5 must-watch movies & TV shows streaming right now

Streaming

The best of what’s new streaming on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney Plus, and more.

Welcome to Boston.com’s weekly streaming guide. Each week, we recommend five must-watch movies and TV shows available on streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, and more.

Want more streaming goodness? Sign up for The Queue, our streaming newsletter featuring the latest industry news, movie and TV recommendations, and more in your inbox every week.

For even more great streaming options, check out previous editions of our must-watch list here.

New Movies Streaming

“American Graffiti” (1973)

Before he changed movies forever with the Star Wars franchise, George Lucas built the blueprint for the coming-of-age genre with “American Graffiti.” The film bounces between groups of teenagers (including Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, and Harrison Ford) cruising around the streets of Modesto, California in search of thrills. Like “Dazed and Confused” 20 years later, “American Graffiti” is distinctly of its time and place, but its chronicling of the impulses that drive young minds to action is evergreen.

How to watch: “American Graffiti” is streaming on Netflix.

“Babygirl” (2024)

I can’t think of another actress in her 50s who would be willing to do what Nicole Kidman does in this erotic drama, playing a high-powered executive who begins an illicit affair with one of her firm’s interns (Harris Dickinson, “The Iron Claw”). Kidman’s Romy simulates a symphony of sexual expression across the film’s two hours, from her breathy (fake) orgasms with her husband (Antonio Banderas) to her guttural grunts of ecstasy when Dickinson’s Samuel indulges her unconventional pleasures.

“Babygirl” has bigger things to say about power dynamics and the cheap dopamine provided by modern technology. But on a basic level, it’s about the titillating thrill of watching Nicole Kidman totally unleashed — or in one scene, literally leashed.

How to watch: “Babygirl” is streaming on Max.

“The Jerk” (1979)

Steve Martin’s first movie remains his best one, telling the life story of bumbling moron Navin Johnson from his humble beginnings as “a poor Black child” to his even humbler present living in the gutter. In between, Navin acquires a dog whose name we can’t publish, a job at a gas station under siege by can-haters, and multiple girlfriends. But Navin doesn’t need any of it. He doesn’t need anything. Except for his ashtray. And his paddle game. And his remote control. And his…

How to watch: “The Jerk” is streaming on Netflix.

New TV Shows Streaming

“Andor”

Tony Gilroy’s “Star Wars” spinoff series “Andor” is a minor miracle: A streaming-exclusive show that is a prequel to a prequel to a decades-old trilogy that is absolutely essential viewing. Season 1 of “Andor” was one of the best TV shows of 2022, a taut political thriller that dramatized the genesis of a rebellion through the eyes of ordinary people, most notably mercenary-turned-revolutionary Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). In Season 2, Cassian continues to do the rebellion’s bidding, trying to help a planet that is slowly being destroyed by the Empire.

Given that “A New Hope” was released 48 years ago, it’s shocking that Lucasfilm waited until now to release a Star Wars project aimed specifically at its millions of adult fans. Giving a marquee director like Gilroy (“The Bourne Identity,” “Michael Clayton”) the space to tell a blissfully Jedi-free story is the best idea embattled Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has had to date. Taken as a whole, “Andor” is nothing less than the best piece of  “Star Wars” entertainment since the original trilogy. (Read my full “Andor” Season 2 review here.)

How to watch: “Andor” is streaming on Disney+.

“The Four Seasons”

Fifteen years after playing a suburban couple in “Date Night,” Tina Fey and Acton native Steve Carell are teaming up again in “The Four Seasons.” Based on the 1981 movie of the same name, the dramedy follows six longtime friends (comprised of three couples) who take four yearly vacations together, one for each season.

When the group finds out that one of their friends is planning to ask for a divorce (if you watch the trailer, you’ll be able to guess which one), the rest of the group is stunned. Across the eight-episode miniseries, each of the couples — Kate (Fey) and Jack (Will Forte); Danny (Colman Domingo) and Claude (Marco Calvani); and Nick (Carell) and Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) — must reckon with the unforseen effects the divorce has on their friend group and on each of their relationships.

How to watch: “The Four Seasons” is streaming on Netflix.