Netflix
Frankenstein
Film, US, 2025 – out 7 November
Guillermo del Toro has directed a Frankenstein movie, because of course he has. The Mexican auteur’s love of dark fantasy and gothic horror makes him a safe, if obvious, choice to dust off Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel. The story famously follows a young scientist who builds a creature from dead body parts, without factoring in the need for industrial-strength deodorant, which is surely the real reason he abandons it.
There have been many Frankenstein adaptations – the mother of them all being, as this list correctly identifies, 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein. Del Toro’s film, which stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as his monster, has generated a pretty strong reception – Peter Bradshaw, for instance, calling it “a bombastic but watchable new version of Mary Shelley’s great novel”.
Train Dreams
Film, US, 2025 – out 7 November
Joel Edgerton has drawn rave reviews for his performance as a railroad worker and logger in this adaptation of Denis Johnson’s novella of the same name, snapped up by Netflix at this year’s Sundance film festival. At least four publications have described Edgerton’s performance as the best or possibly the best of his career, which alone should put it on your radar.
Reviews suggest an experience that’s tonal rather than plot-driven. Expect beautiful rustic settings and lyrical direction.
Honourable mentions: Home Alone 1-3 (film, 1 November), Shrek 1-4 (film, 1 November), Death by Lightning (TV, 6 November), Marines (TV, 10 November), The Accountant (film, 12 November), The Beast in Me (TV, 13 November), In Your Dreams (film, 14 November), A Man on the Inside season 2 (TV, 20 November), Fisk season 3 (TV, 24 November), Stranger Things 5: Volume 1 (TV, 27 November).
Stan
Robin Hood
TV, US/Serbia, 2025 – out 2 November
The creators of Robin Hood would like us to think they’ve “reimagined” the legend of the arrow-slinging folk hero, framing their new series as an origin story. But the protagonist (Jack Patten) is hardly a child or teenager, and the show immediately feels safe and rote, delivering everything you’d expect: castles, knights, log fires, men in cloaks, talk of Saxon lands and a hazardous number of candles. Do these people even have a fire safety plan?
A key thread in the drama follows Robin and Marian (Lauren McQueen), the daughter of a Norman lord, falling in love, because of course it does. I watched the first episode, which was enough for me – though I’ll admit that recruiting Sean Bean to play the Sheriff of Nottingham is pretty good casting.
Bump: A Christmas Film
Film, Australia, 2025 – out 30 November
The beloved Australian comedy series Bump – which began as the story of a year 11 student who gives birth without even knowing she’s pregnant – wrapped last year with its fifth and final season. Stan, however, continues to find new ways to milk, er, expand its universe. There was a spin-off series in 2023 and now a film set between the ninth and 10th episodes of season five. Why stop there? Next year they can give us a movie set between episodes eight and nine, or one and two, or between seasons three and four, or four and five …
The film is set on a South American cruise, the vague official synopsis informing us that Oly (Nathalie Morris) and Santi (Carlos Sanson Jr) are “adjusting to life with their newborn” while “the family’s aspirations for a festive and culturally immersive Christmas gathering are met with a series of unexpected and chaotic events”.
Acute Misfortune
Film, Australia, 2018 – out 4 November
I’ll take any opportunity to remind people to watch this film – one of the best Australian biopics of the century so far. Daniel Henshall is mesmerising as controversial Archibald-winning painter Adam Cullen, who was a real piece of work, choked full of hubris and with dangerous gonzo energy; he was also often wasted on heroin. Based on journalist and author Erik Jensen’s book of the same name, the film deploys an Almost Famous-ish story trajectory, with Jensen (Toby Wallace) spending time with Cullen in order to write a biography of him.
Director Thomas M Wright rejects the idea that the greatness of the artist excuses the sins of the person. As I wrote in my review, this film is “a rumination on a famous eccentric that peels away the gloss of legend” and poses big questions, “like whether this country celebrates the wrong kind of people”.
Honourable mentions: Bad Santa (film, 2 November), Anna and the Apocalypse (film, 2 November), Civil War (film, 10 November), The Iris Affair (TV, 13 November), The Bling Ring (film, 14 November), Cinderella Man (film, 15 November), He Had It Coming (TV, 20 November), Louis Theroux: Interviews: Seasons 1 – 2 (TV, 21 November), Criminal (film, 2016), The Code of Silence (TV, 23 November).
ABC iView
When the War is Over
TV, Australia, 2025 – out 18 November
Rachel Griffiths is currently on screens as the presenter of the ambitious SBS doco The Idea of Australia. If that’s not enough Griffiths-led Aussie history for you, here’s another helping – this time examining how Australian artists have depicted major wars.
