The latest Pixar animated feature Elio, Jason Bateman/Jude Law thriller series Black Rabbit, and the return of superhero show Gen V lead an otherwise relatively quiet streaming release schedule this week.
SERIES
Beauty and the Bester S1
12 September 2025 – Netflix
Today sees the release Beauty and the Bester, Netflix’s new three-part documentary series focusing on South African convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester. In May 2022, he infamously escaped prison by faking his death and eluded authorities for nearly a year with the help of his partner and alleged accomplice, celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana. It was a sensational story that grabbed headlines all over the country. And yet, when it came to Netflix’s coverage of it, there was barely a blip on the media radar. Well, that was until earlier this week when it emerged that Bester – currently serving a life sentence – and Magudumana – currently imprisoned awaiting her trial, which is set to start in exactly one week – have had their lawyers try to stop Netflix from airing the miniseries. As reported just this morning, their bid has been denied and the show is going ahead. Probably with a whole lot more viewers now that they’ve made people aware of it. Have to love free publicity!
Gen V S2
17 September 2025 – Prime Video
It’s “Back To School” time. That was a sentence that always filled me with dread as a youth. Now imagine how much worse it is for the students at Godolkin University, the higher education institute where nearly everybody has superpowers that can kill you. And boy, was there a lot of killing in the first season Gen V! That is almost certainly not stopping in this new season for The Boys spinoff show. Gen V season two will be picking up the plot threads of season four of the Boys, as the country “adjusts to Homelander’s iron fist”, while back at Godolkin University, “the mysterious new Dean preaches a curriculum that promises to make students more powerful than ever.”
Black Rabbit S1
18 September 2025 – Netflix
The last time Jason Bateman got into debt with some shady ne’er-do-wells, we ended up with four seasons of the brilliant crime drama Ozark. Well, he’s at it again! Black Rabbit is a new eight-part crime thriller series co-created by Zach Baylin, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of King Richard, The Order (a criminally underseen gem), Creed III, Gran Turismo, and Bob Marley: One Love. Bateman stars as Vince Friedkin, a troublesome gambler whose latest “sure thing” backfired on him, leaving him on the run for his life unless he can pay off his debts. His solution is to get help from his brother Jake, the charismatic owner of Black Rabbit, a restaurant and VIP lounge, poised to become the hottest spot in New York. This should be an easy fix for such a successful sibling. Except, despite outward appearance, Jake is barely hanging on both professionally and personally, and when Vince’s pursuers come a-knocking, it sets off a whole series of desperate and potentially encounters.
MOVIES
The Wrong Paris
12 September 2025 – Netflix
Netflix has been churning out a steady supply of low-calorie rom-coms lately, and here’s your latest little snack. The Wrong Paris stars Miranda Cosgrove (yes, that is iCarly herself all grown up now) as a young woman who signs up to take part in a reality dating show set in a glamorous location, not unlike the many such shows produced by Netflix. But while she thinks she’s about to get jetted off to Paris, France, it turns out the show is actually set in Paris, Texas, complete with cowboy hats and rodeos. Desperate to get out of the game, she plots a way to get herself eliminated… until her unexpected feelings for the bachelor (Pierson Fodé) complicate her plans. Ya’ll know how this one goes.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
15 September 2025 – Showmax
Of all the movies I saw in 2018, the one I would never ever have pegged to get a sequel would have been Den of Thieves. The Gerard Butler-led action flick is a by the numbers heist thriller with its only real drawcard being Butler’s turn as loose cannon cop “Big Nick” O’Brien. The film got middling reviews and was only a mild box office success, and yet, here we are seven years later with Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. For the record, this one picks up after the events of the first film as Butler’s Big Nick travels to Europe to track down O’Shea Jackson’s Donnie Wilson, the criminal mastermind who tricked Nick into thinking he was just a lowly criminal before escaping overseas with a huge stolen score. As Donnie gets embroiled in a diamond smuggling scheme with the infamous Panther mafia though, and Nick finds himself in a desperate personal situation, it sets the scene for an unexpected partnership.
Elio
16 September 2025 – Disney+
Pixar’s latest animated feature film Elio blasted off in theatres this past June… and then promptly crashed back down again. Despite strong critical reception, the science-fiction family adventure was a major box office bomb, earning just $154 million worldwide off a production budget reported to possibly be as high as $200 million. Ouch! And that’s before promo costs (usually 1.5 to 2 times the production budget) get added in. All of which is to say, that you probably didn’t watch this one at the cinema. Well, not to worry, as you can rectify that next week. I think. Despite it being nowhere on the lineup in the official Disney+ monthly press release we all get, it was reported yesterday by the big Hollywood trades that Elio is making its D+ streaming debut next week. And for the uninitiated, this one follows an eleven-year-old boy named Elio Solís who is mistaken for the intergalactic ambassador of Earth after being beamed up to by some aliens, leaving him to navigate a crisis that involves the warlord father of an alien he befriended. As Sam stated in his 8/10 review, Elio may not “boast an original plot and its visual style is more overwhelming than memorably enjoyable, Elio makes first contact with your feelings and delivers a gut-punching tale about finding your place in the universe.”