Watching: What to watch this weekend.

A beachy drama starring Julianne Moore

All Newsletters Read online For subscribers May 23, 2025 A poppy summer escape Meghann Fahy and Milly Alcock in a scene from "Sirens." Macall Polay/Netflix By Margaret Lyons Dear Watchers, "Sirens," a five-part mini-series on Netflix, brims with trendy TV elements — it is a mythology-tinged beach drama with a weepy trauma plot and a poppy attention to cult sagas. It's more summer fling than marriage material, but who doesn't like to get away? Meghann Fahy stars as the down-and-out Devon, who dresses in black, smokes cigarettes, has casual sexual encounters and tries to care for her ailing father with dementia in Buffalo. Milly Alcock is Simone, her little sister, a live-in assistant on Martha's Vineyard whose outfits seem ripped from a Lilly Pulitzer lookbook. Devon arrives, unbidden, because she needs help, but she soon becomes worried that Simone is in a cult led by her employer, Kiki (Julianne Moore), an ethereal, overwhelming ex-lawyer married to a frustrated billionaire (Kevin Bacon). "Sirens" is "White Lotus"-adjacent, thanks in part to its "rich people: they are actually very sad sometimes" elements and especially thanks to Fahy, its lead and a "White Lotus" alumna. It shares an "Upstairs, Downstairs" behind-the-scenes energy and a fascination with birds with "The Residence." As in the dopey yet engrossing thriller "Paradise," there is something unsettling and amiss about the luxury here. Every mysterious streaming drama needs a parade of famous faces, and "Sirens" gives us Moore, Bacon and Glenn Howerton. And as with dozens of other poor-little-rich-folks series, primo real estate is the backbone of the show. Those are relatively chichi shows to resemble, but "Sirens" is perhaps more in keeping with trends from the other end of the prestige spectrum: It often feels like a Hallmark Channel movie. "Sirens" swims from campy to grounded and back, feeling sometimes refreshingly unpredictable and other times confusingly disjointed. When the oddities amplify each other, the show takes on an eerie, alluring dreaminess. But then it backs away from its boldest ideas, as if it had this grander plan and then just said, "Eh, never mind." The draw here is the goofy luminosity of it all and the commitment of the performances. It is also a show that could be told entirely through hair: Each perfect ponytail is an instant character biography; frizz stands in for personal failure; face-framing waves that crest right at the cheekbone might as well be a halo; and a stick-straight blowout cuts deeper than a knife in the back. Your newly available movies A young Cheech Marin, left, and Tommy Chong, as seen in "Cheech & Chong's Last Movie." Ed Caraeff/Keep Smokin' With summer movie season kicking off on Memorial Day weekend, home options are conspicuously thin this week. Guy Ritchie's Apple TV+ adventure "Fountain of Youth" resembles an Indiana Jones movie, though, if you squint hard enough at John Krasinski. Fans of Cheech and Chong, however, may want to amble along with the documentary "Cheech & Chong's Last Movie," which leaves no bud untoked. Unless otherwise noted, titles can generally be rented on the usual platforms, including Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Fandango at Home and YouTube. SCOTT TOBIAS 'Cheech & Chong's Last Movie' The documentary doesn't quite cover everything — their collaborations with Joni Mitchell and Martin Scorsese go unmentioned, for example. This is still a rollicking account that will make even non-herbally-inclined viewers root for the fellows. — Glenn Kenny (Read the full review here.) 'Fountain of Youth' (Apple TV+ only) [John Krasinski's] ready smile tends to make him instantaneously agreeable, a quality you don't get from other [Guy Ritchie] leading men such as Henry Cavill and Jason Statham. Here, the quality doesn't provide much credibility or added value. — Glenn Kenny (Read the full review here.) 'The Legend of Ochi' "The Legend of Ochi" is light on story — you kind of know what's going to happen all the time — and that, coupled with occasionally garbled dialogue, makes it easy to zone out at times. But in its place it serves up a nourishing banquet for the senses. — Alissa Wilkinson (Read the full review here.) Also this weekend Nathan Fielder, left, in a scene from the finale of "The Rehearsal." John P. Johnson/HBO "Big Mouth" is back for its eighth and final season, on Netflix. A new batch of "Couples Therapy" episodes are available now, on Paramount+. It is, like the previous seasons, fascinating. I wish the international versions of this show were available to stream, too. The New Zealand version's episodes are an hour! It's great! "Jerrod Carmichael: Don't Be Gay" airs on Saturday at 10 p.m., on HBO. The season finale of "The Last of Us" airs on Sunday at 9 p.m., on HBO. It will be back for a third season. Season 2 of "The Rehearsal" finishes on Sunday starting at 10:30 p.m., on HBO. EXTRA-CREDIT READING Review: 'Pee-wee as Himself' Finds the Man Behind the Man-Child This fascinating though incomplete documentary tells Paul Reubens's story despite the subject's doubts about the project. By James Poniewozik Critic's Notebook Everybody Knew His Name: 'Norm!' George Wendt of "Cheers," who died on Tuesday, could walk into a bar and imply his character's entire life outside it. By James Poniewozik Popcast The Relentlessness of Jeff Goldblum In a wide-ranging interview on Popcast, the actor and musician insisted that the immutable Jeff Goldblum persona is "not a performance" — it's his lifeblood. 1 HR 6 MIN LISTEN Screenland Hollywood Figured Out How to Adapt Video Games. I Wish It Hadn't. Polished adaptations like "The Last of Us" and "Minecraft" lack the awkward charm of the genre's early years. By Calum Marsh What if Making Cartoons Becomes 90% Cheaper? A.I. has yet to upend Hollywood. But it is starting to make big inroads in animation. By Brooks Barnes The 6 Mitford Sisters, Their Jewelry and a New TV Series The costume designer for "Outrageous" talks about finding designs that the women would have worn. By David Belcher 'Lilo & Stitch': How a Fuzzy Blue Alien Became a Disney Cash Cow Step aside, Moana, Elsa and Simba. In recent years, Stitch has quietly become one of Disney's most popular — and most merchandised — characters. By Ashley Spencer Tom Hanks Wrote a Play, and Will Star in It Off Broadway This Fall "This World of Tomorrow," based on the actor's 2017 short story collection, is scheduled to begin performances in October at the Shed. By Michael Paulson If you received this newsletter from someone else, subscribe here. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Watching from The New York Times. To stop receiving Watching, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. Explore more subscriber-only newsletters.Get The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018