Happy holidays, everyone! I hope you’ve enjoyed some well-deserved downtime and consumed plenty 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 because there’s enough new content to satiate your streaming appetite. So read on to see what just came out – and because I don’t have time to say it in advance, Happy New Years 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, part 2 of Stranger Things Season 5 has landed 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. This season’s eighth and final episode—not to mention the show’s final chapter ever—is being held back until a later date, so you’ll only be able to watch episodes 5 through 7 of Volume 2. Nevertheless, each one should be an exciting watch as Stranger Things 5 continues to wrap up the supernatural horror show’s many lingering 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 every Pixar movie in the last 12 months – China’s Ne Zha II is now the highest-grossing animated film of all time and the highest-grossing non-English language film of all time.
But something tells me you’ve never heard of it. Record-breaking aside, it’s worth watching on HBO Max. Our young Ne Zha is a boy of uncontrollable power feared by the gods who must grow up to become the hero the world needs when humanity is in crisis.
As you’d expect from a big-budget feature, the animation is absolutely stunning. It’s the perfect film for anyone who’s missed the traditional hero arc effortlessly infused with non-Western culture. In fact, some people have used the word ‘masterpiece’ to describe this A24 film. – Jasmine Valentine, entertainment reporter
Goodbye June (Netflix)
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I don’t want to beat around the bush – goodbye June is without a doubt the most heartbreaking movie you’ll see this Christmas (read my goodbye June review for more) and also the most life-affirming.
A directorial debut from Kate Winslet with the screenplay written by son Joe Anders, it is loosely based on Winslet losing her own mother and follows June’s (Helen Mirren) final days in hospital as her aggressive cancer becomes incurable. Loving son Connor (Johnny Flynn) and his sisters, high-strung Julia (Winslet), angry Molly (Andrea Riseborough) and volatile expat Helen (Toni Colette) spend as much time as they can at their mother’s bedside.
It’s a casting that I would never have put together, but if they did a ’23 and Me’ parentage test and found they were related, I wouldn’t be surprised. One of 2025’s last new Netflix movies, feelings of hope and stunningly accurate sadness threw me into the feels, so be warned. – JV
Made in Korea (Hulu/Disney+)
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Made in Korea is a gripping new crime drama with the lead role Parasite‘s Cho Yeo-jeong, and Play octopus season 3’s Roh Jae-won, so you can be sure to find. a stellar cast here.
The Hulu and Disney+ show is set in 1970s South Korea and centers around the Korean Central Intelligence Agency as an operative works to covertly control illegal business networks. Meanwhile, an uncompromising public prosecutor works to uncover this, so it’s an exciting game of cat and mouse with plenty 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 Buglass, Senior Entertainment Writer
Bugonia (Peacock)
![BUGONIA - Official trailer [HD] - Only in theaters October 24 - YouTube](https://pakinomist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1766761307_483_7-new-movies-and-TV-shows-to-watch-on-Netflix.jpg)
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Yorgos Lathimos is back, and for me it’s quite a Christmas present. I have long loved his work Dog tooth to the lobster, and now his latest feature Bugonia 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. This is the typically wild premise we’ve come to expect from Lathimos, but it’s not one of his original scripts as he adapted it from the Korean sci-fi film Save the green planet!
Critics have given Bugonia a healthy 87% Rotten Tomatoes score, so why not watch it this weekend? I know I will be. – LB
The Life of Chuck (Hulu)
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Come on, let’s get some real feel-good movie action on this list! Actor LokiTom Hiddleston as Chuck himself, Chuck’s life follows his life in reverse… almost like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button without the strange aging phenomenon.
His death seems to coincide with strange apocalyptic activity, but instead of seeing impending doom, we rewind through the joy, laughter and love of Chuck’s life. Whatever he experienced, from heartbreak to happiness, we’re along for the ride.
In a way, it’s a 180-degree turn from what we expect a movie story to deliver, and that makes it all the more refreshing to watch. If you’re an armchair dancer, I guarantee there are a few tracks that will get you tapping too. – JV
The Copenhagen Test (Peacock)
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Marvel actor Simu Liu leads the cast of this exciting new Peacock thriller about an intelligence agent who is hacked and forced to prove his allegiance. All eight episodes are released tomorrow (December 27), so it’s perfect if you’re in the mood for binge watching.
It might interest horror fans to know The art of magic and Saw Creator James Wan is producing it, so it’s very cool to see his name attached to something like this.
Right now, plot details are under wraps, but the trailer gives you a sneak peek at what to expect. It teases some big thrills to come and I can’t wait. – LB
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