What to watch: new movies and TV shows to stream this week
The best shows and movies to stream on Netflix and beyond.
This is the place to find what you should be streaming at the weekend and beyond.
Each week our esteemed group of TV and movie reviewers impart their expert knowledge of all things streaming and boil it down to a handful of things you really need to be watching, going through hours of episodes to hep you make the most important decision of the week: what to watch in your down time.
As you will read, we look at all the new shows that have landed on Netflix, Prime Video, NOW, Apple TV Plus, Disney Plus and Paramount Plus and more, then give our verdict.
In short: if it's in the WatchList, then you know it is going to be good.
After our recommendations of the week, we have links to all of our essential streaming guides - the rankings of which are voted by our readers, so if you haven't done so already then give them a click and have your say.
And if you are still stuck with what to watch, then we have kept all of our previous recommendations so you can have a read.
Happy viewing!
You’re Cordially Invited
This film sounds like prime turkey contender. But it’s actually not too bad at all. A wedding venue is double-booked, which our two leads — Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon — only discover when they get to the front desk. They aren’t among the folks getting married. Witherspoon plays wedding planner for her sister, while Ferrell’s Jim’s daughter is getting hitched. It’s a rom-com that leans heavily on the com side. And given the film has been slopped onto streaming in a content-dry January, it's better than you might expect.
American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson
Is there really anything new to say about the O.J. Simpson case? The story of the NFL star accused of murdering his ex-wife and her friend has played out on TV and film many times before. But, well, it’s been a while and Netflix’s latest attempt does make a solid account of how police failures led to (spoiler alert) Simpson being acquitted. And does Gen Z really know who O.J. Simpson is? Here’s a chance for them to catch up.
Paradise season 1
When the president is murdered, it's up to a secret service agent to find the culprit and secure the future of the country. That agent is Sterling K. Brown, who rides the twists and turns of this silly but engaging thriller with a commendably straight face. Roll with its more unlikely moments and you should find yourself lodged at the edge of your seat. It's an 8-part season, with episodes dropping regularly into March.
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man
This animated series paints Spider-Man in retro-inspired style, but there's one big twist in the premise. In the strain of Spider-Man most of us know best, his mentor is Tony Stark, Iron Man. But in Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man, Norman Osborn, also known as super-villain Green Goblin, takes on that role. It’s an intriguing premise that plays out in a fun, 10-episode ride that’s worth taking.
Brian and Maggie
For now this one’s only for UK viewers, but we still thought it was worth a shout after we talked to the show’s leads and creator. This is a dramatisation of the (to some) famous TV interview between UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Brian Walden, a journalist and former MP himself. Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter star.
We have spent A LONG time watching things on all these streaming services. So, if you want more of an in-depth look at the shows and movies you can stream the please head to the following guides.
- The best Apple TV Plus shows, revealed
- The best Netflix shows and best movies on Netflix
- The best Amazon Prime Series and best movies on Amazon Prime Video
- The best Disney Plus shows and best Disney Plus movies
- The best NOW TV shows and best movies on NOW TV
- The best Paramount Plus shows
Previously on The WatchList...
Night Agent season 2
The first season of the Night Agent was Netflix’s most popular TV show of 2023. And it is currently the streamer’s 7th most popular English language show of all time. 98.2 million watches aren’t to be sniffed at. The show itself isn’t, and never was, a slice of solid HBO-shaped gold. But it is enjoyable binge-ready piece of thriller action that should satisfy those who loved the first season. And there are plenty of those.
Prime Target
Miss the prevalence of those pulpy Dan Brown-style stories and shows? You might appreciate Prime Target, the latest thriller from Apple TV+. Leo Woodall stars as Ed, a genius maths student who thinks he might be on the verge of discovering something big. But is a shadowy force trying to put an end to his research before it’s finished? Don’t enter expecting grounded drama, but you will get plenty of twists and cliffhangers.
Blink Twice
Zoe Kravitz’s directorial debut is a peach. This thriller film follows a woman who finds herself courted by a rich and famous man, and whisked off to a remote luxury island. But behind the haze of booze and good times, is there something much darker going on? Channing Tatum stars as the ultra-famous Slater King while Naomie Ackie leads.
The Sand Castle
A family of four ends up stranded on a seemingly deserted island. They have to scavenge to survive, and hide to find a way to reach someone, anyone, out there in civilisation to bring their rescue. This film is an allegory for the refugee crisis, and was shown in 2024 as part of the Red Sea Film Festival.
