What is Star on Disney+?

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Sick of Disney+’s wholesome line-up? Want to watch films and TV shows with more bad language, violence, scary stuff and sex than you can shake a stick at?

Previously we’d have replied with (a) “Why are you subscribing to a family-friendly streaming service in the first place?” and (b) “Look, swearing doesn’t make you big or clever”, but Disney+ clearly has designs on your adult-sized brain and demand for cusswords. The home for this debauched content is Star, a hub packed with content for grown-ups.

Star, you say? Doesn’t sound particularly grim and gritty

It’s not supposed to. Star is, in Disney’s own words, a “general entertainment brand” that sits within the main Disney+ app. It includes some extremely non-Disney material (launch movies will include Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Favourite and, er, Die Hard 2), but is really a way to significantly increase Disney+’s library of content from outside the Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic stables.

If you’re worried about your little ones accidently watching Bruce Willis stab a guy in the eye socket with an icicle, don’t fret: alongside Star comes a bevy of new parental controls to hide mature content behind a PIN lock.

So what else is available?

Series available right away in the UK will include Atlanta, The X-Files, 24, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, black-ish, Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost and Family Guy. Movies available at launch include Borat, Deadpool 2, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Pretty Woman, Moulin Rouge and The Devil Wears Prada.

If all that sounds like stuff you’ve already seen on other streaming services, it is – but Star also hosts dedicated sections for ‘scandalous drama’ and true crime.

And this is all included in my monthly subscription?

Good news. Star comes with a your monthly subscription, although the cost has changed recently.

A Standard with Ads tier limits streams to 1080p, allows two concurrent streams, doesn’t allow downloads, and peppers content with adverts. This costs £4.99 per month in the UK, and is already available in the US as Disney+ Basic, costing $7.99 per month.

The Standard without Ads tier is £7.99 per month or £79.90 per year annual price. It includes downloads and removes ads, but limits you to Full HD and 5.1 audio playback. You’ll only be able to stream to two devices at once, too.

There’s also a new Premium plan, which ups the quality to 4K with HDR, allows for four concurrent streams, and includes a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. It’ll set you back £10.99 per month or £109.90 annually in the UK, or $13.99/month or $139.99 annually in the US.

While you wait for Star to arrive, do check out our picks for the 25 best things to watch on Disney+.

About

Tech journalism's answer to The Littlest Hobo, I've written for a host of titles and lived in three different countries in my 15 years-plus as a freelancer. But I've always come back home to Stuff eventually, where I specialise in writing about cameras, streaming services and being tragically addicted to Destiny.