Looking for something great to watch at home? Streaming subscribers are spoiled for choice between Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, Prime Video, Shudder, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. And that’s before you even look at the vast libraries of movies and television programs within each streamer!
Don’t be overwhelmed or waste an hour scrolling through your services to determine what to watch. We’ve got your back, whatever your mood. Mashable offers watch guides for all of the above, broken down by genre: comedy, thriller, horror, documentary, and animation, among others. But if you’re seeking something brand-new (or just new to streaming), we’ve got you covered there, too.
Mashable’s entertainment team has scoured the streaming services to highlight the most buzzed-about releases of the week and ranked them from worst to best — or least worth your time to most watchable. Whether you’re looking for grisly body horror for Halloween, new cringe comedy, or true crime documentaries to binge, we’ve got something just for you.
17. Is It Cake? Halloween
There’s no better trick-or-treater on TV than Is It Cake?, back with a Halloween special to put your eyeballs to the test. As always, host Mikey Day poses the titular question to celebrity judges, tasked with figuring out whether the hyperreal cakes created by competing bakers are actually cake or not. Over four episodes and a lot of dry ice, nine contestants will craft confections of all spooky shapes and sizes, from jack-o’-lanterns to toads to witches’ boots and black cats. As for the judges, there’ll be appearances from Harvey Guillén, Chelsea Peretti, Gillian Jacobs, and more. — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor
How to watch: Is It Cake? Halloween is now streaming on Netflix.
16. My Father, the BTK Killer
Netflix is adding to its ever-expanding true crime slate with a documentary about Kerri Rawson, the daughter of infamous serial killer Dennis Rader.
Arrested in 2005 and currently serving 10 consecutive life sentences for 10 counts of first degree serial murder, Rader was known as BTK (bind, torture, kill) for a series of horrific crimes committed in Wichita, Kansas, in the 1970s. Skye Borgman’s documentary tells the story through his daughter, who can be heard in the trailer talking about the impact her father’s crimes and arrest have had — and continue to have — on her life today. — Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor
How to watch: My Father, the BTK Killer premieres Oct. 10 on Netflix.
15. True Haunting
At a glance, True Haunting seems a gift perfectly timed to spooky season. James Wan, who had a hand in the creation of such successful scary movie franchises as Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring, is an executive producer on the documentary series True Haunting. However, the actual show is pretty slow and tame.
Rather than a new ghost story every episode, True Haunting does that annoying Netflix true crime doc thing of stretching out a fairly simple story over multiple episodes. Far from keeping things tense, it gets pretty tedious. Season 1 of True Haunting offers just two tales over five episodes, one about college students plagued by a poltergeist and one about a young family that’s tormented by some sinister spirit in their new home. While the talking head interviews are earnest, True Haunting won’t deliver on scares in its stories or reenactments. You can definitely find better horror and docs on Netflix. — Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor
How to watch: True Haunting is now streaming on Netflix.
14. Him
The NFL and horror collide in Him, a football-focused fright fest produced by Jordan Peele and directed by Justin Tipping. Him introduces rising star quarterback Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), who gets the chance to train with his idol Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans). However, Isaiah’s methods are stranger — and bloodier! — than anything Cam has been through before. How much is he really willing to sacrifice to become the GOAT?
Despite the prestige that comes with Peele’s involvement, Him was a critical and box office disappointment. However, according to Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko, the film is in no way irredeemable, boasting great performances from Withers and Wayans, as well as some surreal scares courtesy of Tipping. Where Him fumbles the ball, however, is its ending. In her review, she writes, “In its final minutes, Tipping’s tale pivots to something more concrete, gorier, and less daring. That ending, though twisted and thrilling, doesn’t feel earned. So, in the end, Him falls short of astounding.” — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter
Starring: Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, and Jim Jefferies
How to watch: Him is now available for rent or purchase on digital.
