‘Sharp Corner,’ ‘Last Breath’ and more streaming gems

By JASON BAILEY

‘Sharp Corner’ (2025)

This psychologically intense and often frightening character study starts innocuously enough, as middle manager Josh (Ben Foster), his wife, Rachel (Cobie Smulders), and their young son move from the city to a dream home in the suburbs. But their newfound bliss is punctured on the very first night by a horrible automobile accident in their front yard, thanks to a particularly dangerous curve that comes to consume Josh. Adapting a short story by Russell Wangersky, writer and director Jason Buxton methodically follows Josh’s quiet descent, as his obsession surfaces issues bubbling within his marriage, and his entire existence. Foster and Smulders are excellent as a man unspooling and the woman who’s watching helplessly, and the closing passages have a disturbing, live wire, anything-can-happen quality. This one gets under your skin, and stays there. (Stream it on Hulu.)

‘Last Breath’ (2025)

This tense survival thriller is based on a true story, a 2012 deep sea accident which left a young diver, part of a three-man oil-pipe repair team, stranded without access to oxygen or any way to communicate with the rest of his team. Director is Alex Parkinson, who previously directed (with Richard da Costa) a 2019 documentary account of the story, and he carries over a journalistic sensibility, refusing to juice up the tension with false crises or extraneous characters. Most of what we see is focused on these three men and their increasing desperation, and that’s all we need — particularly when one is played by Woody Harrelson, who crafts a complex and often heart-wrenching characterization solely using the tools of his face and voice. (Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.)

‘The Legend of Ochi’ (2025)

Willem Dafoe may as well be a contract player at the indie stalwart A24, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he turns up in this, one of their few forays into family entertainment to date. The title creatures dwell in the woods near Carpathia, where they are feared and hunted by locals, led by Maxim (Dafoe); Helena Zengel is his daughter who, of course, finds and befriends an Ochi under her father’s nose. Writer and director Isaiah Saxon pays affectionate tribute to the tactile family adventures of the 1980s (like “The Dark Crystal” and “E.T.”), within a charming style and tone that’s all his own. (Stream it on HBO Max.)

‘American Made’ (2017)

Tom Cruise spent most of the ’80s solidifying his all-American male image by making movies in which he was the world’s best — the best fighter pilot, the best pool player, the best racecar driver, the best bartender. But many of his recent films have subverted that image, examining what happens when the onetime golden boy finds that he can no longer get by on double-talk and a million-watt smile. Though oddly underseen, this is one of the best of that bunch, telling the true story of Barry Seal (Cruise), who used his skills as an airline pilot to run drugs in the 1980s. Cruise beautifully balances the character’s desperation and bravado, while director Doug Liman approaches the material with the right mixture of sly wit and anything-goes bemusement. (Stream it on Peacock.)

‘Hostiles’ (2017)

The biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” is looking like a potential awards contender this fall, falling well within the wheelhouse of director Scott Cooper, whose previous films include “Crazy Heart” and “Out of the Furnace.” But he’s a director of range, as evidenced by this thoughtful exploration of the myths and contradictions of the American West — and the American western. Christian Bale is superb as a soldier notorious for his brutal treatment of Indigenous people, who is given one last assignment: to accompany an ailing nemesis, the Cheyenne chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi), back to his ancestral home. Studi is as reliable as ever, playing the role with dignity and soul without reverting to stock characterization; Rosamund Pike adds spice as an unexpected fellow traveler, while Timothée Chalamet, Rory Cochrane and Jesse Plemons find moments to shine in well-crafted supporting roles. (Stream it on Netflix.)

‘Once Upon a Time in Venice’ (2017)

When Bruce Willis stepped away from acting in 2022 following his diagnosis with aphasia, fans were heartbroken — not only because of the personal tragedy, but because so many of his final years on-camera were spent in low-quality, straight-to-VOD action movies in which his declining state was increasingly visible. But this mystery comedy is far better than its contemporaries in the Willis oeuvre, a shaggy dog of a movie in which Willis stars (and actually stars) as a Venice private eye attempting to juggle an increasingly convoluted chain of cases, while barely staying alive and accumulating considerable debt. His profession is a welcome shout-out to Willis’ breakthrough role as detective David Addison on “Moonlighting,” while his longtime real-life pal John Goodman makes a delightful sidekick. It’s an undisciplined picture, but its shagginess is part of its appeal, and it’s a joy to see Willis so loose and charming, reminding us of what he did so well. (Stream it on Hulu.)

‘Strange Weather’ (2016)

Holly Hunter has spent the past few years mostly in supporting roles and on television, so it’s easy to forget what a riveting leading lady she can be. This modest but powerful indie drama is a stark reminder. As Darcy, a hard case whose son took his own life some time back, Hunter crafts an astonishingly intimate portrait of long-term grief, the kind of person who not only won’t “get over it,” but doesn’t see the need to. She finally finds an outlet for her residual feelings when she discovers that her son’s restaurant idea was swiped by his best friend, so she hits the road (alongside an equally excellent Carrie Coon) to confront him. It’s the kind of character Hunter has always played well: smart, stubborn and soulful. (Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.)