Move aside, sandworms, ghostbusters, and kaijus — the next in line for all those Imax screens premieres this weekend, and it’s an A24 film from Alex Garland. Civil War is no a guns-a-blazin’ bonanza, but there are quite a few big set pieces and even better performances from its cast. In addition to Civil War, we have big performances from Robert Downey Jr. (four in just one series, in fact), Walton Goggins (as a Hollywood star turned ghoul), and a quartet of sasquatches. Now, here’s the rest of the movies and television shows to watch this weekend. —Savannah Salazar
Featured Presentations
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Civil War
After the muted response to his last feature, Men, director Alex Garland is coming back swinging with an Imax–worthy war film about a feuding America. Kirsten Dunst leads the tense film, set in the near future, as a grizzled photojournalist covering the final weeks of a new American civil war, in which the California-and-Texas alliance is closing in on the U.S. president. Alongside Dunst are a charismatic Wagner Moura and Stephen McKinley Henderson as fellow journalists and Cailee Spaeny as a photojournalist ingenue. —S.S.
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The Sympathizer
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s best-selling tale of a South Vietnamese captain who is secretly spying for the North Vietnamese gets the limited-series treatment courtesy of co-showrunners Don McKellar and lauded filmmaker Park Chan-wook, who directs multiple episodes. Hoa Xuande (Cowboy Bebop) plays the unmanned captain; co-stars include Robert Downey Jr. and Sandra Oh. —Jen Chaney
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Fallout
Creative partners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy put on their executive-producer hats for this adaptation of the popular retro-futurist video game, which imagines an alternate Earth transformed by nuclear power and stars Ella Purnell as a woman who emerges from the underground to explore a postapocalyptic U.S. Also, Walton Goggins plays a gunslinging ghoul. —Roxana Hadadi
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Sasquatch Sunset
Expect grunts galore from the Zellner Brothers’ latest flick, a wacky Sasquatch tale with an unexpectedly sweet center. Sasquatch Sunset focuses on the day in the life of a family of bigfoot creatures (composed of Nathan Zeller, Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, and Christophe Zajac-Denek decked out in full Bigfoot suits). It’s out in its limited release before going wide next week. —S.S.
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Chucky, season 3, part 2
It’s been nearly 40 years since we met Chucky in Child’s Play, and this series is one of the best entries in the long-running serial-killer franchise — a thoughtful tonal mash-up that is part queer coming-of-age story, part slasher. Chucky’s made it to the White House, and this half of the season continues to pair co-stars Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly in delightfully devious ways. —R.H.
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Good Times
The ’70s sitcom that turned “Dyn-o-mite!†into an inescapable catchphrase is being reinvented in animated form with Jay Pharoah, J.B. Smoove, and Yvette Nicole Brown voicing members of a new generation of the Evans family. Prior to his death, Norman Lear, creator of the original comedy, served as executive producer. Expect a saltier, more intense version of the show. —J.C.
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Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion
There’s a lot about the fashion from the aughts that we’d like to not revisit, but this Brandy Melville documentary points out a lot of the worst impulses of fast fashion that are still around today. The movie dives into the hold this one-size-fits-all store had on teenagers and how it affected them, but also the store’s macro effect on fast fashion — and the planet — as a whole. And there’s nothing more harrowing than seeing the shots of clothing in landfills on the shores of Ghana. —S.S.
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The Greatest Hits
Imagine having to choose between Justin H. Min and David Corenswet. Okay, it’s much more complicated than that in The Greatest Hits, but a girl can dream. In this syrupy romance, Lucy Boynton’s grieving Harriet finds out that certain music can transport her back in time, so naturally she sees if she can prevent her ex-boyfriend’s (Corensweet) death. But of course, in the present, she meets a sweet new guy (Min), making the time-traveling stuff all the more harder. —S.S.
Double Feature
Marie Antoinette
From the fall of the White House to the fall of Versailles, I’ve been itching to watch Marie Antoinette since I saw Civil War. Why not put Sofia Coppola’s delectable film on Imax screens since they’re already doing it with random A24 films? It’s one of Coppola and Dunst’s best films, so after you watch the new Alex Garland, make it a Dunst double-feature night. —S.S.
Live From Your Couch
Coachella 2024
It’s been reported that Coachella tickets haven’t been selling as well as usual, so it’s probably safe to assume that you, too, won’t be going to the famed music festival this weekend. Trade in the desert and long lines for your couch and a guaranteed restroom by watching Coachella’s live streams at home. From Doja Cat to Lana Del Rey, Chappell Roan, and, now, Vampire Weekend (!), you can even queue up a multiview option to watch multiple sets at a time now. Truly, it sounds like my dad putting two televisions next to each other to watch football. —S.S.
âž½ And get all your set times here.
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of April 5.