What to watch on streaming in November: Netflix, Disney, Apple, iview, Binge and more
Lockdowns may have ended but you won’t want to leave your house if there are this many streaming goodies on offer.
From blockbuster heists and a high-fantasy drama to searing documentaries and Christmas capers, there’s a lot going on in November.
Fire up those remotes and resist the call of the beach – just embrace that sedentary lifestyle our doctors keep warning us about.
The Shrink Next Door (Apple TV+, November 12): Inspired by a true story and the podcast of the same name, this star-studded miniseries features Paul Rudd as an unconventional therapist who inserts himself into the life of his patient, played by Will Ferrell. It also stars Kathryn Hahn and Casey Wilson.
Cowboy Bebop (Netflix, November 19): Cowboy Bebop is a beloved Japanese anime series that premiered in 1998, which makes this live-action remake highly anticipated but also to be approached with a little wariness. But, with John Cho front and centre, there is great optimism for this story about a scrappy group of bounty hunters that traverse the solar system.
The Sex Lives of College Girls (Binge and Foxtel*, November 18): Mindy Kaling created this comedy about a group of curious roommates in their first year of university, discovering freedom and their sexual desires. It stars Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur, Midori Francis and Renee Rapp.
Red Notice (Netflix, November 12): Reportedly Netflix’s most expensive original movie to date, the action blockbuster Red Notice has as much star power as it does confidence. It stars Dwayne Johnson as an FBI profiler whose path crosses with two rival criminals (Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds) during a daring heist.
The North Water S1 (Foxtel and Binge, November 2): With a top-notch cast including Colin Farrell, Stephen Graham, Peter Mullen and Patrick Sumner, The North Water follows a whaling crew whose misadventure becomes an epic battle for survival in the Arctic, fighting against the elements and each other.
The Wheel of Time (Amazon Prime Video, November 19): Based on Robert Jordan’s popular novels (90 million copies sold), The Wheel of Time is an expensive high-fantasy series set in a world with magic, prophecies and five candidates among which is one who is destined to either save humanity or destroy it. It stars Rosamund Pike, Sophie Okonedo and Australian Madeleine Madden.
Hawkeye (Disney+, November 24): Clint Barton just wants to have a family Christmas holiday in New York, but his best laid plans are disrupted when he discovers a young archer whose raw talent matches his own – and she’s attracting the ire of enemies he made while he was his killer Ronin alter-ego. Jeremy Renner reprises his role as the Avenger, while Hailee Steinfeld and Vera Farmiga joins the MCU. Florence Pugh will also cameo as her Black Widow character Yelena Belova.
Stillwater (Paramount+, November 4): Starring Matt Damon and directed by Tom McCarthy, who helmed Oscar-winner Spotlight, Stillwater was set to be one of the highlights of the year, and it had a glitzy Cannes premiere to go with it. So, what do you read from the fact that it’s now bypassing cinemas and going straight to streaming? Damon plays a father whose daughter is convicted of killing her roommate in a foreign country. Sounds like Amanda Knox? She thought so too.
Dopesick (Disney+, November 12): Created by Danny Strong, who used to be known for playing Jonathan on Buffy but is now a successful writer having penned Game Change, Recount and co-creating Empire, Dopesick is a miniseries that takes an eviscerating look at America’s opioid crisis and the role of the pharmaceutical company, Purdue, that ushered in. It stars Michael Keaton, Kaitlyn Dever and Michael Stuhlbarg.
Cobra S2 (Foxtel, November 16): If the first season’s solar flares wasn’t dramatic enough, political thriller Cobra returns with even higher stakes – unexploded ordinances off the coast of Kent (which don’t remain unexploded) and an enormous cyber-attack crippling the UK’s emergency comms systems. It stars Robert Carlyle and Victoria Hamilton.
The Harder They Fall (Netflix, November 3): This Netflix movie has everything you want in a western – a compromised hero pitted against a black hat villain in an epic tale of vengeance and violence. And it has a cracking cast including Idris Elba, Regina King, Jonathan Majors, Delroy Lindo, Zazie Beetz and Lakeith Stanfield.
Passing (Netflix, November 10): British actor Rebecca Hall makes her directorial debut with Passing, a film about two mixed-race childhood friends who reacquaint as women with two very different lives, one of them “passing” for white and married to man with a professed hatred for black people. It stars Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, Andre Holland and Alexander Skarsgard.
Dexter: New Blood (Paramount+, undated): Dexter Morgan, lumberjack extraordinaire, was not how fans of the original series wanted to see it end. This revival miniseries picks up the repressed serial killer’s story 10 years down the track, just as his Dark Passenger is starting to reawaken and a now-teenage Harrison comes searching for his father.
Finch (Apple TV+, November 5): In a post-apocalyptic world, a robotics engineer survives for 10 years in a bunker with his dog. He then builds a robot to look after his pupper for when he no longer can. Tom Hanks and the voice of Caleb Landry-Jones star in this life-affirming film.
The Great S2 (Stan, November 20): The witty and acerbic dialogue alone makes The Great a delicious proposition but when the actors, including Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, are having this much fun, how can you resist. Catherine has now taken Russia from her useless husband but how long can she hold onto it when court intrigues and power plays are afoot? Gillian Anderson joins the cast for season two.
