This Week in Streaming (August 6th)

IF (Paramount+) Those needing a post-Deadpool Ryan Reynolds fix can now experience his other big summer hit on America’s most endangered streaming service. Reynolds stars as the founder of an agency that rehomes imaginary friends stuck in limbo when kids outgrow them. But when he realizes the kid next door can see his clients too, they form a partnership that brings the two worlds together. John Krasinski’s direction melds the sweet and raw side of coming of age while an all-star cast that includes Matt Damon, Sam Rockwell, Emily Blunt, Awkwafina, and Steve Carell give the whole affair a sense of whimsy as appealing to kids as adults.

Expats (Prime) The greatest Emmy snub of 2024 was the total disregard of Lulu Wang’s (The Farewell) knockout melodrama about a group of ritzy cosmopolitans living their worst lives in Hong Kong. As a mother dealing with the disappearance of her young son, Nicole Kidman anchors the whole affair with another on-point performance while Wang uses the soapy atmosphere to navigate the identity of a global city under perpetual colonization. Whip smart and more than worth a watch.  

Silent Night (Starz/Hulu/Prime) Hallmark and Hobby Lobby are officially bringing Christmas cheer, so may as well get a head start on the festivities with a should-be classic that also marks the return of Hong Kong action pioneer John Woo after a 20-year Hollywood hiatus. This largely dialogue-free tale of a vigilante father (Joel Kinnaman) in a bordertown who loses his son and voice in the crossfire of a gang war on Christmas Eve deftly balances instantly iconic fight sequences with savvy immigration commentary. Though it left little footprint during its initial theatrical run last winter, it’s the best seasonally appropriate movie of its kind since Mel Gibson’s Fatman.