New Things to Watch on Hulu This February 2023

This February on Hulu will be a month to say several goodbyes.  The Millionaires will get ready to start saying goodbye to a close-knit group of friends.  The WB Studios water tower residents will hopefully end their return with a bang.  And John Singleton’s semi-fictionalization of the 1980s Los Angeles drug wars promises to end in a very bloody way.

Fortunately, February also offers some series and movies to say hello to.  The star of “Jane The Virgin” now does a paranormal comedy.  For those who missed notoriously violent director Takashi Miike’s 100th film, get ready to see him deliver a blistering tale of samurai action.  Or catch a well-received tale of body shaming and revenge set in the Spanish hinterlands.

And it would be remiss to not remind readers that all episodes of the recently released British superhero comedy “Extraordinary” are now available for binge watching and that further episodes of “The 1619 Project” documentary series drop this month as well.

Available on Hulu Now

February 1

50/50–Seattle public radio writer Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) had always taken care of his health.  So it’s a cruel shock when his nagging back pain turns out to be a rare form of spinal cancer.  The doctors give him exactly a 50% chance of survival.  Adam turns to his best buddy Kyle (Seth Rogen) for support and encouragement in dealing with living with this disease.  Will the presence of Adam’s therapist Katherine (Anna Kendrick) also help Adam find reasons to keep going?  Comedy writer Will Reiser wrote this semi-autobiographical tale available on Hulu. 

Sherman’s Showcase on Hulu

Amour–Georges (the legendary Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva, “Hiroshima Mon Amour”) are retired married music teachers.  They may be in their 80s, but their love for one another hasn’t changed.  Until now.  After Anne suffers both a stroke and vascular dementia, she makes her husband promise to never put her in a hospital or home.  This means Georges must care for his wife alone until she dies.  It also means watching the woman he loves slowly disappear before his eyes.  Director Michael Haneke’s (“The Piano Teacher”) film earned him a second Palme d’Or at Cannes.  

Bad Reputation–Kevin Karslake’s documentary on the life and career of Joan Jett shows how the legendary rocker built an incredible musical career busting stereotypes about rock stardom being a guys-only thing.  From Jett’s days with The Runaways to her contribution to shaping the Riot Grrrl movement, the film offers both a look at the life of an incredible person and the music she made.  

Sherman’s Showcase Season 2B—It’s the back half of the new season of this IFC sketch parody of such 1970s musical variety shows as “Soul Train” and “Solid Gold.”  Host Sherman McDaniels (series co-creator Bashir Salahuddin) and sidekick Dutch Shepherd (co-creator Diallo Riddle) present a mix of interviews, live music performances, movie trailers, animation, and even a video game.  What will the second half of the season offer to match or top such things as “That’s The Spirit” (trailer for a film about an African soccer phenom whose father’s spirit is a soccer ball) or the song “Epaulets Fall In Love?”  Tune in and find out.  

Taiwan Crime Stories Season 1–This internationally-produced thriller anthology series dramatizes four real-life Taiwanese criminal investigations.  The cases are: a suspicious train derailment, the mass murder of a family, a heinous rape, and a murder case.  Each case is adapted as a three-episode miniseries.  

Coming Soon in February on Hulu

February 9

A Million Little Things Season 5–It’s the final season for this beloved drama about a close-knit group of friends living in Boston who try to start really living after one of their number commits suicide.  As the new season begins, another of the friends has died unexpectedly for reasons that haven’t been spoiled yet.  But that won’t be the only death to occur in this last season.  Also expect appearances by such familiar characters as Delilah and Jon Dixon.

Not Dead Yet Season 1–Gina Rodriguez’ (“Jane The Virgin”) new comedy series is based on Alexandra Potter’s book “Confessions Of A Forty-Something F**k Up.”  Nell Serrano (Rodriguez) returns to her hometown of Pasadena after her life has taken a dive into the crapper.  To help her fiancee get his business off the ground, she gave up her successful journalism career ten years ago.  But the relationship fell apart and Nell’s now broke and single.  Her attempted restart in journalism seems to have reached a dead end as the only job she can snag is writing obituaries.  But then Nell starts noticing she can literally see ghosts…

Piggy on Hulu

Piggy–In a rural Spanish town, badly overweight teenager Sara’s efforts to keep to herself don’t prevent her from getting bullied by other teens.  The worst of the bullies are a trio of popular girls who have dubbed Sara “Piggy” and regularly taunt her over social media.  One hot day, the three girls outdo their abuse with a combination of body shaming and nearly drowning Sara.  That heinous act may explain why the victimized girl decides to stay silent about seeing a mysterious bearded stranger drive away in a van with the trio of kidnapped bullies.  What’s more, Sara’s increased fascination with her impromptu protector is reciprocated by the kidnapper. 

Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult At Sarah Lawrence–Oscar-nominated director Zach Heinzerling’s true crime docuseries recounts the infamous Sarah Lawrence College sex cult.  Beginning in 2010, conman and former CIA agent Larry Ray preyed on Sarah Lawrence students who were high school outcasts.  With them, Ray created a college community under his thumb.  Using the guise of his “Quest for Potential” manifesto, he profited for years off the students’ insecurities to get them hooked on drugs and working for him as “escorts.”  

February 10

Something in The Dirt–Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (“Moon Knight”) direct and star in this bizarre low-fi paranoid science fiction buddy comedy.  When bartender Levi (Benson) and apocalyptic evangelical John (Moorhead) see a weirdly levitating ashtray in Levi’s new apartment, they peg it as a path to fame and fortune.  The neighboring buddies decide to make a documentary showing that the paranormal exists and their apartment building is a magnet for such occurrences.  But did either of them expect to encounter portentous tattoos, an interdimensional succulent, or a cupboard that likes Beethoven’s music?

February 15

Blade Of The Immortal–Legendary Japanese director Takashi Miike’s 100th film turns out to be an adaptation of the manga series on Hulu of the same name.  The very skilled samurai Manji has been cursed with immortality.  The only way to get his soul back is to fight evil.  Manji’s newest cause comes in the form of a girl named Rin.  Her parents were murdered by a group of master swordsmen led by the evil Anotsu.  But avenging the demise of Rin’s parents will take the rogue samurai in unexpected directions.

Horario Estelar–A famous TV reporter’s new assignment is reporting on a compelling police investigation.  What the public doesn’t know is that the reporter is implicated in the unfolding investigation.  And instead of publicly coming clean, he uses his figurative megaphone to present misleading information and even shape public opinion in his favor.  In other words, aside from the criminal involvement part, this is a thriller starring a Tucker Carlson-like character. 

Animaniacs

February 17

Animaniacs Season 3–It’s the final season for this revival of the misadventures of the Warner family on Hulu.  See Yakko, Wakko, and Dot have fun with such subjects as climate change and cut-throat competition in the social media influencer world!  Watch Pinky and the Brain try to survive a “Mad Max: Fury Road” scenario!  Tremble as you wonder what the series will do for a grand finale!    

February 18

Hold Your Fire–In 1973, Shu’aib Raheem and three Sunni Muslim compatriots attempted to illegally procure guns from John and Al’s Sporting Goods Store for self-defense.  But things go sideways with the result that the NYPD corners Raheem’s crew…but not before the Sunnis had  taken a dozen hostages.  The macho cop culture of the time equated masculinity with violence, and a bloodbath seemed to be in the offing.  But Harvey Schlossberg, a cop with a Ph.D. in psychology, tries to convince the force brass to let him use his novel nonviolent methodology to defuse the situation.

February 20

The Company You Keep–This series is an American adaptation of the South Korean series “My Fellow Citizens.”  At a bar, a meeting between “yoga instructor” Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia) and “pageant queen turned rocket scientist” Emma (Catherine Haena Kim) turns into a night of passion, which then turns into a love affair.  But Charlie’s actually a con man from a criminal family while Emma’s actually an undercover CIA agent.  More importantly, the duo’s real jobs will put them on a collision course.  Charlie’s trying to get out of the “family business.”  Emma’s targeting a vengeful criminal who holds the debts of Charlie’s family.  And the figurative payment for the lies they’ve told each other is coming due. 

February 23

Snowfall Season 6–It’s the last season for this John Singleton-created drama on Hulu about the rise and fall of Los Angeles drug lord Franklin Saint during the first crack epidemic.  Franklin Saint has lost his drug empire.  So there’s only one way to get back what’s his: steal from his Aunt Louie and Uncle Jerome.  But doing so and fighting for survival means staying one step ahead of the KGB, the CIA, the DEA, and the corrupt L.A.P.D. C.R.A.S.H. unit.  

February 24

Bruiser–Sleeper of the month honors go to this coming of age tale about aggression and role models.  Teenager Darious hates his life.  He hates the humongous gap between his privileged classmates and his humble family background.  He hates that his strict car salesman father Malcolm seems constantly distracted.  And he hates that he constantly gets beaten up by other kids.  His desire to learn how to protect himself seems destined to be unfulfilled until he meets the muscular and self-confident drifter Porter.  The boy sees in Porter a father figure he’d been lacking.  Yet Darious doesn’t see the secrets the workaholic father and the mysterious drifter are keeping from him.

Bruiser