Mayor of Kingstown (Paramount+, November 15): Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan sets up house in Chicago, following another powerful family with dubious interests. This time it’s the McCluskys and they have their tentacles in the prison system in a town where justice has a flexible meaning. It stars Kyle Chandler, Jeremy Renner and Dianne Wiest.
Home Sweet Home Alone (Disney+, November 12): Both a remake and a revival-of-sorts, the Home Alone story gets a makeover with Archie Yates in the role of the left-behind kid who faces off with would-be burglars. It also stars Aisling Bea, Rob Delaney and Ellie Kemper while Devin Ratray returns as Buzz McCallister.
Tick, Tick… Boom! (Netflix, November 19): Lin Manuel-Miranda makes his feature directorial debut with this musical adapted from the stage play about a theatre composer going through a quarter-life crisis as he approaches 30. The film stars Andrew Garfield, Bradley Whitford and Judith Light.
Nitram (Stan, November 24): Directed by Justin Kurzel, the controversial Nitram charts the lead-up to Australia’s most heinous modern massacre, the shootings at Port Arthur. The dramatised film stars Caleb Landry-Jones as the gunman, a disturbed individual with too-easy access to deadly weapons. The actual killings are not depicted.
Saved By The Bell S2 (Stan, November 25): Sceptics of a Saved By The Bell revival were proven fools when the first season dropped last year, a clever mix of nostalgia and fresh perspectives. Let’s hope they can repeat the magic for the second instalment.
The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+, November 25): Peter Jackson really loves a trilogy so we should expect nothing different from his documentary charting the making of The Beatles’ Let It Be album, consisting of three two-hour parts. It uses footage captured for Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 doco and is said to challenge the orthodoxy that the process of the album was marked by tension within the iconic group.
The Great British Bake-Off S12 (Foxtel and Binge, November 16): Dust off your KitchenAid and get ready to work those measuring cups – or sit back and watch aspiring champions do it instead. The feel-good baking competition is back and it’s even better than those buttery madeleines you bought from the fancy shop down the road.
Tiger King 2 (Netflix, November 17): Everyone’s first lockdown obsession returns with a second season, promising more murder and mayhem while teasing “new revelations” about the crazy world of Joe Exotic.
Head of the Class (Binge and Foxtel, November 7): A revival of a 1980s American sitcom, Head of the Class revolves around a high school’s gifted and talented class. One of its original students, Darlene (Robin Givens) returns, this time as a parent, trying to set up her teenage son for success.
Preppers (ABC iview, November 10): Starring and co-written by Nakkiah Lui, this local comedy is centred on Charlie, a young Aboriginal woman who, after her life blows up, falls in with a strange group of doomsday preppers. It also stars Jack Charles, Eryn Jean Norvill, Meyne Wyatt and Ursula Yovich.
Yellowjackets (Paramount+, undated): You know you’re old when Christina Ricci is now playing the older version of one of four women instead of the teenage counterpart like she did in Now and Then. Here, she is one of four survivors of a girls’ sports team whose plane crashed in the wilderness. Now as adults, they must confront the horror of their experience and how it’s shaped them over the years.
Furia (SBS On Demand, November 16): An eight-part thriller with a twisty plot, this Norwegian series is both a thriller and a political drama involving two characters who are trying to take down a far-right extremist terror cell from two different cities.
Dickinson S3 (Apple TV+, November 5): The third and final season of Dickinson plunges straight into the US Civil War, with the series using the 150-year-old conflict to comment on social and political division in the 21st century.
Total Control S2 (ABC iview, November 7): Power and ambition collide in the second season of Australian political drama Total Control. Outsider Alex (Deborah Mailman) is now working within in the system but will the system work for her? Meanwhile, ousted leader Rachel (Rachel Griffiths) is plotting her way back.
Burning (Amazon Prime Video, November 26): When Burning premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, it was lauded for how it combined storytelling and an environmental message. For audiences at home, Burning – a documentary about Australia’s Black Summer bushfires – will have a more urgent and punchier resonance.
Doctor Who S13 (ABC iview, November 1): Season 13 will be the final Doctor Who excursion for writer Chris Chibnall and star Jodie Whittaker, who is the long-running series’ first regular female incarnation of the famed time traveller. The six episodes will be one arc rather than self-contained episodes.
Dalgliesh S1 (Acorn TV, November 1): PD James’ detective hero Adam Dalgliesh has a new screen iteration in Bertie Carvel. This series, adapted from James’ novels, is set in the 1970s as Dalgliesh solves a series of crimes including a poisoned student nurse, and a couple of nasty throat slashings.
Crime S1 (Britbox, November 25): Irvine Welsh, best known for his novel Trainspotting, has for the first time adapted one of his own books into a series, Crime. It tells the story of a haunted detective whose personal demons come to the fore when he starts investigating the disappearance of a schoolgirl.
*Foxtel and Binge are majority owned by News Corp, publisher of news.com.au
Hit TV show’s bizarre link to alleged crime
Police are searching for witnesses to an incident at a busy railway that has a bizarre link to one of the most-watched television series in the world.
Viewers shocked by Netflix show opening
Nicole Kidman fronts a new Netflix murder mystery with an all-star cast – but many viewers just can’t get over the opening credits.
Ellen goes rogue: ‘Kicked out of showbiz’
“Harsh reality”: The former TV host is lifting the lid on life after her hit show ended amid a wave of controversy.