Netflix has some top-class films and series in store for the last week of September 2023. And then October already starts on Sunday, which is why you can look forward to numerous new films in the programme of the streaming service.
Normally, Netflix and other streaming services noticeably run out of steam at the end of the month: The biggest new releases – whether movies or series – are usually released in the first few weeks, after which it’s residual ramp. But September 2023 is different: For the last days of the month, Netflix has saved highlights such as the wonderful Roald Dahl adaptation “I See Something You Don’t See” and “Castlevania: Nocturne”. And that’s not all – here are the Netflix highlights of the week from 25 September to 1 October 2023.
MONDAY: QUIET START TO THE WEEK
As if to prove our words wrong, the week is off to a very quiet start: all Netflix has announced for Monday is “Little Baby Bum: Time for Music,” which is a new series for preschoolers.
TUESDAY: NO NETFLIX WEEK WITHOUT TRUE CRIME
Tuesday, however, is a little different: Here, young and old can look forward to several seasons of “Powerpuff Girls”, but Netflix has not yet revealed exactly how many. In addition, you can expect the true-crime docu-series “The Murder of Jill Dando”, with which Netflix continues to fuel perhaps the most popular genre on the platform.
WEDNESDAY: SHORT FILM HIGHLIGHTS AND ALIEN DOCUMENTARY
In September 2021, Netflix secured the rights to the stories of cult author Roald Dahl for around $686 million. So far, only “Matilda – The Musical” has been made with it, but now there is some momentum coming: between 27 and 30 September, a new (short) film by director Wes Anderson based on one of Dahl’s stories will be released every day.
First up is “I See Something You Don’t” (aka “The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar”), which we at FILMSTARTS have already seen at the 2023 Venice Film Festival and found to be “one of Wes Anderson’s best films”. This will be followed by “The Swan”, “The Pied Piper” and “Poison”.
You can’t get into Wes Anderson and/or Roald Dahl? Then perhaps the docu-series “Encounters” is for you, which deals with the question of the existence of extraterrestrials and in four episodes eye-witness accounts are staged on film. Or how about the Brazilian actioner “Maximum Load”, which promises a kind of “Fast And Furious” with trucks instead of cars?
THURSDAY: ONE OF THE BEST NETFLIX SERIES CONTINUES
“Castlevania” is one of the best and most popular Netflix series, but it ended in 2021 after four seasons – at least temporarily. Because with “Castlevania: Nocturne”, a new chapter of the “Castlevania” saga entitled “Nocturne” starts on Thursday.
The spin-off is set about 300 years later during the French Revolution. It centres on a descendant of the Belmont vampire-hunting clan who has to take on the so-called Blood Countess Elisabeth Báthory instead of Count Dracula.
Other than that, Netflix also delivers on two other wildly popular genres: “Love Is In The Air” is a RomCom about (of course) a female pilot, while “The Dark Side of La Luz del Mundo Church” and “Ice Cold: Murder, Coffee and Jessica Wongso” are two more true-crime docs.
FRIDAY: STARLESS THRILLER & SURVIVAL FIGHT ON HIGH SEA
On Friday, we move on from True Crime to a classic thriller: In “Reptile”, Benicio del Toro, as a hardened policeman, goes on the hunt for the murderer (or murderess) of a young woman. In the process, he becomes more and more entangled in a web of lies and intrigue…
Meanwhile, those who prefer a mixture of a thrilling fight for survival and a touching drama should make a note of “Nowhere”. In the Spanish film, a heavily pregnant woman finds herself in a shipping container on the high seas and must somehow keep herself and soon her newborn baby alive until rescue arrives.
For kids and ’90s “Power Rangers” fans, there’s also “Power Rangers: Cosmic Fury.” Although the series is a modern production, according to the trailer it exudes the same trashy, tongue-in-cheek charm as back then.
SATURDAY: AN AMAZON ORIGINAL ON NETFLIX!?
On Saturday, a little curiosity awaits you: “Preacher” was one of the first Amazon originals in 2016, but only outside the USA, where the series ran on the AMC channel. Now the series, marketed here as a “Prime Exclusive”, is moving on to the competition: from Saturday you can stream all four seasons of the bloody, crude and rather crazy horror-western-fantasy-comedy-adventure series on Netflix.
Also starting on Saturday is “Space Jam 2: A New Legacy,” though we can only advise against it.
SUNDAY: START OF THE MONTH = LOTS OF NEW FILMS
A change of month at Netflix and Co. always means that numerous licensed films disappear to make room for new licensed titles. On 1 October, films such as the break-dance drama “Battle Of The Year”, the Shakespearean conspiracy film “Anonymus”, the Hermann Hesse adaptation “Narcissus and Goldmund” and “Age of Innocence” by Martin Scorsese will therefore start. And these are certainly not the only new releases, so best keep your eyes peeled on Sunday.
