Everything That’s Streaming in November 2023

 As 2023 nears its close and the weather gets colder, it’s time to hunker down on the couch and pick something to watch. This November, the streamers are turning their attention to holiday movies, adaptations of novels, Oscar bait films, and comfort reality TV.

Netflix is gunning for a mix of all of the above, but there’s something for everyone this month, whether you’re interested in David Fincher, movies re-edited to be TV shows (there’s two of them!), a new Godzilla show, Scott Pilgrim, Tyler Perry, James Bond, Albert Brooks, horror films or documentaries.

Let’s take a look.

Netflix

All the Light We Cannot See (Nov. 2) — All four episodes of this miniseries adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning WWII novel are available Thursday. Aria Mia Loberti makes her acting debut as Marie-Laure, a blind French teen who broadcasts an illegal radio show every night trying to find her father (Mark Ruffalo) and uncle (Hugh Laurie). She soon crosses paths with Werner Pfennig (Louis Hoffman), a German teen forced to join the Nazis. Early reviews have not been positive, but writer/producer Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) may end up having a Thanksgiving break hit on his hands, given the popularity of Doerr’s book.

The Killer (Nov. 10) — David Fincher’s latest film in his partnership with Netflix hits streaming this month after a limited theatrical release. Michael Fassbender stars as a hitman whose mantra — “Stick to the plan. Anticipate, don’t improvise” — is tested after he botches an assassination. This is Fincher’s sixth outing with Netflix, after producing House of Cards, producing and directing Mindhunter and Love, Death & Robots, producing the video essay series Voir, and directing 2020’s Mank. The Killer looks like Fincher in The Game or Panic Room mode, expertly delivering his take on tried-and-true genre fare.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (Nov. 17) — It’s finally here. The all-anime Scott Pilgrim show, featuring the full voice cast from Edgar Wright’s cult classic, has been in development for what seems like forever, even though it’s only been a little more than a year. Anticipation is high. This show is eight episodes and will adapt the graphic novels the movie was based on, further expanding the Pilgrimverse. There have already been some changes to the source material; Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Ramona Flowers now delivers DVDs for Netflix instead of delivering for Amazon. The streaming wars even extend to animation.

Squid Game: The Challenge (Nov. 22) — At last, a show for whoever saw Squid Game and missed the point of the show and thought “I could do that.”

Just like in the show, 456 players will compete for $4.56M.  “While the stakes in Squid Game: The Challenge aren’t life and death, a glistening, cash-filled piggy bank hanging over the dormitory certainly turns up the intensity,” says the press packet. Well, that’s good. Wouldn’t want the audience to take the wrong idea from a show about the evils of capitalism.

 Also playing:

Best.Christmas.Ever! (Nov. 16) [Directed by Pet Sematary’s Mary Lambert!]

The Crown Season 6 Part 1 (Nov. 16)

Escaping Twin Flames (Nov. 8)

Family Switch (Nov. 30)

Leo (Nov. 23)

NYAD (Nov. 3)

Rustin (Nov. 17)

Sly (Nov. 3)

Visit Netflix for a full list of releases.

Hulu

Black Cake (Nov. 1) — Another miniseries book adaptation. This one comes from Charmaine Wilkerson’s bestselling novel, a globe-trotting family drama that stretches from Jamaica, Italy, Scotland, England and Southern California. The book and miniseries tell the story of Covey, a runaway bride who disappears into the surf off the coast of Jamaica in the 1960s. Decades later, a woman dies and leaves behind a flash drive full of stories about how she came to America. Are the two stories related? All signs point to yes. The first three episodes will be available to stream from Nov. 1.

Faraway Downs (Nov. 26) — Did you think Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 flop Australia needed a reevaluation? So did Luhrmann. In Faraway Downs, he has reimagined the historical drama and re-cut it into six parts for a Hulu miniseries, adding more scenes, an alternate ending and additional context not in the original film. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman are also both back to star.

Weirdly, this isn’t the only instance of a movie getting chopped up into pieces for a streaming adaptation (check out the AMC+ section below). This is an interesting, if late, development for the unique ways streaming could capture audiences  — and, with the reuse of an older property, might be an interesting test case for the issues SAG-AFTRA is fighting for in its strike.

