The best movies and shows coming to Netflix in November

Check out our highlights of what’s coming to Netflix New Zealand soon, followed by the full release schedule.

Blockbuster: Season 1 (November 3)

Whether it’s Fresh off the Boat or his regular excursions as an exasperated FBI agent into Marvel projects, the comic bona fides of Randall Park are well-established. The American-Korean comic has deft timing, a self-deprecating optimism, and a knack for drily commentating on rapidly worsening situations. That’s all well-suited to this comedy, which puts Park front and centre as Timmy Yoon, the owner of the last Blockbuster DVD rental store in America.

Jimmy has to struggle to keep the business running, but that doesn’t stop him hiring his long-time crush, Eliza (Melissa Fumero), when she dumps her cheating husband and needs a job. Creator Vanessa Ramos is a graduate of Superstore and Brooklyn Nine-Nine—the gags will be coming thick and fast.

The Crown: Season 5 (November 7)

Netflix is adding a disclaimer to the fifth season of its blockbuster history of England’s longest ruling monarch, noting that the show is a fictionalised portrayal. That’s an acknowledgment that both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip have passed away, but they’re to be portrayed on screen by Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce as Peter Morgan’s series moves into the 1990s.

There may be a backlash to this penultimate season—Dame Judi Dench has already taken a shot—but chances are it will continue to be a major drawcard for the streaming service, especially with Elizabeth Debicki and Dominic West cast as a tragedy- bound Princess Diana and Prince Charles.

1899: Season 1 (November 17)

Are you ready for some brain-bending science-fiction? Set on a ship full of European migrants travelling to New York in the titular year, this international production is Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese’s follow-up to Dark, the coolly unhinged German time-travel mystery that spun out three seasons notable for their operatic intensity and unrelenting menace. The set-up of their new title has the ship encountering another passenger vessel, previously reported missing, halfway across the Atlantic. It’s not a spoiler to say that this will not go well.

Wednesday: Season 1 (November 23)

Alternate title: Wednesday Addams: The Boarding School Years. Everyone’s favourite Addams Family character, macabre daughter Wednesday, gets her own show in this teenage supernatural comedy-adventure, which has her parents—Catherine Zeta-Jones’ Morticia and Luis Guzman’s Gomez—sending her to a storied academy for unique children (cue werewolf howls).

There are secret societies, a killer on the loose, and teenage boys to be handled, with Jenna Ortega (You) taking on the considerable mantle of Christina Ricci’s performance as Wednesday from the early 1990s movies. Bonus casting: Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester.

Top Picks: Movies + Specials

Enola Holmes 2 (November 4)

Millie Bobbie Brown was terrific in 2020’s Enola Holmes, playing a budding 19th century teenage detective trying to find her missing mother (Helena Bonham Carter) and dodge her famous oldest brother, Sherlock (Henry Cavill). Her pursuit of agency and answers had an impudent charm and bolshie energy. Director Harry Bradbeer (Fleabag) and screenwriter Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials) both also return, as a missing person case takes Enola into the world of Dickensian child labour. Expect period conventions, henchmen, and the fourth wall to be broken.

Falling for Christmas (November 10)

The career of Lindsay Lohan has gone through many phases—from child star to courthouse tabloid fixture to reality series host—that her headlining a Christmas romance movie feels quite natural. Lohan plays Sierra Belmont, the daughter of a hotel magnate (was Hilton taken?), who loses her memory and is taken in blue-collar lodge owner (Glee’s Chord Overstreet) during the holiday season.

This is a strictly regulated genre, with makeover moments, a precocious child, and G-rated attraction, so expect no innovation. But it might be a first step back for Lohan, who after decades of fame is still only 36-years-old and a gifted—if out of practice—comedienne.

The Wonder (November 16)

Not since a young Emily Blunt has a British actor so skilfully traversed Hollywood’s many strata to construct a career in the way Florence Pugh has, which is equally defined by blockbuster roles, dramatic leads, and auteur features. With the Dune sequel and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer due next year, Pugh headlines this period psychological thriller from Chilean director Sebastian Lelio (Disobedience, Gloria).

Author Emma Donaghue adapted her 2016 novel, with Pugh playing a 19th century London nurse despatched to rural Irish village to assess a teenage girl who reportedly hasn’t eaten for month. Scientific observation confronts gender hysteria and religious cant, with a supporting cast that includes Tom Burke, Ciaran Hinds, and Toby Jones.

All titles arriving on Netflix New Zealand in November

November 1

Young Royals: Season 2
The Takeover
Gabby’s Dollhouse: Season 6
Dirty Dancing
Forrest Gump
Daddy Day Care
Flipped
The Witches

November 2

Killer Sally: Miniseries

November 3

Blockbuster: Season 1
Panayotis Pascot: Almost
The Dragon Prince: Season 4

November 4

The Fabulous: Season 1
Lookism: Season 1
Buying Beverly Hills
Manifest: Season 4 Part 1
Enola Holmes 2
Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman

November 5

Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste

November 7

Deepa & Anoop: Season 2

November 8

Behind Every Star
Triviaverse
The Claus Family 2
Neal Brennan: Blocks
Medieval

November 9

The Crown: Season 5
The Soccer Football Movie
FIFA Uncovered

November 10

Love Never Lies: Destination Sardinia
Warrior Nun: Season 2
Falling for Christmas
Lost Bullet 2
State of Alabama vs. Brittany Smith

November 11

Down to Earth with Zac Efron: Season 2: Down Under
Don’t Leave
My Father’s Dragon
Monia, O My Darling
Capturing the Killer Nurse
Is That Black Enough for You?!?
Ancient Apocalypse

November 14

Stutz
Teletubbies: Season 1

November 15

Run for the Money
Johanna Nordström: Call the Police
Deon Cole: Charleen’s Boy
Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Hidden Adventure
The Polar Express
Black Mass

November 16

Mind Your Manners
Off Track
One of Us Is Lying: Season 2
The Wonder
The Lost Lotteries
Racionais MC’s: From the Streets of São Paulo
In Her Hands

November 17

1899: Season 1
Dead to Me: Season 3
Christmas with You
Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?
I Am Vanesse Guillen

November 18

Elite: Season 6
Somebody
Reign Supreme
Inside Job: Part 2
Slumberland
The Cuphead Show!: Part 3

November 21

StoryBots: Answer Time
My Little Pony: Winter Wishday
Rick and Morty: Season 6

November 22

Trevor Noah: I Wish You Would

November 23

Wednesday: Season 1
The Unbroken Voice
Who’s a Good Boy?
The Swimmers
Christmas on Mistletoe Farm
Lesson Plan
Taco Chronicles: Cross The Border
Blood, Sex & Royalty