftermath. Stream “When the Levees Broke” on Max.