What to Stream: 'Paddington in Peru,' Prince Royce, 'Mormon Wives' and
Doom: The Dark Ages
[May 12, 2025]
By The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Paddington bear going on an Indiana Jones-style
adventure in “Paddington in Peru” and Alexander Skarsgard playing a
robot with free will in Apple TV+'s series “Murderbot” are some of the
new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time, as selected by The
Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: The Dominican-American
singer Prince Royce covers hit songs on “Eterno,” the surprise Bravo hit
“Mormon Wives” returns for Season 2 and there's a new gaming chapter in
the groundbreaking Doom series, Doom: The Dark Ages.
New movies to stream from May 12-18
— Brady Corbet’s epic “The Brutalist” is finally making its way to Max
on Friday, May 16. The three-and-a-half-hour postwar saga won Adrien
Brody the best actor Oscar earlier this year for his portrayal of László
Tóth, a fictional architect and Holocaust survivor who attempts to build
a new life in America. It was also awarded the best score (Daniel
Blumberg) and best cinematography prizes. Director of photography Lol
Crawley shot in VistaVision, a 70-year-old format famously utilized in
films like “Vertigo” and “North by Northwest.” In her review, AP's
Jocelyn Noveck wrote, “It’s about the immigrant experience, and it’s
about what happens when the American dream beckons, then fails. It also
explores a different dream: the artist’s dream, and what happens when it
meets opposing forces, be they geographic displacement or cold economic
calculus.”
— Paddington bear and the Brown family go on an Indiana Jones-style
adventure in “Paddington in Peru,” streaming on Netflix on Thursday.
This third installment in the charming series has a few changes from its
predecessors — in the filmmaker (Dougal Wilson taking over for Paul
King) and Mrs. Brown (Emily Mortimer subbing in for Sally Hawkins). In
his review, AP Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote that Wilson “can’t quite
summon the same comic spirit” as King, but added that “bright and
buoyant, will do. If some of King’s Wes Anderson-inspired pop-up book
designs and skill with fine character actors is missing, the bedrock
earnestness and unflaggingly good manners of its ursine protagonist
remain charmingly unaltered.”
— In March 1988, the students of Gallaudet University in Washington,
D.C. staged a historic protest over the appointment of a hearing
president instead of one who was deaf. “Deaf President Now!,” a
documentary streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday, May 16, chronicles that
moment and examines its broader impact, like how it helped pave the way
for the Americans with Disabilities Act. The film’s visuals and
soundscape were also designed to bring audiences into the Deaf
experience.
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
New music to stream from May 12-18
— Somehow, some way it has been 25 years since Britney Spears first put
on a red latex catsuit and sang “Oops!... I Did It Again” through her
singular breathy tone, the title track of her sophomore album. Across
the album – which includes other hits “Lucky” and “Stronger” – she
ushered in new millennium as a zeitgeist-shaping pop superstar. Her
influence in the decades that followed is unimpeachable, and on Friday,
Sony will release a 25th anniversary edition of the record, complete
with bonus tracks.
— Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta returns with an
ambitious new album, “La Belleza.” It arrives five years after her
breakout “Miss Colombia,” and features the inventive artist veering into
new, classical influences while maintaining her interest in
Afro-Indigenous polyrhythms; the record was co-orchestrated with skilled
arranger Owen Pallett. It’s a step up for an artist whose embrace of the
past has always placed her squarely in the future.
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This image released by Sony Pictures shows the character Paddington,
voiced by Ben Whishaw, in a scene from "Paddington in Peru." (Sony
Pictures via AP)
 — The Dominican American singer
Prince Royce covers hit songs on “Eterno” – offering Spanglish,
bachata-infused reimaginations of tracks like “Killing Me Softly” as
made famous by Roberta Flack, the Beatles’ “Yesterday,” Elvis
Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” The Temptations’ “My Girl”
and more.
— Music Writer Maria Sherman
New television to stream from May 12-18
— With shows like “The Kardashians,” “Vanderpump Villa” and “The
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," Hulu is building a roster of reality
TV that’s quite Bravo-esq. “Mormon Wives” was a surprise hit when it
debuted last year. It’s back for a second season on Thursday. The
show follows the drama among a group of Mormon women living in the
Salt Lake City area who have built a following on TikTok. They call
their group of friends MomTok.
— After scoring big with “The Pitt,” Max is looking to keep the
momentum going with “Duster." Co-created by JJ Abrams, the show
stars Josh Holloway of “Lost” as a getaway driver in the '70s who
gets flipped by a rookie FBI agent, played by Rachel Hilson.
Holloway has described the show as a throwback to when TV was less
dark and more fun. It also has a groovy soundtrack. “Duster”
premieres Thursday.
— “The Chi,” a drama about a young Black community living in
Chicago’s South Side returns Friday. Critics and fans have praised
its portrayal of life as a Black person growing up in a rough
neighborhood faced with systematic racism, violence, incarceration,
and poverty. Kyla Pratt — known for playing the daughter of Eddie
Murphy’s character in the “Dr. Dolittle” films and as the voice of
Penny in “The Proud Family” — joins the cast for season seven. The
Chi” streams on Paramount+ with Showtime.
— We’ve seen Alexander Skarsgård as a tech bro on “Succession” and
an abusive husband on “Big Little Lies.” Next, we get to see his
comedic chops as a robot who gains free will in “Murderbot” for
Apple TV+. Premiering Friday, May 16, the show is based on a book
series.
— Stanley Tucci is once again roaming through Italy. The Golden
Globe- and Emmy-winning actor eats and meets in National
Geographic’s new food-travel series “Tucci in Italy,” which
premieres Sunday, May 18 and streams on Disney+ and Hulu the next
day. Each episode of the first season of “Tucci in Italy” explores a
different region in Italy — from Tuscany to Trentino-Alto Adige,
Lombardy, Abruzzo and Lazio. CNN canceled his “Searching for Italy”
in 2022.
— Alicia Rancilio
New video games to play week of May 12-18
— If you like your games big, noisy and unabashedly gory, id
Software’s groundbreaking Doom series is hard to beat. Doom: The
Dark Ages, the new chapter from publisher Bethesda Softworks, takes
the demon-hunting space marine — now known as the Doom Slayer — back
in time, sort of. His bosses have hauled the big lug to a
quasi-medieval planet that’s riddled with hell portals and under
siege by the most bloodthirsty monsters yet. The Slayer has his
usual arsenal of spectacular weapons, including a “saw shield” he
can fling like a deadly Frisbee, and some levels let him saddle up
on a cybernetic dragon. It’s like a heavy metal album cover come to
life, and it arrives Thursday on Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC.
— Lou Kesten
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