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A new take on Dracula, a horror movie inspired on Barney, and more
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Happy weekend! There’s something for everyone at the movies this week, from genre fare like Street Fighter and Whalefall to corset romance, with the new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. But if you don’t want to leave home, there’s also plenty to watch, from VOD to streaming.
French auteur Luc Besson is back with his latest film, a new take on Dracula, starring Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz. Buddy is also available, following a group of kids trapped inside the surreal and creepy world of “It’s Buddy!”, a TV show hosted by an orange unicorn that looks a lot like Barney.
Two much-discussed releases have also hit streaming: Hope, a South Korean film following a community under attack from an alien force that has one of the most controversial twists in recent memory, and Practical Magic 2, the legacy sequel starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.
Other releases include the action-packed Runner, starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson, and The Death of Robin Hood, following Hugh Jackman as a weathered and jaded take on the legendary figure of English folklore. Happy watching.
1 Dracula
- Available on Paramount Plus
- Genre: Horror
- Run time: 2h 9m
- Director: Luc Besson
- Cast: Christoph Waltz, Caleb Landry Jones, Zoe Bleu
Dracula or Dracula: A Love Tale reimagines the Bram Stoker classic, following Vlad the Impaler (Caleb Landry Jones) as a lovelorn soldier who, after losing his great love Elisabeta (Zoe Bleu), is cursed with immortality and transformed into Dracula. Four hundred years later, he encounters the reincarnation of the woman he lost, inspiring an obsession as well as the relentless pursuit of a vampire-hunting priest (Christoph Waltz).
Per our Polygon review:
Dracula opens with similarly grandiose gestures. Like the Coppola film, Besson’s movie declares more explicitly than Stoker’s novel that Count Dracula is actually real-life warrior-prince Vlad the Impaler, whose name (“Vlad Dracula”) inspired Stoker. In both Coppola and Besson’s tellings, Vlad renounces God and embraces vampirism following his wife’s death. In Besson’s version, Prince Vladimir (Caleb Landry Jones) is even more dedicated to his beloved Elisabeta (Zoë Bleu) than to impaling his rivals; after a montage of the couple pawing at each other and smearing each other with porridge, fellow soldiers must literally peel Vladimir away from his beloved to lead his men in battle.
2 Buddy
- Available on VOD
- Genre: Horror
- Run time: 1h 35m
- Director: Casper Kelly
- Cast: Cristin Milioti, Keegan Michael Key, Delaney Quinn
It’s Buddy! is a bright and colorful show for kids, starring a cute and plushy unicorn (voiced by Keegan Michael Key) who leads kids in song and dance. But the more the movie develops, the more we realize the twisted nature of the fictional TV show, where Buddy demands obedience and perfection from the children, pushing them to seek an escape towards the real world.
Per our Polygon review:
Earlier this year, the indie horror phenomenon Obsession pulled off the impossible: it made more money on its second weekend in theaters than it did in its first. This month, that happened again with another horror film, Buddy, which earned $5.3 million during the weekend of August 28, and then raked in another $5.7 million over Labor Day weekend. While that’s nowhere near Obsession's blockbuster numbers, it’s a big win for a horror flick with a mere $3 million budget.
3 Hope
- Available on VOD
- Genre: Sci-fi
- Run time: 2h 36m
- Director: Na Hong-jin
- Cast: Jung Ho-yeon, Hwang Jung-Min, Michael Fassbender
After its premiere at Cannes, Hope has been one of the most polarizing movies of the year, inspiring love and puzzlement in equal parts. The story follows a police chief (Hwang Jung-Min) and a rookie officer (Sung-ae) as they’re called in to investigate a mutilation in an animal farm, which coincides with the arrival of aliens.
Per our Polygon preview:
So far, the critical reaction to Hope has been tempered by how it's built around a big plot twist. The first trailers make it look like a high-budget action movie, with Sung-ae blazing away at aliens with a rifle from the window of her car. However, multiple critics have mentioned a genre shift in the second half, tied to when the non-Korean cast shows up, which makes Hope difficult to discuss without major spoilers.
