If you’re looking for something bookish to watch this weekend, sci-fi and fantasy adaptations—especially of the comic book variety—are kind of leading the pack.
There’s Slavic witchcraft for fans of Hudson Williams (Heated Rivalry) and Carrie-Ann Moss (The Matrix), supernatural horror adapted from a modern classic, body horror, and more.
Science fiction and fantasy adaptations to watch this weekend:
Streaming
Yaga: Adapted from Yaga by Kat Sandler, a stage play about the Slavic legend of Baba Yaga, the elderly witch who isn’t so elderly in Sandler’s vision. In the show, two investigators find the journey to uncover what happened to a missing student (Hudson Williams) getting witchier and witchier. I haven’t watched this yet, but I’m pretty sure Carrie-Anne Moss is playing a professor who may also be the Yaga here, and it’s kind of giving alluring and sexy. Color me very intrigued.
Lanterns: It has been a time watching everyone’s reactions to each Lanterns episode on Threads. If you haven’t watched the show yet, here’s your reminder. It’s an adaptation of DC’s Green Lantern comics, but not of a specific storyline. Instead, it takes elements from the comics—like the Green Lanterns being this sort of interplanetary police force—and creates a small-town mystery around it. The overall feel of it is very real, even with its sci-fi and supernatural elements. It’s a refreshing addition to comic book adaptations.
In Theaters
Clayface: I expect wondrous things from this movie because of its writers alone: Hossein Amini (Drive) and Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House). It is actually related to the aforementioned Lanterns show, as both are part of a rebranding sequence by DC. It follows a rising actor (Tom Rhys Harries) whose face is left disfigured after an attack. He’s convinced to try an experimental procedure involving nanotechnology to regain his looks by a scientist (Naomi Ackie). But instead of going back to being a leading man, he becomes shape-shifting clay hell-bent on revenge. If you couldn’t tell, this has body horror galore.