What to watch this weekend.
Credit: Warner Bro / Starz / Netflix
We’re one week into August and there are a bunch of great new shows and movies to discuss. Overall, this has been a pretty great year for TV, with shows like Severance, The Pitt, Andor and many more gracing the small screen. While it’s been pretty lackluster as far as superhero movies go, horror has seen a real comeback in 2025.
This weekend, we have horror, comedy, action and romance. Prequels, sequels, brand new originals. There’s something for everyone. Let’s dive right in!
If you have any tips or I missed something, shoot me a message on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. You can check out last weekend’s streaming guide right here. Let’s dive right in!
New Shows & Movies This Weekend
Wednesday — Season 2, Part 1 (Netflix)
Wednesday is back, though Netflix has (annoyingly, bizarrely) split it into two parts. The first half is excellent, thanks to a stellar cast led by Jenna Ortega in the titular role. Wednesday Addams is joined by her parents, her younger brother, classmates and some new faces including Steve Buscemi’s Principal Dort. You can read all about the new cast in my Season 2 guide.
Read my review of Season 2, Part 1 right here.
Outlander: Blood Of My Blood (Starz)
This is on my watchlist for this evening and I hope to have a review out over the weekend. I’m a big fan of the original series, though Outlander has a tendency to annoy me in later seasons and has frankly never been as good since they left Scotland. Thankfully, the prequel will give us lots of Scotland as it explores the story of Jamie Fraser’s parents, played by Harriet Slater and Jamie Roy. The prequel series also tells the story of Claire’s parents, played by Hermione Corfield and Jeremy Irvine. Predictably, neither couple led boring lives. I’m a sucker for historical romances, and I’m also ready for new characters in this universe. Having just been on a two-week trip through Scotland, I’m definitely ready for this.
Weapons (In Theaters)
Holy crap this is a great movie. I’m rarely blown away these days, but Zach Cregger’s Weapons is a bonafide masterpiece. It’s not really a horror movie, though it has horror elements. It’s more of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale set in modern America. It’s creepy, hilarious, clever and tightly paced. It’s just so unique and different, I don’t really know how to categorize it at all. I don’t want to spoil anything. Just trust me on this one and head to the theater ASAP. It’s brilliant.
Read my review of Weapons right here.
The Pickup (Prime Video)
Amazon keeps releasing screwball comedies like Deep Cover and Heads Of State. It makes a lot of sense. They’re relatively cheap and they’re crowd-pleasers. The Pickup stars Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson as armored truck drivers who find themselves in a world of trouble. It looks . . . incredibly stupid, and reviews have not been kind. But hey, sometimes a stupid movie is exactly what you need on a warm summer evening.
Freaky Tales (HBO Max)
Oh hey, look, another movie with Pedro Pascal! Freaky Tales is an anthology film set in 1987. The logline reads, “An NBA star, a corrupt cop, a female rap duo, teenage punks, neo-Nazis and a debt collector embark on a collision course in 1987 Oakland, Calif.” Along with Pascal, it stars Angus Cloud (in his last film, RIP) Ben Mendelsohn and many more, including some big cameos. It’s getting pretty solid reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and looks like a lot of fun.
C.B. Strike (HBO Max)
You know me. Despite all the new stuff, I just can’t resist older shows, especially if they’re cop dramas or British mysteries. Well, C.B. Strike checks all the boxes. I’m so delighted that I started this one, though I find it so compelling that I’ve lost sleep staying up way too late watching. The series is based on the books by J. K. Rowling, under the pen name Robert Galbraith. I know Rowling is a controversial figure, but Galbraith is friend to all and sundry. You never read any negative headlines about Robert Galbraith, pleasant and uncontroversial fellow that he is. In any case, I don’t like to dwell on controversial artists. I prefer to think about their work, and this is a fantastic series. So good, that I fully intend to start reading the novels. The show stars Tom Burke as British private investigator, Cormoran Strike. He’s joined by his assistant Robin Ellacott, played by Holliday Grainger. (And just like that we have an actor with the first name Hermione and an actor with the last name Grainger in the same post!)
On top of the fantastic mysteries these two excellent and likeable characters solve, there’s a whole “will they/won’t they” romantic angle that’s really gripping. I guess I’m just a sucker for romance in general. I’m only on Season 2, but so far it’s been absolutely brilliant.
What’s Streaming Weekly
There are some fantastic shows still airing weekly despite so many having come to an end. We’ll start with my favorite new series.
