The last month of 2025 is upon us – and December promises to be full of new pre-Christmas releases to enjoy on the world’s best streaming services.
For those sold on TV shows, Netflix also offered a new Western-era series and, depending on your musical leanings, a documentary that proved highly controversial. No matter what type of content you consume, I’m sure this week’s roundup of recommendations will have something for you. – Tom Power, senior entertainment reporter
Jay Kelly (Netflix)
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A character study that satirizes the life of a Hollywood character, Jay Kelly a great addition to this month’s new Netflix movies and worth watching for its strong lead performances alone.
Stars George Clooney and Adam Sandler play a famous actor and his manager who embark on a profound journey across Europe where they both examine the choices they have made in life, their relationships and the legacy they will leave behind.
OUR Jay Kelly the review is full of other good reasons why I will watch Noah Baumbach’s latest feature film on Netflix this weekend and you should too. – Lucy Buglas, senior entertainment editor
Mission Impossible: The Final Settlement (Paramount+)
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Your mission, should you choose to accept it, dear reader, is to witness Ethan Hunt’s potentially final mission on Paramount+ this weekend (Attention : it’s only available in North America at the moment, but it will roll out internationally in the coming weeks and months).
Indeed, with the eighth Mission Impossible movie now, Tom Cruise’s time as the world’s most prominent spy (well, until James Bond returns…) might be over. You’ll have to watch it, however, to see if Hunt survives the life-threatening events of his latest quest.
If you do, you will be entitled to everything we expect from every Mission Impossible movie: explosive action, high-stakes drama, a few slices of comedy, and Cruise pulling off death-defying stunts that Hunt himself would be proud of. I’m going to stay sitting on the sofa… – TP
Oh. What. Amusing. (First video)
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Prime Video still has one big Christmas blast a year, and the 2025 offering is Oh. What. Amusing. As you can tell from the punctuation in the title, the focus here is on sarcasm for one of December’s new Prime Video movies.
Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) planned her family’s Christmas to perfection…until they all forgot. It takes them a while to realize she’s missing, but in the meantime, it’s total chaos.
We all often need to be reminded not to take ourselves (or the holiday season) too seriously, which is why this Amazon Original really comes at the perfect time. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what Pfeiffer does – if she’s on screen, I’m there. – Jasmine Valentine, entertainment journalist
The Abandoned (Netflix)
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Gillian Anderson as Netflix villain? Then continue. The abandoned is best described as a matriarchal version of Yellow stone and drama is commonplace.
Anderson plays wealthy tyrant Constance Van Ness, who intends to terrorize the town of Angel’s Ridge with an iron fist. His biggest enemy? Poor breeder Fiona (Lena Heady). Courageous and defiant, all she wants is to keep her family on the land she believes belongs to them. The result is a face-off that proves fatal, with the exceptional double performances that one expects.
You’ll binge its seven episodes in the blink of an eye, but make no mistake: the drama gets incredibly dark. Lucky for us, Anderson on his (literal) high horse is worth it. – Joint venture
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Drop (Disney+)
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Beloved children’s book author and illustrator Jeff Kinney has written and produced another new animated film based on his best-selling book. Diary of a Deflated Child series of books for Disney.
Diary of a Deflated Child: The straw that broke the camel’s back marks the second holiday-themed animation, this time adapting the third book in the franchise, which follows disaster-prone student Greg Heffley as he attempts to prove to his father that he can change his wimpy ways.
While Disney+ is almost guaranteed to be a hit with little ones during the Christmas holidays, one of the new Disney+ movies for December seems like a safe bet if you need something to distract them for an hour or two. – Amelia Schwanke, Entertainment Editor
The McMullen Family (HBO Max)
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The McMullen family is just one of this month’s big new HBO Max movies. Serve as a legacy sequel to The McMullen Brothersit focuses on original characters Barry, his brother Patrick and his widowed sister-in-law Molly as they return for a new story 30 years later.
Since everyone has aged since the 1995 film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, there’s a lot to catch up on. Expect to see romantic obstacles and challenges, including a canceled wedding and other unpleasant surprises. It’s not a family reunion without plenty of drama, after all.
It’s worth paying a double bill, because The McMullen Brothers is also streaming on HBO Max if you’ve never seen it before or need a refresher. – kg
Sean Combs: Judgment (Netflix)
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I still don’t understand why Sean “Diddy” Comb’s streaming numbers have climbed After having been arrested for prostitution-related crimes involving two ex-girlfriends. Regardless of your opinion on whether the now-convicted artist should be given airtime, Netflix has made a major release, which has created some blowback since its December 2 debut.
Sean Combs: The Bottom Linea four-part series documenting Comb’s life before his arrest, is out now. But the criminal’s lawyers have since accused the streamer of “using stolen footage”, raising doubts over whether Sean Combs: The Bottom Line will continue to live on the service.
Director Alexandria Stapleton fired back by claiming that the production team — which includes Comb’s longtime rival, Curtis James Jackson III (aka 50 Cent) — had obtained the footage legally, sparking even more fanfare around the already toxic story. – AS
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