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