Ted Lasso's return and Spider-Man's new day: this week's watchlist
Reviews of Ted Lasso S4 (Apple TV), Sterling Point (Prime Video), One Night Only, and more.
Happy Thursday. August is here, and if you've been watching the release calendar, you know this stretch of late summer can be a little unpredictable. Premieres tend to arrive in fits and spurts, with quiet weeks followed by a flood of new titles. Right now, we're firmly in the latter. This week's lineup brings plenty to dig into, so read on to see which TV and movie recommendations are worth adding to (or crossing off) your watchlist before the fall rush begins.
— Jess and Jenni
What’s new to streaming…
Ted Lasso — Season 4
Watch if you like: Shrinking, Rooster, Friday Night Lights
Length: 35-min runtime, 4 seasons / 1 of 10 episodes available in S2
Jenni’s rating: 3/5⭐ after two episodes
Three years after Richmond’s men’s team got their big sendoff, Ted is back—this time to coach the women’s team. A revival is always a gamble, and to many, a fourth act will read as an unnecessary victory lap. To its credit though, the Lady Greyhounds premise at least stakes out some new terrain: fresh faces join the fold, and the women’s football setting opens up plot lines around pay disparity and overlooked athletes. Plenty of fan favorites return, too, including Keeley, Rebecca, and Roy. Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education) is a welcome addition as Ted’s new assistant coach, but otherwise, I wasn’t overly impressed by the first two episodes.
Full disclosure: I am known to friends and family as the resident Ted Lasso grump. It’s not that I don’t understand why people love it, it’s just that its charms and relentless positivity started to wear on me after Season 2. The premiere doesn’t do much to convince me that this new installment will win me over—stranding us in Kansas City for 45 minutes while Ted resists his inevitable return—but the second episode fares a little better. As previously stated, I love Tanya Reynolds in any scene, and seeing Keeley and Roy back on screen together did make my grinchy heart grow a few sizes.
My husband adores this show, so I’ll be watching regardless. But so far, the humor and “band’s back together!” energy aren’t doing enough to override my otherwise lukewarm feelings about the whole thing. — Jenni
Our take? If you’re less of a grump than I am, check it out. I hope I’m wrong and this season turns out to be a delight. Streaming now on Apple TV; new episodes Wednesdays.
Sterling Point — Season 1
Watch if you like: My Old Ass, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Hal & Harper
Length: 45-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes
Jess’s rating: 4/5⭐
Megan Park wrote and directed My Old Ass, a coming-of-age movie I really loved, so her move into television came with a degree of built-in goodwill (from me, at least). Her new series Sterling Point follows Annie (Ella Rubin), a high-achieving teenager who learns that her estranged grandfather left her and her twin brother an island in Canada. She travels there looking for answers about her late mother and finds an increasingly elaborate web of family secrets, a chaotic friend group (complimentary), and the requisite two love interests representing different paths for her future.
Sterling Point is a welcome return to the teen dramas of the early ‘00s—the ones with an ensemble you actually wanted to spend time with. It also reminds me of the first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty; it has the same light summer atmosphere and appealing escape from everyday life, but with more emotional substance than I expected. The romance has yearning, the friendships feel lived-in, and the complicated dynamics between the teens and their parents give the story its depth.
Park’s teenagers are witty and emotionally fluent, albeit to the point where you can sometimes hear the writers straining to approximate how the youths speak. The dialogue has a tendency to tip into cringe, but the characters feel like real people even when their lines don’t. Despite the throwback trappings, Annie is a very 2026 protagonist with her anxieties and willingness to be abrasive. She, and the characters around her, feel like more than a collection of stereotypes, which is a welcome change from the teens of those old dramas.
The main flaw is that the family mystery is absurdly over-engineered. Much of the plot could be resolved by any one adult giving a straight account of what happened 16 years earlier. But the contrivances are forgivable because the mystery matters less than how it pulls the group together. This crew is simply fun to watch, and I was surprised by how quickly their world became addictive—and perhaps more tellingly, by how much my husband wanted to keep watching, too. — Jess
Our take? Watch it if you’re in the mood for a sweet summer coming-of-age tale. All episodes streaming now on Prime Video.
