Streaming highlights in September: you can’t miss these films and series

Some things have run their course. But my monthly movie and series highlights are here to stay. This is what to look out for this September.

Slow Horses, Season 4 (series)

I know, I keep saying it. But it’s true. Apple may not produce as many series as Netflix. But the little that comes out is often some of the best there is to stream.

Slow Horses is one of those series. More specifically, an ultra-black humour spy thriller that follows a group of disgraced MI5 agents who’ve been relegated to the sidelines at Slough House. They’re led by the cynical Jackson Lamb, played by Gary Oldman. I’m not exaggerating, Jackson Lamb is perhaps the most brilliant role Oldman’s played in his entire career. And that’s saying something.

What it’s all about: although the rejects in Slough House are labelled as failures, they constantly find themselves in the midst of dangerous conspiracies and have to prove their abilities. Somewhere between dry humour, complex characters and exciting storylines that shed light on the darker side of the secret service world, a great series is created. Now for round four. Be sure to catch up if you haven’t seen Slow Horses yet.

Release date: 4 September
Where: Apple TV+

Apollo 13: Survival (documentary)

It could be the first documentary that doesn’t have to do justice to the true events, but to an almost even better-known movie: Apollo 13. In 1995, when the movie was released, I was just seven years old. About a year later, I got to see it on video cassette from the video rental store. Since then, I’ve been devouring everything to do with space. Movies. Documentaries. Books. Even today, I usually watch space documentaries on YouTube to fall asleep. Yep, I’m obsessed with space.

I personally won’t learn anything new from the documentary. But I still won’t get tired of hearing about the most spectacular rescue mission of all time. What I can’t get my head around is how NASA managed to bring the three astronauts back to Earth safe and sound in 1970 after the explosion of an oxygen tank led to a critical loss of oxygen and electricity. Maybe the documentary will make it make sense.

Release date: 5 September
Where: Netflix

Rebel Ridge (movie)

«It’s got out of hand. People are getting hurt now. So I was thinking, what if we just walk away?» says the ex-marine, who actually only wanted to pay a deposit and was then robbed by the police, the corrupt police chief. Keep Going by Tom Morello & The Bloody Beetroots plays in the background. Just as the police chief is about to reply, the ex-marine interrupts him:

«But then I was like, nah.»

Boom! It’s a must-watch. The fact that the story (about a former soldier who comes to a small town and is harassed by the local cops until he feels compelled to go into battle against them) is a little reminiscent of First Blood doesn’t bother me. This is thanks to director Jeremy Saulnier, who made a name for himself in 2013 with the incredibly atmospheric thriller Blue Ruin and in 2015 with a great neo-Nazi thriller with Green Room. In general, it’s usually the small, rather unknown films without big star power on Netflix that are impressive.

Release date: 5 September
Where: Netflix

Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy (series)

It may not be The Lego Movie, but it’s still sort of like The Lego series. Only this is set in the Star Wars universe and is told in four pieces. Pieces. Lego pieces. Hehe. Okay, that was flat, but it’s not my joke, it’s from the trailer.

In any case, the story revolves around young Sig, voiced by Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo, who accidentally uproots the cornerstone of the galaxy. The galaxy far, far away dissolves and is completely reassembled. In it, Jar Jar Binks is suddenly the evil Sith Lord orchestrating everything behind the scenes. It’s down to Sig to undo this – and many other inconsistencies. Who knows, maybe Luke Skywalker will help?

Release date: 13 September
Where: Disney+

Grave of the Fireflies (movie)

Ooof. A hard watch. Grave of the Fireflies is a Studio Ghibli anime from 1988 that Netflix is finally adding to its catalogue. That’s because Netflix has been collecting Ghibli anime for quite a while. But this perhaps most important work, which is much more serious and poignant than most other Studio Ghibli anime, was still missing.

