New movies to watch this weekend: See ‘Onslaught’ in theaters, rent ‘I Want Your Sex,’ stream ‘The Runner’ on Prime Video

Welcome to Trust Me, I Watch Everything, a weekly guide to all the new movies out each Friday.

This week’s buzziest release is likely A24’s Onslaught,an exploitation action horror flick that’s worth a watch despite some problems. The survival thriller sequel Fall 2: Deadpoint also makes its way to theaters.

If you’d rather stay home, you can now rent or buy I Want Your Sex,Gregg Araki’s sex comedy farce with Oliy with Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat

Want to stick to a streaming service you’re likely already paying for? The straight-to-streaming Gal Gadot vehicle The Runnerdebuts on Prime Video, and the latest Star Warsmovie, The Mandalorian and Grogu,is now airing onDisney+.

Let’s dive in!

• Movies newly available to rent or buy

• Movies newly available on streaming services you may already have

🎥 What to watch in theaters

The biggest release:Onslaught

Why I liked it, with reservations:Onslaughtsees filmmaker Adam Wingard returning to his roots, giving up a Godzilla vs. Kong-sized studio blockbuster budget to instead make a relatively cheap and dirty ’80s-style exploitation movie throwback, complete with John Carpenter movie font for its opening titles. Wingard has teased that the movie takes place in the same town as his cult favorite The Guest,and both feature Dan Stevens in different key roles. But make no mistake: Onslaughtis 100% Adria Arjona’s movie.

Onslaughtis a delightfully unsubtle exploitation action horror movie about a U.S. government that’s occupied by Nazis, killing its own citizens and manipulating its veterans. When a rogue squad of genetically engineered super-soldiers breaks loose in the desert, a badass Army sniper (Arjona) must unleash hell to protect her young daughter. The three super-soldiers are given the slasher-movie villain treatment; they’re unstoppable killing machines who act like “heat-seeking missiles” toward whatever their objective may be. Imagine The Terminator,but there are three of them!

It’s a lot of fun if you’re into this sort of thing, and the constantly pulsing imitation John Carpenter synth score makes it feel bigger than it actually is. The biggest issue with the movie is entirely self-imposed: It prominently features a countdown clock ticking down to a sequence that ultimately doesn’t live up to expectations when time runs out.

It feels like it’s missing a barnburner finale, even if the gunplay and action are otherwise satisfying enough. Had the movie not insisted upon repeatedly saying “buckle up, audience, you’re not going to believe this s**t,” maybe the ending would’ve been thrilling enough. But after all that build-up, it can’t help but feel like a bit of a letdown.

There’s so much going on in the periphery of this movie. Rebecca Hall’s character is a hoot but underutilized, Drew Starkey’s goofy subplot really made me laugh but felt misplaced and Dan Stevens’s evil Nazi doctor looks like an anime villain. It’s a shame that it all comes off alittle too straightforward, despite these occasional wacky elements.

Onslaughtis perfectly entertaining for what it is, though it feels like the movie fails on its own terms by not living up to the expectations it set up for itself. It’s as if Babe Ruth stepped up to the plate, called his shot and then hit a double. You’d appreciate that he got on base, but you’d probably be a little underwhelmed.

What other critics are saying: The reviews skew positive, but there are plenty of naysayers. The Daily Beast’s Nick Schager calls it “a hodgepodge of everything genre fans adore.” Jake Coyle at the AP, however, writes that, “Even though Onslaught begins with a clock that’s already ticking below 12 hours, the movie takes its time leading to a bloody finale that isn’t quite worth the drumbeat.”

How to watch:Onslaughtis now playing in theaters nationwide.

Another option: Fall 2: Deadpoint

Why I liked it:Must a movie be good to be entertaining and effective? Fall 2: Deadpointis so clunky in every way, except the only one that really matters, that it may have you asking this question throughout.

2022’s Fallworked because it made your palms sweaty in the way all good survival horror does: the situation, in which two girls are stuck 2,000 feet in the air on a radio tower, is inherently terrifying, and the movie works despite its cheapness and occasional bad CGI and phony green screen. It largely looks convincing and made me yell out loud multiple times. If you’re even mildly afraid of heights, it’ll mess you up.

That brings us to Fall 2: Deadpoint. On a perilous climb across Thailand’s Mount Kwan, two climbers become trapped thousands of feet above the ground, where vertigo-inducing heights, sheer exposure and impossible odds turn every moment into a fight for survival.

Once again, it’s an outrageously dangerous setup. Twin filmmaking duo Michael and Peter Spierig do a good job with a tight budget of putting the audience there and making it feel believable; it gives you that pit in your stomach during its best moments. The problem is that anytime it’s not putting you on the edge of your seat, it’s making you laugh at it, not with it, at the soap-opera-level melodrama unfolding onscreen.