Adults — Prequel Episode
Watch if you like: Overcompensating, New Girl, Crashing
Length: 20-min runtime
Jenni’s rating: 5/5⭐
FX is starting to make a habit of surprise-dropping prequel episodes of shows I adore: first “Gary” for The Bear, now this. But “Marathon Day”—slotted into Hulu’s ecosystem as the show’s new first episode—plays less like a prequel and more like a pilot-do-over. Considering the original pilot opened with Issa trying to out-masturbate a man on the subway (a scene many viewers found off-putting), it’s not hard to read this as a chance to redo their first impression.
“Marathon Day” is an origin story revealing how the group’s newest member, Paul Baker (Jack Innanen), met the crew and joined the fold. The story hinges on a lie: Anton (Owen Thiele) has spent months telling his coworkers he’s a runner, and the bill comes due when they turn up to the New York City Marathon with banners, ready to cheer him on. Rather than confess, Anton doubles down, drafting Samir (Malik Elassal), Issa (Amita Rao), and Billie (Lucy Freyer) to help fake his participation. When actual runner Paul Baker joins the con, he also officially joins the friend group.
The slightly tempered register of this episode pays off: all the jokes land and there’s more room for the characters to breathe and for the group’s particular brand of chaos to click into place. I’ve already watched it twice, and it immediately sent me back to revisit the rest of Season 1. Can’t wait for the new episodes later this month. — Jenni
Our take? Watch it, duh. Streaming now on FX and Hulu; new season airing August 27.
Checking back in…
(🚨THIS SECTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR RECENT EPISODES🚨)
finished…
Cape Fear — From the beginning, this adaptation was pure campy pulp in an expensive container. And I loved it for that. The visual style was interesting, and Javier Bardem was magnetic. But it’s a lot to ask this story to sustain ten episodes, and as the season went on, the characters had to make increasingly stupid decisions just to keep Max Cady one step ahead. By the finale, the show’s ridiculousness had been stretched too far. 3.5/5⭐ (JS)
The Vampire Lestat — The season continuously hinted at a catastrophic concert, then when we got to the finale, we just…skipped over to its aftermath. I liked parts of the episode, but was disappointed that it mostly revisits things we had already watched him work through and deprives us of the big conclusion that I’d been waiting for. Nevertheless, I largely enjoyed this season. The storytelling is messier than in the first two, but Sam Reid is so good as Lestat, and it’s fitting that his story was turned into a chaotic glam-rock musical. 4/5⭐ (JS)
still watching…
Furious — Nora is becoming the true standout of the show, and I delighted in watching her sarcastically confront her old boss at the mental health seminar. Side note: how did Plop become the go-to actor for casting directors who need a misogynistic asshole boyfriend/husband?! Justice for Plop! (JS)
House of the Dragon — What was going on in my head during much of this episode: “wooooo big dragons, hell yeah!!!!!” Finally living up to the name! But I can’t believe this season is almost over already; this show always has a million storylines moving at once, and eight episodes is definitely not enough time for all of them. (JS)
Silo — Ok, last Thursday’s ep had exactly the amount of "before times" screentime I want in every episode. I had fun! Feels like they’re finally getting the dystopian Scooby gang together and I’m here for it. (JC)
Lucky — Caught up on two episodes this week, and dang…Annette Bening is doing remarkable work here. Episode 4 was a whirlwind of action and emotion; episode 5 tries to grapple with the fallout, though the whirlwind never really lets up (poor Lucky et al, stuck in a prison of their own design…sorta. Too much to get into that now). I'll admit I haven't loved this show as much as I'd hoped, but that's mostly on me: I'm not an action-first kind of person. But this latest episode landed more for me emotionally, and the show has enough hold on me to see it through. (JC)
on pause…
dropped…
Sugar — I don’t think Sugar is a bad show, but it lost me with its S1 twist, and I should have known that I wouldn’t be interested in a second go-round. If anyone out there is particularly loving this season, though, let me know! I’m not against trying again.
Also streaming this week…
The Shards (Season 1) — Ryan Murphy adapts Bret Easton Ellis’s novel of the same name about a group of high schoolers in the 80s navigating prep school as a serial killer trawls the city.
Watch on FX/Hulu: August 5 (2 of 9 episodes, then weekly)One Hundred Years of Solitude (Part 2) — Based on Gabriel García Márquez’s landmark novel, the final episodes continue the multigenerational story of the Buendía family.
Watch on Netflix: August 5 (7 of 8 episodes; finale released Aug 26)Anna Pigeon (Season 1) — Based on Nevada Barr’s mystery novels, this crime drama follows a National Park Service ranger investigating a series of murders in America’s national parks.
