IT’S ALIVE! Guillermo Del Toro’s long-awaited Frankenstein leads this week’s jam-packed list of streaming release, which boasts Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan’s new sci-fi show Pluribus, samurai battle royale series Last Samurai Standing, the VOD debut of Nobody 2, Kevin James/Alan Ritchson action-comedy Playdate, and more!
SERIES
Pluribus S1
7 November 2025 – Apple TV
At this point in time, I still can’t quite tell you what Pluribus is actually about, and the new sci-fi drama series’ trailer is not really helping. What I can tell you though, is that this is the long-awaited new offering from Vince Gilligan, the multiple-award-winning creator behind the incredible Breaking Bad (rated by some as the greatest TV series ever made) and its equally impressive spinoff Better Call Saul, and that it stars Better Call Saul breakout Rhea Seahorn as the most miserable person on Earth [who] must save the world from happiness”. Yeah, like I said, no idea what’s actually going on. But I don’t care. There’s no way you can stop me from watching this!
Palm Royale S2
12 November 2025 – Apple TV
Outside of also being female-led, Apple’s other noteworthy release for the week could not be more different. The second season of 1960’s set comedy-drama Palm Royale sees Kristen Wiig back as Maxine Simmons, a highly ambitious woman who will stop at nothing to con her way into the high society of Palm Beach. After being labelled as a social pariah during the events of the prevents of the season, Maxine will have to get even more devious to work her way back to hobnobbing with the ultra-wealthy and proving she belongs there. Along with Wiig, the star-studded cast includes Laura Dern, Allison Janney, Leslie Bibb, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Amber Chardae Robinson, Kaia Gerber and Carol Burnett.
The Beast in Me S1
13 November 2025 – Netflix
Since the tragic death of her young son, acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs (Claire Danes) has receded from public life, unable to write, a ghost of her former self. But she finds an unlikely subject for a new book when the house next door is bought by Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys), a famed and formidable real estate mogul who was once the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance. At once horrified and fascinated by this man, Aggie finds herself compulsively hunting for the truth – chasing his demons while fleeing her own – in a game of cat and mouse that might turn deadly.
Last Samurai Standing
13 November 2025 – Netflix
It seems that Netflix has developed technology that allows the streamer to peer right into the subconscious of its viewers. Well, that’s the only explanation I can come up with for Last Samurai Standing, a new Japanese period action series that appears to have been perfectly pulled out of my dreams as it combines intense samurai swordplay with a battle royale! Set in the late 19th century during the Meiji period, this six-episode miniseries follows Shujiro Saga (Junichi Okada), a down-on-his-luck swordsman who is lured alongside almost 300 other warriors to Tenryuji Temple in Kyoto at nightfall by the promise of a huge cash prize for competing in a game. The desperate men and women quickly find out though that this is anything but a game, as they are each give a wooden tag and tasked to steal as many tags from their fellow participants by any means necessary, including death. Come daybreak, the winner will the warrior with the most tags… or the only one left alive!
MOVIES
Frankenstein
7 November 2025 – Netflix
Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel ‘Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus’ is one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written and arguably the birth of the science-fiction genre. And yet, despite its historical acclaim, Shelley’s text has never really had a proper adaptation on screen, with most audiences associating the title with a bumbling bolt-in-the-neck movie monster (whose name isn’t Frankenstein!) thanks to its divergent depiction in classic Hollywood monster movies. The closest we’ve gotten over the years has been Kenneth Branagh’s 1994 feature film, which is a film that is deeply flawed but which I still applaud for at least trying to maintain fidelity with the source material. And now, it’s the turn of two-time Oscar winning writer-director – and, more importantly, self-proclaimed superfan of Shelley’s original novel – Guillermo Del Toro’s turn to bring this gothic tale to life. Oscar Isaac stars Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the egotistical scientist whose wild experiments in creating new life results in the Creature (Jacob Elordi), a tragic monstrosity pieced together from various cadavers, whose intellectual and emotional growth throw its creator’s plans into disarray. Del Toro’s Frankenstein has already received a limited theatrical run as Netflix wants it eligible for the Oscars next years. And based on all the positive critical buzz it’s been getting – with acclaim being heaped on Elordi’s performance, especially – that was probably the right call here. Del Toro has been working on this movie for a decade (he famously even name-dropped Shelley as “a figure as important in my life as if she were family” when he won a BAFTA for The Shape of Water) so this cannot be more highly-anticipated a movie event.