13.Vicious
Dakota Fanning unfortunately lets a stranger in the door in Vicious, the latest horror venture from Bryan Bertino (The Strangers, The Dark and the Wicked, The Monster). Fanning plays Polly, a young woman who lives in a big house by herself. A seemingly harmless older woman (Kathryn Hunter) turns up on Polly’s doorstep late one night, presents her with a creepy box, and informs Polly she will die if she doesn’t put three things in the box: “Something you need, something you hate, something you love.” Easy, right? — S.C.
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Kathryn Hunter, Mary McCormack, Rachel Blanchard, Devyn Nekoda, Klea Scott, and Emily Mitchell
How to watch: Vicious premieres Oct. 10 on Paramount+.
12. Victoria Beckham
We lived for the skerricks of Spice Girl lore in Netflix’s Beckham documentary about the legendary footballer. Now, Victoria Beckham stands front and centre in her own limited series from the streaming service. Created by the Beckham production team and directed by Becoming‘s Nadia Hallgren, Victoria Beckham takes a look into the fashion designer and singer’s life, beginning at Paris Fashion Week. The three-part documentary will explore Beckham’s iconic Posh Spice days, her relationship with David Beckham and her family life, and the building of a fashion empire — and yes, the talking heads are soaringly high profile, from Anna Wintour to Tom Ford. — S.C.
How to watch: Victoria Beckham is now streaming on Netflix.
11. Ozzy: No Escape From Now
Late rock legend Ozzy Osbourne was onstage mere weeks before his death in July at 76, performing with Black Sabbath in Birmingham, England — where it all started in 1968. Director Tania Alexander chronicles the lead-up to this farewell show, as well as Osbourne’s final album Patient Number Nine, and the impact of his life-changing 2019 fall in the documentary Ozzy: No Escape From Now. Executive produced by his wife Sharon and featuring interviews with Osborne himself, the documentary was still in edit when the music icon passed away, according to Deadline, and Alexander was asked by his family to finish it. — S.C.
How to watch: Ozzy: No Escape From Now is now streaming on Paramount+.
10. Boots
In the wake of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bizarre tirade against diversity in the U.S. army, there may be no more relevant series to check out than Boots. Inspired by Greg Cope White’s memoir The Pink Marine, the series follows Cameron (Miles Heizer), a young gay man who joins the Marine Corps in 1990. At that point, it was still illegal to be gay in the U.S. military. The discriminatory “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy would go into effect four years later.
A recent graduate, Cameron doesn’t know what to do with his life, so he impulsively heads to Marine Corps boot camp with his best friend Ray (Liam Oh). The experience starts as a grueling nightmare, one where drill sergeants scream seemingly never-ending racist, homophobic, and fatphobic screeds. But soon, Cameron finds himself forging a brotherhood among his fellow recruits, leading to a touching coming-of-age tale. — B.E.
Starring: Miles Heizer, Max Parker, Vera Farmiga, Ana Ayora, Blake Burt, Cedrick Cooper, Dominic Goodman, Nicholas Logan, Kieron Moore, Angus O’Brien, Liam Oh, and Rico Paris
How to watch: Boots is now streaming on Netflix.
Mashable Top Stories
9. The Woman in Cabin 10
An Agatha Christie-style murder mystery with a psychological twist, Netflix’s The Woman in Cabin 10 sees journalist Laura Blacklock (Keira Knightley) boarding a luxury yacht to write an article on a charity.
The problem? Blacklock soon witnesses someone being thrown overboard from the cabin next to her, only for the rest of the ship to tell her that there was nobody in the neighboring cabin. So is she losing her mind, or is there a cover-up at play?
Guy Pearce, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kaya Scodelario, and Hannah Waddingham also star in Simon Stone’s adaptation of Ruth Ware’s 2016 novel. — S.H.
Starring: Keira Knightley, Guy Pearce, Hannah Waddingham, David Ajala, Art Malik, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kaya Scodelario, David Morrissey, Daniel Ings, Gitte Witt, Christopher Rygh, Pippa Bennett-Warner, John Macmillan, Paul Kaye, Amanda Collin, and Lisa Loven Kongsli
How to watch: The Woman in Cabin 10 premieres Oct. 10 on Netflix.