Watch on USA: August 7 (1 of 8 episodes, then weekly)The Last House (Movie) — Greta Lee and Wagner Moura star in this sci-fi thriller about a family mysteriously trapped inside their own home with no way out as an unseen threat closes in.
Watch on Netflix: August 7You, Me & Tuscany (Movie - Streaming Premiere) — In this romcom, a free-spirited young cook (Halle Bailey) squats in an abandoned Tuscan villa owned by a man she barely knows, and things go off the rails when she falls for the owner’s cousin (Regé-Jean Page).
Watch on Peacock: August 7
In theaters…
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Watch if you like: Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man 2, Thunderbolts*
Length: 2h 25m
Jess’s rating: 4/5⭐
Spider-Man: Brand New Day picks up with the world having forgotten Peter Parker, leaving him isolated and increasingly consumed by his Spider-Man persona. It’s the first Marvel movie in recent history to return to the intimate, more character-driven stakes that once defined the MCU, rather than trying to shove the multiverse and a hundred different crossover elements down our throats. The story stays refreshingly street-level and best of all, you don’t need an encyclopedic knowledge of the MCU to follow what’s happening.
Where this film really worked for me was in its emotional layers, specifically Peter’s journey with MJ and Ned. Tom Holland is so good at conveying the agony of watching the people you love continue their lives without you, and I’m not ashamed to admit I cried multiple times. Brand New Day wisely lets Peter’s grief and isolation take center stage, giving his emotional journey more weight than the villain-of-the-week part of the plot.
Not everything works as well. The introduction of one major new character is surprisingly underwhelming where it should have been pretty cool. And the central storyline feels like it’s reheating some of Thunderbolts* ideas about loneliness and anger. Fortunately, Peter’s personal journey is compelling enough to carry the film through its weaker moments. Brand New Day gives Peter room to grow up—without losing any of the humor, charm, and earnestness that makes his version of the character so lovable. — Jess
Our take? Go see it, even if you have superhero fatigue (not that I need to convince you… the film has already passed $1B at the box office). In theaters everywhere now.
One Night Only
Watch if you like: Friends with Benefits, Superbad, Blockers
Length: 1h 42m
Jess’s rating: 3.5/5⭐
One Night Only takes place in an America where premarital sex is illegal except for one government-sanctioned 12 hour window per year. This is, obviously, an insane premise for a romantic comedy. The film knows that, which helps. From the first moments, it’s clear that the writers are in on the joke. Will Gluck (Easy A, Anyone but You) is simply unconcerned with building a plausible dystopia. The fascist, Christian-nationalist mandate set-up is just an excuse to send two attractive people ping-ponging through New York on an extended pseudo-date.
You can’t think about the premise for longer than a minute. There is enough satire to make it clear the government is the joke, but not enough to explain how America got here or what living under the mandate would actually involve. The stranger contradiction is that, for a movie about the one night everyone is allowed to have sex, it is remarkably invested in two hot people not having it. So, the movie has a more conservative streak than its marketing would suggest, but again, you just have to go with it. It’s interested only in being a straightforward romcom—how dare we think too much about its high-stakes, bizarro conceit!
Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner are charming together, with Barbaro doing a lot of the heavy lifting. I’m convinced she would have chemistry with a brick wall, but Turner is good enough to not detract. And most importantly, they don’t just stand next to each other while the screenplay tells us that they have chemistry. There are scenes that prove their building attraction, in a way that modern romcoms seem to have forgotten how to do. In the instances when the movie separates them, I yearn to see them back together.
In short, the politics are incoherent at best, and frustratingly glib and insulting at worst, and the sexual attitude is surprisingly prudish. But I still had a good time! Sue me! If you have the ability and/or interest in turning your brain off, go see it with friends and be ready to discuss afterward. — Jess
Our take? Just go along with it, and you’ll have a good time. In theaters everywhere August 7.
And a few more in theaters this weekend…
Super Troopers 3 — A group of unconventional Vermont state troopers find themselves investigating a drug ring in this slapstick crime comedy.
Ice Cream Man — Eli Roth’s latest horror film follows a mysterious ice cream vendor whose treats unleash terrifying consequences in a small town.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma — From I Saw the TV Glow filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, this horror film follows a young director (Hannah Einbeinder) who tracks down the reclusive star (Gillian Anderson) of a cult slasher franchise.
Tony — Dominic Sessa stars as a young Anthony Bourdain in this biopic exploring the formative summer that shaped his future as a chef and storyteller. (NY/LA this weekend; wide August 21)
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