What to Watch on Streaming This Week: August 18-24
Thrillers, science fiction and a spooky small town mystery make up this week's exciting offerings.
Netflix’s weirdest K-drama since Squid Game meets several chilling thrillers, as well as a long-awaited entry in the Star Wars universe. There’s science fiction alongside the supernatural this week, so get ready to enjoy some of streaming’s savviest genre fare.
What to watch on Netflix
Mask Girl
Mask Girl is a K-drama that makes for quite the viewing experience. Mo-mi is a lowly accountant at an office filled with men whose mouths are bigger than their paychecks. She’s always wanted to be famous, but her looks (or perceived lack thereof) have penned in her performance aspirations. That said, she still has one creative outlet: performing as Mask Girl, a cam girl who never shows her face but has legions of adoring male fans. Before long, though, her suggestive material becomes more explicit, and a violent act or two (or three) sends her down an entirely new path. Mask Girl premieres Friday, August 18th.
Who is Erin Carter?
A mild-mannered school teacher hides an action-packed past in Who is Erin Carter? This thriller follows British expat Erin, who has made a quiet, calm life for herself in a town outside of Barcelona. But when she’s trapped in the crosshairs of a supermarket robbery with her young daughter, long-suppressed instinct takes over and she unleashes some serious strength and skill. It leaves the perpetrators with plenty of questions, as well as those closest to Erin. Twists, turns and a flurry of fight scenes are sure to follow. Who is Erin Carter? premieres Thursday, August 24th.
What to watch on Hulu
To Catch a Killer
Shailene Woodley stars as a Baltimore police officer who’s recruited into a major FBI investigation in this crime thriller. To Catch a Killer centers around Woodley’s Eleanor, a relative novice in the force who has an innate affinity for detective work. As she picks up the pieces of a gruesome mass shooting, she catches the attention of a callous agent (Ben Mendelsohn) who asks her to join him and his teammate (Jovan Adepo) in finding the sole perpetrator. It’s a tense, terse procedural thriller with a cast that’s more than up to the task. To Catch a Killer streams starting Saturday, August 19th.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Provocatively titled and necessarily confrontational, How to Blow Up a Pipeline tackles the concept of eco terrorism in our time of climate crisis. The likes of Sasha Lane, Lukas Gage and Ariela Barer star as a group of young adults who are fed up with the passivity of the vast majority of environmental activism. They assemble a team and head to Texas, where a controversial pipeline has recently been erected—they hope to disrupt it as intensely as possible, with the help of handmade explosives and a few members with a personal vendetta. How to Blow Up a Pipeline will be available to stream Thursday, August 24th. Read our review here.
What to watch on Amazon Prime
Harlan Coben’s Shelter
If you’re in the mood for a new supernatural mystery, you can watch one unfold in Harlan Coben’s Shelter. This book-to-TV adaptation revolves around a highschool student named Mickey, whose mom (Constance Zimmer) brings him to a seemingly sleepy New Jersey town after the death of his father. He settles in alright, finding comfort in the weird kids and even nabbing a girlfriend, but then a mysterious disappearance leaves him and the entire town shaken. There’s more than meets the eye in this suburban paradise, and it’s up to Mickey and co. to discover it. Harlan Coben’s Shelter premieres Friday, August 18th.
Unseen
A stylish slasher movie with a unique conceit, Unseen places the power in the hands of a gas station clerk. Sam (Jolene Purdy) is working another unfulfilling shift when she gets a call from Emily (Midori Francis), a visually impaired woman whose vicious ex-boyfriend has drugged and dragged her out to the middle of nowhere. Panicked, unable to see and out of options, Emily decides that she must rely on Sam’s directions via video call in order to escape her ex and make it out of the ordeal alive. Unseen streams starting Friday, August 18th.
What to watch on Disney Plus
Star Wars: Ahsoka
Jon Favreau and Star Wars veteran Dave Filoni team up for Star Wars: Ahsoka, bringing the beloved character into the forefront in a new live-action series. Rosario Dawson stars as Ahsoka, a former Jedi-in-training who looked to Anakin Skywalker as her mentor before he turned to the Dark Side. Now a jaded rebel, her experience rivals that of her former master. The show is set to take place after the original trilogy, meaning Darth Vader and Palpatine are threats from the past, but new enemies are emerging to take advantage of that power vacuum. The first two episodes of Star Wars: Ahsoka premiere Wednesday, August 23rd.
What to Watch is a regular endorsement of movies and TV worth your streaming time.