4 Practical Magic 2
- Available on VOD
- Genre: Fantasy
- Run time: 2h 10m
- Director: Susanne Bier
- Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Lee Pace
Practical Magic 2 picks up 25 years after the first film, following the Owens sisters (Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock) as they try to shield their daughters and nieces from the curse that has plagued their lives. Their plans are wrecked when Kylie Owens (Joey King)'s boyfriend (Xolo Maridueña) falls into a coma after confessing his love for her.
Per our Polygon preview:
The love Practical Magic inspired has led to a legacy sequel, out on Sept. 10. Directed by Susanne Bier, Practical Magic 2 continues the story of sisters Sally (Bullock) and Gillian Owens (Kidman) while introducing a new generation of witches: Sally’s daughters, Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams). As the girls grow, they reckon with the curse that has plagued their family for centuries: Any man who falls in love with an Owens woman will meet an untimely death. When Kylie, the eldest daughter, discovers dark abilities of her own, she embarks on a quest to understand her powers, with her family seeking help from unlikely allies in hopes of ending the curse once and for all.
5 Runner
- Available on VOD
- Genre: Action
- Run time: 1h 38m
- Director: Scott Waugh
- Cast: Alan Ritchson, Owen Wilson, Rodrigo Santoro
Runner follows Hank (Alan Ritchson), a former Navy SEAL living in Australia, making ends meet as a runner for legal and illegal items. He’s tasked with transporting Ben Bishop (Owen Wilson), an organ courier carrying a life-saving organ that needs to be transplanted from Hawaii to Brisbane within three hours.
6 The Death of Robin Hood
- Available on HBO Max
- Genre: Action
- Run time: 2h 2m
- Director: Michael Sarnoski
- Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer, Bill Skarsgard
The Death of Robin Hood is a fresh interpretation of the English legend, taking the heroic figure of Robin Hood (Hugh Jackman) and depicting him as an aging thief and killer who feels guilty over all of the harm he’s done. He’s chased by a man seeking revenge for all his killings.
Per our Polygon preview:
However, A24 and director-writer Michael Sarnoski, known for his work on the indie film Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One (and soon, A24's upcoming Death Stranding movie), are about to change that perception for good. In The Death of Robin Hood, the titular character is less of a hero than he is a brutal murderer, whose tales have been glorified by the common folk. And who better to take on that role than Hugh Jackman, whose portrayal of the outlaw in the reveal trailer shows him as a grizzled, cynical older man who's all too aware of the brutality he has brought to himself and others.
7 Masterplan
- Available on Prime Video
- Genre: Action
- Run time: 1h 47m
- Director: Thomas Vincent
- Cast: Stanley Tucci, Simona Tabasco, Victor Balmondo
If you’re looking for a heist film led by Stanley Tucci, Masterplan is your movie this weekend. The film follows Roger (Tucci), a legendary thief who steps out of retirement for his biggest heist yet: stealing the Mona Lisa.
8 The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable
- Available on Netflix
- Genre: Documentary
- Run time: 1h 45m
- Director: Joanna Natasegara
- Cast: Tarik Azzougargh, RZA, members of the Wu-Tang Clan
Premiering on Netflix, The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable is the streamer’s newest music documentary, following the rise and career of Tarik Azzougargh, a Moroccan rapper and producer who started his career as a fan of the Wu-Tang Clan and is now one of RZA’s biggest collaborators.
9 Sacrifice
- Available on Netflix
- Genre: Black Comedy
- Run time: 1h 43m
- Director: Romain Gavras
- Cast: Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Salma Hayek
Despite featuring a star-studded cast that includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Evans, Vincent Cassel, and Charli XCX, Sacrifice remains relatively unknown. The film follows a fading movie star (Evans) who becomes the prisoner of an eco-terrorist group after attending an environmental fundraiser on a remote Greek island.
10 Love of Your Life
- Available on Prime Video
- Genre: Romance
- Run time: 1h 46m
- Director: Rachel Morrison
- Cast: Margaret Qualley, Aaron Pierre, Gabriel Basso
Love of Your Life follows the love and tragedies of Maya (Margaret Qualley), an ER nurse who has her life figured out at 26 when she meets the love of her life. Five years later, her partner dies, uprooting her life and prompting her to travel the world to avoid dealing with her grief.