The festive season is finally upon us, which for many means stoking up the central heating, loading a plate with mince pies and settling down for an evening (or perhaps even a full day) of televisual entertainment. Thankfully, there’s a whole mass of new TV shows and movies coming to streaming services in December, so you won’t have to go back to watching Star Wars for the millionth time.
All of the movies and TV shows below are available to stream on streaming services, ranging from tear-jerking family dramas to earth-shattering Korean disaster flicks. And we can’t forget the long-awaited second season of Fallout, arguably the best video game to TV adaptation of all time (sorry, Last of Us, you really let us down with your second series).
If you’re looking for something brilliant to watch this month, chances are you’ll find it right here.
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Jay Kelly (film, Netflix, 5 December)
A film star and his manager take an impromptu road trip through Europe, reflecting on their lives along the way. Noah Baumbach’s Netflix original comedy-drama makes the unlikely pairing of George Clooney and Adam Sandler in a heartfelt exploration of ageing, regret and the dying concept of the Hollywood screen legend.
Spartacus: House of Ashur (S1, MGM+, 6 December)
Swords! Sandals! Sex! Spartacus is back (kind of) in this spin-off series, which creates a new timeline in which the original series’ slave and pit-fighter Ashur rises to power and creates his own gladiatorial team – including a female fighter who doesn’t shatter the Ancient Roman glass ceiling so much as repeatedly stab it with a gladius.
F1: The Movie (film, Apple TV, 12 December)
After proving a smash hit at the box office, Apple’s high-octane motorsport action-drama finally arrives on the brand’s home streaming platform. Brad Pitt leads the cast as a former champion driver from the 1990s who, following a 30-year hiatus, returns to the track keen to forge racing redemption in the crucible of competition.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (film, Netflix, 12 December)
Another star-studded cast of oddballs come under suspicion in the third (and probably final) of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out whodunnits – this time focussing on a Catholic congregation where all seven deadly sins (and then some) are being committed. Daniel Craig’s flamboyant P.I. Benoit Blanc returns to bring the murderer to justice.
Fallout (S2 / Amazon Prime Video, 17 Dec)
After hitting a home run first time around, this video game adaptation – which tells an original story rather than attempting to slavishly re-work any of the games’ plotlines – is back for a second season. And, in a move that’s sure to excite Fallout superfans, our plucky vault-dweller heroine Lucy is headed for the neon-lit ruins of New Vegas, the last great city in the wasteland. Expect more OTT gore, more scorching satire and more of that gorgeous, gorgeous retro-futuristic aesthetic in part two of this post-nuclear adventure.
The Great Flood (film / Netflix, 19 Dec)
What better way to prepare for Christmas than with an apocalyptic disaster movie? When a biblical-scale deluge engulfs Seoul, AI researcher An-na and her young son find themselves trapped in their apartment building as the rampaging waters rise. Squid Game‘s Park Hae-soo co-stars as a security officer with a mysterious mission to save them.
Amadeus (S1, Sky/Now, 21 December)
This tale of Mozart’s intense rivalry with fellow composer Antonio Salieri has already been adapted into one of the greatest movies of all time – the Milos Forman-directed eight-time Oscar-winner from back in 1984. Sky’s five-part series, created by Giri/Haji‘s Joe Barton, has a lot to live up to, even with the likes of Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany leading the cast.
Goodbye June (film / Netflix, 24 Dec)
Kate Winslet’s directorial debut is a family drama about four siblings whose Christmas plans implode when their mother’s health takes a turn. But sharp-witted matriarch June (Helen Mirren) isn’t going quietly – she’s orchestrating her final act with biting humour and blunt honesty. Toni Collette, Johnny Flynn, Andrea Riseborough and Timothy Spall round out the stellar cast.
