These Are the Best New Movies You Might Have Missed in 2020
So many of this year’s biggest movies were pushed back and delayed, as international release dates shifted faster than we could read about them. Were you keen to see the new James Bond movie? Or Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh, or even Dune, with Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya? Well, unfortunately you may be waiting awhile before these finally hit the big screen.
Luckily though, there’s never been a better time for an at-home movie night, with a brace of new films dropping onto streaming platforms this year. There are heaps of fresh releases this month, but there’s also been plenty of movies heading to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and AppleTV+ all through the year – have you seen them all? Keep reading for our list of the best new movies you might have missed.
On The Rocks
Where can I watch it? AppleTV+
AppleTV+ has been quietly going about snapping up some of the biggest and best filmmakers in the business, from horror impresario M Night Shyamalan – the man behind the platform’s terrifying series Servant – and Sofia Coppola, who reunites with her longterm creative collaborator, actor Bill Murray, on this charming film. Any movie by this Oscar-winning director is a cause for celebration – her back catalogue includes Marie Antoinette, The Virgin Suicides and Lost In Translation, which she made with Murray – and this is no different. Starring Rashida Jones as a harried writer concerned that her husband is cheating on her, and Murray as her roguish dad, the film is a love letter to New York and full of gorgeous fashion.
Da 5 Bloods
Where can I watch it? Netflix
Not to be outdone, Netflix is another home of serious cinematic talent. Like Spike Lee, the director behind the movie Da 5 Bloods. The film, which stars the late Chadwick Boseman and Jonathan Majors of Lovecraft Country fame, is about four Vietnam War veterans who head back to the country in order to search for a fallen comrade. One of Boseman’s last performances before his tragic death earlier this year, it’s an incredibly well acted film that’s sure to make it onto many best of the year lists – as well as awards season recognition.
The Trial Of The Chicago 7
Where can I watch it? Netflix
Also on Netflix is The Trial Of The Chicago 7, about the activists who were jailed for protesting the Vietnam War. Like Da 5 Bloods, it looks at this pivotal historical event from a slightly different angle, and also like Da 5 Bloods, it has an incredible cast. Eddie Redmayne! Succession’s Jeremy Strong! Sacha Baron Cohen! Mark Rylance! And given that it’s directed by Aaron Sorkin, the man who wrote The West Wing and The Social Network among much, much more, it has a cracker of a script too. If you like political thrillers, this is one for you.
Rebecca
Where can I watch it? Netflix
If period dramas are more of your thing, try Rebecca. Netflix’s sumptuous adaptation of the celebrated Daphne du Maurier novel – it has already been made into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock in the past, that’s how famous this story is – manages to shed some new light on a popular tale, thanks to the performances of the central cast. Lily James stars as a young woman who ends up in a whirlwind marriage to Maxim De Winter (Armie Hammer), mourning the death of his first wife. When she travels back to his stately home, she discovers that all is not what it seems there – especially when it comes to the family’s terrifying housekeeper Mrs Danvers, played by the one, the only, Kristen Scott Thomas. Nobody purses her lips in disdain like her.
Enola Holmes
Where can I watch it? Netflix
Technically, Enola Holmes is supposed to be for teenagers, but we’re not complaining. We love this film, about the adolescent sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, desperately trying to solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance. It features an incredibly fun performance from Millie Bobby Brown as Enola, as well as Henry Cavill as a brawny Sherlock with Sam Claflin as Mycroft. And as their mother? Helena Bonham Carter. What a cast! And what fun they all seem to be having making this movie, which has an exuberant energy, gorgeous costumes and a big heart. We hope they make a sequel – in fact, keep making movies in this series. We’ll watch them all.
I’m Thinking Of Ending Things
Where can I watch it? Netflix
Director Charlie Kaufman is another of the auteurs lured to Netflix’s platform this year. You might have watched some of his previous movies, which include the cult classics Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Anomalisa. If you loved those, you will enjoy this, which has a similar black comedy tone and plenty of twists and turns. It focuses on a young woman, played by Jessie Buckley, who travels home with her boyfriend to his family – his parents are played by David Thewlis and Toni Collette – all while desperately wanting to dump him. Go in with an open mind, and we’d love to hear what you think of the film.
Borat Subsequent Movie Film
Where can I watch it? Amazon Prime Video
Did you love watching Sacha Baron Cohen’s enormously popular film, in which a fictional Kazakhstan journalist travels to the US and discovers similarities between the two countries? We hope so, because it’s all back again in this sequel, released some 14 years after the first movie. This time, though, Borat is accompanied on his journey by his daughter, and the addition of a father-daughter relationship to the plotline makes this movie surprisingly heartfelt at times while still being jam-packed with the slapstick, ‘gotcha’ brand of comedy you might have come to expect from Baron Cohen.
