Staying home on NYE? Here are the best new movies to stream
SOURCE:Sydney Morning Herald|BY:Craig Mathieson
Some of these titles are well known, some are not. All are worth your consideration (even the laughably bad one).
The holidays are the ideal time to catch up on the best streaming movies of 2025. We’re talking about the films that bypassed cinemas – or cursorily snuck in for a week – to instead launch themselves on the platforms we open every night. Some of these titles are well-known, some are not. All are worth your consideration (even the laughably bad one).
Kevin James (left) and Alan Ritchson in Playdate.
ACTION
G20: There were multiple popcorn movies this year about world leaders fighting off attackers. The best was this summit showdown where Viola Davis goes full Die Hard as a military veteran turned US President trying to safeguard her family. Amazon Prime Video
Havoc: Action afficionados know Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans (The Raid) constructs brutally beautiful fight scenes. So it’s worth the creaky plotting in this nocturnal underworld saga to follow Tom Hardy’s corrupt cop through one titanic battle after another. Netflix
Playdate: On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, I am the only “top” critic in the world who gave this action-comedy a positive review. And I stand by it. With Alan Ritchson knowingly sending up his stern Reacher persona, it’s bonkers silly. Amazon Prime Video
KPop Demon Hunters Zoey, Rumi and Mira.
ANIMATED
KPop Demon Hunters: The year’s unexpected blockbuster, complete with earworm singles such as Golden, is a fantasy musical about a famous girl group trio who secretly go full Buffy on their demonic adversaries. It has a dynamic design and an accomplished songbook. Netflix
Predator: Killer of Killers: Yes, Predator: Badlands was the big-ticket release from this revitalised alien-hunting-humans franchise, but don’t sleep on this animated anthology about encounters between Predators and various famous human warrior classes. It gets crazy in a good way. Disney+
Wallace & Gromit – Vengeance Most Fowl: Britain’s finest – a cheese-addicted inventor and his brilliant beagle – returned in Aardman Animation’s latest stop-motion animation. Satire, slapstick and devoted do-gooding are to the fore as the titular heroes confront an old enemy.
Cory Michael Smith as Venis, Steve Carell as Randall, Ramy Youssef as Jeff, and Jason Schwartzman as Hugo in Mountainhead.
COMEDY
Babes:Broad City’s Ilana Glazer co-wrote and starred in this paean to besties, playing a free-spirited yoga teacher who gets pregnant at the same time as her control freak dentist buddy (Michelle Buteau). Hi-jinxes, tough conversations, and bodily fluids come thick and fast. Netflix
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Cunk on Life: After several successful outings, I’m fairly sure most people are in on the Philomena Cunk joke, but that doesn’t stop Diane Morgan’s comically inept interviewer crashing through a consideration of art and philosophy. The puppetry is a great addition, too. Netflix
Mountainhead: Following up a show as era-defining as Succession is wildly difficult, but creator Jesse Armstrong hit his stride with this billionaire tech satire starring Steve Carell. Delusional power and homicidal intent catch the tenor of the times. HBO Max
Josh O’Connor and Daniel Craig in Wake Up Dead Man.
CRIME
The Order: Based on a real-life case of murderous white nationalists in 1980s America, this flinty face-off pits Jude Law’s burnt-out FBI agent against Nicholas Hoult’s charismatic separatist. Australia’s Justin Kurzel directs with an exacting eye. Amazon Prime Video
She Rides Shotgun: Taron Egerton gets further from Rocketman than ever before, starring in this hard-boiled chase film as a brutal former convict who has to kidnap his estranged daughter to keep her safe from a biker gang. Few punches pulled here. Amazon Prime Video
Wake Up Dead Man: Rian Johnson’s third Knives Out murder mystery smartly updates the franchise even as it investigates the murder of Josh Brolin’s brimstone priest. Daniel Craig returns as Benoir Blanc, but Josh O’Connor steals the movie as his unlikely new associate. Netflix
Mariska Hargitay with her mother, Jayne Mansfield, in My Mom Jayne.
