Top 10 Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Streaming September 2020
#10: “Long Way Up” (2020)
Apple TV+: September 18th, 2020
Do you love motorcycles, travel content and/or Ewan McGregor? If you answered yes to even one of three, we can all but guarantee that you’re going to enjoy this new documentary travel series on Apple TV+. Filmed from September through December of 2019, the show follows Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on a long distance motorcycle journey beginning in the Patagonia region of Argentina and ending in California. For those who are unfamiliar with his work, Charley Boorman is an accomplished travel writer, actor, tv presenter and avid motorcycle enthusiast. This is actually the third collaboration between McGregor and Boorman, the previous two being 2004’s “Long Way Round” and 2007’s “Long Way Down”. The curveball this time around? The motorcycles are electric.
#9: “Enola Holmes” (2020-)
Netflix: September 23rd, 2020
Everywhere you look, there’s Millie Bobby Brown doing her thing and absolutely crushing it. In addition to “Stranger Things”, “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”, being an ambassador for UNICEF, and breaking into modelling, she’s now adding a second major Netflix production to her name. The young star takes the titular role in “Enola Holmes”, a mystery film adapted from the YA book series by Nancy Springer. It centers on the brilliant younger sister of Sherlock Holmes, Enola, as she endeavors to solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance. The trailer promises a fun, fast-paced and utterly charming film. And with Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin and Helena Bonham Carter playing the rest of the Holmes family, Millie Brown Bobby is certainly in good company!
#8: “Pen15” (2019-) season 2
Hulu: September 18th, 2020
Despite being nominated for a Primetime Emmy, this series has largely flown under the mainstream radar. In case you're among the uninitiated, “Pen15” stars Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle as fictionalized 13 year old versions of themselves going to middle school in the early 2000s. They haven’t been digitally de-aged, but everyone around them is played by actual tweens. If the premise sounds uncomfortable, wait until you watch an actual episode. The cringe factor is off the charts, but so too is the quality of the writing. Erskine and Konkle wholly commit to the roles, making the juxtaposition between their obvious age and behavior all the more intense. Season 2 promises to be yet another utterly unique trip back to school.
#7: “Earth to Ned” (2020-) season 1
Disney+: September 4, 2020
In July of 2020, Disney brought the Muppets back in style with the six episode first season of “Muppets Now”. It would seem that Disney sees a market for puppetry on their platform, because not two months later, they’re debuting the puppet-based variety show “Earth to Ned”. Developed by the real masters of puppets at The Jim Henson Company, “Earth to Ned” is billed as a sci-fi comedy talk show. And based on what we’ve seen of it so far, it looks appropriately out of this world. Disney has lined up some of their best and brightest stars to sit down with the titular extraterrestrial. The result is a series unlike anything we’ve seen before.
#6: “Raised by Wolves” (2020-) series premiere
HBO Max: September 3rd, 2020
It’s official! Ridley Scott is over aliens and wants to explore the concept of androids. After commanding increasing amounts of screen time in“Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant”, these artificial beings finally take center stage in this HBO Max original series. Created by Aaron Guzikowski, but directed and executive produced by Scott, “Raised by Wolves” follows a pair of androids tasked with caring for human children on a new world. Earth was supposedly destroyed by war, and they must ensure that this new home remains free from religious conflict. For anyone who’s missed Travis Fimmel since his departure from “Vikings”, you’ll be happy to know that he plays a leading role. Based on the production value, HBO clearly spared no expense bringing this series to life.
#5: “Ratched” (2020-)
Netflix: September 18th, 2020
When you put Ryan Murphy and Sarah Paulson together, the results are usually electrifying. But this isn’t just another season of “American Horror Story”, it’s a prequel series to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. More specifically, it’s a prequel focusing on the infamous Nurse Ratched, one of the most iconic villains in the history of cinema. Set in 1947, it follows a young but already stern and manipulative Mildred Ratched as she begins her work in an asylum. There’s a real darkness to the character, and the series promises to explore how those sinister compulsions grew and evolved to make her the monster we met in the 1962 novel and 1975 film. Paulson is joined by the likes of Sharon Stone, Judy Davis and Vincent D’Onofrio.
#4: “Mulan” (2020)
Disney+: September 4th, 2020
A live remake of Disney’s hit 1998 film, “Mulan” is certainly high profile enough to land in our top 5. But in addition to a Disney+ subscription, you’ll also need to pay $29.99 (or thereabouts depending on your country), which makes it fall into a gray area criteria-wise. Regardless, “Mulan” is too epic of a release to ignore. It’s great to see Disney taking this empowering story and bringing it to life with a racially-appropriate cast and adapting the plot to recognize concerns about gendered power dynamics. Furthermore, this is also a landmark moment in terms of distribution strategy - one that could fundamentally change the industry. Most importantly though, we’re just excited to see one of Disney’s greatest heroines in a live action capacity.
#3: “The Devil All The Time” (2020)
Netflix: September 16th, 2020
Based on Donald Ray Pollock’s 2011 novel, “The Devil All the Time” is a psychological thriller set in Post-WWII Ohio. It follows a young man named Arvin Russell who finds both himself and his family threatened on all sides by forces of evil. The hugely talented Tom Holland plays our young protagonist, and he’s surrounded by just about the best supporting cast that one could ever ask for. This includes Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke, Mia Wasikowska and fellow MCU alumni Sebastian Stan. Though he receives lower billing than his co-stars, Robert Pattinson looms large in the trailer as Rev. Preston Teagardin. Directed and co-written by Antonio Campos, who gave us the woefully underrated 2016 film “Christine”, this Netflix original seems set to be a must-watch.
#2: “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” (2020)
Netflix: September 4th
If you’re a fan of horror, psychological thrillers, mind-bending cinema or just good storytelling, watch this movie… but do yourself a favor and read the book beforehand. From Canadian author Iain Reid, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” is one of the most effective pieces of psychological horror fiction you’ve likely read in a long time. And we can’t think of anyone better suited to bring it to life on the big screen than Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman. The film follows a young woman (played by “Chernobyl” star Jessie Buckley) who goes to visit her new boyfriend’s parents, but things quickly take a strange turn. It might sound like a conventional horror setup, but we guarantee that you have no idea where this story is headed.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
“Anthony” (2020)
Peacock: September 4th, 2020
“A.P. Bio” (2018-) season 3
Peacock: September 3rd, 2020
“The Babysitter: Killer Queen” (2020)
Netflix: September 10th, 2020
“Marvel's 616” (2020-)
Disney+: September 25th, 2020
“Away” (2020)
Netflix: September 4th, 2020
#1: “The Boys” (2019-) season 2
Prime Video: September 4th, 2020
Some comic books just seem too gory and raunchy to ever get a big budget adaptation. Apparently Amazon disagrees! After dousing Prime Video subscribers in blood, profanity and all manner of unsavory acts in 2019, “The Boys” are back to somehow up the ante. The first season made a big impression with its shock value, but it also set up a fascinating world of corrupt, corporate-sponsored superheroes. It also ended on a major reveal that promised big things on the horizon. Well, the reviews are in and it would seem that season 2 of “The Boys” not only capitalizes on everything it set up in 2019, but also goes bigger and better in every conceivable way.