Cuckoo
10 November 2025 – Showmax
Sticking with monster-movies, we have the streaming debut of Cuckoo, a wild (and I mean WILD) horror flick from German filmmaker Tillman Singer that got a lot of buzz upon release. Hunter Schafer stars as Gretchen, a 17-year-old teen forced to move with her father, stepmother, and mute half-sister to a German resort where her architect father has been hired by the enigmatic Herr König (Dan Stevens) to help build a new hotel. But as weird events escalate and resort guests start going missing, Gretchen realizes that something sinister is happening at the resort, and she may be right in the centre of it all.
Drop
10 November 2025 – Showmax
While I skipped most of his work on the Paranormal Activity franchise (those movies just weren’t my thing) writer-director Christopher Landon definitely made me a fan with the Happy Death Day movies and Freaky. And so, I was a bit annoyed that I missed his latest effort, Drop, in cinemas. Now I can fix that. Billed as a Hitchcockian whodunnit, this thriller stars Emmy nominee Meghann Fahy (White Lotus) as Violet, a widowed mother on her first date in years after meeting her suitor Henry (Brandon Sklenar) on a dating app. Fears of Henry being a weirdo are quickly washed away as he is even more charming and handsome than his online profile would suggest. But what starts as a perfect date rapidly takes a turn for the macabre when Violet starts getting random message drops on her phone from an anonymous person somewhere in the restaurant. Things get bloodcurdling though, when the messages reveal that a hooded person has infiltrated her home and will kill her children and their babysitter if Violet doesn’t do one thing: Kill her date.
Playdate
12 November 2025 – Prime Video
If you’re looking to just switch your brain off and have some mindless fun, Playdate is probably the movie for you this week. Leaning into the classic odd couple trope, this action comedy pairs man-mountain Alan Ritchson with… uhm… man Kevin James. When recently unemployed accountant Brian (James) and his stepson run into charismatic stay-at-home dad Jeff (Ritchson) and his seemingly perfect son, they hit it off immediately. When the pair of dads agree to meet up again with their respective kids for a playdate, Brian expects an easy afternoon of small talk and football tossing. Except things are not what they seem with Jeff and his “son”, and soon Brian finds himself thrust into a chaotic scramble to stay alive as they are pursued by a ruthless team of mercenaries. Brian stumbles through one ridiculous obstacle after another, his zero tactical skills a stark contrast to the uber-capable (and oddly prepared) Jeff.
Being Eddie
12 November 2025 – Netflix
It’s hard to explain to a modern audience just how much of a big deal Eddie Murphy was. A stand-up comedy prodigy who joined the cast of the iconic Saturday Night Live right out of high school and then went on to become one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood at the time, with a string of hits in the 1980s and 1990s, Murphy has left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry. What’s even more impressive is that over the nearly-50-year span of his career, he kept evolving with the times, going from foul-mouthed firebrand to family-friendly movie dad to Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe/Emmy Award-winning thespian (and, don’t forget, even having a music career thrown into the mix there as well). And he did it all without ever being drawn into the dark controversies that so often plague meteoric Hollywood talent. Directed by two-time Oscar winner Angus Wall, Being Eddie is a feature length documentary that delves into the rare combination of explosive charisma, focused ambition, raw talent, and deep-set circumspection that has made Murphy an A-list mainstay for so long. Alongside conversations with peers such as Dave Chappelle, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jamie Foxx, Jerry Seinfeld, Reginald Hudlin, and more, the doc also sees Murphy inviting the public into his home for the first time ever, revealing the private life that has long driven – and grounded – this once-in-a-century star.
RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Nobody 2
Purchase: Apple TV – R170
Rental: Apple TV – R45
There’s no denying that 2021’s Nobody initially felt like nothing more than a response to Liam Neeson’s Taken movies, as we once again had an older actor more well-known for dramatic roles – in this case, Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk – suddenly being portrayed as a highly skilled ass-kicker on screen. But with the combo of action-centric director Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry) and the creator of John Wick, Derek Kolstadt, along with that movie’s production company and stunt team, Nobody turned into a respectable hit upon release. And now, four years later, Odenkirk’s mob assassin Hutch Mansell is back! And this time, he’s taking some time off from his stressful work to takes his family on a nostalgic vacation to a small-town theme park he used to frequent as a kid. Except, Hutch has a way of sniffing out trouble and then proceeding the beat the living daylights out of it, and it doesn’t take long for this family breakaway to turn into a maelstrom of crooked lawmen, ruthless crime bosses, and a whole lot of violence.