The best streaming releases you haven't watched in November 2024

(Welcome to Under the radara column where we highlight specific movies, shows, trends, performances, or scenes that caught our attention and deserved more attention… but otherwise went unnoticed. In this edition: “My Old Ass” by Megan Park, “Blitz” by Steve McQueen and “Juror #2” by Clint Eastwood top our selection for November.)

I know, I know. Thanksgiving is behind us, the holiday season is approaching, and all those Best of 2024 lists aren't going to write themselves. Caught in this strange liminal space, November is not the ideal time to release little hidden gems or author-driven projects – not if you don't want to be completely swallowed up by box office giants like “Moana 2”, “Gladiator II” and “Wicked”, that's to say. Even proximity to awards season is no guarantee of leading anyone to the promised land. In fact, it might actively work against most hopefuls, considering how many contenders are all fighting for attention at the same time during this hectic time of year. It's not easy making a movie on a budget under $100 million these days, my friends, let alone ones telling original stories that don't dare be based on pre-existing intellectual property. Posting them in November, of all months, only makes things even more difficult.

But maybe let's wait to close the book in 2024 for now. November may be over, but our obsessive quest to become fully informed movie fans never ends. For those looking to play a last-minute game of catch-up before the year officially ends, here are three must-see films coming in just under last month's feed that deserve their moment in the sun.

Let me let you in on a little secret: People only fall into one of two categories. There are those of us who wish we could travel back in time and provide sage advice to our younger selves, and then there's everyone who's too young to have reached that point themselves…but who will eventually do it. That's it! Regrets are a reality, but wouldn't it be great to go back and warn yourself of all those mistakes, missed opportunities, and just plain bad choices that made things harder than they should have been? be ? Countless films have attempted to tackle this delicate subject over the past decades. Few have managed to do it with as much originality or verve like “My old ass”.

Better yet, he does it entirely without ever condescending to The Youths. Writer/director Megan Park is a millennial actress turned filmmaker (although she more than proved her good faith with “The Fallout”), and the only established name in the cast is Aubrey Plaza – someone who perfectly straddles the boundaries between generations with ease. Even though she doesn't get much screen time, her presence only makes the Gen Z-friendly storyline even harder. The film stars extremely talented newcomer Maisy Stella as Elliot, a teenager on the verge of leaving his family's Canadian cranberry farm (let's say that five times faster) for the university in faraway Toronto. Before her big move, she and her friends go on one last mushroom-fueled camping trip…and quickly come face-to-face with, well, her “old ass.” Of all the possible warnings she could give, Plaza's eldest Elliot offers simply this: “Avoid Chad.” What unfolds from there is a rich, hilarious, and deeply moving coming-of-age tale — and it's one of the best of the year.

“My Old Ass” is currently available to stream on Prime Video.

Clint Eastwood, you will be avenged. “Juror No. 2”, you will not be forgotten. It's both incredibly ironic and terribly disheartening that a film dedicated to miscarriage of justice and the failings of our greatest institutions should itself be the victim of one of the saddest stories of the year. One might think that Warner Bros. throws this potential theatrical release under the bus in favor of a direct streaming debut on Max that would be bad enough. But no, to add insult to injury, it threatened to overshadow what turned out to be exactly the kind of movie we need these days: an original, adult-oriented drama from 'a living legend. And call me naive, but something tells me that even an extremely talky legal thriller in the same vein as “12 Angry Men” and “A Few Good Men” would have brought in solid box office numbers if it had been aired for longer than a one-week run. Still, at least is streaming a better fate than banishing this into the ether as a tax deduction?

The appeal of “Juror #2” goes far beyond its admittedly hokey premise. Just on the cusp of his heavily pregnant wife's (Zoey Deutch) delivery, Nicholas Hoult's Justin Kemp ends up summoned for jury duty to deliberate on a murder case. The suspect is a local hothead known for his troublemaking ways. The victim is a young woman who was last seen storming out of a bar to escape her lover. And the real killer? Justin eventually realizes that it could be… himself. Once viewers buy into that (and Eastwood's steady hand on the wheel makes it easy), they're quickly taken on a journey – not just because of Justin's complicated personal life or that of his colleagues jurors, but because of moral rot. in the very center of America. If that sounds sanctimonious, preachy and more than a little old-fashioned, well, welcome to a Clint Eastwood movie. This one, however, might be his most worthwhile effort of the last decade.

“Juror #2” is currently available for purchase and rental digitally and (deep sigh) will be released on or before December 20, 2024.

What's worse than being trapped in WWII London during the Blitz? What would it be like to be a black child trapped in WWII London during the Blitz? Director Steve McQueen has been criticized (um, pun not intended?) for some of the strangest reasons possible. Consider the pushback he received from some critics for making a fairly straightforward war drama that apparently doesn't “feel” much like a McQueen film – whatever that means. Then there's the bad faith campaign from some audiences who, frankly, can't stand the idea of ​​anyone other than white people appearing in period films. You know what the perfect movie for these two (admittedly island) demographics to watch and learn about? You guessed it: “Blitz”.

McQueen might follow the contours of a prototypical war drama here, but the script does nothing less than a remarkable job of transcending the confines of genre. It begins with the choice to center the action on a tight-knit family of three: Saoirse Ronan as single mother Rita, Paul Weller as her elderly father Gerald, and especially first-time actor Elliott Heffernan as George. Set at the height of the Nazis' relentless air attack on London, the story begins when Rita sends her son to safety in the countryside, along with millions of children in mass evacuations. But unable (or unwilling) to deal with the situation, young George escapes the train and attempts the long journey home alone – while his mother must somehow balance her work at the factory making bombs for the war effort, avoiding the air raids raging everywhere. the city at night and to stop thinking about anything by volunteering at a nearby shelter. Along the way, George must come to terms with his own mixed-race heritage and the disadvantages it gives him, especially when his fellow townspeople are also capable of giving him a helping hand or spitting in his face.

“Blitz” is as incisive, tense and tender as we’ve ever seen McQueen before.

“Blitz” is now streaming on Apple TV+.