We independently evaluate the products we review. When you buy via links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read more about how we vet products and deals.
New movies streaming this weekend: 2 Best Picture nominees are now available at home in time for the Oscars and more picks
It’s hard to keep track of when new movies hit streaming services, but we’ve got you covered.
Ahead of the Oscars on Sunday, we’re highlighting two Best Picture nominees, one of which is available on Prime Video going into the ceremony this weekend.
If awards season isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other options to choose from, including a haunted house movie that subverts genre expectations, a new animated Lord of the Rings movie and the latest entry in Tom Hardy’s beloved Venom series.
Here’s what to know about the theatrical movies available to stream as of this week, and where you can find them.
Click on the links below to jump straight to a specific movie:
A Complete Unknown
A Complete Unknown starts strong, charting the rise of Bob Dylan from the very moment he stepped foot in New York City, hitchhiking there to see the terminally ill Woody Guthrie and play him a song that he wrote in his honor. It’s a remarkable and emotional sequence that sets the stage for a biopic that soars anytime the songs are the focus. Thankfully, that’s pretty often.
Chalamet is as good as you’ve heard, if not better, and Monica Barbaro stuns as Joan Baez, proving why she earned a surprise Oscar nomination.
Despite all the “he’s an enigma!” posturing, it still hits the marks you’d expect a biopic to hit, although it’s more concerned with Dylan’s effect on others than his own journey. It’s an effective approach that takes a staid genre and enlivens it by focusing on the actual impact of his art.
How to watch: A Complete Unknown is now available to rent or purchase on Prime Video and other video on demand platforms.
Nickel Boys
At first, the point-of-view approach seems like a limiting tool in Nickel Boys, the Oscar-nominated film adapted from Colson Whitehead’s novel. But by the end of the movie, its impact is profound. The movie puts you in the shoes of its protagonist — the camera is the character, and we are seeing the world through their eyes. The information we receive is limited to that of the character, and if they’re too young to understand the significance or meaning of something, we, the viewers, are left astray as well.
The film chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida. It arguably functions better as a companion piece to the novel than a straight adaptation, given that knowing the harsher details of the story that the movie elides may help some viewers understand exactly what’s happening. It’s such a bold and ambitious swing that justifies its experimental style by the time the credits hit.
How to watch: Nickel Boys is now streaming on MGM+.
Rent or buy, or start a free 7-day trial of MGM+
Venom: The Last Dance
Sony struck gold with the Venom franchise — given its unique contract with Marvel, the studio was stuck with a bunch of Spider-Man side characters, as Spidey himself could only appear in movies that Sony made in conjunction with Marvel (it’s enough to make even a web-head spin).
2018’sVenom was the studio’s first attempt to milk that deeper bench of characters, and it proved to be a box office hit, so now we’re on the third entry.
Despite the franchise’s success, Sony’s other attempts to make Spider-Man villains stars on their own — Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter — all failed to varying degrees.Venom, however, has persisted. In this third entry, Eddie Brock and Venom must make a devastating decision as they're pursued by a mysterious military man and alien monsters from Venom's home world. Juno Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Rhys Ifans co-star in this very silly movie, the alleged finale.
How to watch: Venom: The Last Dance is now streaming on Netflix.
Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim
There’s a new live-action, Peter Jackson-produced Lord of the Rings movie coming in 2026, the Andy Serkis directed The Hunt for Gollum but if you can’t wait that long to return to the world of J.R.R Tolkien, and don’t mind animation, the anime feature War of the Rohirrim is out now.
The movie essentially depicts the circumstances that led to the Battle of Helm’s Deep, the iconic fortress that plays a pivotal role in the defense of Rohan during the War of the Ring. War of the Rohirrim takes place in the Third Age of Middle-earth and focuses on Helm’s Deep’s founding. The movie coasts a lot on the rousing score we already know and love, but there are some memorable action sequences, especially one involving a stampede of elephant-like creatures. Legendary actor Brian Cox lends his voice and stands out.
How to watch: Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim is now streaming on Max.
Presence
Presence isn’t the horror movie it’s being marketed as, but it’s absolutely haunting and chilling in a different way.
It pairs nicely with Nickel Boys in terms of camera work; here, the camera is the ghost that’s haunting a house, and the entire movie takes place from that perspective. The viewers are along for the ride, limited to what the ghost knows and doesn’t know, as the lost soul tries to solve the case of its own death and figure out why it’s haunting this house.
What unfolds is a compelling family drama with moments of pure terror, but not in the way you’d expect. It hits you on a deeper level and stays there rather than leave you screaming over a loud noise or a jump scare. It’s certainly a horror movie, just not the register we’ve come to expect from the premise of “family moves into a haunted house.” It cleverly ends up being a movie about parenting, among other things.
Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp are more interested in the dynamics between the family inhabiting the house than delivering cheap thrills, and it pays off with a gut-punch of an ending. The entire cast is great, but it’s particularly nice to see Lucy Liu again.
How to watch: Presence is now available to rent or purchase on Prime Video and other video on demand platforms.
Bonus pick: September 5, a movie we highlighted when it hit on-demand three weeks ago, is now streaming on Paramount+. It’s great!