The top 5 films to stream this week

The top 5 films to stream from 7 to 13 October 2024, as chosen by ScreenHub staff.
Caddo Lake. Image: Max. Top 5 five films to stream.

Top 5 five films to stream this week

1. Caddo Lake (Binge – 10 October)

Caddo Lake. Image: Max. Top 5 Five Films To Stream.
Caddo Lake. Image: Max. Top 5 films to stream.

Film (2024). A new thriller from producer M. Night Shyamalan and writer-directors Celine Held and Logan George, this one is generating the sort of buzz typical of anything M. Night Shyamalan shaped.

The trailer has all the darkness, whispering, water shots, dappled sunlight, reflective surfaces, canines and dread two-and-a-half-minutes can handle.

When an eight-year-old girl mysteriously vanishes, a series of past deaths and disappearances start to link together, forever altering a broken family’s history.

Starring Dylan O’Brien, Eliza Scanlen, Diana Hopper and Caroline Falk.

2. Lonely Planet (11 October – Netflix)

Lonely Planet. Image: Netflix. Top 5 Films To Stream.
Lonely Planet. Image: Netflix. Top 5 films to stream.

Film (2024). OK, romance lovers, how’s about this? At an idyllic writers retreat in Morocco, a newly single novelist finds an unexpected connection with a younger man who’s reevaluating his life choices. Laura Dern and Liam Hemsworth star in this seductive romantic drama from writer-director Susannah Grant.

Either it had you at Idyllic writers retreat in Morocco, or Laura Dern, or Liam Hemsworth, or … what exactly is wrong with you?

No reviews have been posted yet but, brave prediction: you’ll either love it or hate it.

Starring Laura Dern, Liam Hemsworth, Diana Silvers and Younès Boucif. 

3. Daddy’s Head – Shudder & AMC+ (11 October)

Daddy's Head. Image: Shudder. Top 5 Films Streaming.
Daddy’s Head. Image: Shudder. Top 5 films to stream.

Film (2024). This psychological horror from writer-director Benjamin Barfoot has one of the creepiest titles imaginable and a blurb to boot:

‘In the wake of his father’s untimely death, a young boy is left in the eerie solitude of a sprawling country estate with his newly widowed stepmother. His stepmother, struggling to navigate the overwhelming task of parenthood, grows distant, leaving their fragile bond at risk of collapse.’

‘Amid the growing tension, the boy begins to hear unsettling sounds echoing through the corridors. Soon, he is haunted by the presence of a grotesque creature bearing a disturbingly familiar resemblance to his late father.’

Reviewers have already described it as ‘pure nightmare fuel‘ and, let’s be honest, we all need some more of that, what with the state of EVERYTHING.

Starring Rupert Turnbull, Julia Brown and Mary Woodvine.

4. The Matrix Resurrections (Stan – 12 October)

The Matrix Resurrections. Image: Warner Bros. Pictures. Top 5 Films To Stream.
The Matrix Resurrections. Image: Warner Bros. Pictures. Top 5 films to stream.

Film (2021). The return to the world – or worlds – of The Matrix, where the white rabbit needs to be followed once more. The premise, in short:

Bugs (Jessica Yu Li Henwick) discovers that old code is looping in the Matrix – reenacting when Trinity first found Neo – before discovering Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) embodied in a program and trying to rescue him from the simulation.

Directed by Lana Wachowski and starring Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss.

According to the Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus:

‘If it lacks the original’s bracingly original craft, The Matrix Resurrections revisits the world of the franchise with wit, a timely perspective, and heart.’

5. Monkey Beach (SBS On Demand – streaming now)

Monkey Beach. Image: Mama-Oo Productions. Top 5 Films To Stream.
Monkey Beach. Image: Mama-oo Productions. Top 5 films to stream.

Film (2020). This debut narrative feature by director Loretta Todd is an adaptation of the 2000 novel of the same name by the Indigenous Canadian author Eden Robinson and swept the feature film awards at the 2020 American Indian Film Festival and others.

Billed as a supernatural mystery, with some laughs along the way, it follows the journey of a rebellious young woman called Lisa (Grace Dove) as she attempts to find her brother, Jimmy (Joel Oulette), who has gone missing at sea.

While not a huge hit with Rotten Tomato critics (40%), it scored enough on the site’s audience-driven Popcornmeter (88%) to have us champing at our, um, popcorn.

Also on ScreenHub: The top 5 new shows streaming this week

Paul Dalgarno is author of the novels A Country of Eternal Light (2023) and Poly (2020); the memoir And You May Find Yourself (2015); and the creative non-fiction book Prudish Nation (2023). He was formerly Deputy Editor of The Conversation and joined ScreenHub as Managing Editor in 2022. X: @pauldalgarno. Insta: @dalgarnowrites