Crossing the Streams is our look at all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month, and this time we’re checking out the new Hulu arrivals for September 2021 including new non-English movies worth your time, fun comedies, new shows, and more!
Hulu Pick of the Month for September 2021
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more horrifying, forward-looking dramatic thriller than Michel Franco’s New Order (2020) (premieres September 30th) — and you’d never find one that also manages to hit so damn hard while clocking in at under ninety minutes. The film opens with a lavish wedding as notes and nods to economic strife and class uprisings rest in the background, but very quickly the two worlds mesh as the downtrodden rebel in a bloody, wild, and cruel fashion. Everyone, rich or poor, has blood on their hands, and the film’s cynical and nihilistic take is the realization that given the opportunity far too many of us can become terrible people in an instant. And that ending! Hoo boy, buckle in people.
Laugh! Laugh! Laugh!
We may have lost John Cusack to political rants and direct-to-DVD action films, but for a while there he was a pretty damn reliable actor/writer. Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) stars Cusack as a hitman who returns to his hometown for a high school reunion despite being targeted by other killers. He rekindles a romance along the way and has doubts about his career choices, and the film delivers laughs and action thrills throughout. Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, Joan Cusack, Hank Azaria, Jeremy Piven, and Benny ‘the Jet’ Urquidez co-star, and it’s a fun blast.
Election (1999) is a darkly comic masterpiece, top to bottom, and if you haven’t seen it in a while you’re overdue. Matthew Broderick plays a high school teacher beaten down by life who decides to exact minor revenge against overachievers, but unfortunately for him, his target (a pitch-perfect Reese Witherspoon) won’t go down easy. The supporting cast is equally strong including Chris Klein, Jessica Campbell, Colleen Camp, and more. Alexander Payne’s hilariously mean and honest comedy remains an all-timer, but don’t just take my word for it, read this too.
You’ve seen those two and should probably rewatch them, but now let me point you towards a comedy you may have missed. Flower (2017) (premieres September 4th) is as offbeat as either of them and a bit rude, but it’s also a terrific blend of heart and ribald humor. Key to its success is the great Zoey Deutch in the lead. We first meet her seducing a pervert in order to blackmail him — a girl’s gotta earn a living — and it just gets riskier from there. Adam Scott is fantastic in a darker supporting role than usual, and it’ll win you over well before the credits roll.
More Non-English Gems You May Have Missed
I haven’t caught Undine (2020) (premieres September 3rd) myself yet, but those here at FSR who have are very vocal fans. Christian Petzold’s film is a lean and magical fairy tale of sorts about a woman who’s actually part of an ancient legend. Romance, betrayal, mystical obligation — Petzold reunites the leads of 2018’s Transit (Paula Beer, Franz Rogowski) for another affecting love story that seems doomed before it even begins. Is it lightweight and carefree entertainment? Sure doesn’t sound like it, but that’s okay!
By contrast, Riders of Justice (2020) (premieres September 16th) is almost deceptively light and fun, at least for a little while. Mads Mikkelsen stars as a soldier who returns home after his wife is killed in an accident, but when two disgraced scientists present evidence that it was actually an act of terror he sets out for revenge. Cause and effect, grief, coincidence, and more combine for a tale that boils down to a lesson in the universe’s desire to fuck with us on a daily basis. While the drama hits and lands with real effect, the film also manages some big laughs. Watch it. You’ll really like it.
New TV Premieres!
I don’t typically cover television shows in these streaming columns, but it’s been a tough year and sometimes you just want to return to weekly comfort zones. Season three of What We Do in the Shadows (premieres September 3rd) promises to do just that as we once more get to spend time with a wildly dysfunctional quartet of vampires. Three are bloodsuckers, one’s a “life” eater, and all four are hilarious. I had my doubts before this series premiered that it could match the film’s creativity, wit, and oddly human heart, but I’ve already been proven wrong two seasons running.
Y: The Last Man (premieres September 13th) isn’t returning, but its debut has been a long-time coming for fans of Brian K. Vaughan’s and Pia Guerra’s original comic. The story is a post-apocalyptic tale set after males have suddenly died off around the globe — the women left behind scramble in their grief and shock to keep the world running, but even as they recover one truth hangs over humanity. No sperm means no babies, and that in turn means the end of human life is coming. Of course, that might change when they find the sole surviving man…
I’m the only one I know who cares about this, but screw it, season four of The Rookie (premieres September 27th) is its own comfort food. Nathan Fillion stars as an older guy who joins the LAPD, and while age jokes play a part here the focus is on what he brings to the uniform as a man who’s lived a full life before this. He arrives with fully formed ideas and moralities while most cops develop them behind the badge. It’s an interesting dynamic, and while the show is still a standard procedural in many ways it’s an entertaining one.
