WHAT WE CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH
Bird Box
Director Susanne Bier follows her John le Carré adaptation The Night Manager with a high-concept thriller starring Sandra Bullock as a woman who must escort two children to safety through a dangerous forest – but they all have to make the trip blindfolded. Is this some weird conceptual sequel to A Quiet Place, or something else entirely? The impressive cast (which also includes Sarah Paulson, Tom Hollander, Parminder Nagra, John Malkovich and Trevante Rhodes) intrigues, as does the fact that Arrival’s Eric Heisserer is the one adapting Josh Malerman’s 2014 novel. (Really, though: is it a conceptual sequel to A Quiet Place? It’s okay, you can tell us.) December 21
The American Meme
Bert Marcus’s documentary about the way tabloid and reality TV culture has evolved on social media screened at Hot Docs earlier this year. We missed it, but the big takeaway from reviews: Paris Hilton, the original celebrity famous simply for being rich and famous, is the film’s voice of reason, guiding viewers through the blueprint she forged for insta-stardom. Other meme-able names that appear in the film are music exec DJ Khaled, Josh “The Fat Jewish” Ostrovsky, Vine star Brittany Furlan and Justin Bieber’s wife, Hailey Bieber, among others. December 7
Dumplin’
Body positivity, beauty pageants, country music and Jennifer Aniston are the algorithmic key words for this comedy about a cynical plus-size teen (Danielle Macdonald) who becomes a pageant contestant to piss off her high-strung, ex-beauty queen mom (Aniston, in an updo). Netflix has sparked backlash with body image-centric projects To The Bone and Insatiable, but so far the trailer for Dumplin’ – which is soundtracked by old and new Dolly Parton tunes and features RuPaul’s Drag Race queen Ginger Minj in Dolly drag – hasn’t inspired heated commenting. Potential Dolly cameo aside, the main attraction here is Macdonald, who was hilarious in season two of Netflix’s Easy. She deserves more star turns. December 7
Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable
It’s been 15 years since Ellen DeGeneres did her last stand-up special. Now, after some time on the daytime talk show circuit, a stint hosting the Oscars and becoming America’s favourite lesbian, she returns to Seattle’s Benaroya Hall with a new set of jokes. Given DeGeneres’s popularity, Relatable will likely be one of Netflix’s biggest comedy specials to date. December 18
Derry Girls
Think Lady Bird set against The Troubles in Northern Ireland. That’s what Derry Girls looks like, at least to this completely foreign onlooker who hears those sing-songy accents and is relieved to know Netflix has subtitles. Lisa McGee’s sitcom about teens attending an all-girl’s Catholic high school in the early 90s is already critically acclaimed in the UK where it premiered back in January. A quick YouTube search for clips and trailers teases the show’s rapid-fire dialogue, caustic wit and energetic cast. December 21
Watership Down
If your first response wasn’t, “Oh god, why would anyone remake Watership Down?” well, you’re a stronger person than we are. But, yes, as if we’re not all still bearing the scars of seeing the 1978 film (based on Richard Adams’s novel about a herd of displaced rabbits in search of a new home) at too tender an age, here’s a four-part animated miniseries voiced by an all-star cast that includes Gemma Arterton, John Boyega, Peter Capaldi, Gemma Chan, Olivia Colman, James McAvoy and Rosamund Pike. Director Noam Murro’s last credit was the ultra-violent 300 sequel Rise Of An Empire – we’re just putting that out there in case you were worried this version might soften the book’s emotional (and literal) brutality. Premiere date TBD
Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas
Created by indie rock band Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, the Netflix original anime followed wealthy bachelor Kaz Kaan (voiced by Jaden Smith) as he tries to the protect Neo Yokio – a New York-meets-Tokyo dystopian city – from various evil spirits and demons. While the show hasn’t been revived for a second season since it premiered last year, it is coming back for a single holiday episode. In Pink Christmas, we find Kaz dealing with the regular holiday stresses: secret Santa competitions and family get-togethers. December 7
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale
For those who already binged the first season of Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, you’re in luck: Sabrina Spellman (Mad Men’s Kiernan Shipka) and the gang are back for a one-off holiday episode. Set during the Church of Night’s celebration of the winter solstice – which we imagine involves gothic pagan singing, feasting on flesh and wearing blood-red velvet frocks – Sabrina performs a séance. Knowing her luck, it’s bound to go terribly wrong. December 14
Perfume
Tom Tykwer’s Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer adapted Patrick Süskind’s period novel about a perfumer-turned-serial-killer preying on women to bottle their scents. The movie was sensual in its search for a visual language to capture smell and fascinating in its attempt to grapple with its villain’s obsession – but ultimately it was an abhorrent mess. That leaves us morbidly curious about the new six-part German series Perfume, which brings Süskind’s source material into present tense and changes the narrative structure into a female-led detective story. December 21
Carlos Somonte
Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma was a highlight of the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.
