Streaming

5 must-watch movies & TV shows streaming right now

The best of what's new streaming on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney Plus, and more.

By Kevin Slane

December 15, 2023

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Welcome to Boston.com’s weekly streaming guide. Each week, we recommend five must-watch movies and TV shows available on streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, and more.

Many recommendations are for new shows, while others are for under-the-radar releases you might have missed or classics that are about to depart a streaming service at the end of the month.

Have a new favorite movie or show you think we should know about? Let us know in the comments, or email [email protected]. Looking for even more great streaming options? Check out previous editions of our must-watch list here.

Movies

“Asteroid City”

With “Asteroid City,” Wes Anderson has made his most personal movie yet — or, at the very least, the film that seems to most directly offer audiences a window into how the director’s mind works. The film is set in a remote desert town in the 1950s, where families have gathered at the only hotel in town with their precocious children (aren’t they always in Anderson films?) for a Junior Stargazer convention. The film’s framing gets a bit more confusing right from the start, as “Asteroid City” is actually a stage play, meaning we get meta interruptions from narrator Bryan Cranston and playwright Edward Norton, among others.

If you already find Anderson’s films alienating, “Asteroid City” won’t change your mind. But those who are well-versed in his film language should appreciate the structure, with especially strong performances from Jason Schwartzman and Scarlett Johansson.

How to watch: “Asteroid City” is streaming on Prime Video.

“Barbie”

After a theatrical run that netted it almost $1.5 billion worldwide, “Barbie” has strolled out of cinemas and is set to begin its second life streaming free for Max subscribers. If you’re one of the few who missed “Barbie” this summer, Margot Robbie perfectly embodies the ubiquitous doll, who, on the surface, embodies the impossible beauty standard set for generations of girls. But internally, Barbie is conflicted and must head to the real world to find out why. Along for the ride is Ken (Ryan Gosling), who’s been insecure way longer than Barbie has and quickly learns some extremely toxic ways to process his emotions from the real world.

Greta Gerwig’s film consistently refuses to be defined. It’s a Mattel brand extension and an anti-capitalist screed. It’s an uplifting comedy and a sobering meditation on the agony of existence. More than anything, “Barbie” is one of the most subversive, unexpected summer blockbusters in recent memory.

How to watch: “Barbie” is streaming on Max.

“Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget”

It’s hard to remember now, but upon its release back in 2000, Aardman’s “Chicken Run” was a genuine phenomenon. Decades of children (and adults) who grew up on the claymation duo of Wallace and Gromit were treated to Aardman’s first feature-length film, a prison escape drama about a bunch of chickens (and one cocky rooster played by Mel Gibson) trying to avoid being turned into pies. More than two decades later, the same characters are back in action, needing to orchestrate another escape after Molly (Bella Ramsey), the daughter of Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (Zachary Levi, replacing Gibson) leaves the chickens’ island sanctuary in search of adventure.

Aardman’s hand-sculpted films provide a magic that no CGI can replicate, and the studio’s reputation for staging madcap action sequences is solidly intact. The dialogue is mostly pro forma, but you’ll hardly care as a flock of chickens zipline, skateboard, and pole vault their way into (and out of) a comically well-guarded poultry factory.

How to watch: “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” is streaming on Netflix.

TV

“The Crown”

Ending shows gracefully is one of the hardest things for a showrunner to pull off, especially one as long-running and popular as “The Crown,” Netflix’s British royal drama. Without diving into too many details, the final episodes of “The Crown” are a step down from the show’s high points, especially because so much of what has played out in the public eye over the past couple of decades is more interesting than what’s on screen.

The relatively inexperienced actors playing our current royals — William (Ed McVey), Harry (Luther Ford), and Kate Middleton (Meg Bellamy) — acquit themselves well. And longtime fans will enjoy seeing the return of Claire Foy as young Queen Elizabeth (albeit in flashback form). But beyond the obligation of seeing the series through to the present day, the question remains why a retelling of such recent vintage should exist at all.

How to watch: “The Crown: Season 6, Part 2” is streaming on Netflix.

“Reacher”

When Tom Cruise emerged from his couch-jumping, Scientologist-espousing period to reclaim his status as an A-lister, it was thanks in large part to the revival of the “Mission: Impossible” series. But before that, it was Cruise’s surprisingly successful turn in 2012’s “Jack Reacher,” as an ex-Army Major turned surly private eye, that captured America’s attention.

For the Amazon original series “Reacher,” Cruise has handed the reigns over to Alan Ritchson, who plays the taciturn investigator with subtle humor and a not-so-subtle bulk that’s closer to the 6-foot-5 Reacher first envisioned by author Lee Child. Following a successful Season 1, Ritchson is drawn into a mystery involving members of his former Army unit, who have been picked off one by one. Reacher frequently claims he doesn’t like to call attention to himself, but in the first three episodes Amazon premiered on Friday, he does so at every turn. It’s good, clean, violent fun.

How to watch: “Reacher” Season 2 is streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes debuting Fridays.