As we now officially enter December, we’re pleasantly surprised by the relative lack of festive features making their way to streaming services this weekend.
Save for Scrooge: A Christmas Carol on Netflix – there’s always one! – This month’s first wave of on-demand content is a real mixed bag, genre-wise. That’s not to say there won’t be anything to see in the next few days, though. In fact, the opposite is true, with six different streamers represented in this week’s top recommendations.
Below, we’ve rounded up seven of the biggest new movies and TV shows available to watch on Netflix, Prime Video, and HBO Max in the coming days.
Willow (Disney Plus)
Here’s a series we didn’t expect to see in 2022 (before it was announced to be in production). Willow, a Lucasfilm-produced sequel to Ron Howard’s 1988 fantasy film of the same name, is now streaming on Disney Plus.
Once again starring Warwick Davis as the titular wizard Willow Ufgood, this eight-part show — marking Lucasfilm’s first non-Star Wars project in five years — takes place two decades after Howard’s original film, and follows six heroes on a cross- country quest to save their homeland.
Other than Davis, Willow’s cast of characters is all new. We talked to Ellie Bamber — who (initially, at least) plays Dove the kitchen maid on the show — about keeping her character’s true identity a secret. And in a separate interview with Best Product, Davis himself told us how “everything matched perfectly” to bring Willow back to the screen.
Now available to stream on Disney Plus.
Slow Horses Season 2 (Apple TV Plus)
One of the very best Apple TV shows, Slow Horses returns this weekend for its highly anticipated second season.
New installments of the Gary Oldman spy drama starring the second book in Mick Herron’s Slough House series – Dead Lions – featuring Jackson Lamb (Oldman), River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) and Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) once. tasked once again with solving a twisting murder mystery.
The first two episodes of Season 2 of Slow Horses are now available to stream on Apple TV Plus, with the remaining four arriving in weekly episodes every Friday. The show has already been renewed for its third and fourth seasons, so we’re expecting big things from this first sequel.
Now available to stream on Apple TV Plus.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Netflix)
A word of warning: Lady Chatterley’s Lover is steamy. It’s a story that has always been there and always will be – and the Netflix adaptation of DH Lawrence’s novel of the same name is no exception to that rule.
This time, young British stars Emma Corrin (The Crown) and Jack O’Connell (Unbroken) step into the worn-out shoes of Lady Constance Reid and gamekeeper Oliver Mellors respectively – two characters from very different worlds involved in a risky extramarital affair.
Prior to its release on Netflix, Lady Chatterley’s Lover enjoyed a short theatrical run and was almost unanimously acclaimed by critics for its authentic and touching portrayal of forbidden love. So, by the sounds of things, it could make its way onto our list of the best Netflix movies.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (Netflix)
It wouldn’t be Christmas without another unnecessary but still oddly welcome adaptation of Charles Dickens’ age-old festive favourite, A Christmas Carol. This year, Netflix is aiming to deliver just that, just weeks after Apple did the same with its own adaptation, Spirited.
The streamer’s animated (and musical) take on the story of an elderly curmudgeon who comes to learn the meaning of Christmas features the voices of Luke Evans, Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley. From the looks of it, the movie is a much more family-friendly affair than we’re used to seeing from A Christmas Carol retellings.
Reviews haven’t been too kind to this one so far, but if you’re looking for an easy festive watch this weekend, we expect you’ll still find plenty to enjoy here.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Three Pines (Prime Video)
Spider-Man: No Way Home star Alfred Molina returns to the screen this weekend to lead the cast of Prime Video’s latest crime series, Three Pines.
The Doc Ock actor plays a seasoned detective on the hunt for answers in this gruesome Quebec drama adapted from Louise Penny’s award-winning Inspector Gamache novel series. As such, you can expect more twists than a helter skelter and enough thrills to get the blood pumping during these cold winter months.
The first episode of Three Pines is now available to stream, and the remaining seven entries will air weekly every Friday until the season finale on December 23. We hope it turns out to be one of the best Prime Video shows of the year.
Now available to stream on Prime Video.
The Great American Baking Show: Celebrity Holiday (The Roku Channel)
Roku streaming stick recently got 36 new live channels for free, and the most significant among that number was an entire channel dedicated to popular British reality import The Great British Baking Show.
As part of Roku’s new licensing deal, The Roku Channel will also now host a Christmas-themed celebrity episode of The Great American Baking Show, which originally aired on ABC in the US.
The format is simple: six celebrities – including actor Nat Faxon and former NFL star Marshawn Lynch – compete against each other to produce the best oven-based creations for judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood. Need we say more?
Now available to stream on The Roku Channel.
Branson (HBO Max)
This week’s documentary pick is Branson, a four-part look at the life and legacy of (you guessed it!) British entrepreneur Richard Branson.
Famous for founding the megacorporation of the Virgin Group – currently valued at more than $5 billion – Branson has lived an undeniably unique life pursuing ventures and adventures, and this HBO-produced docuseries takes his successes, controversies and risky personality.
Now available to stream on HBO Max.