8. The Last Frontier
Between 2023’s Hijack and the upcoming The Last Frontier, Apple TV+ is really starting to lean into the genre of “shows where something goes horribly wrong on a plane.” In The Last Frontier‘s case, that “something wrong” is a full-on plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness. The plane in question is a prison transport, and the crash allows dozens of its violent passengers to escape. (Think Con Air meets The Grey.)
Now, it’s up to U.S. Marshal Frank Remnick (Jason Clarke) to protect a nearby town from the escaped passengers. However, he’s got a sneaking suspicion that the crash wasn’t an accident at all, but part of a larger conspiracy.* — B.E.
Starring: Jason Clarke, Dominic Cooper, Haley Bennett, Simone Kessell, Dallas Goldtooth, Tait Blum, and Alfre Woodard
How to watch: The Last Frontier premieres Oct. 10 on Apple TV+.
7. Freakier Friday
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan reunite for a sequel to the iconic 2003 family comedy Freaky Friday. Naturally, a follow-up to a body swap movie means even more body swapping. So this time around, mother-daughter duo Tess and Anna Coleman swap bodies with Anna’s teen daughter Harper (Julia Butters) and her soon-to-be stepsister Lily (Sophia Hammons). While the teen girls think this is the perfect opportunity to split up Anna and Lily’s dad (Manny Jacinto) ahead of their wedding, Tess and Anna (in Lily and Harper’s bodies) are eager to get themselves unswapped before their professional or personal lives can be derailed by teen drama.
Got all that? Don’t stress. This Nisha Ganatra-directed romp is easy to kick back and enjoy during a girls’ night in. As I wrote in my review, “Freakier Friday isn’t better than the original. But it is fun, entertaining, and funny. On top of the winning performances of Curtis and Lohan, there’s a meta joy to seeing a real-life wild child return to her roots for a victory lap. That she gets to rock out while doing it is all the better.” — K.P.
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, Manny Jacinto, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Rosalind Chao, Chad Michael Murray, Mark Harmon, Vanessa Bayer, Christina Vidal, Haley Hudson, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Lucille Soong
How to watch: Freakier Friday is now available for rent or purchase on digital.
6. Freaked
Not long after Alex Winter wowed us as one of the eponymous leads of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, he co-directed and starred in this wild comedy that felt like a freaky fever dream. And now, Freaked has a 4K UHD restoration, which is a true gift to fans who haven’t had home video or high quality-streaming options to watch this 1993 cult classic for ages.
Winters stars as overgrown child star Ricky Coogan whose run-in with a freak show proprietor (Randy Quaid) leads to a new and unexpected chapter in his showbiz career — and a new family. Full of bizarre practical effects, unapologetically outrageous humor, and VERY ’90s cameos, Freaked is a deranged blast. — K.P.
Starring: Alex Winter, Randy Quaid, William Sadler, Megan Ward, Michael Stoyanov, Bobcat Goldthwait, Mr. T, and Brooke Shields
How to watch: Freaked‘s 4K UHD restoration is now available for rent or purchase on digital.
5. The Alabama Solution
Andrew Jarecki made a huge impact on true crime television with the nerve-rattling documentary series The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, Parts One and Two. Now, with co-director Charlotte Kaufman, he’s offering The Alabama Solution, a chilling looking into the American prison system and its abuses against the incarcerated people therein.
Because the American justice system has greatly limited journalists’ access to the inside of prisons, The Alabama Solution takes an unusual tactic in its interviews. The documentarians rely heavily on video interviews recorded covertly on contraband cell phones in an Alabama prison. This gives a shocking look into the lives (and deaths) of incarcerated people, while comparing that to how media coverage covers these same stories. The contrast is illuminating, horrifying, and thought-provoking. — K.P.
How to watch: The Alabama Solution premieres Oct. 10 on HBO Max.