A Murder at the End of the World (Nov. 14) [FX] — An FX series premiering exclusively on Hulu, A Murder at the End of the World is a mystery series involving a Gen Z sleuth/hacker named Darby Hart (Emma Corrin). When a reclusive billionaire (Clive Owen) invites Darby and eight other guests to a remote retreat and one of the guests is found dead, Darby is on the case. Looks like a good extension of some Spooky Season mystery.

Quiz Lady (Nov. 3) — Awkwafina and Sandra Oh pull a Tina Fey/Amy Poehler in Sisters, where they play opposite type. Awkwafina is a Type-A, game show obsessed woman who’s estranged from her sister, while Oh plays said sister, a train wreck in human form. They have to join forces to pay back their mother’s gambling debt, which results in the two of them trying to win a Jeopardy!-like quiz show. Supporting cast includes Jason Schwartzman, Holland Taylor, Tony Hale and Will Ferrell. The broad comedy is back, baby!

Also playing:

Drive With Swizz Beatz (Nov. 16)

Secret Life of Dancing Dogs (Nov. 17)

Visit Hulu for a full list of releases.

Apple TV+

The Buccaneers (Nov. 8) — While we don’t know when Ridley Scott’s Napoleon or Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon will get Apple TV+ releases after their theattical windows close, those movies will come to the streaming platform eventually (probably just in time for Oscars season). But, that doesn’t mean Apple is skimping on other offerings this month.

For instance, The Buccaneers is a new show about American girls in high society 1870s London that looks like Bridgerton meets the modern-day sensibilities of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (Olivia Rodrigo on the soundtrack, colorblind casting, modern-day American anachronisms in the dialogue).

Fingernails (Nov. 3) — Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed and Jeremy Allen White star in this sci-fi fable (think Black Mirror, The One I Love) about a test that can prove when you’re in love with someone. Anna and Ryan (Buckley and White) think they’re in love. Then Anna meets Amir. Fingernails is coming off of a debut at the Telluride Film Festival and a limited theatrical release. Annie Murphy and Luke Wilson co-star.

 

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Nov. 17) — The Monsterverse is now on a streaming TV show. Legacy of Monsters picks up after the events of 2014’s Godzilla, when the world learns about the titans. This generation-spanning show tracks two siblings following in their father’s footsteps to discover how their family is connected to Monarch, the organization that studies the titans. Through this, they discover Army officer Lee Shaw (played by Kurt Russell as an older man and his son Wyatt Russell as a younger man), and what he knows about Godzilla and the monsters. This looks awesome, and this is also my regular reminder that you should watch Godzilla vs. Kong if you haven’t already. I would see it in IMAX in a heartbeat.

Also playing:

For All Mankind Season 4 (Nov. 10)

Slow Horses Season 3 (Nov. 29)

Visit Apple TV+ for a full list of releases.

Amazon Prime

Invincible Season 2 Part 1 (Nov. 3) — Invincible is back after two years, but its return will be short-lived. There will only be four episodes in this part one of season two before the show goes on another hiatus until 2024. Season two promises to expand its narrative scope, focusing on getting in the headspace of more characters than just Mark and Omni-Man. No date yet for the Part Two release.

007: Road to a Million (Nov. 10) — The first thing that Amazon does with its half of the rights to the James Bond franchise is…a reality game show. Granted, it’s hosted by Brian Cox, but still. In the Amazing Race-meets James Bond competition, nine pairs of “ordinary” people must complete a series of 007-type missions to find and answer questions hidden around the world. Winner gets £1,000,000. But will the contestants get to night surf?

Bye Bye Barry (Nov. 21) — What happened to Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders when he retired in 1999? He was at the top of his game when he flew to London, announced his retirement, and never played football again. In this new documentary, Sanders walks us through the streets of London and recaps his decision to retire.

Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story (Nov. 17) — Love him or hate him, Tyler Perry is one of the most successful entertainers in America right now. This documentary pulls back the curtain and promises to give us the most in-depth look yet about Perry’s childhood and life.

Visit Amazon Prime for a full list of releases.

