5 best new movies to stream this weekend (July 17-19): 'Obsession' and more

What would you do for love? For Bear (Michael Johnston), he’d do just about anything to win the heart of Nikki (Inde Navarrette), a coworker he’s had a crush on for years. He even turns to the occult to get what he wants. He purchases a "One Wish Willow" trinket and wishes that Nikki would love him unconditionally. Bear gets his wish, but he soon discovers Nikki’s unconditional love carries a high price, and he might not be willing to pay it.

The movie story of the year has been the unexpected success of Obsession, which broke box office records throughout May and June by steadily increasing its gross weeks after its initial release – and becoming a pop cultural touchstone that everyone is still talking about. It helps that the movie is terrific, a confidently made horror-thriller that tackles serious questions about love, consent and toxic relationships. Johnston is wonderfully scummy as the pathetic Bear, while Navarrette is a revelation as a woman who is both driven and imprisoned by her lover’s selfish desire to be wanted and pleased. 

There’s one downside to teenage romance – they all have to end sometime, especially when you’re no longer a teenager. That’s the crisis facing Heartstopper’s golden couple, Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor), as they begin to grow up and spend more time away from each other. While Nick is starting a new life in college, Charlie is starting his final year of high school. They’re still together, but they have to face a harsh reality that most long-distance relationships don’t work.

Heartstopper Forever is the series finale to the popular Netflix show, which ran for three seasons and was the most prominent LGBTQ romance series on streaming until Heated Rivalry and its h**ny hockey players stole the spotlight late last year. This two-hour film gives the show a proper sendoff and allows its fiercely loyal fanbase to hang out with the Heartstopper gang (sans Olivia Colman, who couldn’t participate) one last time.

In an unidentified subway station, an unnamed businessman, known only as the Lost Man (Kazunari Ninomiya), becomes lost as he tries to exit. One subway corridor looks like another, which causes him to think he’s losing his mind. He’s not – he’s merely stuck in a bizarre simulation where the only way to escape is by reaching Exit 8 of the subway station. The only way for him to do that is by turning back when a corridor has anomalies and moving forward when there are none. Sounds easy, right? But the Lost Man is lost for a reason, and he can’t rely on his own senses to discern what’s real and what’s in his guilty memories.

Based on the sleeper hit video game of the same name, Exit 8 is similar to this year’s breakout horror blockbuster, Backrooms, in that it relies a lot on liminal spaces to creep out its audience. The corridors that the Lost Man walks in look largely the same: brightly lit black-and-white hallways with very little detail. That’s why it’s jarring when something appears different – scary as hell when someone else appears in the frame. The Lost Man isn’t alone, and the best part about Exit 8 is finding out who is with him – and how they’re the key to solving the mystery of Exit 8.

Travis (Joe Keery) and Naomi (Georgina Campbell) work in the middle of nowhere, which some call the state of Kansas. As night security guards at a remote self-storage unit, they don’t see much action until one night when all hell breaks loose. A malfunctioning unit causes temperatures to rise, unleashing a long-dormant alien virus that rapidly multiplies and infects numerous animals and humans, turning them into zombies. Travis and Naomi lock themselves in one of the units to survive, but their only hope to escape lies with Robert Quinn (Liam Neeson), a former bioterror operator whose encountered this virus before.

Cold Storage was given the cold shoulder by audiences earlier this year, but it’s an entertaining B-movie that’s a lot of fun to watch – just don’t question any of its logic. The eclectic cast, which also includes two legendary English thespians, Vanessa Redgrave and Lesley Manville, and Kevin Bacon’s daughter, Sosie, is game to have a little sci-fi horror fun, and the film’s gung-ho spirit is infectious. If John Carpenter’s The Thing were turned into a comedy, it would look a little bit like Cold Storage.

In an alternate reality version of the 1970s, the United States is ruled by a military regime that enforces law and order with a lethal iron fist. Every year, the regime holds a contest, “The Long Walk,’ where 50 teenage boys from 50 different states have to walk for miles without stopping. If they stand still or walk below 3 miles per hour, they will be shot. The last one left standing gets a cash prize and one wish granted

Like most of the contestants, Pete (David Jonsson) entered the contest to earn money so his family can have a better life, but Raymond (Cooper Hoffman) is different. He wants revenge against the Major (Mark Hamill), who oversees the Long Walk, and who is rumored to be the illegitimate father of one or more of the contestants. As they walk across a devastated America, Pete and Ray quickly form a deep friendship, but how long can that last in a contest where only one of them can survive? 

A sleeper hit when it was released last November, The Long Walk is one of those “minor” films that play better on the small screen – and becomes a future cult classic. Adapted from Stephen King's story of the same name, the film blends lo-fi sci-fi with coming-of-age tropes, resulting in a moving film about friendship and a disturbing treatise about fascism and violence.