The Sunlit Night, Clemency, and the new movies you can now watch at home

There’s not too much new movie news this week; there haven’t been any new delays as most movies still hoping for a theatrical release are banking on next month for movie theaters to once again become safe.

However, productions and new movies are moving ahead, as the Just Cause movie has found a director: Stuber helmer Michael Dowse. The script, by John Wick co-creator Derek Kolstad, will reportedly add a female co-lead to partner with the character of Rico Rodriguez.

Modern reboots of Wishbone and Fletch are also now in the works. Wishbone joins Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Barney in the ranks of old kids’ shows being updated in movie form for a new generation. Fletch, meanwhile, will feature Jon Hamm as its lead, taking over from Chevy Chase who portrayed the investigative reporter in the ’80s.

As for what’s available now, here’s what’s new to watch this weekend.

The Sunlit Night

Where to watch it: Rent on digital, $6.99 on Apple

Photo: Quiver Distribution

The Sunlit Night, based on the Rebecca Dinerstein novel of the same name, stars Jenny Slate as Frances, an aspiring painter who leaves New York City for Arctic Norway in search of fresh inspiration for her work. Her assignment brings her into contact with a number of colorful locals, including fellow New Yorker Yasha (Alex Sharp), who wants to give his late father a proper Viking funeral. The only Vikings available, however, are a local troupe of re-enactors led by the Chief (Zach Galifianakis), who has traveled to Norway from Cincinnati.

Clemency

Where to watch it: Rent for free on Apple, Amazon, Redbox On Demand; stream on Hulu

Photo: Neon

Spurred by the conversations around Black Lives Matter and incarceration in America, indie distributor Neon has released its 2019 film as a free-to-watch title on a number of digital services. In the film, Alfre Woodard (Cross Creek, Luke Cage) plays, to quote Neon’s synopsis, “a prison warden whose worn down by years of carrying out death-row executions. As she prepares to execute another inmate, she must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.”

The Painted Bird

Where to watch it: Buy on digital, $5.99 on Amazon, $6.99 on Apple and Google Play

Photo: IFC Films

Václav Marhoul’s new film caused walkouts at its screenings at film festivals in Venice, Toronto, and London for its brutal content. The film, which takes place during World War II, includes scenes of sexual assault, pedophilia, self-harm, bestiality, and graphic violence, and has become a source of controversy for just how extreme it is. The story focuses on a young boy wandering through an unspecific stretch of Eastern Europe, struggling to survive.

Dirt Music

Where to watch it: Buy on digital, $4.99 on Amazon and Apple

Photo: Universal Pictures

Garrett Hedlund and Kelly Macdonald fall into a forbidden affair in Dirt Music, a romantic drama set in Australia. Macdonald plays Georgie, the live-in girlfriend of a drug kingpin (David Wenham) who feels frustrated and stifled in her current situation. When she meets a mysterious fisherman (Hedlund), she’s immediately attracted to him, but they both have demons they need to work through, as well as the trouble that comes along with being unfaithful.

Enter the Fat Dragon

Where to watch it: Rent on digital, $4.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Google Play

Image: Mega-Vision Pictures

Donnie Yen’s new movie sees the martial arts action star donning a fatsuit to play Fallon Zhu, a police officer who becomes overweight after being posted to the evidence room and struggling with handling his emotions. His chance at a transfer comes in the form of a mission to Japan, where he becomes a crimebuster thanks to his martial arts prowess and the aid of a translator.

New on Netflix this weekend

• Fatal Affair, an erotic thriller starring Nia Long and Omar Epps
• A Mumbai-based matchmaker gets to work in the docuseries Indian Matchmaking
• Cursed, a fresh take on Arthurian legend starring Katherine Langford

And here’s what dropped last Friday:

First Cow

Where to watch it: Buy on digital, $12.99 on Google Play, $14.99 on Amazon and Apple

Photo: Allyson Riggs/A24

Kelly Reichardt’s new film is nothing short of a miracle, conveying an incredible amount of care and tenderness in the story of two men getting by in 1820s Oregon. Their fledgling cake-baking business depends on their stealing milk from the sole cow in the territory; will they be able to continue to get away with it? From our review:

The meat of the story isn’t just Cookie and King-Lu’s tenuous success. Their story is a micro version of the American Dream, of supply and demand, of the arrival of so-called civilization to the American West. The conversations the two men have about what they’re doing — the balance between risk and reward, and how long they’ll have a monopoly — are applicable throughout history. Every enterprise must deal with the inescapable reach of capitalism and larger structures of power, as well as, on a less cynical note, the simple human desire for more than just the bare necessities.

Greyhound

Where to watch it: Streaming on Apple TV Plus

Photo: Apple

Tom Hanks wrote and stars in this World War II drama, which follows a convoy of Allied ships across the North Atlantic, and the warships charged with keeping them safe. It’s heavy on naval warfare, and paints a different picture of war than what audiences are used to. From our review:

The whole journey is tense. The action swells when the U-boats draw close, but the convoy won’t actually be safe until the journey is complete, as is clear from the stress Krause is constantly facing. Hanks, who also wrote the script (his other scripts include That Thing You Do! and Larry Crowne), adapting C.S. Forester’s 1955 novel The Good Shepherd, maintains that tension through repetition. Most of the dialogue in Greyhound is repeated orders. When Krause orders a change in the direction of his ship’s rudder, it gets echoed down the line, as soldiers spring into action to make it happen. When he receives radar updates in return, they’re relayed through at least one middleman, with each person beginning to speak before the other has finished reporting. Something is always happening.

Palm Springs

Where to watch it: Streaming on Hulu

Photo: Hulu

Palm Springs stars Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti as a man stuck in a time-loop and the woman he accidentally brings into it. As they repeat a single day over and over again, they get to know each other, and are forced to face the problems they’ve been running from. From our review:

Like Groundhog Day itself, Palm Springs has a sneakily sentimental message about the value of maturing and caring about other people, and about valuing time and living your best life and not taking anything for granted and so forth. But also like Groundhog Day, Palm Springs is mostly bent on letting the audience hang out with some colorful characters engaging in increasingly wacky behavior. It’s a romantic comedy, but first and foremost, it’s an actual comedy.

Relic

Where to watch it: Rent on digital, $4.99 on Amazon, $6.99 on Google Play and Apple

Photo: IFC Films

Australian filmmaker Natalie Erika James makes her directorial debut with Relic, a horror movie focused on three generations of women in a single family. Kay (Emily Mortimer) brings her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) to investigate what’s going on when Kay’s mother Edna (Robyn Nevin) goes missing for a few days. As Edna, who can’t explain where she’s gone, tries to tell them that there’s something wrong with the house, it becomes a question of whether or not she’s in her right mind, or if something really is haunting them.

We Are Little Zombies

Where to watch it: In virtual cinemas around the country

Photo: Oscilloscope

We Are Little Zombies follows four orphans who decide to form a band after a chance meeting at a crematorium. They feel that they’re kindred spirits — even though they’ve lost their parents, they find themselves unable to cry. They’re little zombies, hence their band name, Little Zombies. Through music, they attempt to get their feelings back.