Some of this weekend’s biggest new movies are based on games — an increasingly prominent trend of late (see The Last of Us, the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie, etc.). However, it’s not just video games getting the blockbuster treatment. Good ol’-fashioned tabletop games can be movies, too, as Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves demonstrates. We’ve got a movie about Tetris, too, as well as some films and shows that aren’t based on games. There is a drama that makes “girl power†literal, a rom-com, and a Grand Jury Prize winner at Sundance. And for even more recommendations (plus some fun stuff we found on the net), subscribe to the Streamliner newsletter to get a subscriber-exclusive, special-expanded-edition cut of this post on Friday afternoon. Let’s roll initiative. —James GrebeyÂ
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The Chris Pine–led adaptation of the iconic fantasy role-playing game occupies a rare sweet spot in the quippy and self-deprecating MCU-influenced movie landscape. The movie is silly and knows it, but it still takes itself seriously, never undermining its own stakes. It’s not quite a nat 20 (for you non-nerds out there, that’s a good thing in D&D), but it’s a delightful romp. An earnest blockbuster — we love to see it! —J.G.
➽ The first two seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina, an animated show based on a popular D&D campaign, are available to stream on Prime Video if you’re feeling Inspired. (“Inspiration†is a game mechanic in D&D that the bard character class can — Oh, you know what? Forget it.)
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The Power
In this adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s novel from an all-female writing and directing crew, girls around the world suddenly develop supernatural powers that allow them to electrocute people at will. Take that, bullies, parents, and other jerks! —Roxana HadadiÂ
➽ A cool way to make friends is to be like me and keep correcting everybody when they say they were electrocuted, because ~technically~ electrocution is always fatal. What they meant was shocked. (I’m so lonely.)Â
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Tetris
A tense, violent dramatization of the game series that tells the story of the T-Block’s rise and fall after the Z-Block murders the L-Block in a drug deal gone wrong. Nah, just kidding — this movie is about the real-life story of the guy who secured the intellectual-property rights to the Soviet video game. —J.G.
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Rye Lane
It feels as if we’re forever declaring the death and subsequent return of the romantic comedy, but Raine Allen-Miller’s directorial debut makes the genre look so light and effortless that you wonder why we ever fretted about it. Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson play a pair of 20-somethings who are both fresh off breakups and spend the day wandering through South London after a chance encounter — talking, falling in love, and generally being delightful. —Alison Willmore
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A Thousand and One
Distributed by Focus Features, A Thousand and One is A.V. Rockwell’s feature directorial debut about a mother (Teyana Taylor) who reclaims her young child from the foster-care system. From there, the pair go on to try and build a life for themselves in New York City. A tearjerker, to be sure. —Savannah Salazar
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Avatar: The Way of Water
Is your “home theater†setup as good as a 16-meter screen and Imax With Laser 3-D projection? Find out the answer now that Avatar: The Way of Water is available on VOD. (Or you can wait for it to eventually hit Disney+. What’s a few more weeks or months compared to the 13-year wait for the sequel?) —J.G.
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of March 24 or sign up for our Friday newsletter Streamliner for even more to watch.