4. How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
If you loved the animated adventures How to Train Your Dragon brought to theaters and televisions with its string of films and spinoff TV shows, you won’t want to miss the live-action version, where the world of Berk feels more real than ever before.
The Black Phone‘s Mason Thames steps into the shivering shoes of Hiccup, a misfit Viking who is not interested in killing the flying creatures that his people battle. Instead, after wounding a charming dragon he names Toothless, Hiccup hopes to create a new understanding between the warring sides. But first, he’ll have to get some support from other villagers, such as warrior-in-training Astrid (The Last of Us‘ Nico Parker) and his burly father, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, reprising his role from the 2010 film). And that’ll mean a lot of dragon shenanigans, and perhaps a sky-high battle or two!
In her review of the film, UK editor Shannon Connellan wrote, “How to Train Your Dragon sees [Dean] DeBlois sticking like glue to his original film, which exposes the franchise’s timelessness in a way. If you’ve dreamed of seeing a version of Toothless living, breathing, and gobbling fish in a real world (on screen), the live-action adaptation is a treat.”* — K.P.
Starring: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gerard Butler, and Ruth Codd
How to watch: How to Train Your Dragon hits Peacock Oct. 10.
3. Lurker
Written and directed by Alex Russell, Lurker is All About Eve for the influencer generation. This psychological thriller follows a young man named Matthew (Théodore Pellerin) who works retail in LA, but dreams of fame and fortune. So, when he crosses paths with rising music star Oliver (Archie Madekwe), he weasels his way into Oliver’s entourage. This gives him a taste of the good life he covets. And he’ll do anything to keep it.
A gnarly thriller with a keen awareness of the double-edged sword of social media, Lurker will lock you in and leave you sweating. — K.P.
Starring: Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Zack Fox, Havana Rose Liu, Wale Onayemi, Daniel Zolghadri, and Sunny Suljic
How to watch: Lurker hits MUBI Oct. 10.
2. The Chair Company
Tim Robinson brings his anxiety-inducing brand of cringe comedy to HBO with The Chair Company, which he co-created with writing partner Zach Kanin (I Think You Should Leave). Robinson plays Ron Trosper, an everyman with a solid family life and an exciting new opportunity at his job. But when he experiences a humiliating accident at work, that becomes all he can think about. Convinced there was more to the incident than meets the eye, he finds himself down a rabbit hole full of shady figures and conspiracy theories.
The Chair Company is chock-full of typical absurdist Robinson humor, with several bizarro tangents that would be right at home on I Think You Should Leave. But it also proves a compelling portrayal of obsession, taking the embarrassment of recalling and fixating on a cringeworthy memory and magnifying it to the extreme. For any Robinson fans, The Chair Company is a must watch. — B.E.
Starring: Tim Robinson, Lake Bell, Sophia Lillis, Will Price, and Joseph Tudisco
How to watch: The Chair Company premieres Sunday, Oct. 12 at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
1. The Substance
Writer/director Coralie Fargeat delivered one of the absolute wildest films of 2024 with this freaky fable of fame and beauty. Demi Moore stars as faded Hollywood star Elisabeth Sparkle, who’s being bullied out of her televised workout show by a sexist producer (Dennis Quaid) ravenous to replace her with someone younger and hotter. Well, a new miracle drug called “the Substance” promises Elisabeth a second chance at success, transforming her into the vibrant and viciously ambitious Sue (Margaret Qualley). There’s just one problem: Connected as they are, they have to take turns at being in the world. As Sue fights for more, Elisabeth faces dire consequences. Something’s gotta give, and when it does, the practical effects from The Substance‘s Oscar–winning make-up team will absolutely shock and awe you.
Nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Actress for Moore, and Best Picture, The Substance is the rare movie that played well to the Academy and to midnight movie crowds. It’s a true knockout. —K.P.
Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid
How to watch: The Substance hits HBO Max Oct. 10.
(*) denotes a blurb comes from a previous list.
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