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I’ve scoured the December releases on Amazon’s Prime platform to find the best new and new-to-streaming movies and shows. Amazon is leaning in on game shows in December, premiering both Beast Games, hosted by internet superstar Mr. Beast and Pop Culture Jeopardy with Colin Jost. There are more than game shows, though: Prime original series The Sticky looks interesting, and, if you didn’t see A Quiet Place: Day One in the theaters, you can stream it this month.
Beast Games
YouTube’s most famous creator, Mr. Beast, makes a bid for crossover success with this competition reality show where 1,000 competitors compete for a grand prize of $5 million. If you’re in the market for a real-life version of Squid Game, or you find mindless spectacle TV an engaging time-waste, you’ll want to check out Beast Games.
Starts streaming December 19.
Pop Culture Jeopardy
Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost hosts this Jeopardy spin-off in which all of the questions are about pop culture, so it’s like Jeopardy for people don’t read books. Jost has the perfect persona to host a light game show, and a modernized version of Jeopardy is a great idea, so check out Pop Culture Jeopardy if you’re into game shows.
Starts streaming December 4.
The Sticky
Get ready for a quirky crime comedy. The Sticky fictionalizes the story of a gang of Canuck criminals who boosted around 300 tons of maple syrup in 2011 and 2012 from Canada’s strategic reserve of maple syrup—that’s about $18-million in pancake sauce. So if you’re in the mood for a Fargo-style series with colorful characters up to dark deeds, check out The Sticky.
Starts streaming December 6.
A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
This prequel to A Quiet Place brings us back to the start of the series, the day the blind, noise-averse aliens invaded earth and killed almost everyone in the world. Lupita Nyong’o stars as Sammy, a terminally ill woman whose journey to New York City for a slice of pizza is interrupted by the end of the world. A film that’s equal parts horror and character study, A Quiet Place: Day One is a great movie for fans of horror movies looking for something a little more elevated than the “teenagers get murdered” flicks typical of the genre.
Starts streaming December 31.
Secret Level
Secret Level is an animated anthology series featuring stories set in the universe of various video game franchises. From the team behind the excellent sci-fi series Love Death + Robots, Secret Level features episodes set in the worlds of Pac-Man, Warhammer 40,000, Mega Man, Unreal Tournament, and many others—it’s the perfect show for gamers.
Starts streaming December 10.
Glitter & Greed: The Lisa Frank Story
Designer Lisa Frank is known for a unicorn-and-rainbow-overdose style that captured the imaginations of flighty people all over the world, but, as this documentary shows, things were not all cotton-candy-pink behind the scenes of the Lisa Frank empire. Through interviews with people who were there, Glitter and Greed lays out the toxic work environment and tumultuous personal drama under the surface of the Lisa Frank dream world.
Starts streaming December 5.
ChiefsAholic: A Wolf in Chief’s Clothing
You don’t have to be a football fan to watch documentary ChiefsAholic: A Wolf in Chief’s Clothing. It’s not about the team; it’s about their biggest fan, Xaviar Babudar. Babudar’s character, ChiefsAholic, was fan-famous for showing up at every Chief’s game in a wolf costume. But NFL tickets aren’t cheap, and it turns out that the “-aholic” part of ChiefsAholic wasn’t a lie. Dude was robbing banks to pay for his Chiefs addiction—and his gambling addiction.
Starts streaming December 24.
Beau Is Afraid (2023)
A harrowing look at mental illness from Ari Aster, Beau is Afraid isn’t like any other movie. It’s a terrifying, surreal, and often inscrutable journey into the psyche of the main character, played by a fully committed Joaquin Phoenix. Beau’s routine trip to visit his mother turns into an epic personal journey in which reality and delusion merge.
Starts streaming December 13.
Jack in Time for Christmas
In this star-encrusted holiday romp, British comedian Jack Whitehall is stranded in the United States with just four days to make it back to the UK for Christmas. For “just go with it” reasons, every flight is canceled, forcing Whitehall to spend time with celebrities like Michael Bublé, Dave Bautista, Rebel Wilson, Jimmy Fallon, Daisy May Cooper, and Tom Davies, doing things like playing hockey and going bobsledding. Told through a mix of scripted segments and improv, Jack in Time for Christmas lives (or dies) on the strength of its stars’ charisma.
Starts streaming December 3.
Last month’s picks
My Old Ass (2024)
A twist on the coming-of-age story, My Old Ass stars Maisy Stella as confused 18-year-old Elliott. She takes mushrooms on her summer vacation, and instead of just seeing brighter colors, she’s visited by the 39-year-old version of herself, played by the great Aubrey Plaza. Plaza is one of a kind, and My Old Ass gives her plenty of room to flex her deadpan, eye-roll delivery, but it’s also a smart, sensitive movie. Not to be missed.
Starts streaming November 7.
Every Minute Counts
This Amazon original series dramatizes the 1985 earthquake that devastated Mexico City. Prime Video Latin America’s most expensive production ever, Every Minute Counts is an intense look of the hours after the 8.1 on the Richter scale quake shook the city apart, following a doctor and his nurses working to rescue the unfortunate souls trapped underneath the rubble of the General Hospital.
Starts streaming November 8.
Cross
Based on a series of novels by James Patterson, Cross tells the story of forensic psychologist and D.C. Metro Detective Alex Cross. Played by Aldis Hodge, Cross uses his big brain, training, and unique insight into the human mind to solve cases no one else can. But mucking around in the psyches of serial killers takes a toll, especially when his work life starts to threaten his family.
Starts streaming November 14.
Cruel Intentions
1999’s cult classic Cruel Intentions is getting the reboot treatment. Judging from the trailer, this eight-episode series contains some nods to the original, like the “Bittersweet Symphony” theme song and the source material, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, but it won’t be dragging Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe out of the mothballs. The new cast of rich, sexy college students includes Sara Silva, John Harlan Kim, and Khobe Clarke. The show seems to be aiming for the same cynical-but-campy vibe of the original movie as it tells the story of an indecent wager between step-siblings, this time involving the daughter of the vice-president.
Starts streaming November 21.
Jeff Dunham’s Scrooged-Up Holiday Special
Jeff Dunham and his collection of wooden pals take on the holidays in this new stand-up special. Specifically, this is a take on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in which Walter plays Scrooge and argues with with Bubba J, Peanut, Little Jeff and Achmed over their assigned parts in the story. My life’s mission is to watch every version of A Christmas Carol, so this one is high on my personal gotta watch list.
Starts streaming November 19.