Aside from animated series Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, this coming week’s noteworthy streaming releases are all movies headlined by the VOD debut of Oscar-winner The Brutalist, Anna Kendrick/Blake Lively sequel Another Simple Favor, streaming debuts for Gladiator 2 and The Bikeriders, and much more!
SERIES
Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld
4 May 2025 – Disney+
May the Fourth be with you! It’s Star Wars Day on Sunday, and to celebrate that, the latest entry in franchise guru Dave Filoni’s animated anthology series is being release. Following on from 2022’s Tales of the Jedi and 2024’s Tales of the Empire, Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld shifts the focus away from Force users and tyrannical baddies and onto the criminal underbelly of that iconic galaxy far, far away. The six-episode miniseries will mostly be focusing on two fan-favourite crooks: Former assassin and bounty hunter Asajj Ventress is given a new chance at life and must go on the run with an unexpected new ally, while outlaw Cad Bane faces his past when he confronts an old friend, now a Marshal on the opposite side of the law.
Forever S1
8 May 2025 – Netflix
I would be lying if I said that I was familiar with “Forever…”, the groundbreaking 1975 novel from popular American YA author Judy Blume (to be fair, it was the same with “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret”, so maybe I just don’t know her work at all). But for fans in the know, they should be excited as hugely influential coming-of-age tale is being adapted to the screen in a new drama series. Reimagined for a new generation by prolific TV producer/screenwriter Mara Brock Akil, Forever tells “an epic love story of two Black teens exploring romance and their identities through the awkward journey of being each other’s firsts, set in Los Angeles, 2018.”
MOVIES
Another Simple Favor
1 May 2025 – Prime Video
Despite the big critical and commercial success of 2018’s A Simple Favor, and the star power attached in the form of co-stars Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, with director Paul Feig, long-awaited sequel Another Simple Favor almost completely slipped under the radar. Some suspect that Lively’s very public litigation of Justin Baldoni may have contributed to Prime Video barely marketing it. Either way, Stephanie (Kendrick) and Emily (Lively) are back. Following the events of the first film in vlogger Stephanie had to unravel the mystery of her wealthy friend Emily’s disappearance, the pair reunite on the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman. Along with the glamorous guests, some murder and betrayal also RSVP for the wedding though, kicking off more mystery and intrigue for the pair.
The Bikeriders
1 May 2025 – Showmax
Inspired by Danny Lyon’s photo-book of the same name, The Bikeriders depicts the tumultuous events and relationships in the lives of the Vandals Motorcycle Club, a fictional version of the real-life Outlaws Motorcycle Club. And it feels like the period crime drama should have been a much bigger deal when it released in cinemas last year. Written and directed by Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special, Loving) and starring a killer cast led by Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook, Norman Reedus, and more, this movie looked poised for blockbuster status. And while it earned rave reviews, the commercial side of things was very muted thanks to numerous delays, conflicting release dates, and the SAG-AFTRA strike preventing promotion by its creators. All of which is to say that there’s a very likely chance that if you’re reading this right now, you probably didn’t watch The Bikeriders in theatres. Well, you can fix that now. The period crime drama,
Gladiator 2
2 May 2025 – Showmax
When it comes to Gladiator II, veteran director Ridley Scott’s long-in-development sequel to his Best Picture Oscar-winning 2000 classic starring Russell Crowe, the iconic question of “Are you not entertained?!” is going to have very different answers from different people. Maybe you’re like me and find the movie nothing more than just fine as Scott basically just copies himself from 25 years ago, but with a less charismatic lead in Paul Mescal (playing a grown-up Lucius) and more cartoonish villains. Or maybe you’re more like Noelle, who found more fun to be had in the film’s lavish battle sequences, and more appreciation for the addition of Pedro Pascal and, in particular, Denzel Washinton, offering some freshness from this all too familiar formula. Either way, you can decide for yourself at home as Gladiator II is now available on streaming.
Never Let Go
5 May 2025 – Showmax
Director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) and star Halle Berry’s survival horror Never Let Go seemed to come and go without so much as a ripple when it released late last year. Many industry pundits surmise that being released right alongside Oscar-nominated horror breakout The Substance hurt it badly as it barely got noticed at the box office. But now Never Let Go is making its streaming debut on Showmax, allowing fans to check out this tale about Momma (Berry) and her two sons, survivors living alone in a cabin after a malignant force known simply as The Evil destroyed the world. The trio stay safe by literally binding themselves together at all times. But when one son starts questioning whether The Evil is even real, it leads to these family ties breaking down, both figuratively and literally, to horrific results.
The Assessment
8 May 2025 – Prime Video
If you like your sci-fi intimate and thought provoking, then be sure to check out The Assessment. Set in a world destroyed by climate change, the remnants of society survive by living lives that are rigourously controlled and optimized, including the option of having children. When Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) decide to take this next step in their marriage, the couple have to first be put under close scrutiny for seven days by Virginia (Alicia Vikander), an assessor who will determine their suitability to become parents. But nothing can prepare Mia and Aaryan for Virginia’s methods in this assessment.
VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
The Brutalist
Purchase: Apple TV – R170/ Google Play Movies – R182
Rental: Apple TV – R45
Epic period drama film The Brutalist was one of the big winners during the Hollywood awards season, including ten Oscar nominations with three wins for Best Actor for Adrian Brody, and Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score. It also scored seven nominations at the Golden Globes, of which it won three, including the big ones of Best Picture, Best Director for Brady Corbet, and Best Actor for Brody again. All of which is to say that this was probably one of the must-see films of last year. There was just one problem: The Brutalist has a brutal 215-minute runtime. Well, you and your bladder are now in luck as the film is now available for digital rental at home, so you’re free to take as many bathroom breaks as needed. For the uninitiated, the film is set in post-WWII and follows Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor and Bauhaus-trained architect László Tóth (Brody) after he is forcefully separated from his wife and emigrates to the United States, where he struggles to achieve the American Dream until a wealthy client changes his life. The film also stars Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé, and Alessandro Nivola.
Love Hurts
Purchase: Apple TV – R170/ Google Play Movies – R182
Rental: Apple TV – R45
And now for the first of two films on the exact opposite on the genre spectrum. Everybody’s favourite comeback kid Ke Huy Quan stars in this action-comedy as Marvin Gable, a mild-mannered but largely successful real estate agent. Secretly though, Marvin is a former assassin for “The Company”, a shady organization run by his estranged brother Alvin (Daniel Wu). Years before, Marvin had abandoned his killing ways after he let a target – a young woman named Rose, who he had actually been in love with – go and went into hiding himself. When Rose mysteriously reaches out to Marvin again on Valentines Day, it triggers a series of events that puts him back in the crosshairs of his vengeful brother, forcing him to fall back on his martial ways. And yes, we’ve seen this movie a bunch of times before, but its Ke Huy Quan and Daniel Wu kicking ass on screen, so you can sign me up.
Cleaner
Purchase: Apple TV – R160/ Google Play Movies – R161
Rental: Apple TV – R45
And speaking of movies we’ve seen before, Daisy Ridley ditches the Jedi robes to get make own “Die Hard” clone with Cleaner. Ridley stars as Joanna “Joey” Locke, a former climber-turned-soldier who quit the Army after an altercation with a fellow officer and now works as a high-rise window cleaner in London’s Canary Wharf to take care of her autistic brother. When criminal activists hijack a gala, taking 300 hostages and threatening mass murder as a message to the world, Joey inadvertently finds herself as the proverbial “wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time” who is the only one who can rescue the hostages in time.