Stream This: The Films of Wim Wenders, Benedetta & More

In Stream This, we scour a host of UK streaming services, including new releases, hidden gems, and classics, to offer up the week's best armchair recommendations.

Kino Dreams: The Films of Wim Wenders (Curzon Home Cinema)

Wim Wenders' iconic romantic fantasy, Wings of Desire, is still currently showing in UK cinemas with a glorious new 4K restoration (and is not to be missed). It's part of a new retrospect – and reconsideration – of the visionary directors' canon, with many of his most beloved films now available to stream on Curzon Home Cinema. The classics newly added to the streaming service this week include: Alice in the Cities, The American Friend, Kings of the Road, Buena Vista Social Club, The Salt of the Earth and Pina. If you've never quite got acquainted with the German director's eclectic filmography, now's your chance (watch on Curzon Home Cinema).

Benedetta (MUBI)

Paul Verhoeven's audacious exercise in nunsploitation, which we called “a refreshing antidote to what seems like increasingly puritanical filmmaking,” lands exclusively on MUBI this weekend. With its sultry story of a lesbian romance playing out against the backdrop of 17th century Tuscany, there's no question that Verhoeven – best known for a string of violent, satirical Hollywood blockbusters and his camp classic Showgirls – has made one of his most provocative works to date (and that's saying something) (watch on MUBI).

The Films of Justin Kurzel (Various)

Australian director Justin Kurzel has a new film in cinemas this weekend: Nitram, a film we said “tackles the 1996 Port Arthur massacre with unimpeachable restraint and moral clarity.” He's a talented director who has shown a willingness to take risks (recall Assassin's Creed), but whose style has remained hard to pin down. What better time to catch up with his eclectic filmography, then, as Nitram wins some of the best notices of his career? His bleak and disturbing debut, Snowtown, is available on Shudder, while his visceral, compelling take on Macbeth, is available to rent on BFI Player. And don't miss his turbulent adaptation of True History of the Kelly Gang, which feels like the closest he's come to delivering a true original, available to rent on Prime Video.

A Few Good Men (Prime Video)

Now that Top Gun: Maverick has cemented itself as the highest grossing film of 2022 so far, not to mention Tom Cruise's highest-grossing film ever, it makes sense to look back at some of the actor's best performances to date. This Aaron Sorkin-penned courtroom drama, now available to Prime Video subscribers, is best remembered for its iconic “You can't handle the truth!” speech. But it's also a smartly written and fiercely compelling look at institutional misconduct. Cruise is magnetic as the young Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, a performance that sees him going up against the powerhouse that is Jack Nicholson and arguably besting him in the process (watch on Prime Video).