The final month of 2025 is upon us – and December has come out swinging with a pre-Christmas bounty of new movies to enjoy on the world’s best streaming services.
For those of a TV show persuasion, Netflix has also served up a new Western-era series and, depending on your music proclivities, a documentary that’s proven to be highly controversial. Whatever kind of content you consume, then, I’m sure this week’s recommendations round-up will have something for you. – Tom Power, senior entertainment reporter
Jay Kelly (Netflix)
A character study that satirizes life as a Hollywood persona, Jay Kelly a great addition to this month’s new Netflix movies and worth watching for its strong lead performances alone.
A-listers George Clooney and Adam Sandler star as a famous actor and his manager who embark on a profound journey across Europe where they both examine the choices they’ve made in life, their relationships, and the legacies they’ll leave behind.
Our Jay Kelly review is full of more great reasons why I’ll be watching Noah Baumbach’s latest feature on Netflix this weekend and you should, too. – Lucy Buglass, senior entertainment writer
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (Paramount+)
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, dear reader, is to catch Ethan Hunt’s potentially final mission on Paramount+ this weekend (NB: it’s only available in North America right now, but it’ll roll out internationally in the weeks and months ahead).
Indeed, with the eighth Mission Impossible movie out now, Tom Cruise’s time as the world’s pre-eminent spy (well, until James Bond comes back…) might be over. You’ll have to watch it to see if Hunt survives the events of his latest life-threatening quest, though.
If you do, you’ll be treated to everything we’ve come to expect from every Mission Impossible film: explosive action, high-stakes drama, the odd slice of comedy, and Cruise performing death-defying stunts that Hunt himself would be proud of. I’ll stick to sitting on the couch… – TP
Oh. What. Fun. (Prime Video)
Prime Video always has one big Christmas blowout per year, and 2025’s offering is Oh. What. Fun. As you can tell from the punctuation in the title, there’s a heavy emphasis on sarcasm here for one of December’s new Prime Video movies.
Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) has her family Christmas planned to perfection… until they all forget about her. It takes them all a while to realize that she is missing but, until then, it’s total chaos.
We all frequently need reminding not to take ourselves (or the festive period) too seriously, so this Amazon Original really arrives at the perfect time. Frankly, it doesn’t matter what Pfeiffer is doing – if she’s on screen, I’m there. – Jasmine Valentine, entertainment reporter
The Abandons (Netflix)
Gillian Anderson as a Netflix villain? Go on then. The Abandons is best described as a matriarchal version of Yellowstone and the drama is rife.
Anderson plays wealthy tyrant Constance Van Ness, who’s intent on terrorizing the town of Angel’s Ridge with an iron fist. Her biggest foe? Poor rancher Fiona (Lena Heady). Courageous and defiant, all she wants is to keep her found family on the land she believes is theirs. This results in a head-to-head that turns fatal, with the outstanding dual performances that you’d expect.
You’ll binge its seven episodes in the blink of an eye, but don’t be fooled – the drama gets incredibly dark. Thankfully for us, Anderson on her (literal) high horse makes it all worth it. – JV
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (Disney+)
Beloved children’s book author and illustrator Jeff Kinney has written and produced another new animated film based on his best-selling Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series for Disney.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw marks the second holiday-themed animation, this time adapting the third book in the franchise, which follows disaster-prone student Greg Heffley as he tries to prove to his dad that he can turn his wimpy ways around.
With Disney+ all but guaranteed to be a hit with the little ones over the Christmas holidays, one of December’s new Disney+ movies seems like a safe bet if you need something to distract them for an hour or two. – Amelia Schwanke, senior entertainment editor
The Family McMullen (HBO Max)
The Family McMullen is just one of the great new HBO Max movies this month. Serving as a legacy sequel to The Brothers McMullen, it centers on original characters Barry, his brother Patrick, and his widowed sister-in-law Molly as they return for a new story 30 years later.
Since everyone’s aged up since the 1995 movie, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, there’s a lot to catch up on. Expect to see romantic hurdles and challenges, including a canceled wedding and other unpleasant surprises. It’s not a family reunion without bucket loads of drama, after all.
It’s well worth settling in for a double bill, as The Brothers McMullen is also streaming on HBO Max if you’ve never seen it before or need to refresh your memory. – LB
Sean Combs: The Reckoning (Netflix)
I still don’t get why Sean ‘Diddy’ Comb’s streaming numbers climbed after being arrested for prostitution-related crimes involving two ex-girlfriends. Whatever your thoughts on whether the now-convicted artist should be getting airtime, though, Netflix has proceeded with a major release, which has created some blowback since its December 2 debut.
Sean Combs: The Reckoning, a four-part series documenting Comb’s life in the lead-up to the arrest, is out now. But, lawyers of the felon have since accused the streamer of “using stolen footage”, raising doubts over whether Sean Combs: The Reckoning will continue to live on the service.
Director Alexandria Stapleton has hit back, saying that the production team – which includes Comb’s long-time rival Curtis James Jackson III (aka 50 Cent) – obtained the footage legally, causing even more fanfare around the already toxic story. – AS
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