It’s Unstreamable! Where Jas Keimig and Chase Burns recommend movies and TV shows you can't watch on major streaming services in the United States. We post on Wednesdays unless we’re tired or busy 😊
This week, we’re focusing on two unstreamable Meryl Streep films in honor of the Merylthon, a weekend of Meryl’s best films to raise money to save The Grand in Tacoma. On Sunday June 16, we’re introducing A Cry in the Dark and, after the screening, will debate about Meryl’s best lines in six iconic films. Come reserve a seat!
Got a recommendation for Unstreamable? Give us the scoop at unstreamablemovies@gmail.com.
USA, 1983, 131 min, Dir. Mike Nichols
When we speak of Kurt Russell as a “Golden Globe nominated actor,” Silkwood is the movie we're referring to. While he does little more than look like a conservative American snack (blue jeans, Confederate flag and all), this is the movie that earned him his highest acting accolade. But Silkwood really belongs to Meryl Streep, who plays the real life Karen Silkwood, a whistleblower and labor organizer who worked at a nuclear facility in Oklahoma. In 1974, Silkwood died in a car accident under SuSpIcIoUs CiRcUmStAnCeS while driving to meet a New York Times reporter. Spooky, Big Daddy Capitalist shit.
Cher (yes, that Cher) plays Streep’s butch lesbian roommate who dates a super femme funeral parlor beautician. Streep has the most intense—yet chic—mullet imaginable. And while the pacing can feel a bit meandering (this is the debut feature screenplay for Nora Ephron, who co-wrote the film), Streep gives a naturalistic, complex performance. As ever. JAS KEIMIG
Find it in the Directors section under Nichols, Mike. Or rent it by mail!
USA | UK, 1985, 121 min, Directed by Fred Schepisi
("Some people know exactly what they want. They want everything.") Originally a David Hare play, this period piece set in postwar Britain features plenty of famous people (Streep, Ullman, Gielgud, Sting, Neill, McKellen). They act at their most subtle and huffy, probably to honor Gielgud, a legend among actors. (This is the only film Streep and Gielgud are in together.) I finally watched the tape a few months ago, and I was... not a fan.
Streep opens the movie as a scrappy fighter in the French Resistance—and that's exciting! She delivers an early monologue with beats so full and nimble that teachers should analyze it for their introductory acting classes. But the juicy wartime parts quickly wrap up, and the film's two-hour core focuses on Streep's character's postwar life, which is pointedly boring. I put the tape down and moved on.
After I complained about Plenty, an Unstreamable reader responded that it's one of his favorite Streep films. I decided to give it another chance, and my second viewing was better. It really is a prime example of why people love Streep's acting style. She creates tension by giving the camera a taut, stoic face and contrasting that face against her eyes, which reveal a deep, unsettled backstory. This tension—stoic face; emotive eyes—is copied as the gold standard of film acting. It's all very technical and good! Still, most of this movie feels like a play, and movies should never feel like plays. CHASE BURNS
Find it in the Plays section under Plays - General. Or rent it by mail!
Looking for more? Browse our big list of 350+ hard-to-find movies over on The Stranger.
*The fine print: Unstreamable means we couldn’t find it on Netflix, Hulu, Shudder, Disney+, or any of the other hundreds of streaming services available in the United States. We also couldn’t find it available for rent or purchase through platforms like Prime Video or iTunes. We don’t consider films on sites that interrupt with commercial breaks, like Tubi, to be streamable. Tubi is like Neu Cable. And yes, we know you can find many things online illegally, but we don’t consider user-generated videos, like unauthorized YouTube uploads, to be streamable.
