What’s new to streaming this week? (Dec. 20, 2024)

Looking for something great to watch at home? Streaming subscribers are spoiled for choice between Hulu, Netflix, Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, Prime Video, Shudder, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. And that’s before you even look at the vast libraries of movies and television within each one!

Don’t be overwhelmed or waste an hour scrolling through your services trying to determine what to watch! We’ve got your back whatever your mood. Mashable offers watch guides for all of the above, broken down by genre: comedy, thriller, horror, documentary, animation, and more.

But if you’re seeking something brand spanking new (or new to streaming), we’ve got you covered there, too.

Mashable’s entertainment team has scoured the streaming services to highlight the most buzzed-about releases of this week and ranked them from worst to best — or least worth your time to most watchable. Whether you’re looking for some sci-fi silliness, vampires running amok, nerve-rattling horror, a heartwarming historical drama, thought-provoking crime thrillers, or the best and sexiest movie 2024 has to offer, we’ve got you covered.

Here’s what’s new on streaming, from worst to best.

7. The Six Triple Eight

Writer/director Tyler Perry shines a light on the priceless contribution the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, a battalion made up entirely of Black women, made in the war effort of WWII. Letters between soldiers and their loved ones were a vital lifeline, not only for the morale on the front lines but also for the families back home. The women of this eponymous squad did much more than make sense of the mess of mail, they delivered hope in one of America’s darkest hours.

In his review for Mashable, Siddhant Adlakha praised Kerry Washington, whose turn as Major Charity Adams “lights the screen ablaze with her poise and commitment.” However, while their story is remarkable, Perry’s approach to the material is lacking. “[The movie] renders its audience as mere observers, rather than participants in its story,” he wrote. “Despite the tremendous efforts of its cast, it leaves us to look upon the 6888th as artifacts of history, rather than real flesh-and-blood people with enormous hurdles thrown in their paths.”

Starring: Kerry Washington, Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Kylie Jefferson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, Moriah Brown, Gregg Sulkin, Susan Sarandon, Dean Norris, Sam Waterston and Oprah Winfrey

How to watch: The Six Triple Eight debuts on Netflix Dec. 20.

6. Laid

You loved Academy Award-nominee Stephanie Hsu as the multifaceted daughter in the multi-verse family comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once. Now, enjoy her fresh and funny spin in this high-concept series about love, sex, and the death of exes.

Shu stars as singleton Ruby, who’s doing her best in the dating world to find the man of her dreams. But it seems like every guy is casually bringing up cannibalism or is bad in bed, you know? However, her love life gets comically tragic when she discovers that her ex-boyfriends are dying off at an alarming rate. So, now she’s on a quest to track down her surviving exes and warn them — like when you have to call your previous sex partners about an STI, but way way more awkward.

Offering a barrage of handsome guest stars and a ride-or-die bestie in Girls’ Zosia Mamet, Laid is a star vehicle for Hsu that has Crazy Ex-Girlfriend potential. Basically, this romantic heroine is a hot mess, but we’re obsessed with her.

Starring: Stephanie Hsu, Zosia Mamet, Michael Angarano, Tommy Martinez, Ryan Pinkston, Sumi Lu, Finneas O’Connell, and Chloe Fineman

How to watch: Laid premieres on Peacock on Dec. 19.

5. What We Do in the Shadows: Series Finale

After six seasons, the documentary crew of What We Do in the Shadows is packing up their gear and wrapping production on the location in Staten Island where a houseful of vampires have frolicked, fucked, and sucked blood for ages. And if you’re not ready to say goodbye, well, you’re not alone. Human familiar turned bodyguard turned fledgling vampire turned non-vampire Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) is having a breakdown about the news of this conclusion. Maybe he worries the confessionals will rob him of the one place he felt safe to vent his frustrations about his dunderheaded master Nandor (Kayvan Novak), the lascivious Laszlo (Matt Berry), the wrathful Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), and the gleefully boring Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch). But more than that, maybe he worries that this ending means closing the book on his time with the vampires.

Well, the vampires aren’t worried. But not for the sentimental reasons of their human companion. In this finale, each beguiling bloodsucker will get one last moment to shine as bright as the moon, flashing their strengths and their insecurities with equal magnificence. The show will even get weird and meta in the middle with a bit of hypnotism. But in the end, this goofy undead tale will deliver a final punchline that hits the jugular. And man, it drives home like a stake in the heart how much we’ll miss them.

Starring: Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, Mark Proksch, and Kristen Schaal

How to watch: What We Do in the Shadows is now streaming on Hulu.

4. Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season Finale

After five silly and sensational sci-fi seasons, Star Trek: Lower Decks is setting off for the finale frontier. Aboard the janky but beloved starship Cerritos, four plucky Starfleet ensigns battled alien foes, curious caves, inner demons (and repressed memories), and many a socially awkward situation. They got promoted, demoted, probed, imprisoned, praised, and occasionally trapped in strange new worlds. But it was always a good time. So how do you bring all this to an end?

The series created by Mike McMahan (Rick & Morty), actually manages to offer one last big, cinematic mission for its final episode, fulfilling a tradition it established back in Season 1. There will be explosions, engineering, surprises, and lots of shenanigans from Starfleet’s funniest crew. But ultimately, there will be farewells. The Cerritos’ shipmates will move onto new adventures, and with the series coming to a close, we’ll be left behind. But props to McMahan and his team for coming up with a farewell that’s fittingly funny and a bit tear-jerking to boot.

And if you somehow haven’t fallen for the charms of this animated sci-fi adventure office comedy series, all 5 seasons are awaiting you on streaming. Binge watch and prosper.

Starring: Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero, Gabrielle Ruiz, Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O’Connell, Fred Tatasciore, and Gillian Vigman

How to watch: Star Trek Lower Decks is now streaming on Paramount+.

3. Cuckoo

One of our favorite horror films of 2024, Tilman Singer’s movie about a teenager being stalked by a stranger in the mountains was described by Siddhant Adlakha as “a fun midnight genre romp that works despite its goofiest elements” in his Mashable review.

“A mountainous horror film reminiscent of The Shining — albeit with far more overt body horror — it follows the travails of a family of four as they take up residence near a fancy lodge in an isolated corner of the German Alps,” he wrote. “When strange sounds emanating from nearby forests begin to have bizarre bodily effects on some of the guests, moody 17-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer of Euphoria) ends up stumbling upon an ongoing investigation into something both silly and sinister. With its tightly wound atmosphere and an impeccable ensemble that throws everything at the wall, Cuckoo emerges as a largely unique work despite its many familiar elements, thanks in part to its increasingly twisted implications surrounding gender and biology. It’s incredibly strange and deviously fun.”* — Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor

Starring: Hunter Schafer, Jan Bluthardt, Marton Csokas, Jessica Henwick, and Dan Stevens

How to watch: Cuckoo is now streaming on Hulu.

2. Juror No. 2

22 years after they played mother and son in the charming British comedy About a Boy, Toni Collette and Nicolas Hoult face off in the Clint Eastwood-directed courtroom drama Juror No. 2. He stars as Justin Kemp, a model citizen, family man, and journalist, who turns up for jury duty with an open mind and an eye toward justice. A hard-nosed prosecutor (Collette) believes she has the accused murderer pegged, beyond a reasonable doubt. But when Justin realizes he’s had a part to play in this case, the paths of right and wrong become much harder to navigate.

Boasting a star-studded cast, this courtroom drama delivers solid thrills, asking the audience to consider how they themselves might handle Justin’s precarious situation. In his review for Mashable, Siddhant Adlakha cheered, “Clint Eastwood paints Juror #2 with subtle, masterful brush strokes,” adding, “Deep-seated symbols and ideas become fluid, making space for captivating drama that both pays homage and paves its own path: a constant tussle between old and new.”

Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J. K. Simmons, Chris Messina, Zoey Deutch, Cedric Yarbrough, and Kiefer Sutherland.

How to watch: Juror No. 2 is now streaming on Max.

1. Anora

2024 was a year in cinema defined by desire, from horny comedies like Lisa Frankenstein and Drive-Away Dolls to heralded thrillers like Love Lies Bleeding, Challengers, and Babygirl. But the best of the bunch — also beating out a slew of movies that weren’t remotely salacious — is Sean Baker’s Anora, a dramedy that Mashable proclaimed a “triumph” out of its TIFF premiere.

In a star-making turn, Mikey Madison (Scream 5) stars as a sex worker whose professional relationship with a young Russian client swiftly swings into a quickie wedding in Vegas. But Baker, who’s made a career out of compelling films centered on the rich inner lives of sex workers, isn’t offering a sloppy retread of Pretty Woman. When cronies come banging on the mansion door, it’s up to Anora to fight for the future she wants. And along the way, Madison and a crackling ensemble deliver not only lip-biting tension but also jolting laughs that never make its eponymous heroine the butt of the joke. Everyone from Mashable who saw it was wowed.

Beautifully captured, beguiling spirited, “Anora offers a glorious thrill, as bold as it is brilliant.” And so, it’s the best film of the year.*

Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and Aleksei Serebryakov

How to watch: Anora is now available for purchase on Prime Video.