This week’s lean home entertainment offerings include an extremely well-made modern thriller, the first such Hollywood film ever with an Asian-American protagonist, an intense psychological mystery that features one of Amy Adams’ very best performances, and an anime TV series based on a popular Japanese cell phone novel.

Theatrical Movies

Originally announced for release in October, Aneesh Chaganty’s first feature film Searching (Sony, 204 min., $30.99, BD $34.99) takes place almost entirely on smart phones and computer screens as a father (well-played by John M. Cho) searches for his missing 16-year-old daughter.  Searching is the first Hollywood thriller to feature an Asian-American lead actor, but aside from its historical significance, Searching is a compelling, intelligently-constructed thriller in its own right.

Also due on Tuesday is the gothic horror film The Little Stranger (Universal, “R,” 112 min., $24.99, BD $29.99), a somber psychologically-intense character study with some haunted house horror elements.  This film, which is set in a dark and somber 1948, was rated “fresh” by the critics on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, but earned just $400K at the North American box office.  The Little Stranger is for those who enjoy the literary, gothic side of horror—not the visceral jolts and shocks of mainstream horror films.

TV on DVD

The networks are in reruns and the number of TV on disc releases is way down this week.  The top offering is the HBO series Sharp Objects: Season 1 (HBO, $49.99 BD $59.99).  Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee from a novel by Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects is an intense psychological thriller with superb performances by Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson.  Adams plays an alcoholic reporter who returns to her home town to cover a serial murder case, and has to face her own demons, including her social-climbing mother (Clarkson).

The two top overseas offerings this week are from Australia.  Picnic At Hanging Rock (Acorn Media, 321 min., $39.99) is based on the same 1957 novel by Joan Lindsay previously adapted into a movie in 1975 by Peter Weir.  The six-episode TV series format allows for a more complete presentation of the novel’s devastating mystery.

Also of interest is Jack Irish: Season 2 (Acorn Media, 412 min., $39.99), which stars Guy Pearce as a former lawyer turned private investigator and debt collector in this neo-noir set against the background of horse racing down under.

Anime

This week’s new anime releases include King’s Game; Season 1 Collection (Funimation, “TV-MA,” 300 min., DVD/BD Combo $64.98), a 12-episode 2017 anime from Seven that is based on a fantasy/horror cell phone novel about a high school class of 32 who all receive messages from the “king” instructing them to participate in a “game” under penalty of death.  With its numerous student suicides (caused by increasingly extreme demands of the “game”), this series is sure to be a bit on the controversial side, and is definitely not for the young ones.

Previously released on DVD in two parts by Bandai, the 26-episode 2008-2009 series, Tales of the Abyss: The Complete Series (Funimation, “TV-14,” 650 min., Subtitles Only, BD/DVD Combo $54.98), which was  produced by Sunrise and based on the PlayStation 2 game, is now available in high def in a Japanese language (with English subtitles) edition.