SOLID BETS
Roma
Partially inspired by director Alfonso Cuarón’s own upbringing in Mexico, Roma is a beautiful, engrossing portrait of Cleo, a live-in nanny of Mixteco heritage, and the upper-middle-class family she cares for. One of the best movies we saw at this year’s TIFF, Roma is also shaping up to be a serious Oscar contender. If you can’t wait for the Netflix premiere, the film is screening in 4K at TIFF Bell Lightbox starting November 29. December 14
Terrace House: Opening New Doors (part 5)
If you’ve been sucked into four seasons of the Japanese reality show where six strangers live together in a house and… time just passes, then you’re likely chomping at the soba to see what happens next. Takayuki, the resident “elder” snowboarder, is still around and at the end of last season, things were heating up between him and new girl Aya (meaning: Aya was flirty and Taka did nothing but laugh uncomfortably). What happens next? Likely nothing, and that’s why we love Terrace House. December 18
Hellboy
Guillermo del Toro’s delightful 2004 adaptation of Mike Mignola’s comic books has a bruised charm that makes its world feel fantastical, believable and strangely cozy the subterranean Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense – where a secret squad of misfit monsters fights the good fight against whatever horrors might slither forth to threaten humanity – feels like a lovely place to hang out. And Ron Perlman gives the performance of his career as the cigar-chomping, kitten-loving demon at the centre. Stranger Things’ David Harbour has some pretty big boots to fill in next spring’s reboot. December 1
Paddington
There are so many family movies that use their cleverness to pander to parents while distracting kids with bright colours and slapstick. Paddington is a far more cohesive and joyful affair. Paul King’s take on the young Peruvian bear, with a demeanour as sweet as the marmalade in his hat, mixes childlike humour and playfulness with an emotional drama about embracing new immigrants. This is a kids movie about Brexit, where the social messaging about xenophobia isn’t designed to go over the young audiences head. And it’s worth every rewatch because it just makes everybody so happy. December 16
Trolls
Netflix already has a Trolls holiday spinoff in its line-up but now the surprisingly fun and catchy 2016 movie, with Anna Kendrick’s chirpy Princess Poppy and sad Justin Timberlake, returns. The movie has a good laugh at all the unadulterated positivity in the Trolls’ universe, with enough witty gags (and plenty of childish ones) sprinkled like pixie dust over this otherwise lightweight distraction. Best of all, the Trolls spritely vibes are gorgeously visualized in a hullabaloo of trippy, textured, MDMA-fuelled designs with more bright colours than Skittles. The plot actually involves miserable monsters called Bergens trying to eat the Trolls to get a dose of that happiness. Basically, it’s a kid-friendly movie about popping ecstasy. December 7
Room
If you somehow missed this shot-in-Toronto drama that won Brie Larson an Academy Award and made Canada’s Jacob Tremblay a household name, it’s back. Room is adapted from Emma Donoghue’s novel, itself inspired by Elisabeth Fritzl, the woman discovered to be held captive in a basement for decades, birthing and raising children in the dark. Larson tackles that heavy role in a claustrophobic movie that relies on the two powerful performances, and the bond between the actors, to carry us through such dour material. If you’ve already seen Room, you likely don’t want to go back. December 23
Little Women
This beloved adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel about the March sisters coming of age in post-Civil War America is nearly 25 years old. I guess that makes it a true classic. Here’s your chance to see Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Kirsten Dunst and Trini Alvardo make believe they’re sisters. Susan Sarandon plays their mother and a very young Christian Bale is love interest Laurie. There’s some Christmas scenes so the movie arrives on Netflix at just the right season. December 1
Full list of new titles available in December, by date:
TV SHOWS
December 1
Man Vs Wild With Sunny Leone (season 1)
Memories Of The Alhambra (streaming every Saturday)
December 3
Hero Mask
The Sound Of Your Heart: Reboot (season 2)
December 4
Blue Planet II (season 1)
December 5
Wentworth (season 6)
December 6
Star (season 3)
December 7
Dogs Of Berlin
Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs Of Christmas
Nailed It! Holiday!
Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas
Pine Gap
ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay?
Super Monsters And The Wish Star
The Ranch (part 6)
December 11
Vir Das: Losing It
December 12
Back Street Girls: Gokudols
December 13
Wanted (season 3)
December 14
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: “A Midwinter’s Tale”
Cuckoo (season 4)
Fuller House (season 4)
Inside The Real Narcos
Inside The World’s Toughest Prisons (Season 3)
Prince Of Peoria: A Christmas Moose Miracle
Sunderland Til I Die
The Fix
The Innocent Man
The Protector
Tidelands
Travelers (season 2)
Travelers (season 3)
Voltron: Legendary Defender (season 8)
December 16
Springsteen On Broadway
December 18
Baki
Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable
Terrace House: Opening New Doors (part 5)
December 21
3Below: Tales Of Arcadia
7 Days Out
Back With The Ex
Derry Girls
Diablero
Greenleaf (season 3)
Last Hope (part 2)
Perfume
Sirius The Jaeger
Tales By Light (season 3)
The Casketeers
Wolf (BÖRÜ)
December 24
Hi Score Girl
December 26
Alexa & Katie (season 2)
You
December 28
Instant Hotel
Murder Mountain
Selection Day
Yummy Mummies
Coming in December
Watership Down (limited series)
MOVIES
December 1
Battle
Conor McGregor: Notorious
Crossroads: One Two Jaga
Get Smart
Hellboy
Little Women
Mary And The Witch’s Flower
Priest
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Rock Dog
Unknown
The World Is Yours
Yes Man
December 2
Let The Sunshine In
December 5
American Pie
American Pie 2
American Wedding
Bruce Almighty
Evan Almighty
December 7
5 Star Christmas
Dumplin’
Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle
The American Meme
The Hook Up Plan (Plan Coeur)
Trolls
December 12
Out Of Many, One
December 14
Roma
December 15
Dolphin Tale
Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
December 16
Paddington
December 18
Ip Man 3
December 21
Bad Seeds
Bird Box
Struggle: The Life And Lost Art Of Szukalski
December 23
Room
December 25
Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War
December 28
La Noche De 12 Años
When Angels Sleep
December 29
Eating Animals
LAST CALL
TV series and movies leaving Netflix this month.
December 1
Bones (seasons 1-7)
Gone Girl
Hidden Figures
December 20
Disney’s Moana
December 31
Bob’s Burgers (seasons 1-7)
New Girl (seasons 1-6)
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