The reverence this movie shows for the lead of the first movie, whom I didn’t remember at all, is laugh-out-loud funny. The characters here all treat her like an iconic celebrity who deeply impacted the lives of millions due to her exploits in the first movie. There’s atrocious dialogue throughout, including an attempt at a dramatic emotional reveal that made the entire audience cackle. The unfathomable choices these characters make throughout are a whole other can of worms.

But does any of that matter when the titular falling, and what have you, delivers as much intensity as ever?! It’s tense and suspenseful, and I believed in the moment that the characters were in peril. (The number of shots of screws loosening is rivaled only by the Final Destinationfranchise.) It goes a bit too far in the third act with some extra manufactured drama, but I’d be lying if I didn’t walk out excited for the already-planned third movie that’s teased at the end here.

Fall 2: Deadpointreally pushes the limits of how silly a B-movie can get as long as it’s delivering the goods, but it’s brisk and has enough thrillsto recommend to fans of the original and/or the genre.

What other critics are saying:Reviews aren’t as kind as they were for the original. Simon Abrams at the AV Club writes, “This thankless sequel’s highs simply aren’t high enough.” TheWrap’s William Bibbiani was more on its wavelength, writing that “Once you embrace the Die Hard 2‘ of it all […] it’s easy to forgive this schlocky sequel for being, God forbid, a schlocky sequel.”

How to watch:Fall 2: Deadpointis now playing in theaters nationwide.

💸 Movies newly available to rent or buy

The buzziest release:I Want Your Sex

Why I liked it, despite some issues: Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sexdoesn’t want to be taken too seriously, though its director’s compassionate plea to Gen Z, specifically, is earnest and direct: Stop being afraid of sex. Allow yourself the experience of doing it, and accept all the pluses and minuses that come along with it, because these are the formative experiences of your life.

When fresh-faced Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) lands an exciting job for renowned artist, icon and provocateur Erika Tracy (Oli, his fantasies come true as Erika taps him to become her sexual muse. But Elliot soon finds himself out of his depth as Erika takes him on a journey more profound than he ever could have imagined, into a world of sex, obsession, power, betrayal and murder

It’s a sex-positive comedy that’s more interested in earning laughs from the various sub-dom relationship situations the characters find themselves in than in actually depicting intimacy and sexiness, though Wilde is undeniably sexy and in her element here. By the third or fourth joke about her shoving stuff up Hoffman’s ass, though, I started to see the limits of its edginess. Any fan of indie filmmaking knows that Gregg Araki (The Doom Generation, Mysterious Skin)can go way, way harder than this.

The movie’s Sunset Boulevard-inspired frame narrative and flashback structure are its weakest assets. The Norma Desmond comparison is fun, but the movie doesn’t really have any real reason to do the in medias resthing, and every time we cut to the interrogation room where two cops are getting the story out of Elliot, it kills the momentum and reminds you this is leading somewhere specific that’s not necessarily in this particular movie’s wheelhouse. The art world satire also feels a bit stale.

Where the movie shines, though, is in its depiction of a generation that came of age during the COVID-19 pandemic and how that experience stunted and deeply affected their sense of intimacy and their capacity for vulnerability. Oddly enough, I Want Your Sexactually has the same ultimate message as Toy Story 5:Get out from behind your smartphone and make a real, human connection. There’s simply no replacement for it!

What other critics are saying: Reviews are quite positive, even if most use the same qualifying language I did. The Los Angeles Times’ Amy Nicholson writes, “From the opening shot of a body in a Los Angeles pool, Araki and co-screenwriter Karley Sciortino tickle us with their 21st-century send-up of Sunset Boulevard. But Araki can go where Code-era movies couldn’t: into the bedroom.” Monica Castillo at the AV Club writes, “Araki’s silly, sexy, tongue-in-cheek skewering of cross-generational sexual attitudes is just as funny as it is thought-provoking.”

How to watch:I Want Your Sexis now available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Prime Video and other VOD platforms.

Another option: The Wrong Girls

Why you should skip it:While this has nothing to do with Drive-Away Dollsor Honey, Don’t,the lesbian caper comedies directed by Ethan Coen and his wife, it does feel like it’s spiritually the capstone of that trilogy. Sadly, this is not a compliment. It also desperately wants what the unexpectedly hilarious Pizza Movie has.

In this stoner comedy directed by Kristen Stewart’s wife, Dylan Meyer, two best friends living paycheck to paycheck and bong rip to bong rip get caught in a case of mistaken identity that throws their lives into chaos. Shawkat, in particular, is very funny here, earning laughs by simply saying her lines in silly, stoned ways.

