Hold the front page! We’ve upped our usual seven streaming recommendations to eight this week, such is the frequency with which Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max and the rest are dropping new movies and TV shows for viewers to enjoy.
It’s a prolific few days on Netflix, in particular, with Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, The Good Nurse, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself and Wendell & Wild all arriving within days of each other. And that’s before mentioning Tales of the Jedi on Disney Plus and the return of The White Lotus on HBO Max.
Below, then, we’ve collated eight of the biggest new movies and TV shows to watch on streaming services this weekend.
The White Lotus season 2 (HBO Max)
HBO’s Hawaii-set drama series, The White Lotus, scooped a year-high 10 trophies at the 2022 Emmy awards, and now the show returns for its much-anticipated second season.
This time around, proceedings move away from the titular resort at the heart of the series’ first season and into a glitzy new hotel in Sicily. The excellent Jennifer Coolidge reprises her role as Tanya McQuoid-Hunt, but season 2’s cast – which includes Aubrey Plaza, F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hollander and Theo James – is otherwise entirely new.
The first episode of The White Lotus season 2 will be available to stream on HBO Max in the US (and on Sky and Now in the UK) from Sunday. The remaining six installments are due to arrive on a weekly basis through December 11.
Available to stream on HBO Max, Sky and Now from Sunday.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix)
Guillermo del Toro has had a busy few years. Just 10 months after releasing Nightmare Alley – and two months before unveiling his next movie, Pinocchio – the Oscar-winning filmmaker brings his talents to the small screen with Cabinet of Curiosities.
Originally titled 10 After Midnight, this eight-episode horror anthology series tells a variety of twisted fairytale stories, each with their own distinct cast and style. The likes of Andrew Lincoln, Peter Weller, Eric Andre, Rupert Grint and Tim Blake Nelson star, while Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) and Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night) count among the series’ many directors.
Two new episodes of Cabinet of Curiosities have been dropping each day since Tuesday – bucking the usual Netflix trend of shows arriving in their entirety – but all eight installments are now available to stream.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
The Good Nurse (Netflix)
Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain go Oscar-hunting in The Good Nurse – which is not, despite its title, a prequel to The Good Doctor.
Based on events documented in the book of the same name by Charles Graeber, this new Netflix movie follows the murderous exploits of real-life serial killer Charles Cullen (Redmayne). Chastain plays Cullen’s co-worker, Amy Loughren, the nurse who would go on to expose his habitual poisoning of dozens of patients over a period of sixteen years.
On the broad spectrum of Netflix films, The Good Nurse is a lower-key affair than, say, Don’t Look Up – but its shocking story of gross criminal negligence is far more impactful than the big-budget drama of the streamer’s starrier blockbusters.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Tales of the Jedi (Disney Plus)
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time again: another new Star Wars TV show is here.
Like Star Wars: Visions before it, Tales of the Jedi is an animated anthology series that hops between various characters in the Star Wars universe. But in this Dave Filoni-created show, the visual style – which is similar to that of The Clone Wars – stays the same throughout, and each story focuses on a different notable Jedi.
Ahsoka (Ashley Eckstein) and Count Dooku (Corey Burton) count among season 1’s Jedi subjects, and all six of the series’ 15-minute episodes are available to stream on Disney Plus now.
Now available to stream on Disney Plus.
All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
It’s been a good few years since Dunkirk and 1917 reminded audiences of the horrors of war, and Netflix will be hoping its new movie, All Quiet on the Western Front, carries the same impact as those Oscar-winning productions.
Based on Erich Maria Remarque’s landmark WWI novel of the same name (which was first adapted into a feature film in 1930), this German-language movie tells the story of a young German soldier (Felix Kammerer) whose naive expectations of fighting for his country are shattered by war’s harrowing reality.
All Quiet on the Western Front has been hailed by critics as brutal, vivid and poignant – but don’t expect to leave this one feeling particularly joyous.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
The Devil’s Hour (Prime Video)
Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife) and former Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi lead the cast of Prime Video’s new psychological horror series,The Devil’s Hour.
This six-episode show follows Lucy (Raine), a young woman who wakes up at the same time every night in the middle of the so-called devil’s hour. Why? Nobody knows – except, perhaps, for Gideon (Capaldi), a Hannibal Lecter-style serial killer with a lot on his mind.
Critics have praised The Devil’s Hour for being a smart and sinister update on the tried-and-tested police procedural formula, so we’d suggest giving it a try if you’re into your twisty crime dramas.
Now available to stream on Prime Video.
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (Netflix)
Giri/Haji and Encounter screenwriter Joe Barton returns to the small screen with new Netflix series The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself .
Adapted from Sally Green’s Half Bad novel series, this eight-episode series centers on Nathan (Jay Lycurgo), a teenager who just so happens to be the illegitimate son of the world’s most dangerous witch. Reluctant to follow in the footsteps of his murderous father, he tries (but mostly fails) to stay out of trouble.
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself may be based on young adult fiction, but its gruesome visuals suggest anything but. Netflix itself has described the show as “a truly ****** up ride”, so we reckon it could be perfect pre-Halloween viewing.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Wendell & Wild (Netflix)
The fourth (fourth!) Netflix recommendation this week is the suitably spooky stop-motion animated adventure Wendell & Wild.
From the minds of Henry Selick (Coraline) and Jordan Peele (Nope), this new Netflix movie follows two scheming demon brothers, Wendell and Wild (Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele), who enlist the help of a teenage girl (Lyric Ross) to summon them to the Land of the Living. Angela Bassett, James Hong and Ving Rhames also star.
Wendell & Wild has been called “a messy but imaginative ride” by critics, and existing Laika movie fans are likely to find plenty of supernatural sorcery to enjoy here.
Now available to stream on Netflix.