'Eddington,' 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' 'M3GAN 2.0' and more: Your guide to this weekend’s top movies to watch in theaters and at home

Hello, Yahoo readers! My name is Brett Arnold, film critic and longtime Yahoo editor, and I'm back with another edition of Trust Me, I Watch Everything. This weekend, two wildly different wide releases hit theaters: Buzzy-Cannes debut Eddington, a pandemic-set Western that's hard to categorize but falls somewhere between satire and thriller, and I Know What You Did Last Summer, a legacy sequel/reboot of the iconic franchise. Are they both worth the cost of a movie ticket (plus popcorn and a soda)? Eddington is one of those movies that sticks with you, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. As for the other, well, keep reading.

Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal in Eddington. (Courtesy of A24/Everett Collection)

A few recent releases come home, too. There's the smash-hit How to Train Your Dragon remake and the absolute bomb that was M3GAN 2.0.Over on streaming services you may already be paying for, there's I Love You Forever, an indie comedy starring Cazzie David, daughter of comedy legend Larry David, on HBO Max, and The Assessment, starring Elizabeth Olsen and Alicia Vikander, on Hulu. Read on because there's something here for everyone!

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What to watch in theaters

Movies newly available to rent or buy

Movies newly available on streaming services you may already have

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🎥 What to watch in theaters

My recommendation: Eddington

Why you should watch it: Most people go to the movies for escapism, to get away from the problems of the real world and the stresses of your personal life for just a couple of hours and watch some beautiful people on a huge screen. Eddington definitely delivers on the beautiful people part — it boasts an A-list cast featuring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone and Austin Butler that makes it feel higher profile than Ari Aster's previous films (Hereditary, Midsommar) — but it's about as far from escapism as movies get.

It's a politically-charged modern Western that takes the form of a violent confrontation for both its characters and the audience, forcing us to reckon with the collective mindf*** that was the summer of 2020, when COVID-19 entered our lexicon and lockdowns changed everything about our lives.

Joaquin Phoenix in Eddington. (Courtesy of A24/Everett Collection)

Eddington depicts a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and mayor (Pedro Pascal) that sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in the small town of Eddington, New Mexico. Phoenix's character doesn't want to wear a mask — he has asthma, and he says he can't breathe while wearing one — and decides to run for mayor to fight against local pandemic-era regulations that he finds overly burdensome.

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The plot is a cavalcade of culture war talking points from the era: mask mandates, ineffectual and hypocritical political leadership, shifting goalposts, opportunist conspiracy theorist grifters, "fake news," social justice warriors that are well-meaning but whose actions may be performative and influenced by ulterior motives and so much more.

Austin Butler in Eddington. (Courtesy of A24/Everett Collection)

It's a satire that clocks the pandemic as the moment that we as a society lost all sense of community in the internet age as we're all siloed off in our own personalized little bubble worlds, stuck in echo chambers of our own choosing, thanks to social media algorithms and conspiracies pushed by people in the highest levels of power. It demonstrates how people now live in alternate realities within the same town, or even the same house, and how that can be corrosive, and how it's all getting worse and exacerbated by A.I., as data centers proliferate across the country, including the fictional Eddington, gobbling up human resources and further closing the gap between our real world and the digital one we inhabit.

Despite the satirical bent — it's laugh-out-loud funny throughout, even when hitting easy targets — Eddington is quite earnest in its depiction of that time period and how it broke all of our brains, and how we're still very much living in the aftermath of it.

Aster isn't offering any solutions here, and, more than anything else, it winds up being a deeply disturbing and upsetting character study about the type of person who might become radicalized by the state of the world and the insidiousness of the modern internet. He's an anxious person who has now repeatedly used his tableaus to explore those specific anxieties.

Emma Stone in Eddington. (Courtesy of A24/Everett Collection)

As such, Eddington is ultimately a very paranoid and depressing movie, one that posits there may not be a way back, and that 2020 was the beginning of the end of an era, a point of no return, and that screens and technology will forever infiltrate and sow chaos in our lives. It all builds to a pulse-pounding and thrilling third act that sees the filmmaker trying out yet another genre. It's sure to be the most polarizing film of the year and should inspire intense reactions on both sides.

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Personally, I haven't stopped thinking about it, and despite my utter disinterest in films about the pandemic, it makes a great case that maybe we should all set aside some time to process what the hell happened. It's the feel-bad movie of the summer, but a must-see all the same!

