From top docos to picks for kids, the seven films you should stream right now

From a heart-warming doco that will soothe your soul to a clever animated flick the kids will love, don’t pick a dud this weekend. Leigh Paatsch dishes up the best every streaming service has to offer.

From a heart-warming doco that will soothe your soul to a clever animated flick the kids will love, don’t pick a dud this weekend. These seven films have you covered — and you can stream them right now.

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JULIA ROBERTS’ LATEST A DRUG STORY WITH HONESTY

THE HATE U GIVE A FINE PLEA FOR EQUALITY

THE ONE THAT WAS A BRIDGE TOO FAR

CHAPPAQUIDDICK (M)

FOXTEL NOW

Four stars

If you have found the current Oscars season has churned up a few political biopics (such as Vice, Loro and The Front Runner) that haven’t quite cut it, give this unjustly overlooked gem from mid-2018 a go. You’ll find it has the edge missing from the others.

The story begins on July 18, 1969, where a car driven by Senator Edward Kennedy (played by Australian actor Jason Clarke) spirals off a bridge and into the water.

Kate Mara as Mary Jo Kopechne. Picture: Transmission Films

Kennedy walks away from the accident unscathed. Meanwhile, the other passenger in the vehicle, Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate Mara) is left behind to drown. In the days that follow — after Kennedy took a staggering 8 hours to acknowledge his part in the tragedy — several shockingly cynical attempts are made to get the Senator looking like a heroically innocent victim of bad luck.

This powerful tale of galling entitlement and ruthless insensitivity is filtered through an impressive performance by Clarke, who finds in Kennedy the pathological combination of a man stunned by what he has done, yet stirred by what he must do.

THE ONE THAT’S PREHISTORICALLY HYSTERICAL

EARLY MAN (PG) ***1/2

FOXTEL NOW, NETFLIX

Three-and-a-half stars

Kids will absolutely love this clay-mated comedy from the creators of Shaun the Sheep, which jams both cleverness and silliness into every frame.

An unashamedly madcap (but never too manic) story tracks the heroic exploits of Dug (voiced by Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne), a primitive hunter-gatherer who will need to become mankind’s first soccer star if he is to save his village from destruction.

Early Man is a clever flick the kids will love.

Historically, the movie is all over the shop, mixing and matching its Stone Ages, Bronze Ages and significant prehistoric milestones (including the invention of, err, sliced bread) to suit itself.

Hysterically, the whole thing makes perfectly imperfect sense. Co-stars Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams.

THE ONE THAT CUTS YOU ADRIFT

THE MERCY (M) ***1/2

FOXTEL NOW, GOOGLE, iTunes

Three-and-a-half stars

In 1968, British yachting enthusiast Donald Crowhurst entered the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. A little over a year later, Crowhurst disappeared off the face of the earth, never to be seen again.

What exactly happened out there on the water has been pieced together over the years from logs left behind on Crowhurst’s vessel, which was found floating intact several thousand kilometres away from his perceived position in the race.

If you are unaware of the strange and troubling facts surrounding the Donald Crowhurst affair, do try and keep it that way until you have seen The Mercy.

Colin Firth from the film The Mercy.

Though this eerie, unsettling biopic does go about its saddening, maddening business effectively enough for those familiar with the finer points of the story, the movie swells in sorrowful magnitude when viewed without knowing what lies ahead.

A superb Colin Firth plays Crowhurst with an initially modest, then incrementally worrying presence that stays with you well after the end credits start rolling. Co-stars Rachel Weisz.

THE ONE ABOUT A TRAGIC BLAST FROM THE RECENT PAST

PATRIOTS DAY (M) ***1/2

STAN

Three-and-a-half stars

Any inclination to present the still-shocking bombing of the 2013 Boston Marathon as entertainment is wisely resisted here.

Instead, director and co-writer Peter Berg presses on with a search for some enlightenment from this dark place in modern American history.

The focus primarily sticks to the surprisingly rousing aftermath of the incident, where a manhunt for the two brothers responsible galvanises Boston at a time it could very well unravel.

Patriots Day touches on some dark themes. From left: Kevin Bacon, Mark Wahlberg and John Goodman.

Teaming once again with actor Mark Wahlberg, Berg further refines the no-frills docudrama approach that has served the pair so well in their past two collaborations, Deepwater Horizon and Lone Survivor. Co-stars John Goodman, Kevin Bacon.

THE ONE THAT WILL CHAT YOU UP AND CHEER YOU UP

TEA WITH THE DAMES (M) ***1/2

FOXTEL NOW, AMAZON

Three-and-a-half stars

You are hereby invited to afternoon tea with four legendary ladies of British stage and screen. You should know the majority of the quartet, for it is not impolite to state they have all been around for a while.

Even if you may not be totally across who they are or what they have done across their decorated careers, you will walk away from this docu-conversation affair feeling as if you have caught up with four old friends.

The big sister of the bunch and hostess for the day (at the country home she shared with late husband Laurence Olivier) is Joan Plowright, 88.

Joining her to dish some dirt on their shared profession — in the best possible taste, of course — are Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Eileen Atkins, all 83.

The camaraderie of these women is infectious. A touch overly show-bizzy at times maybe, but they never cut you out of the loop for too long.

Tea With The Dames might be just the pick-me-up you need.

The interplay of the subjects can get surprisingly prickly, unapologetically honest and unexpectedly poignant in the blink of an eye.

A lovely, lively and quick little eavesdrop session that (surprisingly) was the highest-grossing doco in Australian cinemas last year!

THE ONE THAT FEELS THE NEED FOR GREED

JACKPOT (MA15+) ***1/2

SBS ON DEMAND

Three-and-a-half stars

So these eight Norwegians walk into a Swedish girlie bar. You know how the rest of the joke goes, right? Wrong. They all die in a hail of gunfire. Except one. And he has some serious explaining to do to the local cops.

So begins Jackpot, a brutally funny thriller-comedy from the pen of celebrated Scandinavian crime writer Jo Nesbo (remember the brilliant Headhunters earlier this year?).

Jo Nesbo's Jackpot is a brutally funny thriller-comedy.

The sole clue to unlocking the macabre mystery at hand is a winning lottery ticket shared by a group of hardened ex-cons.

Jam-packed with graphic shocks and sly one-liners, Jackpot does not waste a moment in its quest to twist and turn around what you think might be coming next.

THE ONE THAT AIN’T PUNCHIN’ CLEVER

FIST FIGHT (MA15+) *1/2

STAN, FOXTEL, NETFLIX

One-and-a-half stars

Many a movie set at school carries the same basic scenario as Fist Fight.

A bully takes issue with a wimp, nerd or sensitive type. A same-day showdown is scheduled.

Word spreads like wildfire there’s gonna be blood spilt behind the bike sheds after 3.

In what turns out to the only bright idea in a dim movie comedy, Fist Fight whacks a new twist on the old formula. What if it were two teachers putting their dooks up for a punch-up?

The answer that Fist Fight issues ain’t so educational.

As for funny, well, you had better set your entertainment bar very low. To be fair, the much-mooted scholastic smackdown between chalkboard colleagues (whiny doormat Charlie Day and perma-scowling psychopath Ice Cube) — when it finally arrives — is guilty-pleasure good.

Ice Cube as a “perma-scowling psychopath” in Fist Fight.

But to get that far, your sense of humour will have to endure a senseless beating from some seriously skeezy scripting. Co-stars Tracy Morgan, Jillian Bell.