I had issues with Griffiths’ presentation in The Idea of Australia, which includes a lot of footage of her wandering along coastlines looking pensive. This series also puts Griffiths on a beach – this time the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. The first episode examines Gallipoli and the first world war; subsequent eps cover, among others, the second world war, the Vietnam war and the war in Afghanistan.
Honourable mentions: Maigret (TV, 7 November), The Forsytes (TV, 9 November), Return to Paradise season 2 (TV, 15 November).
SBS on Demand
The Giants
Film, Australia, 2023 – out 7 November
Laurence Billiet and Rachael Antony’s excellent documentary creates a vivid picture of the life of Bob Brown, though it’s much more than just a portrait of the former Greens leader and longtime environmental activist. The title has a double meaning, referring to the film’s human subject as well as trees from Tasmania’s Styx valley, which Brown describes as “bigger than any of the dinosaurs” and “rooted in Australian soil”.
There are lots of interesting titbits, about both Brown’s colourful career and the environmental significance of the things he fought for. As I wrote in my review, “the film-makers never lose sight of the most important things, using the natural world to wrap an ancient context around contemporary politics and individual narratives”.
Weekend at Bernie’s
Film, US, 1989 – out 14 November
I’m a big fan of watching films I liked as a youngster to see how they stand up today –particularly comedies. Returning to the 1989 classic Weekend at Bernie’s last year, I suspected this film – about two young insurance firm employees who pretend their dead boss is alive, puppeteering his corpse like a marionette – would feel a bit dated.
Instead, I found it actually holds up well. The film punches up (Bernie is a cruel, unlikeable elitist) and is enjoyably executed, with some laugh-out-loud moments. Fun fact: it was directed by Ted Kotcheff, who made one of the greatest Australian films of all time: Wake in Fright.
Stop Making Sense
Film, US, 1984 – out 14 November
Could this be the greatest concert film? Why yes, yes it could. Talking Heads – fronted of course by David Byrne, famously wearing an oversized suit – perform an amazing amount of bangers including Psycho Killer, Burning Down the House, Once in a Lifetime and Take Me to the River. Jonathan Demme’s film has a fun visual novelty, too: it opens with just Byrne on stage and, one by one, other band members join him, the number of people expanding as the run time progresses. Same as it ever was.
Honourable mentions: Californication seasons 1-4 (TV, 1 November), The Sentinels (TV, 1 November), I Am Greta (film, 1 November), The Bridge Over the River Kwai (film, 1 November), The Quiet American (film, 1 November), Warren’s Vortex (TV, 3 November), Cancer Killers (TV, 4 November), Reckless (TV, 12 November), Spy Game (film, 14 November), The Remains of the Day (film, 14 November), Liaison (TV, 23 November), Infinite Summer (film, 28 November).
Amazon Prime Video
Materialists
Film, US, 2025 – out 10 November
I wasn’t a big fan of Celine Song’s romantic drama about a professional matchmaker, Lucy (Dakota Johnson), who starts dating a man who ticks all the boxes – handsome, wealthy, intelligent – but still has a soft spot for her ex-boyfriend, a broke, aspiring actor. The former is played by Pedro Pascal and the latter by Chris Evans, so either way, she’s going to end up with a very handsome man.
Johnson does a good job making Lucy a likable presence, even if she approaches dating in a very transactional way. But the drama curdles as the run time wears on and much of the dialogue feels overwrought and stilted. Still, there are some sharp observations about dating in the age of apps, which was unpacked in an interesting piece from the Guardian’s Elle Hunt.
Annie Hall
Film, US, 1977 – out 1 November
With Diane Keaton’s death last month, now’s a good time (although, admittedly, any time is a good time) to revisit her best performance in the greatest romantic comedy of all time. Woody Allen famously re-edited Annie Hall to maximise Keaton’s presence in the titular role; she’s wonderfully charismatic, and one of those movie characters you wish you could meet in real life.
The story follows Annie’s romantic relationship with comedian Alvy Singer (a characteristically neurotic Allen) as they move in together and eventually break up – which sounds like a downer, but the film is packed with jokes and very playfully staged.
Honourable mentions: Get Shorty (film, 1 November), Be Cool (film, 1 November), Hair (film, 1 November), Hot Tub Time Machine (film, 1 November), Legally Blonde 1 and 2 (film, 1 November), Luther seasons 1-5 (TV, 1 November), Manhattan (film, 1 November), Elf (film, 2 November), Karate Kid: Legends (film, 3 November), Bat-Fam (TV, 10 November), Playdate (TV, 12 November), Malice (TV, 14 November), Belén (film, 14 November), Hurry Up Tomorrow (film, 15 November), The Mighty Nein (TV, 19 November), Red Dog (film, 20 November).
