3 New Hulu Movies I’m Streaming This Weekend (January 2-4): Ash and More

2026 has only just begun, but the same old problem remains: What movies should you watch this weekend?

Watch with us is here to help you with a curated list of three high-quality movies streaming on Hulu which are worth the detour.

Based on an underrated 2025 sci-fi thriller Ash featuring a Break the bad star of a bittersweet animated film nominated for an Oscar, these films will definitely help you celebrate the new year on a good note.

‘Ash’ (2025)

Riya (Eiza Gonzalez) is an astronaut who has a big problem: she is stuck in space! Worse yet, she has no memory of how she got there or why most of her fellow crew members died. Literally lost in space, her only salvation lies with Brion (Aaron Paul), who responded to a distress call she had made some time ago. But is Brion telling the whole truth? And why does she experience brief flashbacks that show her killing her friends?

Ash is a truly intriguing sci-fi mystery that has many tricks up its narrative sleeve. However, none of this ever feels cheap or unearned; instead, Ash looks like an intriguing mix of Stranger And Fight club. Director Flying Lotuswho also stars in and wrote the music, is not afraid to reference past hallmarks of multiple genres while creating a completely original sci-fi horror film that uses each of its economical 95 minutes wisely and imaginatively.

Ash is streaming on Hulu.

“The Illusionist” (2010)

By the end of the 1950s, no one really wanted magic anymore. This is a problem for the Illusionist, the director’s unnamed main protagonist Sylvain Chometthe wonderful animated film from 2010, The illusionist. Unable to find work in Paris, the illusionist moved to London and got by with low-paid gigs in pubs, cafes and private parties. His life becomes brighter when he meets Alice (Helene Rankin), a young girl who believes she has magical powers. They soon move in together, but their father-daughter relationship is soon threatened by a harsh reality: the illusionist is short of money and has more difficulty maintaining the idealized image that Alice has of him.

Nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2011 Oscars, The illusionist is a mostly dialogue-free ode to magic and the magicians who devote their entire lives to illusion. For the film’s protagonist, he devotes his energy to impressing a crowd – Alice – because she is the only one who truly believes in him.

But even that doesn’t last forever, and in the film’s bittersweet third act, the illusionist cannot deny the inevitable. The illusionist is a animated film for adults; while children may enjoy it, adults will appreciate it more and recognize the film’s central message: there are no happy or sad endings in life, just endings that no one, not even a magician, can deny forever.

The illusionist is streaming on Hulu.

“The Abyss” (1989)

James Cameron has been a box office “king of the world” for decades now, and you would have to go back to the 1980s to find its last disappointment. But call The abyss disappointing is overdone; it made a little money and was praised by critics, even if it did not conquer cinemas like the director’s last successes, like Real lies, Titanic or his latest film, Avatar: Fire and Ash.

In The abyssa UFO is discovered at the bottom of the ocean. To investigate this strange phenomenon, a team of Navy SEALs is sent to a nearby deep-sea oil drilling platform. Lindsey (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), who believes the UFO contains strong evidence of extraterrestrial life. Deck Captain Budd (Ed Harris), who happens to be Lindsey’s ex-husband, isn’t so sure and isn’t willing to risk his crew’s lives to find out. As a hurricane rages on the surface, tensions rise and tempers flare as Lindsey and Bug argue over whether or not to investigate the UFO.

The abyss is sci-fi spectacle at its finest – visually impressive, thematically daring and superbly well-acted. The film’s depictions of what aliens would actually look like underwater make sense, but what’s even more memorable is how Cameron handles the dramatic scenes, particularly between Lindsey and Bud. These two feel like a real married couple – stubborn, opinionated and frustrating, they also genuinely care about each other. The abyss shows Cameron’s enduring strengths as a filmmaker, one who always wants to push what cinema can do without sacrificing the humanity behind him.

The abyss is streaming on Hulu.