Kiss the January blues goodbye, because February is here and, with it, a brand new collection of movies and TV shows on Netflix. This month will bring a special Valentine’s episode of animated comedy Big Mouth, a new season of comedy drama One Day At A Time, and the premiere of unconventional superhero TV show The Umbrella Academy. While you’ll have to wait a little longer for those releases, however, there’s plenty to occupy your binge-watching time on the first weekend of February.
Last week’s Netflix Original releases included Mads Mikkelsen-starring action movie Polar, the final episodes of comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and docuseries Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. This week brings another intriguing new movie, a comedic mystery about a woman who can’t stop dying, and a supernatural series about a time-travelling witch.
Whether you’re sheltering from the cold or just looking to kick back and relax, here are the best new releases on Netflix this weekend.
Velvet Buzzsaw
Easily the most buzzed-about Netflix Original release this week is Velvet Buzzsaw, a thriller from Nightcrawler writer and director Dan Gilroy, set in the moneyed world of the Los Angeles art scene. Nightcrawler star Jake Gyllenhaal is once again playing the lead, this time as art critic Morf Vandewalt. Morf’s boredom with contemporary art gets interrupted by the discovery of a set of paintings by a deceased artist who was at one point incarcerated in a facility for the criminally insane, and whose art has a mesmerizing quality that makes it the hottest new commodity.
Unfortunately, it seems that the man behind the paintings had a particular disdain for the commodification of art, and as the paintings find new homes it becomes clear that there’s more to them than meets the eye. Rene Russo co-stars as Morf’s friend, gallery owner Rhodora Haze, and the powerful cast also includes Toni Collette, Daveed Diggs, John Malkovich, Billy Magnussen and Zawe Ashton.
Russian Doll
Orange is the New Black’s Natasha Lyonne stars in dark Netflix Original comedy series Russian Doll, which she co-created along with Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) and Leslye Headland (Sleeping With Other People). Lyonne plays Nadia, a young woman who attends a cool New York City party as the guest of honor, where everything seems to be going well… until she suddenly dies. That’s not where the series ends, however, as Nadia finds herself back at the party after dying, having travelled back in time. As the night progresses she dies again, and again, and again… until it seems that there’s no escape from the party or the time loop at all. Russian Doll has already received rave reviews from critics, and looks to be well worth watching.
Always A Witch
If you liked Netflix Original series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and are looking to get your witchy fix while you wait for season 2, Siempre Bruja a.k.a. Always A Witch just might scratch that witchy itch. This supernatural Colombian drama stars Angely Gaviria as Carmen, a 17th century witch who is on the verge of death by being burned at the stake when she travels forward in time to modern-day Cartagena. The condition for moving in time is that she uses none of her powers once she arrives in the future, but as Carmen tries to adjust to modern life she finds herself falling back into her old ways.
Dear Ex
Our final Netflix Original recommendation for this weekend is another international offering. Dircted by Kidding Hsu and Mag Hsu, Taiwanese comedy drama film Dear Ex is about a woman who discovers that her husband is gay. After he passes away, she learns that he altered his insurance policy to leave all the money to his boyfriend, Jay, instead of their son. This is naturally cause for hostility and she plots to try and get the money back, but the situation becomes complicated when her son ends up moving in with his “stepfather.”
