Polygon.com - What to Watch

Anime's most overlooked sci-fi masterpiece is streaming free on YouTube

Ryan Epps — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 19:00:12 GMT

In just over a decade, Studio Colorido has quietly become one of anime's most dependable homes for heartfelt fantasy. Whether it's the shape-shifting romance of A Whisker Away, the emotional floodwaters of Drifting Home, or the more recent Cosmic Princess Kaguya!, Colorido has built a reputation for stories where extraordinary events crash into the everyday lives of children. Its films are defined by bright, expressive animation and a belief that growing up shouldn’t mean leaving behind your imagination.

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy is leaving Netflix, and it's never felt more relevant

Maria Loreto — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 17:00:12 GMT

Superheroes are forever. While the collective’s obsession with the topic ebbs and flows, these stories have existed in some form or another for hundreds of years. This week is a big one for superhero fans; Spider-Man: Brand New Day is out, with many anxiously awaiting to see if the movie will provide the necessary reassurance for Marvel, proving that there’s a future for the genre. While Marvel is not what it used to be and likely won’t ever recapture the magic of its golden years, superheroes are forever, and these stories will always have a home somewhere.

Forget Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan's breakthrough crime thriller is still his sharpest script ever

Ryan Epps — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:00:12 GMT

Taylor Sheridan has become one of the defining screenwriters of the last decade. From the Academy Award-nominated Hell or High Water to one of television's biggest franchises in Yellowstone, few writers have built such a recognizable voice across both movies and TV. Sheridan’s stories are often described as modern Westerns, which is hard to debate given cowboy-adjacent hits like Landman, 1923, and his latest Dutton Ranch. But what truly ties them all together is a fascination with broken institutions, impossible moral choices, and the will to survive in worlds where right and wrong have long since blurred.

10 new movies to watch this weekend on Peacock, HBO Max, and Hulu (July 31 - August 2)

Maria Loreto — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 23:00:12 GMT

It’s that time of the week again. If you’re not too busy scrambling for Spider-Man: Brand New Day tickets, there’s a lot of stuff you can watch from home, whether you’re renting or catching the latest streaming release.

The most important sci-fi movie of the century is about to leave Netflix

Maria Loreto — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:00:12 GMT

It’s tough to picture it now, but AI used to be the stuff of science fiction. Ever since the ‘60s, the topic has been fertile ground for inspiration, resulting in memorable creations, from the evil HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey to the pity-inducing replicants ofBlade Runner. While these movies remain classics, we’re in an era of AI that might reshape the way the technology is depicted in fiction. Instead of visualizing it as something far off and ripe for exploring, we’re encountering it in our daily lives. Your opinions on AI may vary, but one thing is clear: It’s a far less sexy topic than what was promised.

Studio Ghibli's worst movie returns to theaters for its 20th anniversary next month

Ryan Epps — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 01:00:12 GMT

Studio Ghibli has weathered surprisingly few genuine critical disappointments across its four-decade history. It’s a studio best known for anime masterpieces, which is why calling a Studio Ghibli movie "bad" almost feels like a contradiction. While it does have a few “lesser” films in its catalog, from Earwig and the Witch to Ocean Waves (a sleeper hit if you ask me), no Ghibli film has been more persistently labeled the studio's weakest than Tales from Earthsea, which celebrates its 20th anniversary next month with a North American theatrical release.

The action epic fantasy that Paramount tried it kill is a officially a global streaming smash hit

Corey Plante — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:12 GMT

The long-awaited follow-up to perhaps the single most beloved animated series of the late 2000s was supposed to be a huge theatrical event. Then in December, its wide release was canceled in favor of a straight-to-streaming release on Paramount Plus. A few months later, the entire movie leaked online following a server breach in April 2026. Fast-forward to today, mere days after its July 25 streaming release date, and it’s a massive hit on Paramount Plus as the platform’s number one movie both in the U.S. and worldwide.

Say goodbye to the most influential coming-of-age anime of the century leaving Netflix

Debopriyaa Dutta — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:00:12 GMT

Hunter x Hunter perfectly fits that bill. The beloved anime series portrays the experience of growing up as a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. Instead of being a straightforward hero’s journey about embracing maturity or overcoming obstacles, Yoshihiro Togashi’s manga explores the dark, messy aspects of working through childhood trauma.

12 months later, the biggest anime movie of all time is finally available on streaming

Debopriyaa Dutta — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:00:12 GMT

Some also offer lasting cultural impact: Think of Hideaki Anno’s Rebuild of Evangelion film tetralogy, which reinterprets the core thesis of Neon Genesis Evangelionand maps a markedly different ending for its characters. Long-standing anime franchises like Naruto, One Piece, and Dragon Ball have also used the theatrical model to varying effect — while not all of these movies are deeply moving or impactful, they’ve done pretty well at the box office.

Mads Mikkelsen's three-part psychological thriller is a spine-chilling masterpiece you'll watch in 1 week

Aimee Hart — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:00:12 GMT

As Obsession and Interview with the Vampire have proven, people are hungry for horror in which the line between psychological terror and possessive romance is as blurry as my eyesight when I’ve misplaced my glasses. The love for dark romance largely stems from Gothic literature, where there is something inherently thrilling about exploring the taboo. It makes the idea of all-consuming infatuation and the moral ambiguity in the media we consume feel equally exciting and disturbing.