The future finally seems to be looking brighter but, with plans still feeling precarious and our viewing habits perhaps permanently changed, we'll keep casting our expert eye over the newly arrived films on TV and streaming services each week, bringing you the cream of the current movie crop. Let us do the decision-making for you, and then just sit back and enjoy.

Sweat ★★★★☆

Social media influencers are placed under a surprisingly compassionate microscope in this beautifully insightful film from Swedish director Magnus von Horn (The Here After), which boasts an absolutely top-notch turn from Polish star Magdalena Kolesnik. She plays in-demand fitness guru Sylwia who is popular only amongst strangers, lacking any semblance of a social or romantic life, with even her relationship with her mother rather strained. Looking past Sylwia's self-absorption to illustrate her pain and desire to make meaningful connections, von Horn shows us that things are rarely as they seem.
Watch now on Curzon Home Cinema.

The Dead Don't Die ★★★★☆

A surprising choice to open the uber-classy Cannes Film Festival back in 2019, this comedy horror really puts the dead in deadpan, and sports the greatest zombie cast ever disassembled, in the words of its marketing. Puns aside, it's the work of cult favourite Jim Jarmusch, the renowned US indie director who gave us his own unique take on the vampire film in 2013's Only Lovers Left Alive. His spin on zombies doesn't disappoint either, with Bill Murray, Adam Driver and Chloë Sevigny heading things up as a trio of bewildered police officers, and Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits and Steve Buscemi (amongst many others) stealing their share of scenes.
Watch now on Netflix.

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets ★★★★☆

You may have missed this on its modest Christmas 2020 release but this hybrid of drama and documentary from sibling filmmakers Bill and Turner Ross is well worth checking out. Purporting to capture the final day of a Las Vegas dive bar and to introduce us to its rogues' gallery of bereft regulars, it's actually something of a fabrication. Despite that, it's played out predominantly by non-professionals – barflies from the directors' hometown of New Orleans – whose interactions were allowed to unfold pretty organically over two 18-hour filming days, where the drink flowed freely. The results are as poignant as they are hilarious. And what a title!
Watch now on the BFI Player.

Princess Cyd ★★★★☆

This hidden gem from 2017 appeared on many US critics' lists that year, but didn't get the release or attention over here that it deserved. It's a moving, funny and fresh coming-of-ager which follows 16-year-old Cyd (the sparkling Jessie Pinnick) as she spends the summer with her Aunt Miranda (Rebecca Spence) in Chicago and explores her sexuality through a relationship with a local barista (Malic White). The intergenerational bonding between Cyd and author Miranda is irresistible as the mismatched pair chafe and challenge each other before letting down their guards, while writer-director Stephen Cone directs with a gently interrogatory touch.
Available now on MUBI.

Ant-Man ★★★★☆

Available on iPlayer until Friday night is one of Marvel's most winning and slightly less bombastic efforts, that we originally dubbed 'a charming and eccentric heist film with a great sense of humour'. Mr Affability himself, Paul Rudd, is perfectly cast as thief Scott Lang, who gets out of prison, shacks up with his old cellmate Luis (a hilarious Michael Peña) and tries to repair his relationship with his young daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). However, it's not long before Scott becomes embroiled with former SHIELD scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and takes on the titular superhero moniker when he's shrunk down to insect size.
Watch on BBC iPlayer.