Madcap Comedies, Grand Dramas, and Elegant Thrillers to Watch This August
Five movies for any mood to stream on Peacock this month.
From an old-fashion, eye-popping adventure to a stylish spy caper to a luxurious period saga, Peacock has plenty of movies to captivate and charm you this August.
Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, and Michael Cera in The Phoenician Scheme
In the mood for a wondrous, exciting adventure? | The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme follows one of the richest men in Europe, Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro), as he travels with his daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), and her tutor (Michael Cera) across the globe to secure his legacy with a project dubbed The Phoenician Scheme. After several failed bomb attacks, Korda doubles down on his dealmaking with princes, business people, terrorists, and even God himself to make his mark in the world before it’s too late. With a stellar cast which includes Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, and Hope Davis, Anderson’s fantastic world is, writes The Wrap, “a place we all would be lucky to find ourselves. A little silly, a little profound, a little lovely, a little dingy. A vast mosaic revealed through countless individual tiles.”
The official trailer for The Phoenician Scheme
Harry Hadden-Paton, Laura Carmichael, Tuppence Middleton, and Allen Leech in Downton Abbey: A New Era
In the mood for a grand getaway? | Downton Abbey: A New Era
Simon Curtis’ Downton Abbey: A New Era doubles the fun by offering up two parallel stories in one film. After Tom Branson’s (Allen Leech) and Lucy Smith’s (Tuppence Middleton) lavish wedding, some of the Crawley clan travel to the south of France, while others witness Hollywood’s invasion of their grand estate. As Robert and Cora Crawley (Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern) join the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) to visit the stately villa she has just inherited, Mary (Michelle Dockery) stays home to oversee the production company shooting a movie there. Both stories, chock full of romantic intrigue, glamorous settings, and tantalizing family secrets, illustrate that creator “Julian Fellowes still knows how to pluck the right strings—upstairs and downstairs—to play a symphony with his sprawling cast” writes CNN. The saga continues this September with Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. In the US, get tickets now for early access screenings in Dolby Cinema and Premium Large Formats on September 10.
The official trailer for Downton Abbey: A New Era
Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender in Black Bag
In the mood for a chic spy story? | Black Bag
Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag is a spy film that mixes style and suspense to entertaining effect. When George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender), a counterintelligence agent for Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), suspects a mole is offering information about a new cyber weapon to foreign powers for sale, he concocts a cunning plot to trap the traitor. The only problem is that in addition to the four most likely culprits—played by Regé-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, Naomie Harris, and Tom Burke—his wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), is also a suspect. Caught between his wedding vows and patriotic oath, George sets out to save both country and home. The Independent writes, “While the supporting cast are impeccable across the board, it’s really Blanchett and Fassbender’s film to command, with performances that drip with old-school star power.”
The official trailer for Black Bag
Cole Sprouse and Kathryn Newton in Lisa Frankenstein
In the mood for a hilarious horror spoof? | Lisa Frankenstein
Directed by Zelda Williams from a script by Academy Award®-winner Diablo Cody, Lisa Frankenstein brings back to life the zany fun of ‘80s horror comedies. Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) is an awkward teen who makes an intimate connection a 19th-century corpse (Cole Sprouse) who is mistakenly brought back to life by a freak storm. While her peers and parents want her to be a normal teenager, Lisa follows her heart by falling hard for her recently dead beau. The film “is performed by a very game cast who all understand the assignment and deliver what is likely to be one of the funniest films of the year,” writes the AV Club.
The official trailer for Lisa Frankenstein
Elizabeth Banks and Paul Rudd in Wet Hot American Summer
In the mood for a star-filled comedy romp? | Wet Hot American Summer
Set in 1981 on the last day of Camp Firewood’s session, David Wain’s Wet Hot American Summer is a wacky spoof of summer camps and the films set in them. With a stellar group of up-and-coming actors—including Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Janeane Garofalo, Molly Shannon, and Bradley Cooper—the filmmakers let the cast go wild at an abandoned summer camp in Pennsylvania. The result is inspired mayhem. Entertainment Weekly gives the film an “A” for its “loving and meticulous re-creation of the last moment before American youth culture went permanently ironic.”
Final Day of Camp” clip from Wet Hot American Summer