Hello, Yahoo Entertainment readers! My name is Brett Arnold, a longtime writer and editor at Yahoo who side hustles as a film critic for my podcast, Roger (Ebert) & Me. I’m here to recommend what you should watch, whether you want to go to the movie theater, rent something from the comfort of your couch or even queue up a flick that’s new to a streaming service you already subscribe to. Why should you trust my advice? Well, I consume everything — literally, from the one about talking sneakers (Sneaks, a real movie, out two weeks ago) to Terrifier 3.
There are several movies of note to see this week but my top picks are Thunderbolts*, Rust, Another Simple Favor, Drop and Black Bag. Keep reading for reviews of each and a curated list of other top watches.
What to watch in theaters
My recommendation: Thunderbolts*
Why you should watch it: The bar for the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been so dramatically lowered in recent years, the fact that Thunderbolts* nails basic things like having a coherent storyline, building emotional stakes for its characters and that it doesn’t play like it was poorly cobbled together in the editing room or that large chunks of it are missing, feels like a minor miracle.
It’s a very familiar movie, treading similar ground to Suicide Squad or even Marvel’s own Guardians of the Galaxy, following a ragtag group of B-list, decidedly non-Avengers-y superheroes forced to band together as they all face imminent death. The biggest surprise is that the plot weaved in some big themes around mental health, like feeling as if the world sucks and you have no place in it, and it really works!
Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova in the lead certainly helps — she’s charming, funny and gives a deeply felt performance despite the MCU trappings — and Lewis Pullman’s villain origin story of “what if Captain America-style serum was used on an unstable former meth addict with bipolar disorder instead of a guy like Steve Rogers” is particularly inspired. By the time he starts disappearing people into “the void,” inspired by harrowing images from Hiroshima, I couldn’t believe the level of ambition I was seeing in a Marvel movie in 2025.
David Harbour as Red Guardian, a knockoff Soviet Captain America and standout from Black Widow, returns and steals the show with lots of laughs. Black Widow was better than most Marvel movies because it wasn’t afraid to get dark and have actual stakes; thankfully, Thunderbolts* keeps that tradition alive. “It’s pretty good!” feels like a ringing endorsement after Brave New World and even several that came before that.
What critics are saying: With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 89%, those who’ve seen it mostly agree: This is one to watch. As Peter Debruge put it in Variety, it’s the movie that “got the hobbling MCU franchise back on track.” Want a second opinion? The Telegraph’s Robbie Collins wrote that “even Pugh can’t save this morose Marvel yawn-fest.” Yikes.
How to watch: Thunderbolts* is now in theaters. Eventually it’ll be streaming on Disney+.
Get tickets
If superhero movies aren’t your thing, there are several other new release movies in theaters. Check out the list below for what else is coming (note: some films are available only in a limited number of theaters).
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The Surfer, starring Nicolas Cage, is a lot of fun for fans of the man.
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A Desert, an indie horror-thriller freakout, is an unexpected riff on Psycho.
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Fear Below is an Aussie shark movie with a unique way in.
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Salvable, with Shia LaBeouf and Toby Kebbell, is a drama about redemption.
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Bonjour Tristesse is an adaptation of an iconic book featuring newcomer Lily McInerny and Chloë Sevigny.
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Vulcanizadora is the latest from experimental filmmaker Joel Potrykus
What to watch in theaters or at home via paid rental
My recommendation: Rust
Why you should watch it: You may wonder why anyone would be interested in watching the movie at the center of the tragic Alec Baldwin incident, but there’s a good reason to beyond the general intrigue.
Part of the settlement with the family of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer shot and killed on the set of the film, was that the movie had to be completed and released and that her widower and son would receive a portion of the money it makes in their new roles as executive producers.
Headlines aside, I was surprised by how compelling the movie is, considering Baldwin is its only star. The story grabs you immediately with the emotionally charged idea of a young child being on death row for a murder he committed.
In 1880s Wyoming, recently orphaned Lucas Hollister accidentally kills a rancher and is sentenced to hang. In a twist of fate, his estranged grandfather, the notorious outlaw Harland Rust (Baldwin), breaks him out of jail and takes him on the run, heading toward Mexico. As they flee across the unforgiving wilderness, the fugitive pair must outrun both the law and bounty hunters.
The film’s greatest asset really is the way it looks — and I’m not just saying that because of what happened. It’s beautifully shot, full of the sweeping landscapes you’d expect to see in a Western, and there are some striking scenes with the characters artfully juxtaposed against them in silhouette.
