This Week in Streaming (September 10th)

Ghostlight (AMC+) There were a lot of ways a movie about a construction worker who finds purpose acting in a community theater production of Romeo and Juliet could have gone wrong. Yet, this Illinois-shot indie masterfully sidesteps showy melodrama and arthouse tweeness on the way to becoming one of the most affecting crowdpleasers in recent memory. Working primarily with theater actors, director Kelly O’Sullivan strives for a sense of universality and truth most Sundance films abandoned decades ago. There’s a simple reason it still has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score eight months after its premiere: it’s just that good.

Community (Peacock) Before Rick and Morty, Dan Harmon braved the worlds of the broadcast sitcom with this playful meta sitcom about a lawyer (Joel McHale) who has to return to community college when he’s disbarred for falsifying his credentials and accidentally starts a study group of misfits. With pre-star turns for Donald Glover and Alison Brie as well as a meaty role for a late-career Chevy Chase that almost makes up for the actor’s legendary douchebaggery, it’s as relevant and funny as it ever was 15 years on. 

Natural Born Killers (Netflix) This fall is sure to bring an avalanche of oral histories detailing the making of Oliver Stone’s infamous satire about the media’s obsession with violence to commemorate its 30th anniversary. But all the rehashing of Stone’s infamous feud with Quentin Tarantino and the public outcry over the NC-17 film’s misanthropic violence continue to obscure the fact that it is one of the most prescient and visionary works ever released by a Hollywood studio.