What other critics are saying: Polarizing is right! For every instance of praise, there's also a pan. Lindsay Bahr at the Associated Press wrote that the film "somehow seems both too late and too soon" and that it "feels like the last thing any of us need." Esther Zuckerman in the Daily Beast praised Phoenix's performance, adding, "While Eddington has a very starry cast, Phoenix is his anchor."

How to watch: Eddington is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Get tickets

➕ Bonus not-quite-a-recommendation: I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

Why you should skip it: It’s fitting that the legacy sequel for I Know What You Did Last Summer, a movie that is and always was a Scream knockoff that should always be mentioned in the same breath as that film, plays like a parody of the recent spate of horror legacy sequels, or remakequels, that we’ve endured in recent years.

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You likely already know the drill: a fresh-faced cast of young people are now facing off against a fisherman murdered in a rain slicker, and the circumstances basically mirror the original film with minor changes. To help stop the murders, the teens must team up with … you guessed it: Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. from the original movies. Madelyn Cline of Outer Banks fame is a rising star worth watching, but the returning older cast members all prove that maybe there’s a reason they don’t top-line movies anymore.

Chase Sui Wonders and The Fisherman in I Know What You Did Last Summer. (Courtesy of Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection)

I Know What You Did Last Summer is full of references to modern memes and pop culture staples — is this the first movie to reference Nicole Kidman’s AMC ads? — in such a way that it feels even more like a Scream clone than it ever did. It also somehow already feels dated; Halloween (2018) did the true-crime podcaster thing, and it’s not the only example.

Worst of all, though, is it’s poorly directed and awkwardly assembled, edited in such a jumpy way that the killer often seems to appear out of nowhere, with no coherence or any build-up whatsoever. It’s truly amateur hour, so much so that a major climactic moment is absolutely botched and comes off incomprehensible.

Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr. in I Know What You Did Last Summer. (Courtesy of Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection)

If you do see it, though, do stick around for the mid-credits scene, which features a Marvel-style character introduction and table setting for any future films that is definitely meant to be laughed at, but also reveals how utterly ridiculous and unserious this whole affair is, which would be fine if the movie were any fun or were competently made.

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What other critics are saying: It's no surprise that it's getting slaughtered. Mark Kennedy at the Associated Press wrote that "a relaunch makes sense but it’s pretty vapid stuff until the OGs arrive." Though Jordan Hoffman, writing for Entertainment Weekly, argued that "clever moments" and "a sensational performance from Madelyn Cline" keep it afloat.

How to watch: I Know What You Did Last Summer is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Get tickets

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💸 Movies newly available to rent or buy

My recommendation: How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

Why you should watch it: The live-action remake of the 2010 computer-animated film doesn't change a thing, to its benefit and its detriment. The original film's story is heartfelt and a crowd-pleaser, so it makes sense that the remake would also be heartfelt and a crowd-pleaser.

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Its problems are inherent to the animated-to-live-action-adaptation pipeline, in that it never really justifies its existence beyond "a new generation of children will want to see this and their parents will pay to do so." Place any sequence from the original side-by-side next to its live-action counterpart, and the animated sequence is more appealing every time.

Gerard Butler in How to Train Your Dragon (Courtesy of Dreamworks/Everett Collection)

There's an expressive energy to the proceedings that's lost in translation, no matter how good the performances. The dragon-based action is so specifically ill-suited for live-action that they opt to make all the CGI-heavy action dark and indistinguishable! This likely won't bother your kids, though I do recommend starting with the animated versions if they're new to the franchise.

It's a completely safe endeavor with no real creative risks taken, but "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" is a colloquialism for a reason. Though I do think it's time we get a congressional committee to investigate how all these "real" redos of animated movies are always somehow both exactly the same movie, yet also a half hour longer.

What other critics are saying: I'm a curmudgeon, it turns out, as many critics were impressed with it. David Sims of The Atlantic wrote that he liked the new version about as much as its ancestor. "Both, to me, are above-average bits of children’s entertainment that struggle with the same problems," he said/ The Hollywood Reporter's Lovia Gyarkye said it "honors the charm of the original. It’s not an essential remake, but at least it’s not an offensive one."

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How to watch: How to Train Your Dragon is now available to rent or buy on Amazon, Apple TV and other VOD platforms.

Rent or buy

➕ Bonus recommendation: M3GAN 2.0

Why you should watch it: M3GAN 2.0 bombed so badly at the box office, Jason Blum, the CEO of Blumhouse, the company that made the movie, spent his Monday morning following its first weekend flop doing interviews and taking ownership for the movie's failure.