Presence
Every synopsis of Presence will make you believe this is a horror film. But it isn’t one. Steven Soderbergh’s Presence is a thriller-meets-family-drama in which we view the day-to-day struggles of a modern family through the eyes of a ghost. It’s not just an excuse for Soderbergh spookily wandering around the set with a camera in-hand, but apparently that is what happened during the shoot. A film that mounts up in tension effectively through its economic 85-minute runtime.
- Out now in cinemas...
Alien: Romulus
For our money, Romulus is a contender for the third best Alien film, following the first two. And now you can check it out for "free", you lucky things. Set between Alien and Aliens, Romulus is set in a space station. A group of colonists enter the seemingly abandoned station for supplies, and get more than they bargained for. One repeated complaint from its cinema run was how dodgy the recreation of the now-deceased Ian Holm was, but that has apparently been “fixed” for the home release.
Severance season 2
Already the second megaton season release of the last few weeks, following Squid Game 2, Severance season 2 is a smash. It doubles down on the strangeness of this ambitious show, expanding the scope and diving deeper into mystery. Missed the first season? In the world of Severance, people have their work life and outside life split into, effectively, two separate people.
Civil War
Alex Garland’s 2024 opus Civil War lands on Prime Video just days before Trump takes office for a second time. Coincidence? This powerful film depicts a US split in two, while Kirsten Dunst plays a journalist who makes her way to Washington D.C. in order to cover the Western Forces’ storming of the capitol.
The Crow Girl
This six-part show is based on a Scandi crime novel released in 2016. A DCI and psychotherapist team up to get to the bottom of a series of murders of young men. Eve Myles and Dougray Scott star as that investigating pair. The TV series transposes the action of the book from Sweden’s Stockholm to Bristol, but we lose none of the bleakness you might associate with classic Scandi crime dramas of the past. There’s also a strain of humour throughout to balance that out, though. Highly recommended if this genre is your bag.
Public Disorder
A six-part Italian drama series that follows a group of riot police. It’s based on a 2012 film called A.C.A.B., which in itself was based on a book by journalist Carlo Bonini. The story takes a while to get going but it’s a particularly prescient topic — perhaps more these days than it was in 2012 or 2009 when its inspirations were originally published/released. If you decide to watch, stick with the subs rather than the English dub.
On Call
There’s a new police procedural in town. On Call is about a cop duo in California, sorting out crimes in Long Beach. Unlike most current entries in the genre, episodes are only 30 minutes long, giving this show a snappier feel than most. Is it going to change the game? Nope. But it does come from the OG crime master Dick Wolf, the producer behind the original Lay & Order from the early 90s.
American Primeval
Nope, this has nothing to do with the dino series Primeval. It’s a gritty and bloody western from the writer of The Revenant. American Primeval a six-episode run set in the earliest days of the formation of the modern US, where the familiar furniture of western movies has not yet been put in place. It’s bleak, grim and violent, and pretty powerful at points to boot.
The Breakthrough
Remember when Swedish shows and movies were considered the peak of crime drama? We’re back in the zone with The Breakthrough, a four-part series about one of Sweden’s most infamous murders. It took 16 years to solve, and this show picks up the story with the killing already left dormant as a cold case. Subs required, but The Breakthrough is worth a watch.
Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action
Pop culture may be worse than it was in some ways back in the 90s, but you could surely never get away with the Jerry Springer show today. This doc looks behind the scenes of the ultimate low-brow US talk show of its era. And some of the stories really are quite wild and eyebrow-raising.
Number 24
This World War II film told from a Norwegian perspective was not released to much fanfare, but has picked up some great reviews and effortlessly cracked the Netflix top 10 movies. A young man attempts to resist the Nazi invasion. You don’t get the epic battle scenes of a classic WW2 film here, but this more character-focused piece gets to other realities of the real-world experience.
The Rig season 2
In 2023's first season of The Rig, an oil rig is immersed in fog and attacked by a supernatural force. This time the crew are back as part of an underwater rescue mission. The effects budget appears to be bigger this time around. It’s matched with some clunky dialogue, but then again the first season wasn’t exactly Shakespeare. Even if has a cast that could certainly pull that off.
Squid Game season 2
In case you somehow missed it, the second season of Squid Game is now streaming at Netflix. It sounds like most of you may have already checked it out, though, as it was watched for 487 million hours in its first week on stream. That makes it the biggest Netflix launch ever, including the first Squid Game and Wednesday season 1. There are only seven episodes but season three is due this year.
