It’s time to hit the grid as the VOD debut of Tron: Ares leads this week’s streaming releases, alongside the return of Percy Jackson, George Clooney/Adam Sandler dramedy Jay Kelly, a new season of the Tomb Raider animated series, and more!
SERIES
Percy Jackson and the Olympians S2
10 December 2025 – Disney+
The gods are back! The second season of Disney’s big budget TV series adaptation of Rick Riordan’s popular Percy Jackson book series kicks off next week. Based on Riordan’s second novel “The Sea of Monsters”, the new season picks up one year the events that saw young Percy Jackson’s life turned upside down when he discovered he was the “half-blood” son of Poseidon, Greek god of the sea, and found himself at the centre of a ploy to overthrow the ruling deities. Now returning to Camp Half-Blood, Percy finds that friendship with Annabeth is changing, he learns he has a cyclops for a brother, Grover has gone missing, and camp is under siege from the forces of the ancient god Kronos.
Watson S1
10 December 2025 – Showmax
If you were a fan of 2010s TV series Elementary and its contemporary crime procedural spin on Sherlock Holmes, then you will probably be interested in Watson. Also from the mind of Elementary showrunner Craig Sweeny comes this new medical drama reimagining of the world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic literary detective… or at least his partner. Morris Chestnut stars as Dr John Watson, who returns to work as the head of a clinic treating rare disorders following the death of his friend Sherlock Holmes. But Watson’s old life isn’t done with him yet, as the nefarious Moriarty – last seen at the death of Holmes – wants to write one final chapter in this tale. Take note: Watson has already been renewed for a second season.
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft S2
11 December 2025 – Netflix
Nobody tell Noelle, but I still haven’t seen the first season of Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft – which she described as “a satisfying tribute to everything people love about the franchise” – despite my fondness for both the video game source material and series star Hayley Atwell, who voices the famous adventurer. I guess I have to catch up really quick as Lara Croft returns next week for a whole new season of relic hunting and mystery solving around the globe. And those activities are getting increasingly more perilous as Lara pursues a bunch of adventures, following the events of the previous season.
Man vs. Baby
11 December 2025 – Netflix
There appears to be a trend this week of me not watching the first seasons of shows despite them starring some of my favourite people. In this case, my oversight was 2022 British comedy series Man vs. Bee, which followed iconic funnyman Rowan Atkinson as the perennially down-on-his-luck Trevor Bingley who found himself engaged in an unexpected struggle for survivable with a destructive bee while house sitting a rich couple’s mansion. Now Trevor is back in Man vs. Baby, having left behind the disastrous career of housesitting for the quieter life of a school caretaker. When a too-good-to-ignore offer to look after a luxury London penthouse over Christmas arrives though, Trevor decides to give it one more shot. There’s just one small problem: Somebody has left a baby at Trevor’s school on the last day of term, and there’s nobody coming to collect it. With no other choice, Trevor takes the baby with him to his lucrative London gig, because what could be so hard in looking after an infant and a penthouse, right?!
Lockerbie: A Search for Truth
11 December 2025 – Showmax
On 21 December 1988, Pan Am Flight 103, on a scheduled flight from Frankfurt to Denver, was destroyed by a bomb while flying over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew aboard, with the debris falling into Lockerbie’s residential area killing an additional 11 people for a total of 270 fatalities. It’s the deadliest terror attack in the United Kingdom’s history, the tragic ramifications of which is still felt today by those affected by it. Lockerbie: A Search for Truth is a five-part miniseries based on the 2021 non-fictional book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice by Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was one of the victims aboard the ill-fated Flight 103. Directed by Otto Bathurst and Jim Loach, Lockerbie stars Oscar winner Colin Firth as Swire, and follows the true story of his and his wife’s years long personal investigation and quest for justice for all the victims of the bombing.
MOVIES
Jay Kelly
5 December 2025 – Netflix
It’s sort of my job to stay on top of these things, so it always takes me massively by surprise when a new A-list Hollywood project seems to just appear out of nowhere. The entertainment apparition in this case being Jay Kelly, a new comedy drama from acclaimed indie filmmaker Noah Baumbach, who directed this new film and co-wrote it with British actress Emily Mortimer. On top of those two popular names, Jay Kelly is absolutely stacked with talent, with an ensemble cast led by the pairing of George Clooney and Adam Sandler, who are supported by the likes of Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Jim Broadbent, Riley Keough, Greta Gerwig, Patrick Wilson, Isla Fisher, and more. The film follows the friendship between famous actor Jay Kelly (Clooney) and his longtime age Ron Sukenick (Sandler), as they travel through Europe and reflect on their life choices, relationships, and legacies. The film has been a hit with critics, with praise being heaped on Clooney for giving a surprisingly vulnerable riff on his own stardom, while Sandler keeps adding to the growing consensus that he’s a far better dramatic actor than a comedian.
Merv
10 December 2025
I’m not the biggest romcom fan, but it appears that new genre entry Merv has been custom-built to target me. The new film already stars the incredibly likable combo of Charlie Cox and Zooey Deschanel as recently split up couple Russ and Anna, but the filmmakers decided to triple down by adding a cute dog into the mix as well. When Russ and Anna discover that Merv – the aforementioned dog that they share custody of – has become depressed due to their separation, Russ attempts to lift Merv’s spirits at Christmas, with a “boys’ trip” to the dog-friendly beaches of sunny Florida. But when Anna unexpectedly shows up as well, hoping to support Merv, the pair start to wonder if maybe their breakup was a bit premature.
RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Tron: Ares
Purchase: Apple TV – R200
Rental: Apple TV – R180
Despite the cult favourite love for the 1982 original, the Tron series has never really found massive success at the box office. But while Tron and 2010’s Tron: Legacy fell short of the commercial highs Disney were aiming for, they were both still marginally profitable. The same cannot be said for 15-years-later sequel Tron: Ares though, which has become one of the most noteworthy flops of 2025 as its on track for a loss well over $130 million. Somehow, I don’t think its VOD debut this week will be helping much with that disastrous bottom line. But it does mean that if you missed Tron: Ares in theatres, you could now catch it at home. The film stars Jared Leto (who some would argue is one of the reasons why it underperformed) as the titular Ares, a digital being from the cyberspace realm known as the Grid, who is brought to life in the real world by the new cutthroat head of Dillinger Systems (Evan Peters). But Ed Dillinger’s plans to sell this new technology to military investors go awry when the “perfect, expendable soldier” Ares starts to develop an actual human consciousness. Cue lots of really gorgeous neon-coloured action and an absolute killer of a soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. As for the quality of the rest of the movie, I will leave that up to you.