Happy holidays everyone! I hope you’ve enjoyed some much-needed downtime and consumed lots of good food and drink over the past few days.
I also suspect you need one or more new movies and/or shows to watch to break up the festivities. Well, the world’s best streaming services haven’t let us down as enough new content has arrived to satiate your streaming appetite. So keep reading to see what’s just been released – and, because I won’t have time to say it before, Happy New Year for next week! – Tom Power, senior entertainment reporter
Stranger Things season 5 volume 2 (Netflix)
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It’s time to return to Hawkins. That’s right, the second part of Stranger Things Season 5 has arrived on Netflix so, if you haven’t already watched it, what are you waiting for!?
This is not the end of Stranger Things‘main show either. The eighth and final episode of this season – not to mention the final chapter of the series – is postponed to a later date. So you will only be able to watch episodes 5 to 7 of volume 2. However, each of them should be exciting because Stranger Things 5 continues to wrap up the supernatural horror series’ many enduring plot threads. Let’s hope franchise creators Ross and Matt Duffer stick the landing when the Season 5 finale arrives in the coming days. – TP
Ne Zha II (HBO Max)
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Forget all the Pixar films from the last 12 months – China Ne Zha II is now the highest-grossing animated film of all time and the highest-grossing non-English film of all time.
But something tells me you’ve never heard of it. Broken record aside, it’s well worth watching on HBO Max. Our young Ne Zha is a boy with uncontrollable power, feared by the gods, who must grow up to become the hero the world needs when humanity is at the point of crisis.
As you would expect from a big budget feature film, the animation is absolutely stunning. It’s the perfect film for anyone who misses the traditional hero arc that effortlessly infuses non-Western culture. In fact, some people have used the word “masterpiece” to describe this A24 film. – Jasmine Valentine, entertainment journalist
Goodbye June (Netflix)
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I won’t beat around the bush – Goodbye June is undoubtedly the most heartbreaking film you will see this Christmas (read my Goodbye June review to know more) and also the most life-affirming.
A debut film by Kate Winslet with the screenplay written by her son Joe Anders, it is loosely based on Winslet’s loss of her own mother and follows June’s (Helen Mirren) final days in the hospital as her aggressive cancer becomes incurable. Her beloved son Connor (Johnny Flynn) and his sisters, the high-strung Julia (Winslet), inner-angry Molly (Andrea Riseborough), and flighty expat Helen (Toni Colette) spend as much time as they can at their mother’s bedside.
This is a casting call I would never have arranged, but if they did a “23 and Me” ancestry test and found out they were related, I wouldn’t be surprised. One of the surprisingly accurate final feelings of hope and heartbreak from one of the last new Netflix movies of 2025 hit me, so be warned. – Joint venture
Made in Korea (Hulu/Disney+)
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Made in Korea is a gripping new crime drama starring ParasiteIt’s Cho Yeo-jeong, and Squid game Roh Jae-won from season 3, so you can be sure to find him. a stellar cast here.
Set in 1970s South Korea, the Hulu and Disney+ show centers on the Korean Central Intelligence Agency as an agent works to covertly control illicit business networks. Meanwhile, an uncompromising prosecutor works to expose the affair. It is therefore an exciting cat and mouse game full of surprises.
The first two episodes were released on Christmas Eve and two more will be released next Wednesday. A second season has already been confirmed, which is promising news. – Lucy Buglas, senior entertainment editor
Bugonia (Peacock)
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Yorgos Lathimos is back and, for me, it’s quite the holiday gift. I have long loved his work dog tooth has The Lobster, and now his latest feature film Bugonia is streaming on Peacock.
In it, two young men (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) kidnap a powerful CEO (Emma Stone), suspecting that she is secretly an alien who wants to destroy Earth. It’s the typically wild premise we’ve come to expect from Lathimos, but it’s not one of his original screenplays, as he adapted it from the Korean sci-fi film. Let’s save the green planet!
Critics gave Bugonia a healthy 87% Rotten Tomatoes score, so why not watch it this weekend? I know I will be. – kg
The Life of Chuck (Hulu)
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Come on, let’s put a real feel-good action movie on this list! Featured Lokiit’s Tom Hiddleston as Chuck himself, Chuck’s life follows his life in reverse… almost like The Strange Case of Benjamin Button without the strange phenomenon of aging.
His death seems to coincide with strange apocalyptic activity but, instead of seeing the impending doom, we flash back to the joy, laughter and love of Chuck’s life. Whatever he’s been through, from heartbreak to happiness, we’re along for the ride.
In a way, it’s a 180-degree turn from what we expect from a movie storyline and it makes watching all the more refreshing. If you’re an armchair dancer, I guarantee there are a few musical numbers that will have you tapping your toes as well. – Joint venture
The Copenhagen test (Peacock)
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Marvel actor Simu Liu leads the cast of this intriguing new thriller from Peacock about an intelligence agent who is hacked and forced to prove his allegiance. All eight episodes come out tomorrow (December 27), so it’s perfect if you feel like binge-watching.
It might interest horror fans to know that The Conjuring And Saw creator James Wan is executive producer, so it’s very cool to see his name attached to something like this.
At the moment, plot details are under wraps, but the trailer gives you a little taste of what to expect. This suggests some big thrills to come and I can’t wait. – kg
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