Disney+

Dashing Through the Snow  (Nov. 17) — Director Tim Story follows up The Blackening with a Disney holiday movie about an Atlanta social worker (Ludacris) who has lost the meaning of Christmas. Whe he takes his daughter to work on Christmas Eve, they meet a man who claims to be Santa Claus (Lil Rel Howery). When that man gets in trouble, it’s up to Ludacris to save Christmas. Or something. (Cue your 30 Rock “Ludachristmas” jokes now.) This looks like a fun, Miracle on 34th Street-adjacent time for the whole family. Ho, ho, ho (in the 770 and the 404).

Santa Clauses Season 2 (Nov. 8) — Speaking of Santa, Tim Allen is back as everyone’s favorite contractually-obligated Kris Kringle. Scott Calvin is still trying to find his successor to the North Pole and teaching his son Cal the tools of the trade. This season, a new tech genius named Simon threatens to make it Christmas every day.

Also playing:

Assembled: The Making of Loki (Nov. 29)

Behind the Attraction Season 2 (Nov. 1)

Visit Disney+ for a full list of releases.

Max

Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (Nov. 11) — Rob Reiner directs this documentary about his best friend, the comedian Albert Brooks, featuring interviews from Sharon Stone, Larry David, James L Brooks, Conan O’Brien, Sarah Silverman and Jonah Hill. The trailer promises something akin to Judd Apatow’s George Carlin documentary a few years ago. 

How to Be a Bookie (Nov. 30) — Not much is known at the moment about this Chuck Lorre series, but this looks like a promising piece of HBO storytelling: A veteran bookie copes with the impending legalization of sports gambling. Sebastian Maniscalco plays the titular bookie, Charlie Sheen is in one episode, and Lost’s Jorge Garcia shows up, too.

Visit Max for a full list of releases.

Peacock

Love Island Games (Nov. 1) — Love Island is back, and this spinoff brings back past contestants from America, the UK and Australia in a new competition for $100,000 (and a chance at love, I guess). New games, new relationships and new twists and turns.

Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain (Nov. 17) — The Saturday Night Live digital short boys debut their first feature-length film on Peacock this month. The Treasure of Foggy Mountain is an action-comedy about three friends who go in search of buried treasure. Please Don’t Destroy has been compared to The Lonely Island ever since they started on the show in 2021. This looks like it can tap into that same lane of absurdist humor for a new generation.

Also playing:

All the Hunger Games movies, in preparation for the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes prequel.

Visit Peacock for a full list of releases.

Paramount+

Good Burger 2 (Nov. 22) — Dude! The Good Burger is back, and so are Ed (Kel Mitchell) and Dex (Kenan Thompson). Twenty-six years after the original, Ed and Dex must save their beloved Good Burger from the growing threat of globalization with the help of a group of new employees.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves (Nov. 5) — Taylor Sheridan’s quest to dominate streaming TV continues apace. This latest anthology series is a standalone show unrelated to Yellowstone, 1883 or 1923. David Oyelowo stars as Bass Reeves, one of the first Black U.S. Deputy Marshals west of the Mississippi. The show was filmed in North Texas, and if you’re in Fort Worth this Saturday, you can catch the first two episodes early.

Also playing:

JFK: What the Doctors Saw

NCIS: Sydney

Visit Paramount+ for a full list of releases.

Shudder

birth/rebirth (Nov. 10) — The biggest film premiere on the horror streamer this month is birth/rebirth, a gnarly little movie about a morgue technician (Marin Ireland) who successfully reanimates the body of a little girl, but needs to harvest biological materials from pregnant women in order to keep the girl alive. Judy Reyes plays the little girl’s mother (she’s been popping up a lot in horror movies lately), and what happens next sets the two women down a dark road.

Visit Shudder for a full list of releases.

AMC+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXL_HDzBQsM

BlackBerry (Nov. 13-15) — BlackBerry, Matt Johnson’s 2023 film about the rise and fall of the BlackBerry phone, is just over two hours long, and a very brisk, very entertaining tow hours, at that. But if you would like to binge-watch the movie chopped up into three TV episodes plus 16 more minutes of additional footage, then AMC+ has you covered. AMC will air the movie in three parts starting on Nov. 13, ending on Nov. 15. AMC+ will have all episode available immediately on Nov. 13. Again, an interesting experiment, but we’ll see if ti catches on. And, if you want to watch the full, two-hour movie, it’s got excellent performances from Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton.

Visit AMC+ for a full list of releases.