What’s New to Stream on Netflix for September 2023
Netflix is set to release several new content for streaming in September 2023.
Crossing the Streams, a monthly guide on streaming services, highlights new offerings on Netflix in September 2023, including an Anchorman double feature, new films from Pablo Larrain and Wes Anderson, and more.
Netflix has added a double feature featuring Adam McKay’s comedic masterpiece, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, which premieres on September 5th. The film features a lineup of heavy hitters including Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, Fred Willard, Christina Applegate, David Koechner, Chris Parnell, Kathryn Hahn, Fred Armisen, Seth Rogen, and Paul F. Tompkins. The comedy is guaranteed to leave you laughing. The cast returned for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), featuring James Marsden, Kristen Wiig, Greg Kinnear, and Harrison Ford. The movie is a guaranteed good time and a must-watch for fans of comedy.
Pablo Larrain has been making memorable, acclaimed films for over a decade now, but he’s found his critical stride in recent years with films like Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021). He’s backed this year with another film that has one foot in history and the other well outside of it. El Conde (premieres September 15th) tells the story of Augusto Pinochet, a real-life dictator from Chile, but instead of dying in 2006 he’s actually still alive and kicking — and a 250-year-old vampire. He’s decided enough is enough and finally wants to die, but it’s not going to be that simple. IMDB lists it as a mix of comedy, fantasy, and history, so the possibilities seem endless.
Wes Anderson has tackled the world of Roald Dahl before with the still fantastic stop-motion adaptation of Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), and now he’s dipping back into that author’s well in a different fashion. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (premiering September 27th) is the first of four short films Anderson has made adapting some of Dahl’s short stories. It’s about a wealthy man who seeks out the ability to see without looking, and it stars Ben Kingsley, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Richard Ayoade, and Rupert Friend. The same cast reportedly stars in the other shorts as well, and while dates are unknown at this point those three will be hitting Netflix as well.
While those two Netflix Originals have big names behind them, nowhere (premieres September 29th) is itself coming out of nowhere. The Spanish feature is a survival thriller about a young pregnant refugee who hides in a shipping container to escape her violent homeland, but when the container goes overboard in the middle of the ocean her struggle for survival really kicks into gear. Of course, it gets even tougher when she has the baby. Director Albert Pinto has been in the business since 2008, but this looks to be his most high-profile effort yet. Here’s hoping he can keep the single location thrills cooking for the full 109-minute running time.
In September, three comedies are recommended for chuckling. Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), directed by Cameron Crowe, stars Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, and Phoebe Cates. Despite being a product of its time, it offers laughs and a nostalgic look at high school. However, it has dark story beats, unlike The Last American Virgin (1982). Sandra Bullock, who was once a queen of romantic comedy, is now more focused on dramas. While You Were Sleeping (1995) is my favorite, but Miss Congeniality (2000) is also enjoyable. Bullock plays an FBI agent who goes undercover in a beauty contest to stop a criminal, with performances from Benjamin Bratt, Michael Caine, Candice Bergen, William Shatner, and Ernie Hudson.
