Alex Cox Returns with Dead Souls in a Crowded Streaming Week

Alex Cox, the director of Repo Man, Sid and Nancy and Walker, returns this week with Dead Souls, a Western adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's classic novel, now available on VOD. The film headlines a streaming slate that also includes Kane Parsons' feature debut Backrooms on HBO Max, Sylvain Chomet's animated A Magnificent Life on Netflix, and Garth Jennings' Pulp documentary on MUBI.

Cox's choice of source material fits his sensibility, as Jackson Diianni noted in an interview with the director. "Having read Dead Souls, it's not surprising that it would appeal to Cox. For one thing, there's a very self-referential quality to the writing," Diianni observed. "The narrator often speaks directly to the reader about the novel itself, calling to mind some of Cox's well-known postmodern touches: the generic food labels of Repo Man (1984), the intentional anachronisms of Walker (1987), Malcolm McLaren's finger guns and Sid Vicious' fantasy of shooting the audience in Sid and Nancy (1986)." Diianni added: "Reimagining a classic of Russian literature as a Spaghetti Western is a suitably offbeat and imaginative choice for Cox, and he's not the first punk to embrace this particular novel—it inspired a Joy Division song of the same name."

Backrooms (Kane Parsons, HBO Max)

Twenty-year-old YouTuber Kane Parsons makes his feature debut with Backrooms, and the opening five minutes make the case for him. A found-footage recording shows a researcher lost in the endless liminal space, chased by an unseen force of evil. Shot in the low resolution of early-1990s camcorders, the film's production design — by Perkins' regular collaborator Danny Vermette — proves immediately disquieting: signs appear as their mirror image, furniture has melted into the floor, and the only living souls are seagulls. As the tape ends in offscreen devastation, the film flashes forward roughly ten days to Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a failed architect who owns the furniture store Cap'n Clark's Ottoman Empire. (Review by Alistair R.)

Brand New Landscape (Yuiga Danzuka, Fandor)

A favorite on last year's festival circuit, where it premiered at Cannes Directors' Fortnight, Yuiga Danzuka's debut feature arrives on Fandor. Blake Simons wrote in their review: "When confronted with the past, do you drive away or turn back to face it? Siblings Ren (Kurosaki Kodai, in his first lead role) and Emi (Mai Kiryu) have been estranged from their father (Ken'ichi Endô) for the ten years since he chose a new work opportunity in Tokyo. Ren, now a florist, notices a familiar name on the neighboring workstation's order card. Propelled by emotion, not logic, he takes on the delivery himself, arriving to discover his father staring back at him through the floor-to-ceiling window of a major exhibition. Clutching the arrangement tight to his chest, there's a heavy burden to carry."

Idiots (Macon Blair, VOD)

Writer-director Macon Blair revives the screwball escort formula for his prisoner-transport comedy Idiots. The film, streaming on VOD, "plots a tumultuous course that keeps the journey interesting and finds space to add depth to an otherwise broad comedy," according to Kent M. W.'s review. The steady two-hander "never quite soars, but is elevated by an eclectic batch of supporting roles that supply bursts of energy in the right places."

Jackass: Best and Last (Jeff Tremaine, Paramount+)

Johnny Knoxville and director Jeff Tremaine bring the gang back for a bittersweet coda on Paramount+. The franchise, which evolved from 1990s skate videos, has seen its public perception come full circle: "from lewd, obnoxious jerks to lewd, obnoxious sweethearts," as Kent M. W. put it. The Jackass brand has outlasted both MTV, its once-culture-defining home, and now its middle-aged principal cast — despite numerous threats that they had hung up their thongs and Tasers for good.

A Magnificent Life (Sylvain Chomet, Netflix)

From this year's Cannes Specials selection, Sylvain Chomet's animation reimagines the advice-to-your-younger-self premise in reverse. French playwright, filmmaker and inventor Marcel Pagnol, 61 years old and close to giving up on his career, cannot write the memoir column Elle magazine has requested — not without young Marcel, who arrives as hope and optimism personified. (Review by Savina P.)

Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore? (Garth Jennings, MUBI)

Garth Jennings shot his Pulp documentary during the band's June 2025 shows at London's O2 Arena, capturing a band "at its effortlessly brilliant best" — no small feat for a group whose first performance took place in the early '80s. Frontman Jarvis Cocker "may look a bit older, but he's clearly lost none of his wit (or dance moves)," wrote Christopher S.

Tuner (Daniel Roher, Paramount+)

Oscar-winning director Daniel Roher says he lost his artistic inspiration after Navalny's victory. Meeting Los Angeles piano tuner Peter White lit a spark — and instead of a documentary about the man, the encounter led to Roher's fiction debut, Tuner, now on Paramount+. (Review by Jared M.)

Also new

Disney+ adds Toy Story 5. The Kino Film Collection adds Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World. Netflix adds The Room Next Door and Stop! That! Train!

With Cox back behind the camera, Chomet at the animation desk and Knoxville's crew on a farewell lap, this week's slate spans three generations of filmmakers working firmly on their own terms.