Missing You
At the start of 2024, a Netflix adaptation of Harlan Coben’s Fool Me Once popped off big time. Netflix is hoping to do the same again with Missing You. It’s a 5-part drama about Kat Donovan, a police detective played by Rosalind Eleazar. She finds her former fiancé on a dating app, which leads her to clues about her father’s unsolved murder. Expect larger-than-life drama, loads of twists and episodes you can easily binge.
Your Fault
A classic case of a film critics hate and at least some part of the audience loves, Your Fault is the sequel to My Fault — also known as Culpa Mia in its original Spanish language. It’s a stepbrother, stepsister romance plot. And, of course, a load of old nonsense delivered in soap opera style. But just as some folks love the slew of Netflix Christmas movies each year, we’re sure some will lap Your Fault up.
Nosferatu
This is the Dracula/Nosferatu story, but not quite as you know it. Director Robert Eggers has tweaked the dials to make the horror icon as unfamiliar and scary as he can be. And it works. There’s a twist to the story too, but one we’ll leave for your watch of the film itself. Bill Skarsgard stars as the vampire himself, not that he’s even vaguely recognisable in what is just as unnerving a performance as his run as Pennywise in the IT films.
- Out now in cinemas
Carry-On
Want a Christmas movie that isn’t too much of a Christmas movie? Carry-On is a great solution, particularly if you can’t persuade the family to watch Die Hard again. Taron Egerton is a TSA agent blackmailed into allowing a dangerous nerve agent onto a plane. The festive bit? It’s a Christmas Eve flight. This thriller hits all the right notes, with enough style to make you forgive its lack of originality.
Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking
The Telegraph calls Wizards of Baking a “pointless cash-in.” The Guardian calls it “sheer magic.” So how much enthusiasm can you still muster for a) baking shows and b) Harry Potter? That may determine which side you fall on. Seven episodes see contestants make scenes and items from the series, and no less than the twin Phelps brothers serve as hosts. They played Fred and George Wesley in the films.
The Six Triple Eight
This two-hour movie is the story of a World War II US Army division consisting entirely of black women. It was real too, charged with maintaining the postal service U.S. soldiers overseas, in the UK and France. This is a story worth telling. Unfortunately, it’s Tyler Perry at the helm and this one hasn’t been drawn in all-timer style. Still, the film has received a mix of reviews, some saying it’s a perfectly solid historical drama.
Beast Games
In a move that suggests we’re only a few months away from Hunger Games becoming real, Amazon has done a deal to bring the dead-eyed MrBeast’s antics to even more viewers. There’s $5 million up for grabs, and 1000 contestant have to compete in a series of outlandish challenges to have a chance of winning. The production has been dogged by complaints about contestants’ treatment, but that's unlikely to deter too many viewers, it seems.
The Secret Life of Animals
You usually expect to see lavish nature documentary series like The Secret Life of Animals appear on the BBC with voice over work from Attenborough. This one arrives on Apple TV+, and is narrated by Hugh Bonneville. However, it’s still a BBC Studios production, so much of that classic gloss remains. This 10-part series is lighter than the classic BBC nature docs, with none of the brutal circle of life stuff on show. But this does make it more digestible for younger crowds.
Red One
It’s only been about five minutes since Red One was in cinemas, now it’s free to watch for Prime members. This Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans festive vehicle is a story about the kidnapping and rescue of Santa (JK Simmons). It wasn’t a major hit with reviewers, but was the big budget Christmas movie of the season.
No Good Deed
Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano are Lydia and Paul, a couple selling a house in L.A. There are a load of potential buyers bidding for the property, but this is a house with a bit of a dark history. There’s a mystery here, fuelling No Good Deed’s twisty plot. But this is a dark comedy, not a flat-out thriller. It’s an 8-part season, with episodes around a half-hour.
La Palma
A Norwegian family goes on holiday and finds themselves amid a natural disaster. A huge volcanic eruption in La Palma causes a massive tsunami. This is a 4-part series, and with 40-50 minute episodes it’s primed for a weekend binge. It’s not a classic but makes a welcome distraction from all the Christmas content Netflix has pumped out recently.
100 Years of Solitude
A TV adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s most famous novel, an epic story that charts several generations of the Buendía family. This is one of the major works of magical realism, and can’t have been easy to film given it’s set in a (fictional) city that changes across the seven generations under the spotlight. A major work.
