Like ‘The Twilight Zone’? You should check out ‘The Endless’
Here are some interesting new releases available now from cable and digital providers as well as a title that has recently become available for streaming.
Video on Demand
“The Endless”: Nominated for best U.S. narrative feature at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, this is a wildly original science-fiction thriller from the filmmaking team of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (“Spring”). It begins with a quote from famed horror author H.P. Lovecraft: “The oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the Unknown.” That perfectly sets up a bizarre story about two brothers (played by Benson and Moorhead) who escaped from a cult a decade earlier and are now struggling to get by in their daily lives. After a mysterious package arrives at the door with a videocassette from the cult, they find themselves getting pulled back in. Now, as adults, they return to the cult’s campground to see that all the people they remember are still there and appear to be living life as fully and happily as you could imagine. It forces them to question why they left, even as questionable and very mysterious things keep happening around them. For a low-budget production, there are some mightily impressive effects as the story builds, taking viewers on a “Twilight Zone”-worthy ride. (Digital VOD)
“Flower”: In Max Winkler’s follow-up to 2011’s “Ceremony,” the most impressive thing about Zoey Deutch’s performance is how she manages to make a highly unlikeable character oddly relatable and sympathetic. She plays Erica, a 17-year-old troublemaker living with her single mother Laurie (Kathryn Hahn) who becomes upset at the idea of her mom’s boyfriend Bob (Tim Heidecker) moving in with them. After all, Erica has been waiting for her dad to get out of prison and for the family to be reunited again. That ideal scenario is damaged even further when Bob’s son Luke ( Joey Morgan) is released from a stint in rehab and comes to live with them as well. This is a pitchblack comedy co-written by Matt Spicer (“Ingrid Goes West”) that has something to offend nearly anyone, but Deutch will win you over. (Cable and digital VOD)
Also on streaming services
“Set It Up”: Claire Scanlon has spent the past decade as an editor and director of sitcoms like “The Office,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” For her charming feature debut, she delivers a romantic comedy that has already been compared to “You’ve Got Mail” and other beloved films in the genre. It stars Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell (who both earned raves in Richard Linklater’s “Everybody Wants Some!!”) as assistants who hatch a scheme to make their bosses (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs) fall in love. (Netflix)