It’s almost respectable how low this movie’s ambitions are, but it needs far more laughs than we get here to pull that off. The plotting is just so generic, derivative and unengaging, and the writing uninspired in a way that feels intentionally stupid but not funny. A major disappointment! Check out Smiley Faceinstead.

What other critics are saying:Reviewers are split right down the middle. Amy Nicholson at the Los Angeles Times calls it “the right comedy if you want to unplug your brain and laugh.” The AV Club’s Monica Castillo, though, writes: “All that action comes at the expense of the jokes, or at least funny ones, and by the movie’s end, it’s mostly a relief that the trip is finally over.”

How to watch:The Wrong Girlsis now available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Prime Video and other VOD platforms.

• The Brink of War:More like the brink of snore!Jeff Daniels plays Ronald Reagan and Jared Harris plays Mikhail Gorbachev in this boring movie about a meeting. In the film, which lionizes Reagan, the U.S. president races against time to salvage a deal with the Soviet leader that could dismantle nuclear arsenals — or ignite disaster. With pressure mounting on all sides, every word spoken brings the world closer to peace … or destruction. It unfolds like a stage play, a two-hander that’s simply an exchange of dialogue, but it’s never compelling. The way the characters’ wives are included is a bizarre bit of comic relief that doesn’t fit the tone of the rest. Rent or buy.

The big release:The Runner

Why you should skip it:Gal Gadot is front and center in this Phone Boothknockoff for the Bluetooth age, and the movie is all the worse for it. She simply isn’t a strong enough actor to carry a movie in which she’s essentially in every single frame.

Gadot plays a high-powered attorney forced to race through London as she follows the cryptic commands of a mysterious caller (voiced by Damian Lewis) and fights against time to save her abducted son. Her son has been kidnapped as part of a scheme involving a crime boss who is on trial. She’s the lawyer in the case, and the guy on the phone wants her to kill a high-profile witness. The convoluted plot makes less sense the more you consider it.

The action is all fairly light and limp, and director Kevin Macdonald — the documentarian-turned-feature-filmmaker who won an Oscar for his doc One Day in September —has a tough time livening up the proceedings. It’s hardly his fault, though, as Gadot is simply never convincing, and her line readings of the not particularly good dialogue from the rote script are often laughable. It’s a decidedly B-movie that fails the modest assignment of delivering engaging, cheap thrills.

Oddly enough, there’s another movie with the title Runner,starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson, out in theaters next week. That movie is, quite unexpectedly, a blast; Gadot’s couldn’t be further from one. If you want to watch a good movie with this basic premise, try Phone Booth, Cellular, Carry-Onor even Nick of Time.

What other critics are saying:They’re unforgiving! The Guardian’s Ben Lee writes, “Intelligence might not be what one would expect here, which is somewhat acceptable in B-movie territory such as this, but the lack of excitement is hard to forgive.” Jordan Mintzer at the Hollywood Reporter is the outlier, writing that “Movies such as these are all about suspension of disbelief, and The Runnerkeeps a fast enough pace that we don’t wind up asking too many questions.”

How to watch:The Runneris now streaming on Prime Video.

Another option: The Mandalorian and Grogu

Why I didn’t like it:The Mandalorian and Groguis easily the worst Star Warsmovie, but even calling it a movie feels like giving it more credit than it deserves. It’s a feature-length episode of streaming-era television, and boy, does it look andfeel like it. It’s uncinematic in pretty much every way, from the drab visuals to its repetitive structure that lacks the storytelling heft needed to make the jump from TV to film. Say what you will about The Rise of Skywalkeror the prequel trilogy; at least they’re movies!

An extension of the Disney+ streaming series The Mandalorian, The Mandalorian and Grogutakes place between the original and sequel trilogies. Onscreen text, although not in the iconic crawl you may be expecting, indicates that the evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his young apprentice, Grogu.

The “Mandalorian” distinction means the lead character is masked, and Pedro Pascal’s flat vocal performance doesn’t do much to compensate for it. And although his co-lead is a puppet, a great throwback to the way these kinds of movies used to be made, there are even more entirely-CGI creations throughout. This may be in the grand Lucasian tradition, but still not as effective as, say, a tall guy in a hairy dog suit. This movie’s Chewbacca is some purple CGI guy!

There’s no real work done to upgrade the material for the big screen, so it just plays like binge-watching a few episodes of the show, with no real driving narrative force to keep you engaged. One of the plots — it’s not theplot because, remember, this movie is really just TV — revolves around Jabba the Hutt’s muscular outcast son, who actually utters something along the lines of, “Do you know how hard it is to be Jabba the Hutt’s son?” and talks about how he’s his own man in spite of his upbringing. The character is played by The Bearstar and current hunk of the moment, Jeremy Allen White. Who is this for? Instead of leaning into the Andor direction that won praise, Lucasfilm has circled back to the safe space of “cute puppet antics” and nostalgic nudges.

