What are you going to be watching this week? We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.

The biggies

Lessons in Chemistry (on AppleTV+ from October 13)

Lessons in Chemistry is a ridiculously smash hit book from 2022 about Elizabeth Zott, a deadpan chemist who resists the patriarchal norms of the world around her. Rejected from her lab work, she creates a TV show about the chemistry of cooking. The book had all the ingredients (ha ha, get it?) of a bestseller: crisp writing, straightforward feminism, lots of capital-q Quirky characters (including a troubled dog). Will the TV show, starring Brie Larson as Elizabeth, have the same compelling alchemy? / Shanti Mathias

Goosebumps (on Disney+ from October 13)

Between 1992 and 1997 R.L. Stine published more than 60 Goosebumps novels, at a rate of about one a month. Not even the Captain Underpants guy or the Treehouse guy can match that. Today’s kids are likely unaware that Goosebumps was ever a series of books, but they may be familiar with it as Hollywood IP that keeps getting remade every few years. The latest TV series is from the same guy who directed the 2015 movie version, and takes the franchise in a darker, more teenage direction, more “inspired by” than “based on” the source material.  / Calum Henderson

Special Ops: Lioness (on Prime Video from October 13)

This spy thriller sees Joe (Zoe Saldana), a CIA field officer working for the “Lioness” program attempting to balance her personal and professional life while also fighting the war on terror. She enlists Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) to operate undercover alongside her to befriend the daughter of a terrorist financier on the CIA kill list. Heavy hitter Nicole Kidman also stars in this spy thriller from Yellowstone’s Taylor Sheridan. / Sam Brooks

The notables

The Fall of the House of Usher (on Netflix from October 12)

Mike Flanagan has had an unimpeachable run of great horrors on Netflix (The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and the Midnight Club) and closes out that quintology with a loose adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story of the same name. This adaptation appears to be pretty loose – centring around a corrupt pharmaceutical CEO who has to face up to his actions when his children start dying in cruel and mysterious ways. Bruce Greenwood stars as said CEO, supported by Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell and Carl Lumbly. / SB

Frasier (reboot on TVNZ+ from October 13)

The most news I’ve heard about this reboot is that, gasp, Frasier wears jeans! This series sees Frasier (Kelsey Grammar, of course) return to his home town of Boston for the “third act” of his life. It does not, however, see almost all of the original cast of Frasier return, which might make you wonder why do this in the first place. But hey, if what you want in 2023 is a sequel to a sitcom that ended two decades ago, here’s Frasier. / SB

Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul (on Netflix from October 11)

Just what we need: a vaping documentary! Directed by RJ Cutler (Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry and Belushi), this film focuses on how this e-cigarette start-up became a multibillion-dollar company until Covid-19 cut its ambitions off at the knees. It also promises to go into the history of vaping in general, how Juul’s initial goals were to eliminate Big Tobacco but how it ultimately ended up being absorbed into that beast. / SB

The films

Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (on Neon from October 12)

If you like Guardians of the Galaxy, you’ll enjoy Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves – it’s cut from the same cloth as the Marvel franchise, albeit in a mediaeval, fantasy setting. Both have great tunes, star-studded casts and combine comedy and fantasy into an easy-watching, feel-good package. With its layered humour, this is the perfect film for watching with kids while also having a good laugh at the gags the kids don’t get. I expected the D&D film to suck, but it pleasantly surprised me – it might do the same for you!/ Tommy de Silva

Nightcrawler (on TVNZ+ from October 12)

In this deeply implausible film, a thief realises he can make more money doing photojournalism than petty crime. Fantasy, am I right? In all seriousness, this harrowing film by Dan Gilroy, with two standout performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo, is a bleak indictment on the state of modern journalism, and the now seemingly inextricable relationship between the news and consumer demand. / SB

The Burial (on Prime Video from October 13)

Based on the 1999 New Yorker article of the same name, The Burial fictionalises a lawsuit from financial troubled funeral home owner Jeremiah Joseph O’Keefe (a classically irascible Tommy Lee Jones) against the Loewen funeral company, headed up by unconventional personal injury lawyer Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx), that ended up with a wild $500m jury verdict. A good legal drama never goes amiss, and this one seems especially wacky. / SB

Netflix

October 9

Stranded with my Mother in Law

October 10

DI4RIES: Season 2: Part 1

Last One Standing: Season 2

October 11

Pact of Silence

Once Upon a Star

Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul

October 12

The Fall of the House of Usher

Good Night

October 13

Ijogbon

The Conference

October 15

Camp Courage

Vengeance

Neon

October 9

Only the Brave

October 10

Blues Brothers

Blues Brother 2000

October 11

I Love a Mama’s Boy

The Irrational

Marlon Wayans: God Loves Me

October 12

Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves

October 13

Snow White and the Huntsman

The Huntsman: Winter’s War

October 14

The Spy Next Door

October 15

Schindler’s List

TVNZ+

October 9

My Mad Fat Diary: Season 1-3

October 10

The Cleaner: Season 1-2

Floribama Murders

October 11

Wolf

October 12

Frasier

October 13

Younger: Season 1-7

October 14

Mr Mercedes: Season 1-3

Pumping Iron (1977)

Ouija

ThreeNow

October 9

Mad Men: Seasons 1-7

October 11

Welcome to Flatch: Seasons 1-2

Disney+

October 11

4ever

Nothing

Chibi Tiny Tales: Season 3

Me and Mickey: Season 2

October 13

Goosebumps

Sound of the Police

Prime Video

October 9

One Shot: Overtime Elite

October 10

Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe

October 11

Awareness

October 12

In My Mother’s Skin

Mud, Sweat and Tears: Premiership Rugby Season 1

Jumanji (1995)

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

October 13

Special Ops: Lioness

The Burial

Everybody Loves Diamonds

Jigen Daisuke

Dark Harvest

Pantheon: Season 1-2

Apple TV+

October 13

Lessons in Chemistry

AMC+

October 11

Cooper’s Bar

October 12

True Crime Story: Citizen Detective

Acorn

October 9

Harry Wild: Season 2

Shudder

October 9

Dog Soldiers

Night of Fear

Walkabout

October 13

Creepshow