This Week in Streaming: July 30th

Memory (Hulu and Prime) Jessica Chastain stars as an alcoholic social worker whose life is thrown into disarray when an amnesiac (Peter Sarsgaard) follows her home from their high school reunion. As the two begin an unlikely romance, they learn to cope with the past traumas their families have long repressed. It may sound like some pat awardsy melodrama, but Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco proves the political savvy and virtuosic style that made his brutal activist class drama New Order one of the best of 2021 was no fluke.

The Decameron (Netflix) Sure, the vibe is shifting, but sometimes the best way to find the pulse of our current moment is looking backward. In this bawdy and ruthless TV adaptation of Boccaccio’s Renaissance classic, a group of aristocrats and peasants retreat from The Plague at a bucolic estate. The COVID commentary and elite takedowns seem to be cutting a bit too close for comfort for those in the know, but that just makes this period-piece gamble all the more vital.

Children of the Corn (Prime, Tubi, AMC+) Celebrate back-to-school season with Stephen King’s ultimate cautionary tale of child radicalization. When the sons and daughters of a Nebraska farm town massacre all the adults at the behest of a demonic being lurking in the corn rows, a pre-Terminator Linda Hamiton and her doctor boyfriend (Peter Horton) realize their city wits may not be enough to get out alive. Come for the unbeatable opening sequence, stay to see some of the gangliest-looking kids in Hollywood circa 1984 get their comeuppance.