New movies to stream this week: ‘I Want You Back,’ ‘The Sky Is Everywhere,’ ‘Alter Ego,’ ‘Blues on Beale’ and more
In the very first scenes of the surprisingly adorable rom-com “I Want You Back,” its protagonists are getting dumped: Peter (Charlie Day), by Anne (Gina Rodriguez); and Emma (Jenny Slate), by Noah (Scott Eastwood). Not 20 minutes into the film, these two dumpees, who work in the same building, have met and are bonding over drunken, breakup karaoke.
But there’s a whole movie left to go, and it’s a funny, if far-fetched, one: Peter and Emma hatch a plan to help each other get back together with their respective exes by using subterfuge to break up Anne and Noah’s new relationships. You know where this is going, every step of the way – and, yes, it gets there despite a few unexpected stumbling blocks.
But it’s how it does so that counts: Day and Slate are winsome and sweet, and their slowly budding more-than-friendship never feels less than grounded, however inevitable their coupledom may appear (and at times, it seems, quite frankly, doomed). That only serves to make “I Want You Back” more watchable, and its goofball central couple, ultimately, more relatable. R. Available on Amazon. Contains strong language, sexual material, drug use and nudity. 111 minutes.
Also streaming
Adapted by screenwriter Jandy Nelson from her debut 2010 young-adult novel, “The Sky is Everywhere” tells the story of parentless 17-year-old Lennie (an appealingly fresh-faced Grace Kaufman). Lennie, who narrates the story, is a talented clarinetist whose plans to attend Julliard are derailed by the sudden death of her older sister (Havana Rose Liu).
As Lennie navigates her grief and high school – including mean girl Rachel (Julia Schlaepfer) – she finds solace in her sister’s mopey fiance (Pico Alexander) and a more jolly and age-appropriate classmate and fellow band member (Jacques Colimon). This love triangle gets messy at times, in a way that feels genuine and unforced. Cherry Jones and Jason Segel round out the lively supporting cast as Lennie’s grandmother and uncle, known as “Big,” who have raised her.
But the film’s distinction comes from the way this story is told: Director Josephine Decker (“Shirley”) uses low-tech special effects – subtle lighting shifts, a garden coming to life via human performers covered with flowers and levitation – to externalize what’s going on inside Lennie’s head (and heart). As she experiences first love, it all feels so real. PG-13. Available on Apple TV+. Contains strong language, sexual references and drug use. 103 minutes.
In the crime thriller “Alter Ego,” Eric Roberts plays a detective investigating the case of a reclusive and paranoid author of serial-killer fiction (Dylan Walsh) who believes that one of his literary creations is trying to murder him. Unrated. Available on Apple TV+, Amazon, Vudu, FandangoNow, Google Play, DirecTV and more. 78 minutes.
Filmed in the music clubs of Memphis in 2020 and documenting the 36th International Blues Challenge, an annual music competition organized and staged by the Blues Foundation, “Blues on Beale” features live performances by Grammy winner Bobby Rush, Grammy-nominee Shemekia Copeland, Castro Coleman and other musicians. Unrated. Available on demand. 80 minutes.
Joey King (“The Kissing Booth”) stars in “The In Between,” a supernatural love story centering on a teenage girl, Tessa, who believes that her late boyfriend (Kyle Allen) is trying to communicate with her from beyond the grave. PG-13. Available on Paramount+. Contains sexual material, strong language and mature thematic material. 90 minutes.
“Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop” is a supernatural mystery about an detective prodigy (Nathalie Cox), raised as an orphan by a family friend (Kelsey Grammer), and now skilled in strategy, literature and martial arts. Her latest case: cracking the enigma of a poltergeist that appears to be plaguing a friend’s business. PG. Available on demand. Contains violence, mature thematic material, scary images and coarse language. 95 minutes.