Traditionally a quiet time for TV, August in 2022 has proved to be anything but.
Already this month we’ve seen the likes of Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon, hugely-acclaimed Predator prequel Prey, Neil Gaiman’s epic The Sandman and the MCU’s latest hero, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, all arrive on streaming services.
With all that already out there, it’s no surprise that the final week of August is a lot quieter. However, we are treated to the beginning of the final run of epic fantasy drama See on Apple TV Plus, a punchy biopic of the life of boxer Mike Tyson on Hulu and Prime Video’s Samaritan, which seems to be about eight movies in one, lead by Sylvester Stallone.
Below, we’ve rounded up seven of the biggest new movies and TV shows available to watch on streaming services this weekend.
Samaritan (Prime Video)
Sylvester Stallone headlines this new arrival on Prime Video, which blends together the superhero genre with a gritty undertone, alongside some fiery action setpieces.
The movie is based on Bragi F Schut, Marc Olivent, and Renzo Podesta’s comic series of the same name and sees Stallone play a character named Mr. Smith, a reclusive resident of the crumbling Granite City.
A neighbor to a teenager named Sam Cleary, one day Smith stumbles upon Sam being attacked on his way home from school and steps in to save the day.
To everyone’s surprise, Smith’s intervention seems positively superhuman, leading Sam to start suspecting that Smith is Samaritan, a superhero thought to have died 25 years earlier.
Sam takes it on himself to coax Smith out of retirement, and, despite his protestations that Samaritan is dead, he won’t take no for an answer. That’s just as well because Granite City is descending into chaos.
Directed by Julius Avery, the man behind violent and tremendously fun action-thriller Overlord, Samaritan looks like a fresh take on the superhero genre complete with Stallone’s trademark stoicism.
Available to stream on Prime Video now.
See (Apple TV Plus)
The curtain comes down on Apple’s epic fantasy dystopia with the release of its third and final season.
Created by Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight and starring Jason Momoa, See is set in a dystopian future where mankind has been forced to adapt to a complete loss of vision, so much so that vision has become a myth, and any mention of it is considered heresy.
But when two twin girls are born fully-sighted, their adopted father, Momoa’s Baba Voss, must protect them from the wrath of Queen Sibeth Kane, the ruler of the Payan Kingdom. It’s a battle he’s still fighting now as the show reaches a fiery conclusion…
Episode One is available to stream now on Apple TV Plus with the remaining seven episodes following on a weekly basis.
ME TIME (Netflix)
Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg come together for this knockabout comedy, which looks like ideal fayre for your turn-off-your-brain, exhausted at the weekend, needs.
Hart plays Sonny, a stay-at-home dad who is suddenly gifted some “me time” for the first time in many years when his wife volunteers to take his children away for an extended break.
With time on his hands, he decides to reconnect with Wahlberg’s Huck Dembo, a life-long bachelor who is hosting an epic birthday party for himself, one that might just kill Sonny in the process.
This won’t be winning any Oscars, but it does look like tremendous fun and Hart and Wahlberg are always good for a laugh or two.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Untrapped: The Story of Lil Baby (Prime Video)
Bit more niche this one: a deep dive into the life of Dominique Armani Jones aka rapper Lil Baby.
The documentary, which is built from years of never-before-seen footage, charts the rapper’s rise from the streets of Atlanta to world stardom, with the likes of Drake and Young Thug among the talking heads.
Directed by the hotly-tipped Karam Gil, the trailer shows we can expect a tour around the lavish way Jones lives now as well as a detailed look at humbled beginnings.
Now available to stream on Prime Video.
Loving Adults (Netflix)
Loving Adults is a landmark movie for Netflix. It’s the streamer’s first original Danish language film, with Borgen/Game Of Thrones’ Dar Salim and The Bridge’s Sonja Richter in starring roles.
Ritcher plays Leonora, who is enjoying life with her husband after their son has just been declared healthy after a long-term severe illness. Looking forward to the future, her world is suddenly ripped apart when she sees her husband with a younger woman.
Desperate for that not to happen, Leonara’s thoughts turn dark, and things get very, very complicated.
A classic thriller, this looks like excellent Friday night fodder, as long as you don’t mind subtitles, or are fluent in Danish.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Seoul Vibe (Netflix)
This time we’re off to South Korea for a stylish action spectacular set in the capital of Seoul just before the 1988 Olympic Games.
The movie, which is led by Hellbound’s Yoo Ah-in, follows a motley crew of drivers and mechanics, known as the Sanggye-dong Supreme Team.
With all eyes on the games, a legion of bad guys choose to move around dirty money the week before the launch and, with resources stretched, the Sanggye-dong Supreme Team are enlisted to go undercover to dismantle the money-laundering ring.
Suave, thrilling and with a great soundtrack, this looks like a South Korean winner for Netflix.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Mike (Hulu)
A final knockout blow this week comes from Mike, Hulu’s lavish new look at the life and times and heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson.
The show, which stars Moonlight’s Trevante Rhondes as Tyson with Harvey Keitel and Russell Hornsby in supporting roles, documents the boxer’s early life, career and many times on the wrong side of the law.
The drama, which does not come with Tyson’s blessing as the boxer has very publicly said, has not been a hit with critics who’ve pilloried the show for pulling too many punches (ahem…).
But, if you’re a boxing fan, this is likely to be essential viewing.
Now available to stream on Hulu.