HBO Max
The Seduction
TV, France, 2025 – out 14 November
Lust, backstabbing and orgies in 18th century Paris – oh la la! This lavish French-language series is based in the “delicious hell that is high society” and is a prequel to Les Liaisons Dangereuses, charting the rise of the young Marquise de Merteuil (Anamaria Vartolomei). After being cruelly tricked and betrayed by Vicomte de Valmont (Vincent Lacoste), she’s told to “learn to master men”, triggering a twisty plotline filled with heady drama and various wobbly bits. It’s crackingly well paced; I smashed through the first two episodes and look forward to more.
Apocalypse Now
Film, US, 1979 – out 22 November
DA-da-da-da-DA! Da-da-da-da-DA! Da-da-da-da-DA! Francis Ford Coppola’s wildly ambitious war epic, about a US army captain (Martin Sheen) sent on a secret mission to assassinate a decorated colonel (Marlon Brando), boasts cinema’s most well-known use of Ride of the Valkyries.
It’s hard to know where to begin when listing this film’s achievements. Some, not unreasonably, consider it the greatest war movie ever made. It’s always worth rewatching – and comes with an excellent companion piece in the behind-the-scenes documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, which is also landing on SBS On Demand on 22 November.
Honourable mentions: We Live in Time (film, 1 November), Lee (film, 1 November), Unforgivable (film, 1 November), I Love LA (TV, 3 November), Happiness (TV, 4 November), Elf (film, 8 November), Basic Instinct (film, 8 November), The Dish (film, 15 November), Magic Mike’s Last Dance (film, 15 November), Thoughts & Prayers (film, 19 December), Wild Cherry (TV, date TBC).
Binge
DMV
TV, US, 2025 – out 11 November
Australian actor Harriet Dyer, whose recent show Colin from Accounts was a global hit, is great at playing characters who are awkward in a charming, slightly bolshy way. She stars in Dana Klein’s new workplace comedy as Colette, an employee at a California branch of the DMV, understatedly described in its opening moments as “a place not always celebrated for its efficiency, organisation and customer care”. The same might be said of its Aussie equivalents.
Bureaucratic madness is a key source of the comedy, the writers bouncing between staff and miffed members of the public. I’ve watched the first two episodes and had a good time: while far from appointment viewing, it’s light and moreish, with a well-sustained spritzy energy.
All Her Fault
TV, US/UK, 2025 – out 7 November
The beginning of this mystery thriller series, adapted from Andrea Mara’s novel of the same name, is effectively unsettling, largely because we have so little context. The protagonist, Marissa (Sarah Snook), arrives at someone’s house to pick up her young son, Milo, from a playdate, only to discover that the person there has no idea who she or Milo is. She soon realises the woman she thought was taking care of him isn’t, and nobody knows where he is – launching a “parent’s worst nightmare” plotline that vividly captures one of those moments in life that rip the rug out from under your feet.
The big questions, of course, involve where he is and who picked him up from school. I’ve only watched the first episode, which rollicks along quite solidly, with Snook delivering a characteristically impactful performance. Time will tell if the drama can sustain itself across eight episodes.
Honourable mentions: Barabbas (film, 1 November), Dog Man (film, 2 November), Last Breath (film, 2 November), Drop (film, 9 November), Barbarella (film, 9 November), The Death of Bunny Munro (TV, 20 November), Novocaine No Pain (film, 21 November).
Disney+
All’s Fair
TV, US, 2025 – out 4 November
Set in an all-female law firm that specialises in “high-stakes breakups, scandalous secrets and shifting allegiances”, Ryan Murphy’s latest production looks intoxicatingly lewd and trashy, with an all-guns-blazing trailer that drops the words “beef curtains” within the first 10 seconds. Damned if I know what the plot is, but it promises to be about as subtle as fingernails on a blackboard, featuring spectacularly well-dressed women delivering lines such as “Let’s light her on fire!” and “It’s showtime, ladies!” The cast includes Sarah Paulson, Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts and Glenn Close.
Honourable mentions: The Mummy (film, 1 November), The Mummy Returns (film, 1 November), Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (film, 1 November), The Fantastic Four: First Steps (film, 5 November), A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (film, 14 November).
Apple TV+
Pluribus
TV, US, 2025 – out 7 November
The new series from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan is a sci-fi drama based in a world hit by a refreshingly different kind of outbreak: a virus that makes people happy and content. Which sounds nice, but, like in real-life, somebody always comes along to ruin things.
The protagonist is romance author Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), who the official synopsis describes as “the most miserable person in the world”, on a mission to “save the world from happiness”. Not much else is known at this point; the embargo for reviews lifts on day of release.
Honourable mentions: Palm Royale season 2 (TV, 12 November), Come See Me in the Good Light (film, 14 November), The Family Plan 2 (film, 21 November), Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age (TV, 26 November).