DOCUMENTARY
My Mom Jayne:Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay directs this revelatory biographical tale, attempting to understand the mother she lost at a young age, Jayne Mansfield, who was publicly famous as a 1950s Hollywood bombshell. HBO Max
Predators: An American tabloid TV sensation, To Catch a Predator burned bright as it lured sex offenders to public arrest. Two decades on, the unexpected repercussions – some ongoing – are examined in this empathetic, withering dissection. Paramount+
Revealed: Joh – The Last King of Queensland: A timely reminder that Australia has its own history of questionable populist politicians, Kriv Stenders’ documentary opens the ledger of Joh Bjelke-Peterson, the Queensland Premier brought down by official corruption in 1987. Stan
Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams.
DRAMA
Nickel Boys: A breathtaking adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s celebrated novel, this story of the friendship between two black teenagers locked away in segregated 1960s Florida has an intimate power. There’s a reason it got a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards. Amazon Prime Video
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Night Always Comes:The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby did the Marvel thing in July’s Fantastic Four reboot, but her standout performance was this unvarnished American indie release, playing a harried waitress with just hours to find the money to safeguard her family. Netflix
A Thousand and One:One Battle After Another fire starter Teyana Taylor gave a wrenching lead performance in this low-budget New York movie. Playing a mother raising her son outside the law, she delivers a portrait of frightening dedication. Paramount+
Train Dreams: A never-better Joel Edgerton stars, alongside Felicity Jones, in this wondrous period drama whose sense of early 20th century life feels otherworldly and deeply naturalistic. Nothing more need be said – just start watching. Netflix
Oscar Isaac as Dr Victor Frankenstein.
HORROR
Frankenstein: More than 200 years after Mary Shelley’s canonical novel was published, Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro delivers the screen adaptation he long dreamed of. Oscar Isaac is the rogue scientist, Jacob Elordi his reanimated creation, in a movie rich with cruel Gothic passion. Netflix
Good Boy: It’s a gimmick, but a good one. This tale is supernatural possession is told from the viewpoint of the victim’s dog, Indy. The loyal retriever is the only one who can sense what is happening, and must become a four-legged exorcist. AMC+
Tessa Thompson in Hedda.
ROMANCE
All of You:Ted Lasso’sBrett Goldstein put aside hard nut Roy Kent to co-write and star, opposite Imogen Poots, in this romantic-comedy set in a near-future where science can determine soulmates. It’s a film of longing and regret, smartly balanced. Apple TV
Hedda: Love’s powerful grip, however supposedly dormant, is central to this powerful update of Ibsen’s classic 19th century play. Tess Thompson is the 1950s wife hosting a party for her needy husband, only for her former girlfriend to attend. Amazon Prime Video
Hamish Michael (left), Emily Browning, Ashley Zukerman and Pallavi Sharda in One More Shot.
SCIENCE-FICTION
Ash: Musician turned filmmaker Flying Lotus shape-shifted reality in his unsettling debut, with Eiza Gonzalez as the sold survivor of a devastated deep space mission whose unsettling memories are returning just as Aaron Paul’s interloper arrives. Amazon Prime Video
One More Shot:Emily Browning is a pithy delight in this haywire Australian time-loop conundrum, trying to finesse an ex-boyfriend back at a New Year’s Eve party as a magical tequila bottle gives her multiple opportunities even as fate intervenes. Stan*
War of the Worlds: This is a so bad it’s (almost) good selection. The venerable HG Wells story of aliens invading is retold via desktop screen-sharing, with an unconvincing Ice Cube starring alongside the real enemy: rampant product placement. Amazon Prime Video
Rebecca Ferguson in A House of Dynamite.
THRILLER
Highest 2 Lowest: One of the great filmmaking collaborations of the 20th century – director Spike Lee and leading man Denzel Washington – are reunited in this twisty tale of a record mogul and his kidnapped son. Once it hits the streets, it takes off. Apple TV
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A House of Dynamite: The unthinkable proves to be unstoppable in this dissection of America’s security apparatus, as a possible nuclear missile strike is measured at successive levels of power. Kathryn Bigelow directs, Rebecca Ferguson and Idris Elba star. Netflix
The Surfer: Nicolas Cage goes full Nicolas Cage in this big wave madness, which sees Cage’s exiled local returning to his seaside Australian hometown with his teenage son and descending into obsession and delirium when the locals bar him from surfing. Stan
*Stan is owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead.
