New to Streaming: Who by Fire, A Desert, Bono: Stories of Surrender, On Swift Horses & More

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Bono: Stories of Surrender (Andrew Dominik)

After his wildly divisive Blonde was released three years ago, there’s been no movement on a new narrative feature from Andrew Dominik, but he’s back in the relatively safe territory of the concert documentary with his latest work. Following a world premiere at Cannes Film Festival, Bono: Stories of Surrender––based on Bono’s memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, and the accompanying book/theatre tour––has now arrived on Apple TV+.

Where to Stream: Apple TV+

A Desert (Joshua Erkman)

A neo-noir mystery oozing atmosphere, Joshua Erkman’s debut feature A Desert follows a photographer attempting to find a creative spark while on a trip in the barren lands of the American southwest. When he happens upon a couple that immediately smell of trouble, he gets caught in a rather sinister plot. While Joshua Erkman and Bossi Baker’s script leaves a bit to be desired (its influences can be deeply felt), the stomach-churning mood of mounting dread is an impressive one to behold, capped off by a fitting plunge into depravity. – Jordan R.

Where to Stream: VOD

On Swift Horses (Daniel Minahan)

Sporting quite the cast of up-and-coming talent, On Swift Horses (starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, and Sasha Calle) premiered at TIFF last fall and has now arrived digitally after a theatrical release last month. Christopher Schobert said in his review, “It’s somehow fitting that the film featuring this group is a soapy slice of ’50s melodrama, one ultimately centered around same-sex desire at a time when such things were fraught with danger. Adapted by Bryce Klass from Shannon Pufahl’s 2019 novel, On Swift Horses is brought to life with panache and great care by Minahan, who’s best-known as a television director (Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Game of Thrones). Indeed there are times in which it feels like the rather messy, tangled plotlines of Horses seem better-suited to the series treatment.”

Where to Stream: VOD

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Mohammad Rasoulof)

Here’s a film that asks, in the vein of another’s title: did you wonder who fired the gun? Yet in Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which is set concurrently against Iran’s Jina (Women, Life, Freedom) protests, the question’s sarcastic rather than interrogative. This gun is not literal and corporeal, but metaphorical and deadly, its firer the collective will of hundreds of women who cannot abide the country’s theocratic regime and morality police. There’s no doubting the film’s own cogently didactic thrust, either. – David K. (full review)

Where to Stream: Hulu

Who by Fire (Philippe Lesage)

After his revelatory coming-of-age film Genesis, Quebecois filmmaker Philippe Lesage has expanded his canvas with Who by Fire, a lush, intimate, psychologically riveting drama following two families on a secluded getaway in a remote cabin as they contend with career and romantic jealousies. David Katz said in his Berlinale review, “It’s a truly unrequited, anti-love triangle, and like in his previous work, Lesage sensitively reflects on but never sentimentalizes adolescent behavior: what we observe is raw, tentative, sometimes inexplicable, and put before us as if in a clinical setting, under laboratory conditions and stark lights.”

Where to Stream: VOD

The Wild Robot (Chris Sanders)

The best studio animation of last year by quite a wide margin, The Wild Robot is an adventure as wondrous as it is heartfelt. Exploring the trials, tribulations, and joys of parenting through the story of a stray robot in the wilderness, Sanders nails the emotional throughline to create a stirring, human-free experience. While the script could have used perhaps a bit more specificity, what it lacks in originality, it makes up for in earnestness and craft, chock full of detailed environments and wonderful character design. – Jordan R.

Where to Stream: Netflix

Youth (Hard Times) and Youth (Homecoming) (Wang Bing)

Completing one of the monumental projects of this decade thus far, Wang Bing premiered his final two installments of his 10-hour Youth, capturing the labor and less-than-ideal living conditions of textile workers in China, on the festival circuit this past fall, followed by a U.S. theatrical release and now streaming release. Rory O’Connor said of his second entry, “With all that, Youth (Hard Times) leaves you with the feeling of something monumental: a granular view of the frayed hems of late capitalism that still has 152 minutes to go and, if reports are to be believed, a couple of weddings to get through.”

Where to Stream: VOD

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The post New to Streaming: Who by Fire, A Desert, Bono: Stories of Surrender, On Swift Horses & More first appeared on The Film Stage.