The Complete Hulu List for September 2021
Release Date | Title | Note |
---|---|---|
9/1 | 50/50 | |
Anaconda | ||
Angel Unchained | ||
The Apparition | ||
At the Earth’s Core | ||
Blue City | ||
Bull Durham | ||
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | ||
Cannon For Cordoba | ||
Cellar Dweller | ||
Cold Creek Manor | ||
Count Yorga, Vampire | ||
Crazy Heart | ||
The Dunwich Horror | ||
Edward Scissorhands | ||
El Dorado | ||
Election | ||
Exterminator 2 | ||
A Fish Called Wanda | ||
Free Willy | ||
Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home | ||
Free Willy 3: The Rescue | ||
Free Willy: Escape From Pirate’s Cove | ||
Friday the 13th - Part III | ||
Friday the 13th - Part IV: The Final Chapter | ||
Fright Night (1985) | ||
Gattaca | ||
Girls! Girls! Girls! | ||
The Glass House | ||
Grosse Pointe Blank | ||
Hitman: Agent 47 | ||
Hoosiers | ||
I Spit On Your Grave | ||
I Spit On Your Grave 2 | ||
I Spit On Your Grave 3 | ||
Internal Affairs | ||
The Interview | ||
Jacob’s Ladder | ||
Just Between Friends | ||
The Killer Elite | ||
Kiss the Girls | ||
The Last Castle | ||
Magic Mike | ||
The Manchurian Candidate | ||
McLintock! (Producer’s Cut) | ||
The Mexican | ||
Miss You Already | ||
Mommy Mosquito Squadron | ||
Mr. North | ||
Much Ado About Nothing | ||
New Year’s Eve | ||
Nixon | ||
Office Space | ||
The Omen | ||
The Patsy | ||
Phase IV | ||
The Possession | ||
Priest | ||
Raising Arizona | ||
The Ring | ||
Road to Perdition | ||
Salvador | ||
Secret Admirer | ||
Shaun The Sheep Movie | ||
Slumdog Millionaire | ||
Solace | ||
Stephen King’s IT | ||
Sucker Punch | ||
Tears Of The Sun | ||
The Tenant | ||
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride | ||
Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys | ||
Under Fire | ||
Vantage Point | ||
Volcano | ||
The Wedding Plan | ||
The Wrestler | ||
The X-Files | ||
9/2 | Death in Texas (2020) | |
Trolls: TrollsTopia: Complete Season 4 | ||
The Unthinkable (2018) | ||
9/3 | Bolden (2019) | |
The D’Amelio Show: Complete Season 1 | ||
Undine (2020) | ||
What We Do in the Shadows: Season 3 Premiere | ||
9/4 | Flower (2017) | |
9/8 | La La Land (2016) | |
Wu-Tang: An American Saga: Season 2 Premiere | ||
9/10 | The Killing of Two Lovers (2020) | |
Transporter 3 (2008) | ||
9/11 | High Ground (2020) | |
9/13 | Colette (2018) | |
Y: The Last Man: Series Premiere | ||
9/15 | Dark Side of the Ring: Season 3A | |
Joseph: King Of Dreams (2000) | ||
Love, Simon (2018) | ||
Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) | ||
9/16 | On Chesil Beach (2017) | |
The Premise: Series Premiere | ||
Riders of Justice (2020) | ||
Stalker (1979) | ||
9/18 | Dark Side of Football: Complete Season 1 | |
9/20 | Grown Ups (2010) | |
9/21 | 9-1-1: Season 5 Premiere | |
The Big Leap: Series Premiere | ||
Dancing with the Stars: Season 20 Premiere | ||
Ordinary Joe: Series Premiere | ||
The Voice: Season 21 Premiere | ||
9/22 | New Amsterdam: Season 4 Premiere | |
Our Kind of People: Series Premiere | ||
The Resident: Season 5 Premiere | ||
9/23 | Alter Ego: Series Premiere | |
Chicago Fire: Season 10 Premiere | ||
Chicago Med: Season 7 Premiere | ||
Chicago P.D.: Season 9 Premiere | ||
The Conners: Season 4 Premiere | ||
The Eric Andre Show: Complete Season 5 | ||
Funhouse (2019) | ||
The Goldbergs: Season 9 Premiere | ||
Home Economics: Season 2 Premiere | ||
The Masked Singer: Season 6 Premiere | ||
A Million Little Things: Season 4 Premiere | ||
The Wonder Years: Series Premiere | ||
9/24 | An American Haunting (2005) | |
Law & Order: Organized Crime: Season 2 Premiere | ||
Law & Order: SVU: Season 23 Premiere | ||
9/25 | Gemini (2017) | |
9/27 | Bob’s Burgers: Season 12 Premiere | |
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune: Season 2 Premiere | ||
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune: Season 2 Premiere | ||
The Great North: Season 2 Premiere | ||
The Rookie: Season 4 Premiere | ||
The Simpsons: Season 33 Premiere | ||
Supermarket Sweep: Season 2 Premiere | ||
9/28 | Felix and the Hidden Treasure | |
The Good Doctor: Season 4 Premiere | ||
Home Run (2013) | ||
9/29 | La Brea: Series Premiere | |
Minor Premise (2020) | ||
9/30 | New Order (2020) |
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Related Topics: Crossing the Streams, Hulu