In what may be the quietest week so far for streaming releases in 2025, the only noteworthy titles are Succession creator Jesse Armstrong’s Mountainhead, Owen Wilson sport-comedy series Stick, and new A24 fantasy dramedy Problemista.
SERIES
Stick S1
30 May 2025
Wow. Fan-favourite actor Owen Wilson is making his debut as a TV series lead with Stick, a new Apple+ comedy series about an ex-pro golfer whose career was derailed prematurely 20 years ago. Created by Jason Keller, the writer of Ford v Ferrari, Mirror, and Machine Gun Preacher (make of that eclectic filmography what you will), Stick sees Wilson playing Pryce Cahill, who, after the collapse of his marriage and getting fired from his job at an Indiana sporting goods store, hedges his bets, and future, entirely on a troubled 17-year-old golf phenom he’s discovered.
MOVIES
Lost in Starlight
30 May 2025 – Netflix
Contrary to popular belief, anime is not just all shouty kids in robots and impossibly big bosomed ladies wielding swords. Case in point: Lost in Starlight, a new South Korean animated film that blends romance, drama, and sci-fi to tell a beautiful story of human connection: In 2050 Seoul, astronaut Nan-young’s ultimate goal is to visit Mars. But she fails the final test to onboard the fourth Mars Expedition Project. The musician Jay buries his dreams in a vintage audio equipment shop. The two fall in love after a chance encounter. As they root for each other and dream of a new future. Nan-young is given another chance to fly to Mars, which is all she ever wanted…
Mountainhead
1 June 2025 – Showmax
From Jesse Armstrong, the multiple-award-winning creator of Succession, comes his first feature film directing debut Mountainhead. And damn, it came at just the right time. Steeped with aching prescience, this satirical comedy/drama/thriller (it’s a lot) sees four mega-rich tech mogul friends getting together for a boys’ weekend of poker and burgers and male hazing. Except, thanks to the unprecedented content creation tech just rolled out by one of them – who happens to be the world’s richest man and owner of the biggest social media platform on the planet – this all plays out to the increasingly alarming backdrop of world politics sliding into absolute chaos. And as these four tech bros start plotting on what to do about the escalating situation, with their solutions getting all the more absurd and extreme, it brings their own personal politics to the fore, creating a perfect storm of insanity. I was fortunate enough to watch Mountainhead earlier this week, and while you can expect a full review on Monday, for now I will just that it is equal parts engrossing, absurd, funny, infuriating, and scary.
All That Breathes
5 June 2025 – Showmax
If you need to restore some of your faith in humanity after watching 90-minutes of rich assholes nearly destroy the world, maybe check out All That Breathes. Nominated at the Oscars for Best Documentary Feature and winning a Peabody Award in 2022, this stunning film documents the story of brothers Nadeem Shehzad and Mohammad Saud. Raised in New Delhi, they grew up looking at a sky filled with black kites. Muslim belief held that feeding these birds of prey would expel troubles, but as New Delhi became more and more polluted, these birds were literally falling from the sky. Amid environmental toxicity and social unrest, the two brothers dedicated their lives to protecting the black kites, leading to a remarkable conservation effort.
Problemista
5 June 2025 – Showmax
The feature debut of writer, director and star Julio Torres, the Peabody Award winning creator Los Espookys, Problemista is a fantasy movie all about the power of imagination. And it’s being released by indie studio darling A24, so you just know this one will be way out there and interesting. Alejandro is an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador who’s struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time runs out on his work visa, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream. Tilda Swinton, Greta Lea, Isabella Rossellini, and more co-star.