It’s a terrible shame that this is Hutchins’s final credit, but it’s a nice surprise, at least to me, that the movie is as good as it is. It’s hard to escape one’s awareness of the tragedy while watching it, though, as there are lots of guns and shooting and deaths, but it would’ve been impossible to avoid without just scrapping the entire project.
What critics are saying: There are only a couple reviews posted as of publication time, but Nick Schager at the Daily Beast agrees that “every frame” of the movie is haunted by the on-set tragedy, and he didn’t like the movie much as a result.
How to watch: Rust is available to buy on Amazon and other VOD platforms. You can also catch it in select theaters.
Buy ‘Rust’
New movies debuting on streaming
My not-exactly-a-recommendation: Another Simple Favor on Prime Video
Why you should, or maybe shouldn’t, watch it: A Simple Favor made nearly $100 million worldwide on a $20 million budget, so naturally, its sequel, starring one of the most famous people in the world, is going straight to streaming where it will gross exactly zero dollars.
Business decisions aside, Another Simple Favor is a real disappointment despite starting off rather fun and even admirable in its willingness to be silly. But then it falls off a cliff, so to speak, squeaking by on Blake Lively’s outfit choices, her combative energy with Anna Kendrick and the lavish Capri setting.
A Simple Favor marked the first time I noticed that Lively is an effortless movie star, and she’s similarly great here, even if the screenplay ultimately lets her down. There are a lot of funny asides and moments but the movie tries to do too much, far exceeding the, well, simple mandate of the first film and going fully bonkers instead.
What critics are saying: Many don’t agree with me. It’s got an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Kristy Puchko at Mashable appreciates that the movie goes “bigger and bolder.” Jacob Oller at the A.V. Club backs me up, however, and wrote that the clothes outshine the mystery.
How to watch: Another Simple Favor is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Stream ‘Another Simple Favor’
Movies newly available to rent or buy
My recommendation: Drop
Why you should watch it: You may not know Drop director Christopher Landon’s name but you’ve probably seen one of his movies if you’re a genre fan. He’s responsible for the high-concept horror-comedy Happy Death Day films (there are two) as well as, well, another high-concept horror-comedy Freaky, in which Kathryn Newton body-swaps Freaky Friday-style with a serial killer played by Vince Vaughn.
Drop is a more earnest B-movie thriller — think Wes Craven’s Red Eye — though it is plenty funny and certainly gets very silly. Meghann Fahy, who you may recognize from The White Lotus (Season 2) or The Bold Type, stars as Violet, a widowed mother on her first date in years. Minutes into small talk, Violet receives anonymous airdrops to her phone. Things get intense from there and it’s all best left unspoiled.
What critics are saying: Most agreed that this movie is a blast, including Ty Burr at the Washington Post, and it sports an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Amy Nicholson, however, at the Los Angeles Times, found certain elements “aggravating.”
How to watch: Drop is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video and other VOD platforms. You can also still catch it in select theaters.
Rent or buy ‘Drop’
If Drop doesn’t sound up your alley, here’s the full list of recent theatrical movies that are now available to rent or buy at home.
Movies newly available on streaming services you may already have
My recommendation: Black Bag on Peacock
Why you should watch it: Black Bag, Steven Soderbergh’s second movie of 2025, is a cracking genre experiment with a killer cast.
When the revered intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse (Cate Blanchett) is suspected of betraying her nation, her husband (Michael Fassbender) — also a legendary agent — faces the harrowing test of whether to be loyal to his wife or his country.
It’s sexy, exciting and often hilarious. Imagine Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy from the guy that brought us Sex, Lies and Videotape: beautifully shot, full of exciting dialogue and flirtation that’s often wielded by its characters like a weapon. People love to complain that they don’t make movies like this for adults anymore, but here’s a great one!
What critics are saying: Black Bag was a hit with critics, less so with audiences, based on how much money it made. David Sims of the Atlantic hailed it as “a thriller that knows not to overstay its welcome,” though Wendy Ide of the Guardian found the plot to be “convoluted.”
How to watch: Black Bag is streaming on Peacock.
Stream ‘Black Bag’
If Black Bag isn’t your bag, there’s one other recent release that’s new to a streaming service: Inheritance, a thriller starring Phoebe Dynover, is available to stream on AMC+.
See you next week at the movies!
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