The holiday season brings plenty of time for streaming, and Netflix has a vast selection of offerings in December. These include some new awards contenders, under-appreciated films from modern talents and the best Christmas movie made this century.
Here are the seven best new movies on Netflix this December.
“As Good as It Gets”
December sees the release of “Ella McCay,” the first film from director James L. Brooks in 15 years. The month will also see Netflix add “As Good as It Gets” to its catalog. This Jack Nicholson/Helen Hunt/Greg Kinnear film isn’t Brooks’ strongest movie (an honor that belongs to “Broadcast News”), but it’s still a worthwhile entry to the director’s filmography. The rom-com picked up seven nominations at the Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Nicholson’s third and final win) and Best Actress (Hunt’s first and only win). “As Good as It Gets” mixes its sweetness with a bit of bite, making it a refreshing change of pace from some of the more wholly sentimental offerings that may find their way onto your screen this holiday season.
“Babylon” (2022)
We are perhaps past the days of calling Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” an “overrated” entry in the director’s filmography. No sooner did it struggle in theaters than it received immediate reevaluation and reclamation. It is, however, always worth saying that this is a superior entry among a stellar, brief list of films from an interesting filmmaker.
At 3+ hours, there’s a lot working in “Babylon’s” favor — vibrant cinematography, an infectious score and a slate of strong performances, to start. Following a madcap prologue that would be a stellar short film on its own Chazelle rarely lets up on the energy and intensity in a wild odyssey through old Hollywood. “Babylon” may share some DNA with “Singin’ in the Rain,” but Chazelle’s biggest film yet is truly one of one.
It also contains three seconds of footage from “Avatar,” which is basically a “good movie” cheat code.
“Jay Kelly”
“All my memories are movies.”
This quote, at the center of both “Jay Kelly” and its marketing campaign, summarizes both the appeal and the tragedy of Noah Baumbach’s latest. George Clooney stars as the titular movie star who, having firmly arrived in the latter half of his career, begins to realize that his on-screen persona is much more beloved than his real-life one. It’s a role Clooney wears well, clearly folding some of his own showbiz experience into this pastiche of a far-sadder movie star (“Do you know how difficult it is to be yourself?” he makes a point of asking. “You try it”).
Baumbach and Emily Mortimer’s screenplay feels right at home in the director’s broader catalog, boosted by gorgeous Linus Sandgren cinematography that captures the beauty of Europe and the glamour of cinema (he also shot “Babylon,” by the way). In a group of good performances, Adam Sandler stands out as Jay Kelly’s probably-too-faithful manager who faces a crisis of his own as he falls even further into his star’s orbit. Greta Gerwig gives another stand-out performance in a far more limited role. If only she had a movie of her own to watch on Netflix in December…
“Little Women” (2019)
150 years after Louisa May Alcott first introduced readers to the joy and turmoil of the March family, Greta Gerwig breathed miraculous new life into the classic story in her own “Little Women” adaptation. Only Gerwig’s second solo effort as a director, “Little Women” sees her approach a story at a grander scale than her debut “Lady Bird” without losing a beat of intimacy.
2019’s “Little Women” is luscious and sweeping, with impeccable costumes (Jacqueline Durran), production design (Jess Gonchor; Claire Kaufman), cinematography (Yorick Le Saux), editing (Nick Houy) and score (Alexandre Desplat). It also sings through the tremendous chemistry of Gerwig’s titular women, featuring a performance among Saoirse Ronan’s best and a further cementing of Florence Pugh as an actor always worth watching. In every way possible, Gerwig produced a miraculous adaptation — and a new addition to my annual Christmas cinematic canon.
“The Northman”
“The Northman” simultaneously stands apart from and feels right at home with the rest of Robert Eggers’ filmography. Though the film eschews the director’s usual predilection for horror (seen in “The Witch,” “Nosferatu” and, to a lesser extent, “The Lighthouse”), Eggers remains unwaveringly committed to impeccable historical craft. In full period epic mode, Eggers and his regular crew (among them, cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, production designer Craig Lathrop and costume designer Linda Muir) build something far bigger and grander than what they had attempted before. The result is a massive and tactile historical action piece that, though lesser discussed among Eggers’ early career, deserves just as much praise as his horror offerings.
“The Talented Mr. Ripley” (1999)
Steven Zaillian was met with acclaim in 2024 when he released his limited series “Ripley” on Netflix. In December, the streaming service is adding “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” the first American adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s “Ripliad” series of novels. It’s a wonderful film with an all-star cast of Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman and more.
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery”
Rian Johnson’s final (for now) “Knives Out” film “Wake Up Dead Man” hits Netflix on Dec. 12, giving fans another exciting mystery from Daniel Craig’s always-entertaining detective Benoit Blanc. No “Knives Out” film is complete without its star-studded cast — this one featuring Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Daryl McCormack, Thomas Haden Church, Jeffrey Wright and more. Critics have praised “Wake Up Dead Man” for its darker tone, religious commentary and exceptional performance from O’Connor. It seems that fans of the franchise have another hit to look forward to this December.
