Elisabeth Moss in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ ; Cristin Milioti in ‘Black Mirror’ ; Pedro Pascal in ‘The Last of Us’. Photo:
Disney/Steve Wilkie ; Courtesy of Netflix ; Courtesy of HBO
To our devoted readers, let us just start out by saying this is an eerie weekend — especially on our TVs and the big screen.
This weekend, April 12-13, every streamer and theater decided to mark the return or premiere of their spookiest, most dystopian projects. From the final season of a show about a fundamentalist regime where women are the property of the state to the return of one of the most shocking anthologies that challenges viewers to think about the dangers of technology, we’re getting spooked over here.
But thankfully, we’ve got some lighter options to balance it out. Max is treating us with the premiere of season 4 of Hacks, which will pick up in the aftermath of the shocking season 3 finale, while AppleTV+ is debuting a new fun heist show.
And there’s more! Here’s a list of the 9 best new movies and shows to watch this weekend and where to stream them.
God forbid a mother go on a date and have a life. Drop says not allowed! When Meghann Fahy‘s character Violet goes on her first date in years with Henry (Brandon Sklenar) she is terrorized by an anonymous person air-dropping her instructions to kill her date — and to not tell anyone about the messages or he’ll kill her family.
What on earth is one to do in that situation? Violet doesn’t have the answer either, but over the course of 100 minutes, she’ll try to figure it out.
Drop releases in theaters on April 11.
Sticking to the theme of thrillers, this movie, which tells the true story of director and veteran Ray Mendoza’s experience in the Iraq War, isn’t for the faint of heart. Featuring a starry cast (including Will Poulter, Kit Connor, Charles Melton and Joseph Quinn, among others), Warfare recounts a real-life 2006 mission Mendoza and his platoon encountered that left the now-writer traumatized.
Mendoza, in collaboration with Civil War director Alex Garland, was intentional about filming the movie as true to the real scenario as possible, transporting the audience into a recreation of the mission.
While doing so, filming some scenes proved to be challenging, and during one take, he had to excuse himself from the set. “I hadn’t cried in a really long time,” he told PEOPLE. “Those demons finally caught me. I’d been running from them for a while.”
Warfare releases in theaters on April 11.
It doesn’t get much cheerier yet, folks. “This is the beginning of the end,” Elisabeth Moss‘ character June says in the season 6 trailer and it couldn’t be more true — the first three episodes of the final season of the beloved Hulu show, The Handmaid’s Tale, hit the streamer on April 8.
Following a tense season 5 finale in which June is nearly fatally injured, season 6 picks up on the revolution as June and her supporters rebel against their fundamentalist society.
Watch the first three episodes of season 6 of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.
This week’s documentary isn’t quite true crime, but it is just as riveting and shocking. Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing pulls back the curtain on the child content creator world, specifically that of Piper Rockelle and her “Squad.”
The teen became famous from an early age with the help of her mother, Tiffany Smith, who began posting videos of her on social media. Smith later recruited a number of other then-tweens to film with her daughter, making upwards of 10 videos a day.
However, in 2022, Smith was sued by 11 former Squad members on allegations of “emotional, verbal, physical, and at times, sexual abuse.” She settled the suit for $1.85 million in 2024, with all parties specifically disclaiming any liability.
Watch Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing on Netflix.
Max’s highly acclaimed dystopian show based on the video game of the same name is back for season 2 — and the stakes are even higher.
This time around, Kaitlyn Dever is joining the cast as Abby, an infamously hated character in the game who is working against leads Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsay).
Watch the season premiere of The Last of Us on HBO and Max on Sunday, April 13 at 9 p.m. ET.
And the creepiness and dystopian theme continues with the return of perhaps one of the most famous shows in the genre: Black Mirror. After a nearly two-year hiatus, the anthology series is back with another six episodes, including a Black Mirror first: a sequel.
The season kicks off with “Common People,” a heartbreaking satire of the choices regular people have to make when it comes to the financial cost of treatment for terminal illnesses and it ends with “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” a continuation of a season 4 episode that won four Emmys.
“It was something that [series creator] Charlie [Brooker] and I had talked about for a really long time. We’d been in touch basically since that first episode came out about the possibility of doing a sequel,” Cristin Milioti, who stars in the latter, told PEOPLE ahead of the episode’s release. “It was a whole series at one point, it was a different plotted movie at another point.”
Watch season 7 of Black Mirror on Netflix.
Okay, you can let out a sigh of relief — we have a lighter show up next! Hacks is back, and though season 3 ended with Deborah Vance’s (Jean Smart) faithful sidekick Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) stabbing her in the back, the trailer for season 4 suggests the two are still enjoying their love-hate relationship.
The show returned on April 10 and will continue to air on Thursdays for a total of 10 episodes.
Watch the first two episodes of Hacks season 4 on Max.
Your Friends & Neighbors stars Jon Hamm as Andrew “Coop” Cooper, a recently divorced hedge fund manager who suddenly is fired from his job. Unsure what to do next — but in need of cash quick — he decides to start stealing from his wealthy neighbors, and engages in a somewhat sexually explicit affair with Olivia Munn‘s Sam.
In one instance, Sam bit Coop, which Munn told PEOPLE at the show’s premiere made her “nervous” to film.
“I was nervous but he just kept saying, ‘It’s okay. Bite really hard.’ And then I did. And he’s a pretty tough guy,” Munn said.
Watch Your Friends & Neighbors on AppleTV+.
We’re leaving you with just one more action thriller: G20. Viola Davis is President Danielle Sutton, who summons the world’s most powerful leaders to the G20 summit in South Africa. However, when terrorists attack and hold her family hostage, she must use her wits and skills to save those she loves — and stop a nefarious plot from coming to light.
The movie also marks a reunion between Black-ish stars Anthony Anderson and Marsai Martin!
Watch G20 on Prime Video.
