The streamers are going all out for the last full week of September with a terrific lineup of new movies. First up is a music biopic about a landmark folk singer before he went electric. If you like rom-coms, you’ll appreciate Prime Video’s selection this week.
At the end of the week, Netflix will release a new original film inspired by true events. Meanwhile, HBO Max adds one of the biggest success stories of the year, from a director who first made it big on YouTube. Finally, our top selection of the week belongs to Pixar, which released the latest entry into an award-winning franchise.
5
A Complete Unknown
How does it feel?
Music biopics can be very unpredictable in terms of quality. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story parodied the formula so well that it’s difficult not to view a biopic through that parody’s lens. Though it hits some familiar beats, A Complete Unknown is one of the better biopics for two reasons: Timothée Chalamet and Bob Dylan’s music.
James Mangold’s Oscar-nominated movie covers the early stages of Dylan’s career from 1961 to 1965. After meeting Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) and linking up with Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), Dylan (Chalamet) takes off as a prominent musician in the folk community. The movie culminates with Dylan’s shocking decision to play an electric set at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. A Complete Unknown is really well-made and a showcase for Chalamet’s talent, the reason many keep returning to it is Dylan’s iconic music.
A Complete Unknown streams on Hulu on September 27.
4
The Love Hypothesis
Could romance be explained by science?
Prime Video’s commitment to romance movies and shows is admirable. It’s succeeded in the romantic genre for teens. Now, it’s making a rom-com for adults with The Love Hypothesis. Ph. D student Olive Smith (Lili Reinhart) wants her friend Anh (Rachel Marsh) to date her former crush. The only way that will happen is if Olive finds a date first, so she impulsively kisses Dr. Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman).
Olive and Adam realize that being in a relationship would help both of their causes, so they pretend to date. As time goes on, the two begin to fall for one another. Will they allow themselves to love each other for real? Two things. First, I didn’t know The Love Hypothesis began as Star Wars fan fiction. Second, I have to mention Reinhart’s promotional tour for this movie, as she honors iconic rom-coms with her fashion choices.
The Love Hypothesis streams on Prime Video on September 23.
The Love Hypothesis
- Release Date
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September 23, 2026
- Director
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Claire Scanlon
- Writers
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Sarah Rothschild
3
Unabomber
Inside the mind of a notorious figure in American history
Ted Kaczynski is a name that lives in infamy. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, you might recognize him as the Unabomber. Kaczynski is the subject of Netflix’s Unabomber, but it’s a story told on two fronts. In 1958, Kaczynski (Jacob Tremblay) is a Harvard student who agrees to participate in questionable psychological experiments conducted by Professor Henry Murray (Russell Crowe).
A second timeline set years later features an older Kaczynski as the target of a long FBI manhunt, spearheaded by agent Joanne Miller (Shailene Woodley). The FBI’s push to catch Kaczynski has been documented in several movies and documentaries. However, the Harvard storyline is a new wrinkle that I haven’t seen before and want to check out.
Unabomber streams on Netflix on September 25.
Unabomber
- Release Date
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September 25, 2026
- Runtime
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97 Minutes
- Director
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Janus Metz
2
Backrooms
Enter if you dare
2026 will go down as the year of the internet filmmaker. It started with Obsession, Curry Barker’s $750,000 horror movie, which made over half a billion dollars at the box office and now streams on Peacock. The trend continued with Backrooms, Kane Parsons’ psychological horror based on his viral web series, which he created in response to a 4chan thread.
In the basement of his failing furniture store, Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) discovers a secret portal to the Backrooms, an extradimensional labyrinth with yellow-tinted rooms. When Clark goes missing, his therapist, Mary (Renate Reinsve), enters the Backrooms to look for him and discovers a shocking truth about its existence. If you like atmospheric horror, you’ll love Backrooms, a movie that grossed over $400 million on a $10 million budget.
Backrooms streams on HBO Max on September 25.
1
Toy Story 5
You still got a friend in me
Does Toy Story have the highest success rate of any franchise? I’m having trouble coming up with another series with more universal acclaim and box-office success than Pixar’s iconic animated franchise. You would think audiences would be tired of seeing Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz (Tim Allen), but the success of Toy Story 5 suggests otherwise.
In Toy Story 5, Jessie (Joan Cusack) and the rest of the toys must stop Bonnie from replacing them with her new obsession: Lilypad (Greta Lee), a frog-shaped tablet. The addition of technology and social media to the Toy Story franchise was an ingenious decision. I fully expect Toy Story 6 by 2031.
Toy Story 5 streams on Disney+ on September 23.
What else has recently been added to streaming?
Calling all Guy Ritchie fans. MobLand season 2, a crime drama starring Tom Hardy and Pierce Brosnan, is now streaming on Paramount+. Plus, head to Apple TV to check out Emmy-winning shows like Widow’s Bay and Pluribus.