It is a very light streaming release schedule this week, highlighted by the streaming debut of Joker: Folie à Deux, new Vanessa Kirby thriller Night Always Comes, and supernatural horror The Woman in the Yard.
SERIES
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox S1
20 August 2025 – Disney+
Back in 2007, the name Amanda Knox occupied many a headline around the world. Just weeks after arriving in Italy for studies, the American college student found herself embroiled in drama as she was accused of murdering Meredith Kercher, a fellow exchange student, with whom she shared an apartment. According to reports, Knox allegedly implicated herself in the murder when speaking to police after Kercher’s bloody body was discovered in her locked bedroom. It was declared as swift justice. Only problem was, Knox was actually innocent. Miniseries The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is a dramatic retelling of the real-life events that occurred, tracing Amanda’s relentless fight to prove her innocence and reclaim her freedom and examines why authorities and the world stood so firmly in judgment.
MOVIES
Night Always Comes
15 August 2025 – Netflix
Vanessa Kirby is currently drawing rave reviews for playing a literal supermom in Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps on the big screen. However, if you’re looking for something more grounded for the fan-favourite actress, then maybe check out the new Netflix thriller Night Always Comes. Directed by Benjamin Caron (who cut his teeth on premiere TV shows such as The Crown and Andor, and the 2023 Julianne Moore/Sebastian Stan thriller Sharper), Night Always Comes is based on the best selling novel by Willy Vlautin, and sees Kirby play Lynette, a woman who risks everything to secure the house that represents a future for her family. As the blurb continues, “On a dangerous odyssey through a single night, Lynette is forced to confront her dark past in order to finally break free.”
Joker: Folie à Deux
18 August 2025 – Showmax
Personally, I wasn’t too enamored with 2019’s Joker, which saw director Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix give the titular Batman villain a very non-comic book adaptation. My opinion was seemingly an outlier, as Joker went on to earn $1 billion worldwide and netted Phoenix a Best Actor Oscar. As a result, there were a lot of big expectations for the film’s sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, which would feature Lady Gaga bringing to life fan-favourite character Harley Quinn. But it seems Phillips’ ambitious idea to make this a “jukebox musical”, on top of now also being a courtroom drama, and trying to comment on the first film’s fanbase (in particular the rather toxic portion of it) was just too much for everybody. Reviews ranged from unkind to absolutely scathing, with the film eventually taking a whopping $144 million loss for Warner Bros. All of which is to say that chances are that you never actually watched Joker: Folie à Deux in cinemas. Well, now you can fix that as it makes its local streaming debut on Showmax on Monday.
RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
The Woman in the Yard
Purchase: Apple TV – R170
Rental: Apple TV – R45
Director Jaume Collet-Serra may not be a household name, but he’s made a very steady career for himself directing nail-biting thrillers like The Shallows (a legit great shark movie), Carry-On, and a string of Liam Neeson hits, as well as blockbuster fare like Jungle Cruise. And with those credentials, it makes it a little weird that I’ve heard absolutely nothing about his latest movie, The Woman in the Yard, before today. Produced by small-budget horror maestros Blumhouse, the film got a very limited theatrical release back in late March and has now already found its way to VOD rental. The film stars Danielle Deadwyler (Till, The Harder They Fall) and Okwui Okpokwasili (Agatha All Along), and follows Ramona, a widow left disabled by the car accident that claimed her husband’s life. As she struggles to raise her kids on her own, her life is thrown into total chaos by the sudden and mysterious appearance by a woman with seemingly supernatural powers.