With the number of cases on campus rising and more stringent restrictions being put on students, it’s becoming more difficult than ever to spend time with friends that live in different residence halls. But, with a Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu or Disney+ subscription, and a little bit of ingenuity, you can watch movies with your fellow students from the comfort of your own dorm room; each of these services offers either native or third-party support for remote group-watching. Here are some recommendations of what to stream during quarantine.
Netflix
"The Trial of the Chicago 7" (2020)
Aaron Sorkin’s newest dramatic thriller has launched not in theaters, but straight to Netflix in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film follows the titular group as it fights for its freedom, its beliefs and its legacy in this famed 1969 court case. An all-star cast carries the film, along with the whip-sharp dialogue that Sorkin is known for. Further, at its foundation is a timely story about the role of protest and justice in a highly polarized climate.
Amazon Prime Video
"Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" (2020)
Sacha Baron Cohen makes another appearance as Borat Sagdiyev, an ignorantly provocative Kazakhstani journalist who visits America with his daughter. It was no coincidence the film was released only a week and a half before Election Day, as its coverage of topics like racism, antisemitism, sexism, politics and COVID-19 was more than relevant to the upcoming Election. While not quite as funny as the original, this sequel 14 years in the making has a surprising amount of heart at its core. This maturity from an unlikely source is a sign of just how dire things have become in 2020. If even a "Borat" movie has accepted the need for personal responsibility, so too does the rest of America.
Hulu
"Parasite" (2019)
With Oscar season approaching, many of this year's Best Picture contenders will release over the next couple of months. In preparation for that, it’s the perfect time to revisit the 2020 winner, Bong Joon Ho’s "Parasite."While important as the first foreign language feature to win the title of Best Picture, it’s an incredibly entertaining movie independent of that. This exploration of class relations in South Korea is more than applicable to audiences around the world, with layered social commentary being but one of its assets. It's tense, cynical, grotesque and darkly comedic. To know any more about the film would be a disservice to it’s twisting and turning plot. It really does earn the hype.
Disney+
"Hamilton" (2020)
Bringing the sought after Broadway experience to the masses is the kind of democratization that Alexander Hamilton would be proud of, provided that you’re willing to pay the Disney+ subscription fee, of course. This “obnoxious, arrogant, loudmouth bother” took the world by storm when "Hamilton: An American Musical" premiered at The Public Theater back in 2015, and with good reason. As someone who had neither seen the show live nor listened to the soundtrack, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The combination of rap, pop, as well as songs with more classical Broadway sensibilities is surprisingly seamless.
