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
The Crown (season six, part one on Netflix from November 16)
After all these years, The Crown finally gets to the moment we’ve all been waiting for with both excitement and dread: that one fateful night in Paris. While the last season was perhaps its least compelling and most meandering so far, this final season (or at least the first, 1990s-set, half of it) has the potential to be the best yet. The only downside is that it’s not the whole season; the second half drops in mid December. / Sam Brooks
Alone UK (on TVNZ+ from November 13)
My Real Pod co-host and Rec Room editor Duncan Greive went on a solo 20 minute tear a few weeks ago about how much he loved intrepid reality series Alone, so I think I’m finally going to commit to this new UK season. From what I can recall, it’s a bunch of survivalists dumped, alone, in the middle of the wilderness with a GoPro and not much else. The person who lasts out there the longest wins 100K, and I think sometimes there are wolves. / Alex Casey
Queer Academy (on TVNZ+ from November 14)
Created by Re: News’ Liam van Eeden and hosted by Celebrity Treasure Island winner James Mustapic, Queer Academy celebrates all the good things about being queer. Each episode explores a lesson that audiences can learn from the LGBTTQIA+ community, from how fashion can help people find themselves to why queer people have sexual health better figured out. / SB
The notables
A Murder at the End of the World (on Disney+ from November 14)
Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the co-creators of Netflix’s underrated The OA, are back with an Agatha Christie-esque series with a twist. The Crown’s Emma Corrin is Darby Hart, a talented hacker and amateur sleuth who is invited along with eight other guests to participate in a reclusive millionaire’s retreat in Iceland. Obviously, someone is found dead, and it’s up to Darby to prove it was murder. Clive Owen, Alice Braga, Joan Chen and Marling herself also star. / SB
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (on AppleTV+ from November 17)
Did you know there was a Monsterverse? I sure didn’t, and yet now we are both burdened by that knowledge. This new series follows on from the events of the 2014 movie Godzilla. Two siblings, following in their father’s footsteps, uncover their family’s connection to the secret organisation known as Monarch, which leads them down a rabbit hole to buried secrets. If any of that means anything to you, congratulations. Someone has made a show for you./ SB
Secret Diary of a Call Girl (all seasons on TVNZ+ from November 18)
You know what’s a good rule of thumb? If Billie Piper is in a show, you should watch that show. Another good rule of thumb? If Lucy Prebble (Succession, I Hate Suzie) is involved in a show, you should also watch that show. Secret Diary of a Call Girl holds up way better than you might expect from its name and premise – if you’ve never seen it, here’s your chance to jump in. / SB
The films
Allelujah (on Neon from November 15)
In this British film, which is absolutely not adapted from the Leonard Cohen song of a similar name but instead from Alan Bennett’s play of the same name, a small Yorkshire community fights back when the geriatric ward is threatened with closure, inviting a news crew to film the preparations for a concert honouring its most distinguished nurse (Jennifer Saunders). The cast of UK heavy-hitters is rounded out by Dame Judi Dench, Russell Tovey and Derek Jacobi. / SB
Exmas (on Prime Video from November 17)
I can’t believe it took until 2023 before we got a film title that used this very simple pun. Shame on all of us. This holiday-themed romcom from BuzzFeed Studios which is a company that apparently exists and makes films, stars Robbie Amell as a guy who surprises his family at Christmas, only to find them already celebrating with his ex-fiance (Leighton Meester). Will they or won’t they? I think they will, personally. / SB
The Notebook (on Neon from November 19)
I have tried to write this blurb for what feels like every day for a year, and simply cannot find the words for The Notebook. The Rolling Stone once said “there’s no way to endure the movie without earplugs and a blindfold”. The Guardian once said “dentistry in the Renaissance could not have been more painful than watching this.” But Ryan Gosling also once said “if you’re a bird, I’m a bird,” and I think it’s important that we consider all perspectives here. / AC
Netflix
November 14
Criminal Code
Subterreanea
November 15
Feedback
November 16
The Crown: Season 6: Part 1
November 17
Sagrada Familia: Season 2
The Railway Men
Neon
November 13
1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed
November 14
My So-Called High School Rank
November 15
The Lazarus Project: Season 2
The Stroll
Allelujah
November 16
Murder in the Alps
G.I Joe: Retaliation
G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra
November 17
Julia: Season 2
Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches
The Great Wall
November 18
Men in Black
Men in Black II
Men in Black 3
November 19
Time: Season 2
David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived
The Notebook
TVNZ+
November 13
Alone UK
November 14
Queer Academy
Our Guy in Columbia
November 16
Orphan Black: Echoes
Deadly Class
ThreeNow
November 13
Sweetbitter: Season 1-2
November 15
Blindspot
November 16
The Big Swindle
Disney+
November 13
The Lady Bird Diaries
November 14
A Murder at the End of the World
November 15
Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story
Interpreter of Silence
I’m Your Fan: The Party Continues
The Doc and Bella Are In!
November 16
Drive with Swizz Beatz: Season 1
November 17
Dashing through the Snow
Shohei Otani: Beyond the Dream
Prime Video
November 14
Trevor Wallace: Pterodactyl
November 15
Allelujah
November 17
Creation of the Gods
Wild Swords
Full River Red
Twin Love
Landscape with Invisible Hand
Exmas
Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story
Apple TV+
November 17
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
AMC+/Acorn
November 13
The Chase
Shudder
November 13
Cold in July
Nightmares
Hayu
N/A