At the heart of the story is the heartbreaking tale of two young siblings, Seita and Setsuko, who struggle to survive in Japan during the Second World War after losing their mother in a bombing raid. Now they have to fend for themselves, somehow, and try to preserve at least a small spark of hope in the midst of destruction and hunger – even if it’s only in the form of the fireflies.

The film not only vividly shows the cruel effects of war on innocent people, it also leaves scars that are just as deep. That’s why I recommend that after you watch this movie, you watch the wonderful breakdown on the YouTube channel Cinema Therapy. It’s run by a psychotherapist and a director, who evaluate and explain films from a psychological and artistic perspective. With this movie in particular, I was in dire need to process what I had felt. And the movie itself? Educational, in my opinion.

Release date: 16 September
Where: Netflix

Agatha All Along (series)

Agatha Harkness, the old witch from the comics, already stole the show in the greatly rejuvenated version of the MCU in WandaVision. Especially her groovy song Agatha All Along, the big plot twist, took the hearts of fans by storm.

No wonder she’s now getting her own show. It picks up where WandaVision left off: Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlett Witch, drained Agatha of her powers and put her in a hex that made her believe she was in a prison in the form of a fake world, similar to The Matrix. But now that Wanda has been killed in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the hex has probably dissolved and with it Agatha’s prison. She has her freedom back, but not her powers.

How does she get them back? The trailer talks about the Witches’ Road. I already talked about this in my episode reviews on WandaVision. In short, the Witches’ Road is a mystical path that serves as a link between different magical realities for powerful witches. In the comics, it symbolises the opportunity for Wanda Maximoff to make amends for her mistakes and find inner peace. That’s probably the case in Agatha All Along too – but for Agatha. Let’s hope that the series will still be as dark and creepy as the trailer suggests.

Release date: 18 September
Where: Disney+

The Penguin (series)

Carmine Falcone is dead. Gotham City sinks into chaos. In the power vacuum left behind by the head of organised crime, the contenders walk over dead bodies to ascend to the secret throne of the city. Will his arrogant son Alberto take over? Will his daughter Sofia, who has just been released from a psychiatric ward, manage to assert herself? Or can Salvatore Maroni, leader of the rival clan, take revenge for the fact that Carmine once had him sent to prison?

Someone no one expects? The disfigured Oswald «Oz» Cobblepot aka the penguin. Under Carmine Falcone, he once proved to be a loyal but ultimately insignificant small-time star. But Oz is used to being underestimated and knows how to use this to his advantage. He cunningly wants to play everyone off against each other in order to begin his own bloody ascent.

Oh, I’m buzzing for this series! It wasn’t written by Matt Reeves, the director of The Batman, one of the best (in my opinion the best) Batman movies ever. But, as executive producer, Reeves has his fingers in the pie again. And he even compares The Penguin to Scarface, which is also about the rise of a character that we all know will later achieve an almost mythical status. A fantastic premise.

Release date: 20 September
Where: Sky Show

Wolfs (movie)

Are we entering another pandemic? Wolfs, a comedy about two buddies produced by Apple and starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, will be released in cinemas on 20 September – and can be streamed just seven days later. Sound familiar to you? It does to me too.. Most recently, Argylle and Fly me to the Moon, two Apple films with a mediocre budget, flopped at the box office. Apple’s lesson from this: people only go to the cinemas for superhero films, sequels, prequels or remakes. Or for small, experimental films with an exciting premise.

Mid-budget cinema, on the other hand, is dying out.

The topic itself is exciting. Most recently, actor and producer Matt Damon also spoke about it. Mid-budget films used to recoup their costs not only at the box office, but primarily through home cinema distribution. Now that streaming services are making Blu-rays and DVDs obsolete, this revenue is disappearing – and with it the «Why don’t they make movies like they used to?» films. If you want to change that, your only option is to go to the movies.

Release date: 27 September
Where: Apple TV+

Did I miss a film or series that we should definitely watch this month? Let me know in the comments.