Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Wondering what your favorite streaming services are adding to their offerings each month? Decider’s got you covered. Stay tuned for our reports on everything coming to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, Showtime, STARZ, Sundance Now, Shudder, Acorn TV, BritBox, and Tribeca Shortlist, plus a look at the top titles from all of them.
You may feel spoiled rotten with the hundreds of titles hitting your favorite platforms this month, but when it comes down to knowing where to begin, it can be more than a little overwhelming. That’s where we come in. While there are certainly a ton of titles worth your time, it can be difficult to sort through the plethora of titles now available to stream on your favorite platforms – so we’ve done it for you.
To help aid you in building your queue this month, we sorted through the offerings of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO to find you the top titles coming to each. These range from enduring classics to brand new original series, but they’re all likely to lend themselves to a thrilling viewing or an addicting binge. Laugh with Clueless, cry with Finding Neverland, and scream to the handful of horrific titles heading your way. Here are the best movies and shows hitting the biggest streaming services this month.
NETFLIX
Boogie Nights
Just in time for its 20th anniversary, Boogie Nights is back on Netflix and ready to do you right. Paul Thomas Anderson‘s 70s-set masterpiece starring Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, and an incredible ensemble cast is sexy as it is sad and drug-fueled. While some of the stars meet their end due to their problem with the white stuff, others live out their scandalous, stripped-down dreams on the quest for adult film greatness.
[Stream Boogie Nights on Netflix]
Suburra: Season 1 *Netflix Original
Based on the Carlo Bonini/Giancarlo De Cataldo novel of the same name, the Rome-set crime thriller offers a dark, compelling look at the seedy underbelly of where Church, state, business, and organized crime meet. Suburra marks the platform’s first-ever Italian original series, and the first season will feature a seaside town outside Rome as it becomes a hotspot for gambling and a war zone for the mafia, a powerful family, and skeezy politicians, among others.
[Stream Suburra: Season 1 on Netflix October 6]
MINDHUNTER: Season 1 *Netflix Original
If you’re ready to dive into a new David Fincher-driven frenzy, prepare yourself for Mindhunter, a true crime series so chilling it’s already been renewed for a second season ahead of its release. Set in 1979, Mindhunter follows FBI Special Agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench (Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany), a duo who interview imprisoned serial killers to get inside the minds of active murderers and solve cases currently ongoing.
[Stream MINDHUNTER: Season 1 at Netflix October 13]
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) *Netflix Original Film
Thank Noah Baumbach, because Adam Sandler is good again. In what is perhaps his best performance since Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love, Sandler shines as one of the three adult children of Harold Meyerowitz (Dustin Hoffman) alongside Ben Stiller and Elizabeth Marvel. Baumbach’s dramedy perfectly captures all the bittersweet dysfunction of the family dynamic and acts as a showcase for its wildly talented stars in the process.
[Stream The Meyerowitz Stories on Netflix October 13]
Stranger Things: Season 2 *Netflix Original
We’ve already got a few hints about what’s coming this season, but we couldn’t be more excited about all the mysteries that await us when we return to Hawkins. The gang returns for nine episodes this season and are bound to return to the Upside Down and fight all its terrifying forces of evil. Get ready for twists, turns, answers to lingering questions, and some of the scariest Stranger Things yet – it’s all coming with the second installment of Netflix’s nostalgic hit series.
[Stream Stranger Things: Season 2 on Netflix October 27]
HULU
Clueless
Think you can pass this one up? As if! Amy Heckerling’s California spin on a Jane Austen classic is full of way too many one-liners and fabulous outfits to skip. Starring Alicia Silverstone as teenager Cher Horowitz (and an eternally handsome Paul Rudd opposite her), Clueless perfectly captures female friendship, young love, family drama, and everything in between.
30 Rock: All Seasons
There may have been quite the uproar when it was announced that 30 Rock would be departing Netflix in October, but thanks to Hulu, Liz Lemon will remain easily streamable from the comfort of our digital devices for the foreseeable future. The classic NBC comedy starring Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin based loosely on the backstage happenings of Saturday Night Live brings laugh after laugh with each witty, irreverent episode, and it’s bound to be your next brilliant binge.
Across the Universe
This gorgeous, soaring drama set to the music of The Beatles is directed by Julie Taymor and stars Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood as unlikely couple Jude and Lucy. Set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the fight for civil rights, the striking visuals and tragic tales told in Across the Universe alongside the iconic tunes are bound to leave you reeling and wishing there was more.
