It is a very quiet week for streaming releases, headlined by the Jonas Brothers Christmas movie, the VOD debut of the long-awaited Spinal Tap II: The End, and Jack Whitehall going dark in new suspense series Malice.
SERIES
Malice S1
14 November 2025 – Prime Video
I can’t quite explain what it is, but often when actors known for comedy take on darker, more serious roles, we get something genuinely special. Robin Williams is easily the most famous example of this with the likes One Hour Photo and Insomnia, but Jim Carrey, Steve Carrell, Bill Hader, Richard Pryor, Bill Murray and more have all gone over to the dark side with startling results. And now, seemingly looking to join that club, is Jack Whitehall. Malice is a new limited series that sees the usually goofball English comedian play Adam, a charismatic tutor who charms his way into the lives of Jamie (David Duchovny) and Nat Tanner (Carice Van Houten), the wealthy couple whose family he meets while they’re on holiday in Greece. When the family’s nanny falls mysteriously ill after they return to their London home, the Tanner’s turn to Adam, who had been amazing with their kids, to help out. But exactly who is Adam and why is he so dangerously obsessed with this family? Why is he slowly turning them against each other with secret plots and whispered scandals? And is it too late to get him out of their lives, before he destroys it all?
A Man on the Inside S2
20 November 2025 – Netflix
I’ll be honest, despite loving the work of creator Mike Schur (The Office, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place), I am yet to watch the first season of A Man on the Inside and thus can’t comment on it too much. Luckily, Metacritic – where the show has a 95% approval rating – tells me that “tailor-made to suit Ted Danson’s estimable strengths, this warm and witty sitcom discovers a lot of life left in those who’ve been put out to pasture.” And now it’s back! For the uninitiated, the first season was actually based on a true story covered in Oscar-nominated Chilean documentary The Mole Agent, which Schur saw and was inspired to adapt. That adaptation saw Danson playing Charles, a bored and retired widower who answered a wanted ad from private investigator, who hired him to be an undercover agent a retirement village where some shady things were afoot. Now, in season two, Charles is back and looking for a new case, something “juicy”. And he gets it when he’s sent to Wheeler College, where he goes undercover as an engineering professor to find out who is blackmailing the school’s president, Jack Beringer (Max Greenfield).
MOVIES
A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
14 November 2025 – Disney+
Just in case you weren’t keeping track, it’s only 41 days to Christmas. Know who was definitely keeping track? All the Hollywood movie studios. Be prepared to be bombarded with a whole lot of festive flicks over the next few weeks, with Disney throwing their tinseled hat into the ring with the help of a couple of OG House of Mouse stars. A Very Jonas Christmas Movie sees Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas, the real-life musical brothers who first shot to fame via Disney Channel’s Camp Rock movies, playing fictional versions of themselves, now all grown up and huge stars. But despite all the fame and success in their careers, the brothers’ personal relationships with each other are lacking. When a mysterious event leaves them stranded while on tour, the trio have to work together as they face a series of escalating obstacles in their struggle to make it from London to New York in time to spend Christmas with their families.
Champagne Problems
19 November 2025 – Netflix
And now for the other type of Christmas movie that will be flooding your screens this festive season. Champagne Problems is one of those cheesy feel-good romcoms where you know exactly how things are going to play out, but you watch it with a smile anyway. Minka Kelly stars as Sydney, an on-the-rise executive who travels to France to secure the acquisition of a renowned champagne brand before Christmas. But her plans to be all business get upended when she falls into a whirlwind romance with charming Parisian Henri (Tom Wozniczka). Things get even more complicated the next day when she meets with the wealthy owner of the champagne vineyard she has been sent to acquire, and discovers that Henri is his son, and he is not a fan of selling the family business.
RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Spinal Tap II: The End
Purchase: Apple TV – R175
Rental: Apple TV – R45
Director Rob Reiner had a string of hit movies in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, encompassing everything from coming-of-age dramas (Stand by Me) to fantasy adventures (The Princess Bride) to disturbing thrillers (Misery) to iconic romcoms (When Hary Met Sally) to courtroom barnburners (A Few Good Men) and much more. But in his vary diverse filmography, there’s nothing quite like his feature film debut: This is Spinal Tap. The 1984 mockumentary saw Reiner in front of the camera as well, playing a documentary filmmaker following fictional rock band Spinal Tap on an American Tour as the dysfunctional group get up to all sorts of hijinks. An instant classic, it effectively launched the mockumentary genre and gave us the much beloved phrase “Up to eleven”. And now, 41 years later, the band finally got back together again! Spinal Tap II: The End is the long-awaited sequel to This is Spinal Tap, as Reiner’s Marty DiBergi tracks down original Spinal Tap members Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) to find out how former rock gods are getting on in retirement. And the answer, unsurprisingly, is not so great. These are not the type of men to just fade away into obscurity though, and so, in the tradition of so many legends before them, there’s only thing for the trio to do: Reunite for one final epic show. If only they can find a new drummer!