Credit: Bob Mahoney / Netflix; Des Willie / HBO; Ryan Green / Disney; Netflix; Soul Train / Getty / Courtesy HBO
When it comes to streaming, viewers are spoiled for choice between Hulu, Netflix, Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, Prime Video, Shudder, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. And that's before you even look at the vast libraries of movies and television within each one!
Don't be overwhelmed or waste an hour scrolling through your services trying to determine what to watch! We've got your back whatever your mood. Mashable offers watch guides for all of the above, broken down by genre: comedy, thriller, horror, documentary, animation, and more.
But if you're seeking something brand spanking new (or new to streaming), we've got you covered there, too.
Mashable's Entertainment Team has scoured the streaming services to highlight the most buzzed-about releases of this week and ranked them from worst to best -- or least worth your time to most watchable. Craving something Christmassy of the Lindsay Lohan-starring persuasion? Hankering to stay afloat with either yacht rock or yacht horror? In need of some wholesome docuseries bliss? Even if you're seeking a Vatican thriller or an animated dream, we've got what you're looking for.
Here's what's new on streaming, from worst to best.
If you thought you were safe from deranged killers on a yacht in the middle of the ocean, you haven't watched Dead Calm. Directed by Phillip Noyce and produced by Mad Max's George Miller, the film channels a little Cape Fear in the big blue. Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman are grieving parents traumatised from their son's death, and taking some time to heal on their boat. But when a man (Billy Zane) washes up from a nearby sinking ship, they're not ready for the hell he's about to inflict on them. Three boats become the stage for this thriller-horror, as Kidman gives a really strong performance early in her career, despite her character being forced to do whatever she can to survive. It's not one of the best Australian horror movies of all time, but it's decent. -- Shannon Connellan, UK Editor
After rebooting Halloween with a hard-hitting trilogy, director David Gordon Green has pivoted to a heartfelt, family-friendly movie with Nutcrackers. Ben Stiller stars as a metropolitan real-estate-developer, who's lost touch with his rural sister and her free-spirited kids. But when a car collision leaves his nephews orphaned, it's up to Uncle Michael to fill the void.
Green found inspiration for the movie in four charismatic siblings he knew in his personal life. This led to him building an Uncle Buck premise around real-life brothers Homer, Ulysses, Atlas Janson, and Arlo Janson. But as I warned out of Nutcrackers TIFF premiere, the feel-good movie Green aspires to make never really comes together. "Sure, the Janson boys are winsome," I wrote, "but there are only so many times the same poop joke works. Perhaps Green didn't allow himself the distance to find the path in this terrain that fascinated him, leaving his audience lost in the ideas or intentions that go nowhere." -- Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor
Starring: Ben Stiller, Linda Cardellini, Edi Patterson, Tim Heidecker, Toby Huss, Homer Janson, Ulysses Janson, Atlas Janson, and Arlo Janson
How to watch: Nutcrackers is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
Between 2022's Falling for Christmas and the upcoming Our Little Secret, Lindsay Lohan is quickly cementing herself as Netflix's go-to Christmas romcom star. This time around, Lohan and co-star Ian Harding play exes forced to spend Christmas in the same house, as their current partners are siblings. When it comes to disastrous holiday scenarios, I'd say that's pretty high up on the list.* -- Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Ian Harding, Tim Meadows, Jon Rudnitsky, Henry Czerny, Judy Reyes, Chris Parnell, Kristin Chenoweth, Dan Bucatinsky, Katie Baker, Jake Brennan, Ash Santos, and Brian Unger
How to watch: Our Little Secret is now streaming on Netflix.
A dating show that isn't obsessed with youth (they're rare), The Later Daters is Netflix's new series focused on baby boomers looking for relationships later in life. How to Not Die Alone author and behavioral scientist Logan Ury acts as a dating coach in the series, especially focusing on online etiquette. The series is produced by Michelle Obama with Higher Ground, with Queer Eye showrunner Jennifer Lane and Love on the Spectrum's Cian O'Clery also producing. -- S.C.
How to watch: The Later Daters is now streaming on Netflix.
Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga star in the anti-rom com Sweethearts, about two college students (and years-long besties) who make a pact to break up with their high school sweethearts over Thanksgiving break. Of course, there are several roadblocks along the way, including an absinthe soirée, an eagle-eyed bar bouncer, and Jamie (Shipka) and Ben's (Hiraga) many emotional hangups, both about their romantic relationships and their relationship to one another.
From here, the stage is set for a classic "will they won't they" trope, but Sweethearts may still surprise you with the evolution of its core friendship. Following an hour and a half of fairly raunchy hijinks (many missing the mark), Sweetheart sobers up for a surprisingly mature ending that lets Jamie and Ben grow in new and exciting directions. A subplot involving their best friend Palmer (comedian Caleb Hearon) getting to know the queer community in their small Ohio town also offers a sweet distraction from the emotional stress of the breakup pact. -- B.E.
Starring: Kiernan Shipka, Nico Hiraga, Joel Kim Booster, Caleb Hearon, Charlie Hall, Jake Bongiovi, Ava DeMary, Christine Taylor, Miles Gutierrez-Riley
How to watch: Sweethearts is now streaming on Max.
Start salivating (and saving), Chef's Table is back for its seventh season. The chefs this time around include Kalaya's Nok Suntaranon, Tatiana's Kwame Onwuachi, Aponiente's Ángel León, and Masala y Maíz and Mari Gold's Norma Listman and Saqib Keval. It's the show that redefined how food shows are shot, and it'll have you staring blankly at your bank account willing it to get you a table at these joints. Cue Vivaldi! -- S.C.
The wise man has the power to watch this HBO documentary on the perfectly harmonised, smooth sailing West Coast soft rock that defined the '70s and '80s. Think Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, Toto -- you know you love them. Created by Bill Simmons, Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary will take you on a voyage through the genre dubbed "yacht rock" by the absolutely must-watch webseries in 2005. -- S.C.
How to watch: Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary is now streaming on Max.
Directed by Tanya Hamilton and written by Booker Prize winner Marlon James, British series Get Millie Black has arrived on Max. It's a crime thriller about a Scotland Yard detective forced to leave the service and return to Jamaica. A Channel 4/HBO co-production, the series stars Tamara Lawrance in the titular role as Millie-Jean Black, whose distance from her detective post doesn't mean she's left her life of crime investigation behind. -- S.C.
Starring: Tamara Lawrance, Joe Dempsie, Gershwyn Eustache Jnr, Chyna McQueen
How to watch: Get Millie Black is now streaming on Max.
Colman Domingo leads this Netflix thriller about a man fighting for innocence after he finds a white supremacist murdered. The Sing Sing star plays Muncie Daniels, a CNN journalist and political pundit, whose trip to the Poconos takes a turn when he's under suspicion for the crime he reported. Muncie is forced on the run while he tries to clear his name, but the conspiracy runs deep, with allies few and far between. Created by The Laramie Project writer Stephen Belber with Justified's VJ Boyd, the limited series was directed by Brother's Clement Virgo. -- S.C.
Starring: Colman Domingo, Marsha Stephanie Blake, John Ortiz, Gabrielle Graham, Tamsin Topolski, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Deon Cole
How to watch: The Madness is now streaming on Netflix.
Great news for Hulu users, Pablo Berger's Robot Dreams has hit the platform. Based on Sara Varon's graphic novel, this dialogue-free, animated film is a must-watch, a tale of friendship and loneliness through the eyes of a dog and his robot buddy. In my review, I wrote of Robot Dreams, "A simply beautiful use of animation, music, and sound to explore isolation and interconnectedness, Robot Dreams will be one of the more impactful, touching films you see this year -- all without saying a word." -- S.C.
How to watch: Robot Dreams is now streaming on Hulu.
Despite having only just released in cinemas, Conclave is now available through video on demand. Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini, and John Lithgow lead this superb Vatican-set political drama. The secretive selection of a new pope lies at the core of director Edward Berger's thriller, based on Robert Harris' 2016 novel, and the film features some of the best performances you'll see all year.
Mashable's Entertainment Editor, Kristy Puchko, praised the film in her review as a "sophisticated and sharply enthralling thriller," writing, "This is a movie that understands the complications of Catholicism, where reason collides with belief and human nature with divinity." -- S.C.
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini, John Lithgow
