Netflix
The Abandons
TV, US, 2025 – out 4 December
The opening image of The Abandons – a long shot of a town framed by snow-tipped mountains – reminds us of the aesthetic beauty westerns can conjure. This is a tale of class divides and power struggles between two groups: the wealthy Van Nesses, led by Gillian Anderson’s steely matriarch Constance, and the titular ensemble of outcasts headed by Lena Headey’s Fiona Nolan. The former wants the resource-rich land occupied by the latter, who have no intention of giving it up – a classic conundrum.
I’ve watched the first four episodes, which are well made and well paced. Anderson in particular is in fine form, projecting a steely, serenely menacing presence.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Film, US, 2025 – out 12 December
An eccentric detective, a brutal crime, a colourful cast of potential suspects, a big reveal at the end … The whodunit was an appealing confection way before the first Knives Out movie arrived in 2019 – but Rian Johnson has been tremendously successful in injecting it with life, flair and a lightly satirical edge.
In the franchise’s third outing, Daniel Craig returns as southern fried sleuth Benoit Blanc, this time investigating the murder of a New York priest. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw described the cast – which includes Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Josh O’Connor and Jeffrey Wright – as “an absolutely sparkling array of acting talent … at the top of their game”.
Man vs Baby
TV, UK, 2025 – out 11 December
You wouldn’t say that 2022’s very enjoyable Man vs Bee – and now its sequel series, Man vs Baby – is a “comeback” for Rowan Atkinson, given we still see sadly little of the great slapstick comedian. But it’s fabulous to have him back in his element: pulling funny faces, contorting his body and going to war against life itself. Here, the new adversary for Mr Bea – sorry, Trevor Bingley – is a cute little bub the gods have entrusted him to look after over the holidays. The format is nice and breezy: four 30-minute episodes.
Honourable mentions: The Moodys season one (TV, out now), A Moody Christmas season one (TV, out now), Love Actually (film, out now), Top Gun (film, out now), Jay Kelly (film, 5 December), The New Yorker at 100 (film, 5 December), Christmess (film, 6 December), Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (film, 7 December), Goodbye June (film, 13 December), Sunshine (TV, 18 December), Emily in Paris season 5 (TV, 18 December), Us (film, 25 December), Jurassic World (film, 31 December), Rick and Morty seasons 1-8 (TV, 31 December).
Stan
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Film, 2011, US – out 8 December
How many people watched this documentary and immediately added the sushi restaurant it examines – a 10-seat, three-Michelin-star establishment in Tokyo – to their bucket list? You’ll need to cough up serious coin and get lucky with the reservation system, but the food certainly looks amazing. The menu was created by chef Jiro Ono, who has since retired but is still alive at 100-years-old. We learn a great deal about his craft and his devotion to it: for more than seven decades he worked at making and mastering sushi. Meshiagare!
Sunny Nights
TV, 2025, Australia – out 26 December
In this comedy series Will Forte and The Good Place’s D’Arcy Carden play down-on-their-luck, brother-and-sister Americans attempting to launch a spray-tan business in Sydney while adjusting to life in Australia. Things go from bad to worse when Forte’s Martin is filmed having sex and blackmailed, with some goonish debt collectors added to spice things up. The 50-ish minute episode format feels a little chunky, though I can’t say much more for now as reviews are embargoed.
Honourable mentions: Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves (film, out now), Monsieur Aznavour (film, out now), Mountain (film, out now), The Pelican Brief (film, out now), Animal Kingdom (film, out now), Animal Kingdom seasons 1-6 (TV, out now), Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (film, 6 December), The Shining (film, 10 December), Doctor Sleep (film, 10 December), Tokyo Vice seasons 1-2 (TV, 10 December), Evita (film, 11 December), Irish Blood (TV, 11 December), The Invisible Man (film, 19 December), Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (film, 20 December), The Lego Ninjago Movie (film, 20 December), Whale Rider (film, 22 December), Erin Brockovich (film, 27 December).
ABC iview
The Secret Life of Us seasons 1-4
TV, Australia, 2001 – 2005 – out now
This series had a big impact on many of us, presenting the lives of twentysomething Melburnians – including Evan (Samuel Johnson), Alex (Claudia Karvan) and Kelly (Deborah Mailman) – in ways that felt rawer and more truthful than much of contemporary Aussie television drama. Sometimes, the show was joyous; at other times, heartbreakingly serious. As the Guardian’s Brigid Delaney wrote: “The Secret Life of Us showed us a side of ourselves we hadn’t seen much on the small screen before, and helped remind us that maybe our messy, complicated, unconventional lives and loves were OK after all.”
