Spooky season (read: October) is well underway, so it’s no surprise to see this weekend’s streaming service additions picking up where last week’s new movies and TV shows left off.
Arriving hot on the heels of Werewolf by Night, Hellraiser, and The Midnight Club over the next few days is a veritable bounty of exciting options. Among that number are Halloween Ends on Peacock, The Northman on Prime Video, and The Watcher on Netflix.
There’s plenty of new content to stream on Apple TV Plus, Hulu and HBO Max, too, if you’re in the mood for something a little less, well, gruesome. Below, we’ve rounded up seven of the biggest new movies and TV shows to watch on Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max and more this weekend.
Halloween Ends (Peacock)
Perhaps the biggest of this year’s new horror movies is Halloween Ends, a direct sequel to Halloween Kills – which hit theaters in October 2021 – that (supposedly) brings to an end John Carpenter’s long-running film franchise.
Series mainstays Michael Myers (Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney) and Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) return to the fray in this inevitably familiar cat-and-mouse slasher, though we expect at least one of the pair to finally bite the dust for good.
Those in the US can catch Halloween Ends streaming exclusively on Peacock, while UK viewers will have to head to their nearest theater to see who comes out on top.
Now available to stream on Peacock.
The Northman (Prime Video)
Having debuted in theatres back in April, Robert Eggers’ bloody Norse revenge epic, The Northman, makes its way onto the Prime Video movie back catalog this weekend.
Succession actor Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth, a young prince in medieval Scandinavia who embarks on a brutal quest to avenge the memory of his father (Ethan Hawke) and save his mother (Nicole Kidman) from the clutches of his traitorous uncle (Claes Bang).
If that all sounds very Game of Thrones, that’s because The Northman does indeed mix violence, betrayal, and incest into a stylish (but exceptionally bleak) tale of Norse mythology. Expect lots of screaming and plenty of bloodshed from this one.
Now available to stream on Prime Video.
The Playlist (Netflix)
Netflix churns out so much so-so content these days that it can be easy to miss its strokes of occasional brilliance (Stranger Things notwithstanding).
The Playlist, a six-episode Swedish-language series that dramatizes the creation of Spotify, is one of the streamer’s more successful recent commissions. It follows the company’s founder, Daniel Ek (Vikings’ Edvin Endre), as he endeavors to disrupt a reluctant music industry with his bold new vision for its on-demand future.
We gave the series five stars in our glowing review – not a rating we award lightly, mind you – describing it as brilliantly scripted, surprisingly funny, and potentially this year’s best drama. Don’t miss it.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
The Watcher (Netflix)
After shaking popular culture – for better or worse – with Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, series creator Ryan Murphy returns to Netflix this weekend with a second limited series titled The Watcher.
Like Monster, this one is also based on a true story, but instead focuses on a married couple who, after moving into their dream suburban home, find themselves terrorized by an anonymous neighborhood stalker. Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, and Jennifer Coolidge are among the series’ impressive cast.
Critics haven’t had the chance to praise or lampoon The Watcher just yet, but we’d wager that Murphy’s latest small screen story is as gripping as its twisty synopsis suggests. Will it make it onto our best Netflix shows list? You’ll have to wait and see.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Shantaram (Apple TV Plus)
Sons of Anarchy fans, rejoice! Charlie Hunnam returns to the small screen as a leading man in Shantaram, the last original Apple TV show.
Adapted from the novel of the same name by Gregory David Roberts, this 12-episode series (twelve!) follows Lin (Hunham), an escapee from an Australian prison who goes on the run in 1980s Bombay. Steve Lightfoot (Hannibal) and Eric Warner Singer (Top Gun: Maverick) are the show’s screenwriters.
Early criticism for Shantaram has been decidedly mixed so far, but it’ll likely please fans of slow-burning cat-and-mouse thrillers. Three episodes stream on Apple TV Plus today, with the remaining nine set to arrive on a weekly basis every Friday.
Now available to stream on Apple TV Plus.
Avenue 5 season 2 (HBO Max)
Armando Iannucci’s space-set comedy series, Avenue 5, returns for its second season on HBO Max this weekend.
New episodes find the hapless Captain Clark (Hugh Laurie) once again forced to deal (or not deal) with various interstellar mishaps aboard the titular Avenue 5 spaceship. Josh Gad, Zach Woods, Iris Kimura, and most of the first season’s cast return to the fray, too .
Episode 1 of this HBO Max series is available to stream now, with the remaining instalments due to arrive every Monday. UK viewers can catch the show’s return on Sky and Now.
Now available to stream on HBO Max.
Rosaline (Hulu)
If you’re in the mood for yet another take on Shakespeare’s classic love story, Romeo and Juliet, Hulu’s Rosaline has you covered.
This Hulu movie adaptation of the centuries-old tale (which itself is an adaptation of Rebecca Serle’s 2013 novel When You Were Mine) is told from the perspective of Juliet’s cousin, Rosaline (Kaitlyn Dever) – who also happens to be Romeo’s most recent love interest.
Kyle Allen, Isabela Merced, Minnie Driver, and Bradley Whitford also star in this Verona-set comedy movie, which is streaming on Disney Plus for viewers in the UK.
Now available to stream on Hulu and Disney Plus.