Secret Level
An anthology series in which each episode is based around the world of a game, from Pac-Man to Armored Core. It’s a hefty 15-episode run, with the second set of episodes due to arrive on December 17. Reviews have been mixed, in the true sense that plenty have been genuinely positive. The catchy story around this series is that one of the featured games, Concord, doesn’t even exist anymore, having proved such a flop its servers were taken offline. That episode is among the second wave.
The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland
Gerard Butler and Emilia Clarke star in this festive mash-up. It features both Santa and the Queen of Hearts, from Lewis Carroll’s Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This family-friendly film is based on a book for young children, an illustration heavy 40-pager that makes you question if there’s enough material for an 80-minute film here. But The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland is a charming watch for those with younger kids.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
This latest Star Wars TV show is a reminder of the true Star Wars roots. It wasn’t originally a show of dark prophecy and epic lore. Star Wars was a fun adventure, and a family-friendly one. Skeleton Crew returns to that ideal. It's the story of a gang of kids who end up lost in space, and have to try to find their way home. Jude Law stars as Jod Na Nawood, a Jedi who ends up part of the kids’ crew.
Black Doves
Ben Whishaw, Sarah Lancashire and Keira Knightley star in a twisty espionage thriller, the kind of thing that usually goes down an absolute treat on streaming services. It has picked up almost entirely strong reviews across the board, and comes from Giri/Haji creator Joe Barton. Sure, the spy thriller may seem an overstuffed genre at the moment, but don’t miss out on this one.
Subservience
Director Scott Dale one again collaborates with Megan Fox after the fun and thrilling Till Death with Subservience, a story of AI gone wrong. Fox plays a home AI robot and, well, let’s just say it doesn’t all end in domestic bliss. This one hasn’t received nearly as good reviews as Till Death, but aside from being a little too predictable, it has many of the elements we’re out for in such a genre flick.
Tomorrow and I
A sci-fi anthology from Thailand, Netflix’s Tomorrow and I has drawn predictable comparisons to Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror. It’s about our relationship with technology, but is a little less dark than that show. There’s cloning, robots, AI and climate change, which are the central themes of the show’s mere 4-episode run. You could finish this over a weekend, although each episode is fairly chunky at around an hour.
That Christmas
From a quick glance you could be forgiving for thinking That Christmas is an Aardman flick. It’s not. This is a Netflix Original, from the studios that brought us Ron’s Gone Wrong and Nimona. British romcom maestro Richard Curtis also (co-)wrote the script. A candidate for Netflix’s best Christmas movie of 2024? Sure, but only because the bar isn’t all that high. This one’s lovingly animated and fun in parts, but isn’t destined to be a classic. Still, it’ll save you from yet another festive rewatch of one of the predictable picks.
Beatles '64
Landing with a 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating, Beatles ’64 is not one for music history fans to miss. It’s the story of the fab four’s first trip to America, as the band was becoming a global sensation. Fans may recognise a lot of the footage and know most of the stories, but this is an engaging window looking back into a simpler time. And who doesn’t need one of those every now and then these days?
Senna season 1
The Senna documentary from 2010 was brilliant, the kind of watch that didn’t ask you to care about F1 whatsoever. This TV series is a little different. It’s a dramatisation, for one, starring Gabriel Leone as Senna and Matt Mella as Alain Prost. This show hasn’t received nearly as positive reviews as the doc but if like us you’ve already seen the documentary a bunch of times, it’s another way to take in the story of a race driving legend. Six parts, around an hour each.
Monkey Man
Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man is a must-watch if you have remotely enjoyed any of the John Wick films or Nobody. It’s a hard-hitting revenge action film in which Patel stars as the Kid, who works his way into the city’s seedy underbelly to take down the gang boss who killed his mother. While a little less consistent than some of the genre’s best, Monkey Man features some truly hard-hitting fights and suitably grisly violence.
If
The second of this week’s movies-directed-by-a-movie-star is If, from John Krasinski. A million miles removed from his work on the A Quiet Place series, If is a kids’ film about a young girl who starts to see imaginary friends after going through some tough stuff in her real life. It wasn’t all that well-reviewed, but Christmas is coming up and many folks will be starved for child-friendly movies to stream that haven’t already been on hard rotation.
The Madness
Colman Domingo stars as Muncie Daniels, a TV pundit who ends up framed for a murder after witnessing a killing. The Madness is a slickly-made conspiracy thriller with the right pacing and plot twists to keep you engaged. Most of all, though, it rests on a great performance by Domingo, who has already received major plaudits this year for Rustin, which earned him an Oscar nomination.