[Stream Across the Universe on Hulu]
American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare
Ryan Murphy’s hit anthology series continues with this sixth season, and it’s completely off-the-wall. Starring some of the same major players you know and love from both American Horror Story and American Crime Story, Roanoke Nightmare employs the mockumentary format and follows a married couple as they are tormented by all of the terrifying forces that exist on Roanoke Island.
[Stream American Horror Story on Hulu October 3]
Colossal
This wickedly smart spin on the monster movie sees Anne Hathaway star as Gloria, an unemployed alcoholic who moves back home in an attempt to get her life together. When a giant monster inexplicably begins destroying Seoul and mirroring her every move, it becomes more and more clear that she might have more in common with this destructive force than she realizes.
[Stream Colossal on Hulu October 4]
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
Election
Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick star in this brilliant dark comedy chronicling a high school election and the suburban life surrounding it. Broderick plays Jim McAllister, a popular (but pathetic) high school social studies teacher who makes it his life’s goal to prevent overachiever Tracy Flick (Witherspoon) from becoming student body president. Chaos ensues as both adult and teenager utilize any means possible to ensure that the election goes their way.
[Stream Election on Amazon Prime Video]
The Americans: Season 5
Starring real-life couple Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as a KGB spy couple in the 1980s, the fifth season of FX’s critically acclaimed (and Emmy-nominated) drama is finally heading to Prime Video for your sneaky streaming pleasure. Forget about our real-life ties to Russia for a little while and immerse yourself in the evocative, brilliant thriller that is The Americans.
[Stream The Americans: Season 5 on Amazon Prime Video October 5]
Lore: Season 1 *Amazon Original
Based on Aaron Mahnke’s podcast of the same name, this anthology series takes a deep dive into the true stories behind the scariest stories and most vivid nightmares we all experience. Told through a blend of archive footage, animation, dramatic scenes, and more, this spine-tingling, bone-chilling original series from the executive producers of The Walking Dead and The X-Files arrives just in time for Halloween.
[Stream Lore: Season 1 on Amazon Prime Video October 13]
Red Oaks: Season 3 *Amazon Original
Amazon’s 1980s-set country club comedy returns for its third and final season on October 20, and it’s perhaps the best they’ve done yet. This season kicks off in 1987 and finds David (Craig Roberts) trying to make it in the New York City film industry as a lowly production assistant while his friends back at Red Oaks struggle to deal with the fact that the club may not be theirs for very much longer. Smart, funny, and full of heart, Red Oaks is the rare binge that leaves you feeling authentically nostalgic.
[Stream Red Oaks: Season 3 on Amazon Prime Video October 20]
Arrival
Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, this gorgeous science fiction film from Denis Villenueve follows linguistics professors Louise Banks (Amy Adams in a career-best performance) as she aids the military in interpreting the language of the aliens that have come to earth. Rife with thrilling moments and emotional depth, Arrival is the kind of film that only comes around once every few years.
[Stream Arrival on Amazon Prime Video October 28]
HBO
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 9
Larry David is back and better than ever with brand new episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm for your cringeworthy comedic enjoyment. Can you believe it’s been six long years since the last episode of Curb aired? Well, when you reunite with Larry, it’ll feel like absolutely nothing has changed. Prepare yourself for some prettyyyy, preeettyyy, preeeeetttyyy good television – Larry David is here to deliver.
[Stream Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO]
Lights Out
Based on the masterful short film of the same name, this horror flick follows a young woman as she fights to protect herself and her little brother from a terrifying presence that lurks in the shadows of their home and preys on them in their most vulnerable moments. Stocked with stellar performances and thrilling jump scares, Lights Out is bound to please horror fans across the board.
Finding Neverland
Starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman, and a slew of other A-listers, this moving drama depicts the life of James Matthew Barrie, the famous storyteller behind the classic tale of Peter Pan. The film follows Barrie through his writer’s block and eventual breakthrough as he works to get his play up and running and be a support system for the beloved neighbors who inspire his story.
[Stream Finding Neverland on HBO]
Spielberg
This HBO Documentary chronicles the life of legendary director Steven Spielberg through archival footage and interviews with family, friends, actors, and colleagues to produce something truly stunning. It’s rare that a celebration of a living legend is so effective, but with so many classics under his belt, this magical, well-deserved tribute to Spielberg almost feels overdue.
[Stream Spielberg on HBO October 7]
Split
Perhaps the film that officially marked M. Night Shyamalan‘s real comeback to the thriller genre, Split features James McAvoy as Kevin, a deeply troubled man with 23 personalities who begins to fall apart when a new entity struggles to break through. After he abducts three teenage girls, the personalities wage war within him as his victims wage war against him – and a wild sequence of terrifying twists and turns ensue.
