The Northman, Netflix’s Interceptor and more new movies to watch at home

Happy Friday, Polygon readers! This week is light on new movies on VOD or streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus, but we’re here to run through the options available to watch at home nonetheless.

This week includes The Northman modern gay Peacock streaming debut Pride and Prejudice adaptation on Hulu, a new action movie on Netflix, Disney Plus’ star girl more, and more to discover. Let’s dive into it.

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The man from the north

Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock

Photo: focus features

Robert Eggers’ Visceral Historical Revenge Drama The man from the north tells the story of Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård), the son of a fallen king (Ethan Hawke), who runs away from home after his father is betrayed and murdered by his uncle Fjölnir (Claes Bang). Destined to avenge his father’s death, Amleth travels to Iceland disguised as a slave and, with the help of a witch named Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy), enacts his revenge plot.

In our opinion:

The violence following (and preceding) Amleth’s arrival in Iceland is bloody and graphic, and Eggers films Viking raids on humble villages in impressively choreographed follow-up shots that glide through blood, mud and the gurgling groans of dozens of bag-clad extras. The dialogue similarly mixes savagery and bombast: a character chokes on a curse of death, vowing to torment his killer until “fiery revenge gorges itself on your flesh.” Another said optimistically to a friend, “Together we will rage on the battlefield of corpses.” Place it all against the majestic Icelandic landscape and a background sound of booming drums and deep bass vocals rolling in like a thunderstorm, and the effect is rightly impressive.

fire island

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

Photo: Jeong Park/Searchlight Images

Joel Kim Booster stars in this modern gay adaptation of Pride and Prejudice directed by Andrew Ahn and written by Booster. It follows a group of friends who travel to the Fire Island vacation spot for a life-changing summer. Starring Booster, SNL’s Bowen Yang and Margaret Cho, it promises to be a hilarious, gay adventure.

Interceptor

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Photo: Brook Rushton/Netflix

The American-Australian action drama Interceptor stars Elsa Pataky as JJ Collins, a tough, battle-hardened army captain who is put in charge of a nuclear missile base in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after being fired from the Pentagon. When terrorists stage a coordinated attack on the base, Collins is forced to use her years of tactical training to thwart the machinations of a former intelligence officer and prevent nuclear annihilation.

Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets

Where to watch: Available to stream on HBO Max

Photo: Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros. Pictures

The carcass of the Harry Potter franchise moves forward with the third installment in the Fantastic Beasts series. It’s now available to watch on HBO Max.

In our opinion:

Newt’s convoluted, anticlimactic quest to secure and deliver his precious cargo fails to thrill the curiosity that lent first fantastic beasts a well-deserved charm bump. A creatively staged centerpiece pits Newt and his brother Theseus (Callum Turner) against a crustacean leviathan in a panopticon-style prison tower, where the boys engage in a silly crab ride, reminding viewers that playing once in a while won’t hurt anyone. Other than that, Newt’s plot part has the same blandness as its aesthetic: series director David Yates explains that this part of the story takes place in the past by filing everything into a gray or a parched brown. It’s hard to imagine any real-life kid being dazzled by this movie, and it’s depressing to realize that the intended audience here is probably IP devotees who are too old for kid stuff, but don’t want to leave this universe.

hollywood star girl

Where to watch: Available to stream on Disney Plus

Picture: Disney

Director Julia Hart (Quick color) returns for this Disney Plus 2020 movie sequel star girl. Like the first adaptation, this one deviates significantly from the source material: hollywood star girl is a direct sequel to the film and not a sequel adaptation of the original novel, Love, Star Girl. When her mother, Ana (Judy Greer), is hired to work on a movie, Stargirl (Grace VanderWaal) uproots her life and makes new friends in Los Angeles.

music of fire

Where to watch: Available to stream on Criterion Channel

Photo: Guy Le Querrec / Magnum Photos, via Submarine Deluxe

Documentary 2018 by Tom Surgal music of fire traces the evolution and legacy of free jazz, one of America’s experimental and innovative art forms. Featuring the likes of John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman and Sun Ra, music of fire is a kaleidoscopic dive into the world of the 1960s jazz scene that draws a direct line between the avant-garde of then and the experimentation of today.

Karen Dalton: At My Pace

Where to watch: Available to stream on Criterion Channel

Image: Greenwich Entertainment

This documentary about the legendary singer premiered in 2020, had a limited theatrical release in 2021 and is now making its streaming debut in 2022. A hugely influential musician who inspired Nick Cave (who features in the documentary), Joanna Newsom and many others, Dalton never reached the level of fame and popularity of many artists who followed in his footsteps. This documentary promises an inside look for old fans and an introduction for new ones.

dash cam

Where to watch: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon and Vudu

Image: Momentum Images

This new horror film produced by Blumhouse is shot entirely with an iPhone and an on-board camera. It follows a musician (played by real-life musician Annie Hardy) who leaves the US for the UK to avoid pandemic shutdowns. When she picks up an unexpected passenger on the road, things go awry.

Inhuman

Where to watch: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Blumhouse Television

The latest take on the “high school zombie comedy” comes from Marcus Dunstan, co-writer of the fourth through seventh iterations of the Saw franchise. In Inhumana group of high school kids survive a bus crash to find zombies where they crashed.

White elephant

Where to watch: Available to rent for $3.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Picture: RLJE Films

Direct video master Jesse V. Johnson (Hell has no fury, revenge) returns with this crime thriller. Michael Rooker stars as a former Marine who now works for the mob and is ordered to assassinate a police officer (Olga Kurylenko) who saw an assassination attempt by mob boss Arnold Solomon (Bruce Willis) . Johnson, a former stuntman who worked with Willis earlier in their career, spoke with the LA Times about the movie and why he didn’t feel comfortable doing more movies with Willis after that experience.