Neon continues to bring in a convoy of quality shows and films. See our handpicked highlights below followed by the full release schedule.
Top picks: TV
Yellowstone: Season 5 Midseason Premiere (November 11)
Time to hang up your Stetson: the very last part of the fifth and final instalment of Yellowstone is upon us, and whew mama did the first batch leave things on a tantalising note. Kevin Costner’s steely patriarch John got sworn in as Governor of Montana in the fifth season’s first episode, and episode eight ended with his own traitorous kid Jamie (Wes Bentley) calling for his impeachment…and planning more mortal ends if that didn’t turn out, too. Unbeknownst to him, sister Beth (Kelly Reilly) has similarly murderous objectives in mind: so who’s gonna grab control of the vast family estate, and who’s going to end the series pushing up daisies?
The only person who seems to be hyped about this juggernaut of a western series finally wrapping up is lead Costner, who has been complaining about his pivotal part in the whole ordeal for yonks now. You’re free, Kev! Go make your own super-expensive cowboy-hatted projects forevermore!
Dune: Prophecy: Season 1 Premiere (November 18)
Reckon Timmy pulled off some pretty exciting stuff in Denis Villeneuve’s stunning Dune adaptations? Ya girls the Bene Gesserit—a witchy sisterhood of space prophets, always pulling the strings of their own agenda in the background of the empire’s scheming—have been at it for much longer…10,000 years, to be precise. Nerds who’ve followed Frank Herbert’s impenetrable lore since forever will eat up this prequel series with pleasure, as it follows Harkonnen sisters played by Emily Watson and Olivia Williams. Just how did their eerie sect get started? And who came up with the sick costumes? I personally don’t mind if this spin-off spins off in its own sinister direction and leaves a few franchisey questions unanswered, keeping the house of Atreides at a distance. As long as we get a sandworm sequence or two thrown in there.
Get Millie Black: Season 1 Premiere (November 26)
A Scotland Yard cop returning to her hometown. A missing girl. A rich and powerful family with dark business secrets. The elements in this fresh HBO mystery are all familiar, but it’s distinguished by a vibrant and often bleak Jamaican setting, the dialogue brightened with patios and characters burdened by the hard truths of their environment. The eponymous Millie (Tamara Lawrance) is both admirable and a little scary, willing to burn bridges and put her life at risk to right wrongs of the past—and her relationship with her sister Hibiscus (Chyna McQueen) lends the cop procedural story a piercingly personal element, as transwoman Hibiscus forces Millie to reconsider the childhood trauma they both struggle to leave in the past. Upsetting, addictive, and full of gasp-worthy twists.
Top picks: Movies
Madame Web (November 8)
Ever since that clunky line in its trailer—”he was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders just before she died”—this flop of a Spider-Man spin-off never stood a chance. And yet…I kinda defend it, as a star vehicle for Dakota Johnson, a woman whose superheroics could not be more uniquely half-assed if she tried (and not trying is kind of her whole thing). Saddled with soothsaying powers, and the care of three teen girls who will one day get spider-powers, Johnson’s Madame Web bounces from one shabby setpiece to another, resulting in a hilariously anticlimactic failure of a blockbuster. It’s not quite camp enough to be a midnight movie classic, but there’s enough flabby ADR, nonsensical dialogue, and bizarre moments to keep your bewildered attention.
Civil War (November 10)
Alex Garland’s story of war journalists facing the downfall of the United States is a tricky one: I was ultimately disappointed and a bit annoyed by it, but it generated discussion that well outlasted the movie’s confusing character turns and flimsy vision of a future we can all vividly picture. Luke Buckmaster felt much more strongly about the movie’s good qualities, namely the heart-in-throat action scenes that our protagonists must battle through whilst trying to maintain journalistic objectivity. And we agreed upon the strength of the film’s acting, with Kirsten Dunst starring as a photographer whose faith in the truth gets irrevocably shaken: “All the performers impress, particularly Dunst: there’s a terrible heaviness to her presence, and a glaze in her eyes that’s difficult to shake.”
The Fall Guy (November 30)
Capable of moving nimbly from swoons to stunts to…whatever ingenious daffiness he pulled off in Barbie, Ryan Gosling is a versatile movie star who didn’t quite manage to capitalise on those charms in this action-rom-com. Alongside Emily Blunt, he’s a retired stuntman who’s reluctantly dragged back into the industry, when he’s enlisted to find the missing lead of Blunt’s big blockbuster movie. “He’s playing all the hits”, Katie Parker critiqued in her relatively positive review of the movie, when it was in cinemas this April: “fortunately, they’re ones audiences will be only too happy to hear once again.” The movie also has some chuckles in store for Aussie audiences in particular, considering its sunny Sydney setting which includes a chase scene on the Harbour Bridge.
Everything Coming to Neon this October
November 1
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Legacy
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Ultimatum
Jason Bourne
One South: Portrait of a Psych Unit: Season 1
November 2
Pelosi In The House
November 3
Golda
Professor T: Seasons 1-3
November 4
Mama’s Boy
November 5
Snakes on a Plane
November 7
Beetlejuice
November 8
Madame Web
November 9
The Croods
November 10
Civil War
Kung Fu Panda 4
November 11
Yellowstone: Season 5 Midseason Premiere
November 12
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes
November 13
Interview With The Vampire
November 14
Gravity
November 15
Baghead
November 16
Smallfoot
November 17
Joika
The Tender Bar
November 18
Dune: Prophecy: Season 1 Premiere
November 21
Gremlins
Urkel Saves Santa: The Movie
November 22
The Sex Lives of College Girls: Season 3
Wicked Little Letters
November 23
Outlander: Season 7 Part 2
Penguins of Madagascar
November 24
Christmas by Candlelight
Christmas at Carbell Family Farm
Christmas at the Chalet
Christmas in Scotland
A Christmas in Switzerland
Christmas on the Alpaca Farm
Coupled Up For Christmas
How To Fall In Love By Christmas
Just Like A Christmas Movie
Meet Me at the Christmas Train Parade
Mistletoe Match
Mom’s Christmas Boyfriend
Royally Yours, This Christmas
Under the Christmas Sky
A Very English Christmas
A Vineyard Christmas
November 25
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
November 26
Get Millie Black: Season 1 Premiere
November 27
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Seasons 1-5
The Specialist
November 28
Must Love Christmas
When Christmas Was Young
November 29
Dune: Part Two
Imaginary
November 30
The Fall Guy