The original grossed a surprisingly healthy $30 million opening weekend; the sequel barely cracked $10 million! “We all thought M3gan was like Superman — we could do anything to her. We could change genres, we could put her in the summer, we could make her look different, we could turn her from a bad guy into a good guy. And we kind of classically overthought how powerful people’s engagement was, really, with her,” he admitted.

M3GAN in M3GAN 2.0 (Courtesy of Universal/Everett Collection)

However, if you're aware that the movie is more of a comedic sci-fi spy adventure that's riffing on everything from Terminator 2 to Mission: Impossible and not a horror film at all like the original, you may have fun with it. It's certainly dumb, but it knows it. Had the movie not been an unreasonably lengthy two hours long, all the silliness would be easier to forgive

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What other critics are saying: It's a mixed bag! Mashable's Kristy Puchko declares that appealing to a broader audience killed the fun, calling it "a horrendous mishmash of ideas and influences" that's mostly "derivative, bewildering and bland." The Telegraph's Robbie Collins, however, had a great time with it, calling it "uproarious, if not especially scary" and that it leans into silliness "with infectious glee."

How to watch: M3GAN 2.0 is now available to rent or buy on Amazon, Apple TV and other VOD platforms.

Rent or buy

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📺 Movies newly available on streaming services you may have

My recommendation: I Love You Forever

Why you should watch it: I Love You Forever is a subversive romantic comedy gone wrong that follows a young woman into and out of an emotionally abusive relationship. It's an impressive debut from Cazzie David, daughter of Larry David, that feels honest, and the characters feel like real people, which is no easy feat when writing comedy.

Cazzie David in I Love You Forever. (Courtesy of Utopia/Everett Collection)

Given how funny the banter here is, it may feel like a wasted opportunity that it doesn't always lean into the comedy, but it's noble to depict a type of abusive relationship you don't often see in movies, and do so in a way that makes you understand and empathize with the lead's point-of-view. It's an indie gem, and Cazzie, who co-directed, co-wrote and co-stars in the film, stands out as particularly funny here. It also features fellow nepo baby Ray Nicholson, Jack Nicholson's son.

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What other critics are saying: They love it forever! Indiewire's Samantha Bergeson praised lead actress Sofia Black-D’Elia, writing that she's "ushering in a next generation of sarcastic, relatable, lovable stars. Black-D’Elia has an Emma Stone in Easy A vibe." Stephen Saito at Variety said that it's a "nifty" millennial rewrite of a rom-com, "finding a fresh take on a toxic relationship."

Ray Nicholson, Sofia Black-D'Elia in I Love You Forever. (Courtesy of Utopia/Everett Collection).

How to watch: I Love You Forever is now streaming on HBO Max.

Stream "I Love You Forever"

➕ Bonus recommendation: The Assessment

Why you should watch it: In a climate change-ravaged world, a utopian society optimizes life, including parenthood assessments. A successful couple, played by Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel faces scrutiny by an evaluator (Alicia Vikander) over seven days to determine their fitness for childbearing.

It's bizarre, delightfully stupid and goes off the rails in ways I didn't see coming, frankly. The reasons why are best left unspoiled, but I'll say that Vikander's character takes a ... turn that is rather exciting and shocking, coming from an esteemed actress of her caliber. It's ultimately a bleakly funny satire about parenting.

Alicia Vikander in The Assessment. (Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures/Everett Collection)

What other critics are saying: There are far more positive reviews out there than negative ones. Variety's Stephen Saito wrote that "the film may depict a society losing touch with humanity, but is unusually affecting when it shows no lack of it of its own." Robert Abele at the Los Angeles Times liked it, but said "it falters in bringing everything to the reverberating conclusion its discomfiting first two-thirds merits."

How to watch: The Assessment is now streaming on Hulu.

Stream "The Assessment" on Hulu

🤔 But that's not all!

Rami Malek in The Amateur. (Courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Everett Collection)

The Amateur: Rami Malek stars in this film based on the 1981 novel by Robert Littell, which was already adapted into a film in 1981. It's a simple revenge story you've seen a million times before, in which a boring and nebbish CIA analyst takes justice into his own hands to get revenge on those who killed his loved ones. There are moments here you'd confuse for a Saw movie, but it's not as exciting as that sounds, and is never as compelling as it should be. Now streaming on Hulu.

That's all for this week — we'll see you next Friday at the movies!