Honourable mentions: Girls Can’t Surf (film, out now), Songs Inside (film, out now), Whatever It Takes – Inside the eBay Scandal (film, out now), Franklin (film, out now), Love My Way (TV, 15 December), The Yearly with Charlie Pickering (TV, 17 December), New Year’s Eve 2025 (TV, 31 December).
SBS On Demand
Holy Cow
Film, France, 2024 – out now
A French coming-of-age drama set in the cheese industry? Don’t mind if I do! Louise Courvoisier’s elegantly crafted production follows impetuous 18-year-old Totone (Clément Faveau), who comes from a family of cheesemakers and enters the trade after his father’s death, taking part in a Comté-making competition in the hope of winning its €30,000 prize (the French sure do value their fromage).
Holy Cow is presented with a social-realist tint, favouring measured, unhurried rhythms and a strong emphasis on verisimilitude. It feels as though the film, the audience and even Totone himself are all quietly pondering who he is and what kind of person he will become.
Honourable mentions: United States of Tara seasons 1-3 (TV, out now), The Red Turtle (film, out now), Leave No Trace (film, out now), Blessed (film, out now), Bring It On (film, out now), We Don’t Need a Map (film, out now), Ken Burns’ The American Revolution (TV, 7 December), BMX Bandits (film, 5 December), Crime seasons 1-2 (TV, 10 December), The Boy and the Hero (film, 22 December), Ponyo (film, 23 December), Kiki’s Delivery Service (film, 24 December), My Neighbour Totoro (film, 25 December), Spirited Away (film, 26 December), Porco Rosso (film, 29 December), Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind (film, 30 December), Princess Mononoke (film, 31 December), Castle in the Sky (film, 31 December).
Prime Video
Oh. What. Fun.
Film, US, 2025 – out now
“Why does Saint Nick get all the credit? Mums do all the work!” says Michelle Pfeiffer in this new yuletide comedy, in which she stars as Claire, a hard-working mum who goes awol after her family forgets to take her on a Christmas outing she organised. She embarks on a solo cross-country adventure, during which, presumably, her family realise they’ve taken her for granted, and Claire encounters some Important Life Lessons of her own. I have a very rare and debilitating condition in which my body violently reacts to cheesy festive-season movies, so hopefully Michael Showalter doesn’t lay it on too thick.
Fallout season 2
TV, US, 2025 – out 17 December
If you missed the first season of this adaptation of the video game franchise of the same name, it’s very much worth checking out (and no: you don’t need to have played the game). Set in a wasteland-like world devastated by a nuclear war in 2077, many survivors – or “vault dwellers” – live underground, including Luca (Ella Purnell), who ventures to the surface for the first time in search of her father (Kyle MacLachlan). Other characters include a noseless bounty hunter called “The Ghoul,” AKA (my words) Captain No Snoz.
The second season will see the characters head to New Vegas, an iconic location from the games. Imagine a city even more ruined, wicked and shameless than Las Vegas – if that’s possible – and you’re in the right ballpark.
Honourable mentions: The Merchants of Joy (film, out now), 21 Jump Street (film, out now), 22 Jump Street (film, out now), Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (film, out now), The Birdcage (film, out now), Love Actually (film, out now), Misery (film, out now), Pretty Little Liars seasons 1-7 (TV, out now), Merv (film, 10 December), Lord of the Rings 1-3 (film, 15 December), Oceans 8 (film, 23 December).
HBO Max
Moonlight
Film, US, 2016 – out 15 December
Barry Jenkins’ sublime coming-of-age triptych captures three distinct periods in the life of its protagonist, Chiron Harris, a gay Black man from Miami. This big-hearted and ruminative film demonstrates a gift for depicting vividly visual moments that linger in the memory – the most iconic being the sight of Mahershala Ali tenderly holding Chiron as a child (Trevante Rhodes) in the water.
Water is a recurring motif (typically symbolising birth and transformation) that Jenkins returns to, including in a scene where teenage Chiron (Ashton Sanders) experiences a formative sexual encounter. The triptych format is cleverly used to highlight how we evolve, but also how we remain constant too.
