New to Netflix UK: November 2021

Following a crazy gaggle of big-cat conservationists, who obtain or breed exotic animals for their own private zoos and collections, Tiger King exposed a surreal world that most people didn't know about. The aggressively eccentric Joe Exotic of G.W. Zoo in Oklahoma is the main focus, along with his murderous feud with rival conservationist Carole Baskin.

This sequel series picks up after the original Tiger King made its subjects into stars. From the trailer, many are clearly enjoying their new fame and they’re even using it to their advantage.

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Recently, many female actors have shifted their talents to behind the screen – think of Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter), Regina King (One Night in Miami), and Halle Berry (Bruised, see below). Rebecca Hall is another example: writing and directing her first film, which is about the phenomenon of racial ‘passing’ – whereby people of colour in the 20^th century were able to ‘pass’ as white.

Passing takes place in prohibition-era America and follows two light-skinned women of colour, Irene (Tessa Thompson) and Clare (Ruth Negga), who were childhood friends. Clare has chosen to pass for white, even taking a clueless and racist white husband (Alexander Skarsgård), while Irene doesn't hide her Black identity. They both bump into each other in Manhattan one day, and their efforts to maintain their rigid identities begin to fall apart.

Although subverted Westerns have always been around, it's not until recently that they've become popular – Quentin Tarantino was integral to that. Taking more than a few hints from Tarantino, Jeymes Samuel tackles the genre with a Black American gaze in his new film The Harder They Fall.

The story features mostly Black cowboys – following the friction between two rival gangs. After the outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) discovers his enemy Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) is out of jail, he reunites his crew to hunt Rufus down for revenge. The film also stars Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk), LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah), Zazie Beetz (Joker), and Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods).

Read our review

Oh, to return to those sublime, halcyon days of Christmas 2019. Greta Gerwig’s stunning adaptation of Little Women is set in the 1860s, but – in its release – reflects a nostalgic time before masks and guidelines.

Gerwig gives Louisa May Alcott's pleasantly rural and classically American tale a modern, non-linear twist. Returning to those contagiously creative March sisters Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Amy (Florence Pugh), March (Emma Watson) and Beth (Eliza Scanlen) in 19th-century Massachusetts, the film straddles different time periods. It mostly tracks Jo, an aspiring author: jumping between her adolescence and her adulthood.

Also stars Timothée Chalamet as Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee March, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

Read our five-star review

Over the last six years, Lin-Manuel Miranda has ascended to a king of musical theatre. The popularity of Hamilton is ongoing, and his first Broadway show In The Heights was made into a movie. And let's not forget about his role as the cowboy-like aëronaut in the BBC fantasy series His Dark Materials. tick, tick… BOOM! is yet another milestone: his debut as a film director.

The story is that of Rent playwright and composer Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield), who died before he could see his success. Larson wrote and composed this autobiographical musical prior to Rent, showing his intense desire to create the next best American musical. Jon is feeling the pressure, with financial security running out and many fellow artists dying from AIDS.

There are few well-known boxing movies with female leads. The genre is dominated by men, iconised with the likes of Sylvester Stallone (Rocky) and Robert De Niro (Raging Bull). Halle Berry’s directorial debut Bruised aims to change that.

The film follows the 55-year-old MMA fighter Jackie Justice (Berry), who left the sport in disgrace. Her boyfriend and manager Desi (Adan Canto) encourages a belated comeback, which grabs the attention of a promoter (Shamier Anderson). Jackie's situation gets even more complicated when the son she abandoned suddenly re-enters her life. But in both instances, she has the opportunity to reclaim her power.

Netflix’s film output has barely compared to its range of series, but they're making stupendous efforts to secure their own blockbusters – mainly with star power. Red Notice takes three heroes of contemporary Hollywood and shoves them into a high-concept heist movie.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson plays the FBI’s top profiler, enlisted to capture the world’s most wanted art thief The Bishop (played by Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot). Travelling the world to catch her, he employs the world’s second most wanted art thief Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) to help him. But they all get on each other’s nerves…

Monday 1 November
Argo
L.A. Confidential
Pretty Little Liars, seasons 1 – 7

Tuesday 2 November
Hustlers

Wednesday 3 November
The Harder They Fall

Thursday 4 November
Jumanji: The Next Level

Friday 5 November
Big Mouth, season 5
Love Hard
Narcos: Mexico, season 3
The Unlikely Murderer

Sunday 7 November
Father Christmas is Back

Tuesday 9 November
Your Life is a Joke

Wednesday 10 November
Animal
Gentefied, season 2
Happiness Ever After
Passing

Friday 12 November
Red Notice

Wednesday 17 November
Tiger King, season 2

Thursday 18 November
Earwig and the Witch
The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star

Friday 19 November
Blown Away: Christmas
Cowboy Bepop
Hellbound
tick, tick… BOOM!

Tuesday 23 November
Masters of the Universe: Revelation Part 2
Waffles & Mochi’s Holiday Feast

Wednesday 24 November
Bruised
Robin Robin
Selling Sunset, season 4

Thursday 25 November
Super Crooks

Friday 26 November
A Castle for Christmas
Little Women (2019)

Saturday 27 November
Sonic the Hedgehog

Tuesday 30 November
The Summit of the Gods

TBC
Blue Story
How to be Single
John Wick: Chapter 2
Love, Actually
Nanny McPhee
The Pursuit of Happyness
Spotlight