Composer and three-time Oscar winner Ludwig Göransson is the only one to come out of this unscathed, as his terrific score does all the heavy lifting, giving the movie gravitas and energy at key moments when it otherwise has none.

When award-winning creatives like Steven Soderbergh and Damon Lindelof are openly discussing Star Warsprojects falling apart, and the actual output at Disney is The Mandalorian and Grogu,a nothing movie with low stakes more concerned with selling plush dolls than appealing to newcomers or casual fans, something has gone wrong. What was once a can’t-miss theatrical event every time, as recently as 11 years ago — The Force Awakensis the highest-grossing movie everin this country to this day — is now debuting with a collective shrug. This isn’t the way.

What other critics are saying:They’re split right down the middle, although even the positive ones aren’t super effusive or enthusiastic. Slate’s Sam Adams writes: “If The Mandalorian and Grogu isn’t the worst Star Wars movie — and it might be — it’s certainly the least: the least essential, the least engaging, the least necessary.” Robert Abele at the Los Angeles Times was kinder, writing: “One of the movie’s strong points, absent its story deficiencies, is that, across its many wordless scenes, it’s at heart a solidly rousing, delightfully icky creature feature, in the vein of a supercharged Ray Harryhausen-meets-Guillermo del Toro joint.”

How to watch:The Mandalorian and Groguis now streaming on Disney+.

• Mayday: Your tolerance for Ryan Reynolds smarmy one-liners will determine whether or not you enjoy this period action-comedy starring Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh. When a U.S. Navy pilot on a top-secret mission during the Cold War gets trapped behind enemy lines, his only chance at survival is to form an alliance with an eccentric ex-KGB agent. Branagh doing a silly Russian accent is fun — an esteemed actor and director such as himself slumming it and being silly in something like this wrings some laughs out of the otherwise tired material — but too much of the comedy relies on Reynolds’s shtick, which grew tired a few presidential administrations ago. It has better-than-your-average-streaming-movie action sequences, though, thanks to directing team John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the pair responsible for the terrific Game Nightand the beloved Dungeons & Dragonsmovie from a couple of years ago. It’s OK! Now streaming on Apple TV.

• Scary Movie: Scary Movie,akaScary Movie 6, is the first new entry in the parody franchise in 13 years, and the first Wayans brothers entry in 25. Unfortunately, their return to the smash-hit series is a reminder that maybe some things are better left in the past and that references in and of themselves are notjokes. Barring a Final Destination sight gag up top that made me laugh, and a third-act Scream-style reveal that works (but would’ve worked better had the movie not already made that joke earlier), Scary Movie is an embarrassing cash-grab nostalgia play that feels like every single element onscreen is the first draft. Read my full review here.Now streaming on Paramount+.

• Signal One:This no-budget sci-fi indie gem you’ve never heard of is totally worth watching, and boasts a great cast. A computer scientist is invited by a tech billionaire to join his private facility on a Caribbean island to investigate extraterrestrial matter on Earth. When they make contact beyond our world, chaos erupts, leaving us to wonder: Do they come in peace? It stars Dennis Quaid, Isabelle Fuhrman, Josh Hutcherson and David Thewlis, and is so much better than similar low-budget fare. Signal Onemay be in familiar and well-worn territory, but it actually engages with its heady concepts in exciting new ways.Now streaming on Hulu.

• Fuze:The plot of Fuzeis simple yet also more complex than it appears at first glance. It’s a tense, ticking-clock thriller about an unexploded WWII bomb that is discovered on a busy construction site in the middle of London. Chaos ensues as the military and police begin a mass evacuation, and the true nature of the situation gets revealed. Now it’s a heist movie! It’s an incredibly efficient and propulsive flick that keeps you invested as more complications are revealed. Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as the guy defusing the bomb, and Sam Worthington and Theo James show up as the criminals committing a robbery, using the bomb situation as cover. It’s directed by David Mackenzie, who was behind the Taylor Sheridan-penned Hell or High Water.The cross-cutting and editing here really keep things moving along; it’s a brass-tacks genre exercise and nothing more, but it succeeds within those parameters.Now streaming on HBO Max.

That’s all for this week! We’ll see you next Friday — just in time for Practical Magic 2.

Looking for more recs?Find your next watch on the Yahoo 100, our daily list of the most popular movies of the year. And for family-friendly picks, check out ourkid-approved summer movie guide.