Matlock
Yes, Matlock is vaguely related to the TV series from the 1980s. But, no, you shouldn’t ignore it if you’re young enough to have no idea what a “Matlock” is. Kathy Bates stars as Matty Matlock, a 75-year old former lawyer who gets back into the game and manages to outpace her younger lawyerly rivals. This could have been low-rent televisual sludge, but it’s a lot sharper and funnier than you might expect.
Our Little Secret
Netflix is back to its old tricks with Our Little Secret, a Christmas movie starring Lindsey Lohan. It’s not her first offence either, having starred in 2022’s Netflix drivel Falling for Christmas. The good news? This one is much better, and is not actually that bad a watch. Faint praise? Absolutely, but the bar is low when it comes to new Christmas movies. Lohan’s Avery spends Christmas with her boyfriend’s family but then finds her ex is going to be there too.
Dune Prophecy
Set thousands of years before the events of the recent Dune films, Prophecy is the story of the establishment of the Bene Gesserit, the order of women that seems to have to much power in the events of the main Dune story. The jury’s out on this one as even the reviewers have typically only seen the first episode. But if you are awaiting Dune Part 3, which won’t be out for years, it’s surely a must-watch.
A Man on the Inside
Some of the folks who brought us the brilliant The Good Place return with A Man on the Inside. Ted Danson works with a private investigator to root out a thief in a retirement home. It’s loosely based on a documentary — that’s right, some of this happened in real life. A warm and funny show, just as you’d expect from showrunner Michael Schur.
Bread & Roses
This documentary looks into the lives of women in Afghanistan after the 2021 Taliban takeover of Kabul. It focuses on three women, and is a story of repression and resilience. As any follower of the news knows, there’s no overarching happy ending coming in this one, but it’s an important watch and a reminder of the fragility of personal freedoms.
Interior Chinatown
This mystery show is based on Charles Yu’s 2020 novel, which is about a waiter, played by Jimmy O. Yang, who dreams about breaking out of his conventional life. In an unusual twist, the author is the showrunner and screenwriter. But then again, Yu has worked on a bunch of TV shows in the past including Westworld and American Born Chinese. Interior Chinatown is a meta narrative that satirises the movie and TV industry, and its treatment of Asian characters in particular.
Cruel Intentions
Remember the Cruel Intentions movie from 1999? Many younger folks may not, but it is a cult classic. It’s campy and melodramatic, a teen retelling of Dangerous Liaisons, in which rich siblings attempt to push a young teacher’s daughter into losing her virginity. This TV adaptation has not picked up great reviews, but is a curiosity at the very least.
Kneecap
Kneecap are a real band from Ireland. But Kneecap the film is a fictionalised tale behind the band, co-starring Michael Fassbender and directed by Rich Peppiatt. The whole thing is just supremely unlikely. Managing to time a film with the real-world rise of the actual band? Actually making a great and hilarious film? Finding a band that can really act? This is one to witness.
Cross season 1
Aldis Hodge stars as Alex Cross, the star of dozens of James Patterson books. He’s a homicide detective in Washington D.C. Part police procedural, part thriller, this series may not be the stuff of HBO dreams, but it is a solid show buoyed by a great lead performance. All eight episodes of the first season are available now.
The Lost Children
A plane crash leaves four children, siblings, stranded in the Colombian jungle. It’s up to the eldest, 13-year-old Lesly, to keep them alive. This is the story of their survival, the rescue attempts and is an eye-opening and heartwarming tale. It’s documentary from Oscar winner Orlando von Einsiedel, not an overly rote dramatisation. Worth a watch.
Dune: Part Two
The brilliant second Dune movie came to US viewers via MAX earlier in the year, but now UK folks can get on-board thanks to NOW. This second chapter is just as thrilling as the first, and shows us a Paul Atreides wrestle with the intoxicating appeal of power while knowing the dark future it may bring. Part three is on the way, but it will be a while. In October we heard Denis Villeneuve was still in the process of writing the script.
Silo season 2
Apple’s sci-fi show Silo picks up some momentum in season 2. Missed the original? Silo is set in a grim future where the the Earth’s surface is poisoned, forcing the surviving humans down into an underground community. The way the second season deepens the mystery has been compared to Lost — in a favourable sense for once. We’ll stop there to avoiding handing out any spoilers for anyone considering starting a watch now.
My Old Ass
This Aubrey Plaza comedy went in and out of (selected) cinemas without almost anyone noticing, but it was a hit with the critics — and has a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score. Elliott (Maisy Stella) takes magic mushrooms and meets
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