Picnic at Hanging Rock (Director’s Cut)
Film, Australia, 1975 – out now
Peter Weir’s preferred version of his amazingly surreal and haunting Australian classic is a rare example of a director’s cut that’s substantially shorter (seven minutes) than the original theatrical version. As I wrote when I revisited it about a decade ago, this story has been “remembered, celebrated and misunderstood since readers first turned the pages of Lindsay’s book four and a half decades ago”.
This was a seminal production of the Australian new wave, playing a significant role in introducing international audiences to our cinema and the grandeur of Australian landscapes.
Honourable mentions: The Nightingale (film, 6 December), Sleeping Beauty (film, 6 December), Black Water Abyss (film, 6 December), Bone Tomahawk (film, 13 December), Mary Magdalene (film, 13 December), Evil Dead Rise (film, 18 December), The Graduate (film, 20 December), Family Matters seasons 1-9 (TV, 22 December), The Deer Hunter (film, 27 December).
Binge
Amadeus
TV, UK, 2025 – out 21 December
This new series about the (fictional) rivalry between composers Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is technically an adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s stage play rather than a remake of Miloš Forman’s Oscar-winning classic. But still, what a tough act to follow; that ostentatious and fabulously frisky film hasn’t aged a day. This time around, Paul Bettany plays Salieri and Will Sharpe old mate Moz, who of course amazes with his musical prowess while Salieri slowly curdles into a big ball of all-consuming envy.
The Copenhagen Test
TV, US, 2025 – out 27 December
Everything gets hacked these days: file servers, social media profiles, smart TVs, GPSs, maybe even smart toasters. How much longer before somebody’s brain gets infiltrated by sinister keyboard-wielding forces? That’s the premise of this near-future cyber-thriller, starring Simu Liu as Alexander Hale, an intelligence agent who realises his noggin has been hacked. How do you hit the reset button on your own brain?
Honourable mentions: Desperado (film, out now), It’s a Wonderful Life (film, out now), Spaced seasons 1-2 (TV, out now), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (film, out now), Happy Endings seasons 1-3 (TV, 5 December), Scrubs seasons 1-9 (TV, 5 December), A Fish Called Wanda (film, 12 December), The Phoenician Scheme (film, 20 December), The Last Year of Television 2025 (TV, 29 December).
Disney+
Taylor Swift: The End of an Era
TV, US, 2025 – out 12 December
Reliable sources inform me that Taylor Swift is kind of a big deal – and a very savvy businessperson: there’s a good reason her name is invoked alongside phrases like “masterclass in business.” Swifties have a Christmas stocking stuffed full of new material coming in December, in the form of this six-part behind-the-scenes documentary series about her record-smashing The Eras Tour, which was attended by more than 10 million people and grossed more than US$2bn in ticket sales.
Back to the Future 1-3
Film, US, 1985 – 1990
Great Scott, Maaarrtttyyyy! And: happy birthday, Maaarrtttyyyy! With the original Back to the Future now 40 years old, it’s a good time to hit rewatch on Robert Zemeckis’ iconic time-travel franchise. They are wonderful films for many reasons, including the irresistible chemistry between Michael J Fox as teenager Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown, one of cinema’s greatest and most lovable mad scientists. My pick of the three is Back to the Future 2 (why don’t we have those hoverboards yet?!) with the first a close second.
Honourable mentions: House seasons 1-8 (TV, out now), Shrek 1-3 (film, our now), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (film, 5 December), Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 (TV, 10 December), Mad Men seasons 1-7 (TV, 14 December).
Apple TV
F1
Film, US, 2025 – out 12 December
I wasn’t a big fan of this feature-length advertisement for Formula One, which leans on a familiar comeback narrative about a long-in-the-tooth racer, played by Brad Pitt, who comes out of retirement and returns to the track. But it’s slim pickings this month for new stuff on Apple TV; maybe everybody has knocked off early this Christmas season. The story is about a man who takes big risks – Pitt’s Sonny is known for his fearless, hell-for-leather style, which is a bit of a sad irony given that the film itself is rather risk-averse.
Honourable mentions: The First Snow of Fraggle Rock (TV, 5 December), Born to be Wild (TV, 19 December).
