New to Netflix UK: December 2021

Director Adam McKay started his career making basic studio comedies like Anchorman and Step Brothers, but nowadays he battles in more political arenas. The Big Short is a comic heist movie that lectures about the 2008 financial crash, and Vice attempts to unlock the mind of former vice-president Dick Cheney. In his new Netflix film Don’t Look Up, McKay satirises the current apathy in both politics and news media.

Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio star as astronomers who discover that a huge comet is hurtling towards Earth. But instead of assuming disaster-movie protocols, nobody seems interested that the world is about to explode. They take it to the president (played by Meryl Streep) and the news, but they don’t care either. What will it take for people to just look up?

After Elena Ferrante stormed the world of literature, becoming one of the most read and elusive authors in modern times, adaptations of her work made similar strides. The Italian series of My Brilliant Friend (Ferrante’s best-known work) broke down that subtitled divide and became an excellent show in its own right. Culture Whisper named the second season the best series of 2020.

Now, actor Maggie Gyllenhaal makes her filmmaking debut with The Lost Daughter, based on Ferrante’s short novel from 2006.

Olivia Colman stars as a divorced lecturer, who goes on a solo Italian holiday after her kids move away. She begins to enjoy that sunny isolation, but becomes engrossed in the lives of another family. She observes the relationship between a mother and daughter, drawing comparisons with her own child-rearing history. Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal also star.

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After 12 years, the legendary director Jane Campion (The Piano, Portrait of a Lady, Top of the Lake) returns to feature filmmaking with The Power of the Dog, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a toxic male rancher in 1920s Montana.

Phil (Cumberbatch) is one of an industrious pair of siblings overseeing a substantial property in the American outback. He shares it with his brother George (Jesse Plemons) who gradually falls for the local widow, Rose (Kirsten Dunst). Phil is a hyper-masculine bully, always prone to hurling abuse – even towards Rose’s teenage son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). But as the film continues, you discover there's more to Phil than meets the eye.

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The strange and sun-kissed fantasies of Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty, Youth) always leave you in something of a drunken haze. And despite his latest film The Hand of God being rooted in reality – inspired by his experiences growing up in Naples – he never withholds his surreal and sumptuous style.

An intense, funny, and upsetting character piece, the film follows an eclectic Neapolitan family in the 1980s. The shy 17-year-old Fabietto (Filippo Scotti) watches his family, fancies his unstable aunt Patrizia (Luisa Ranieri), and fawns over Diego Maradona. He doesn’t know it yet, but Maradona will save his life.

Darren Star’s ridiculous, lavish, and sugar-coated comedy makes a colourful return. There are several reasons to dislike Emily in Paris: it’s too silly for its own good, the plotlines are incredibly basic, and the titular character is annoying, spoiled, and has an unrealistically garish selection of outfits. But this series provides a much-needed dose of elegant escapism; it’s a mindless guilty pleasure in the best possible way.

In season two, Emily can better navigate the wonders of Paris, but she’s less adept at her relationships. She's still in a secret love triangle between her former next-door-neighbour Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) and her mega-rich best friend Camille (Camille Razat). But Emily’s really trying to focus on her work, which only gets more bizarre by the day.

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In a world that's more anxious than ever, cynicism can be a standard route to take. But spend a few minutes in silence with the lauded kids' presenter Fred Rogers, sweetly played by Tom Hanks in Marielle Heller’s film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and you feel those negative feelings slip away.

Loosely based on a 1998 Esquire article by Tom Junod, the film follows the pessimistic journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) as he interviews Rogers for a profile piece. Through that process – understanding Rogers' life philosophy and meeting his puppets – Vogel adopts a more optimistic outlook.

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Harlan Corben is another crime author dominating television and, since signing a five-year deal with Netflix, there has been no shortage of adaptations. We’ve already had The Innocent and Gone for Good this year. Now comes Stay Close, an eight-part mystery drama following four people with deep, dark secrets. They all live lives they never wanted to have, and their haunted pasts are beginning to catch up with them.

James Nesbitt (Line of Duty), Richard Armitage (Ocean’s 8), Cush Jumbo (Deadwater Fell), Sarah Parish (Industry) and Youssef Kerkour (House of Gucci) star.

Sandra Bullock stars in this American film adaptation of the Sally Wainwright ITV series from 2009, shifting from Unforgiven to The Unforgivable. Bullock plays an ex-convict, Ruth Slater, released from prison after a 20-year sentence for killing a police officer.

Ruth tries to make amends for her previous crimes, but many aren’t willing to forgive her. She tries to find her estranged sister, who went up for adoption after Ruth was arrested. But it’s not all doom and gloom: she forms a romance with fellow fish-gutter Blake (Jon Bernthal), with whom she works alongside.

Despite previous aversions to subtitles, we’re seeing a new era in television where audiences gobble up brilliant shows from around the world. Prior to Lupin and Squid Game, the Spanish thriller series Money Heist was among the first to demonstrate this development. It's one of the most-watched Netflix series of all time and now, after four years, it's drawing to a close.

In volume two of part five, a vital heist member has died in the Bank of Spain. The other members are wounded, but try to figure out how to escape with the gold… without anyone noticing.

As fantasy series go, The Witcher isn’t exactly Game of Thrones. But there’s a lot of high-budget, supernatural fun to relish. Henry Cavill, Superman himself, stars as Geralt of Riviera: a monster-hunter in a realm known as ‘The Continent’. He’s a grunty, silent type who doesn’t get involved in politics or worldly matters, unless it pays.

However, the arrival of Ciri (Freya Allen) – the crown princess of Cintra – ties Geralt to a reluctant destiny. She possesses hidden powers, and he must keep her safe. In season two, he takes her to his childhood home in Kaer Morhen for protection.

Wednesday 1 December
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Lost in Space, season 3
The Power of the Dog

Thursday 2 December
Single All the Way

Friday 3 December
Coming Out Cotton
Mixtape

Monday 6 December
Voir

Tuesday 7 December
Nicole Byer: BBW (Big Beautiful Weirdo)

Wednesday 8 December
Carolin Kebekus: The Last Christmas Special
Titans, season 3

Thursday 9 December
Asakusa Kid

Friday 10 December
Aranyak
Back to the Outback
How to Ruin Christmas, season 2
Roaring Twenties
Saturday Morning: All Star Hits!
The Unforgivable

Saturday 11 December
Bad Boys For Life

Tuesday 14 December
The Future Diary

Wednesday 15 December
The Hand of God
Selling Tampa

Thursday 16 December
A California Christmas: City Lights
Aggretsuko, season 4
A Naija Christmas
Puff: Wonders of the Reef

Friday 17 December
The Witcher, season 2

Tuesday 21 December
Grumpy Christmas

Wednesday 22 December
Emily in Paris, season 2

Friday 24 December
Don’t Look Up

Saturday 25 December
Jimmy Carr: His Dark Material

Wednesday 29 December
Anxious People

Thursday 30 December
Kitz

Friday 31 December
Cobra Kai, season 4
The Lost Daughter
Queer Eye, season 6
Stay Close

TBC
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Dallas Buyers Club
The Hunger Games
Superstore, season 6