Chief Of War (Apple TV+)
Jason Momoa stars as Ka’iana in his second epic Apple TV+ series, Chief Of War. It’s excellent, epic and incredibly violent. This is not your Moana Hawaii. Temuera Morrison plays a terrific villain as the murderous King Kahekili (if only Boba Fett could have been so diabolical in his own show). Night Agent star Luciane Buchanan also stars. If you enjoyed Game Of Thrones or Shogun, please give this one a watch.
Dexter: Resurrection (Paramount+)
I’m enjoying the hell out of Dexter: Resurrection, though it’s certainly not as good as the earlier seasons of the main show. It’s a nice return to form, nevertheless, and the NYC-set season brings in a lot of fun new characters. Joining Michael C. Hall and some returning characters like Harrison (Jack Alcott) and Angel Batista (David Zayas) we have Uma Thurman, Peter Dinklage, Neil Patrick Harris and Krysten Ritter. It’s quite the buffet!
The Institute (MGM+)
After I believe five episodes of The Institute, I’m afraid to say that I’m giving this one a Thumbs Down. I’ll keep watching and hopefully by the end of the season it can justify its existence, but as it stands this feels rushed, cheap and flat. There’s an interesting premise—psychic powered kids abducted and taken to a mysterious Institute where they’re tested against their will and then used for nefarious means—but the execution is just very mid. The acting is super uneven also. There are some talented character actors in smaller roles, and Ben Barnes is great, but there are a lot of kids in this show and they’re all over the place. Curious what you all think of this one so far.
Resident Alien — Season 4 (SyFy / Peacock)
Sadly, Resident Alien was cancelled so Season 4 is the last, but in all honesty—as much as I enjoy it and as great as Alan Tudyk is—this probably should have been a three or four season show tops. I’m enjoying the fourth season, but it’s starting to feel a little thin on story.
South Park — Season 27 (Paramount+)
South Park continues to drop bombs on the Trump administration in its 27th season. The second episode was a lot messier than the first, but we got some hilarious Kristi Noem parody involving her botoxed face and her penchant for shooting puppies—including Krypto from Superman!—and a pretty stellar lambasting of Charlie Kirk and his dishonest debate tactics. Oh, and vice president J.D. Vance was a derpy little person who offered to put baby oil on Satan, Trump’s current boyfriend. I really do love South Park.
Other Currently Airing Shows
- Twisted Metal Season 2 (Peacock) — I haven’t started Season 2 yet, but this is a really solid, fun adaptation of the video game. Give it a shot if you remember you have a Peacock subscription, which I often forget!
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 (Paramount+) — Everything I’ve heard about Season 3 of Strange New Worlds is pretty negative. It appears the once solid Star Trek series has gone a bit off the rails. I’m too far behind to know.
- Foundation Season 3 (Apple TV+) — I’ve had a number of people tell me it’s high time I started watching Foundation on Apple TV+. If only I had more time and was less inclined to watch old cop shows and British mysteries! I do love a good epic space opera, though. I also need to watch For All Mankind on Apple. I hear that’s excellent.
- Nautilus (AMC) — Based on Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, Nautilus follows Nemo’s mission to exact revenge on the East India Mercantile Company. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this one as well.
- Countdown (Prime Video) — Jensen Ackles from The Boys stars in this race-against-the-clock thriller. I believe we have just one episode to go after this weekend. It didn’t get great reviews but a lot of my readers have said they enjoy it, so it remains on my backlog.
- Smoke (Apple TV+) — Taron Egerton and Dennis Lehane’s arson-mystery-drama wrapped up this week. For whatever reason, this just hasn’t sparked my interest, though a lot of readers say it’s good.
- The Gilded Age Season 3 (HBO) — HBO’s period drama The Gilded Age is still airing weekly. If you enjoy following the stories of well-heeled Americans during the height of the 19th century, this is something you should definitely watch.
- The Buccaneers Season 2 (Apple TV+) — The Buccaneers is another period drama, with all the lovely costumes, set around the same time as The Gilded Age, but across the pond in England. The finale aired this week.
- BMF Season 4 (Starz) — The story of the Black Mafia Family in Detroit is based on a true story, and one of the leads is actually the son of one of the main characters. Two more episodes remain in this 1980s-set drama often referred to as the “Black Sopranos”.
What else did I miss? What should I put on this list or add to my backlog? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.
Previous Streaming Guides From Yours Truly:
August 1st Streaming Guide:
July 25th Streaming Guide:
July 18th Streaming Guide:
July 11th Streaming Guide:
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