A young woman yearns for a fairytale marriage but gets a brutal dose of reality in the Oscar-winning juggernaut Anora. An Iranian family fractures under the tension between oppression and rebellion in the Oscar-nominated The Seed of the Sacred Fig. A 93 year-old grandmother tracks down the criminals who scammed her out of $10,000 in the heartwarming comedy Thelma. These are just a few of the great new movies you can stream for free on Kanopy thanks to your Livingston Library card. Check out the recommended titles below, or browse Kanopy’s complete collection of new releases here. (Descriptions provided by Kanopy.)
Anora (2024, directed by Sean Baker)
Anora (Mikey Madison), a young woman from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she marries the son of an oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn). Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents head to New York to get the marriage annulled. Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Original Screenplay.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024, directed by Mohammad Rasoulof)
Shot entirely in secret, this tense political thriller follows investigating judge Iman (Missagh Zareh) as he enforces brutal state crackdowns in Tehran while his own household begins to fracture. When his service weapon disappears, Iman’s suspicion turns inward toward his wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) and daughters (Mahsa Rostami, Setareh Maleki), whose quiet resistance may threaten more than just family unity. Premiering in competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, it won the FIPRESCI Prize, and multiple other honors for its daring blend of fiction and real protest footage.
Presence (2025, directed by Steven Soderbergh)
A haunting psychological thriller unfolds entirely through the ghost’s eerie vantage point as a suburban family—Rebekah (Lucy Liu), Chris (Chris Sullivan), teenage Chloe (Callina Lang), and brother Tyler (Eddy Maday)—moves into a charming but unsettling home. Now, as invisible forces tighten their grip, the house’s buried secrets refuse to stay hidden. Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Side Effects), the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Hard Truths (2024, directed by Mike Leigh)
Legendary filmmaker Mike Leigh returns to the contemporary world with a fierce, compassionate, and often darkly humorous study of family and the thorny ties that bind us. Reunited with Leigh for the first time since multiple Oscar-nominated Secrets and Lies, the astonishing Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, a woman wracked by fear, tormented by afflictions, and prone to raging tirades against her husband, son, and anyone who looks her way. Meanwhile, her easygoing younger sister, played by Michele Austin (Another Year), is a single mother with a life as different from Pansy’s as their clashing temperaments – brimming with communal warmth from her salon clients and daughters alike. This expansive film from a master dramatist takes us into the intensities of kinship, duty, and the most enduring of human mysteries: that even through lifetimes of hurt and hardship, we still find ways to love those we call family.
Last Summer (2023, directed by Catherine Breillat)
Successful lawyer Anne (Leá Drucker) leads a happy life with her husband Pierre (Olivia Rabourdin) and their two daughters. But when she begins an affair with Theo (Samuel Kircher), Pierre’s son from a previous marriage, her career and family life are in jeopardy.
Thelma (2024, directed by Josh Margolin)
An uproarious action‑comedy follows sprightly 93-year-old Thelma Post (June Squibb) after she falls for a phone scam impersonating her grandson and loses $10,000, but she refuses to be a victim. Determined to reclaim her money, she commandeers a wheelchair‑style scooter and embarks on a daring urban adventure—assisted by faithful pal Ben (Richard Roundtree in his final role) and supported by grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger).
The Return (2024, directed by Uberto Pasolini)
After 20 years away, Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. The King has returned from the Trojan War, but much has changed in his kingdom. His beloved wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche) is a prisoner in her own home, hounded by suitors vying to be king. Their son Telemachus faces death at the hands of these suitors, who see him as merely an obstacle to their pursuit of the kingdom. Odysseus has also changed—scarred by his experience of the Trojan War, he is no longer the mighty warrior from years past— but he must rediscover his strength in order to win back all he has lost.
Oddity (2024, directed by Damian McCarthy)
After Dani (Carolyn Bracken) is brutally murdered, her blind occultist twin sister, Darcy (also played by Carolyn Bracken), goes after those responsible using inherited haunted items as her tools of revenge.
Ghostlight (2024, directed by Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson)
When melancholic construction worker Dan (Keith Kupferer) finds himself drifting from his wife and daughter, he discovers community and purpose in a local theater’s production of Romeo and Juliet. As the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life, he and his family are forced to confront a personal loss.
Omni Loop (2024, directed by Bernado Britto)
Zoya Lowe (Mary Louise-Parker) has been diagnosed with a black hole growing in her chest and given a week to live. But what the doctors and her family do not know is that she has already lived this week before because she’s been stuck in an endless time loop. That all changes the day she meets Paula (Ayo Edebiri) and together they team up to save her life and solve time travel.
–Joe, Adult Services & Acquisitions