3 New Movies and 3 New Series Streaming in December You Won’t Want to Miss

With December comes a certain saturation of holiday content on streamers, so we’re here to give you six titles that fall outside the genre. Keep reading for three new movies and three new series coming to streaming platforms during the last month of 2023, along with the noteworthy performances to anticipate in each.

Movies

Finestkind

The latest from Brian Helgeland is inspired by his own life. The auteur shared during a Toronto International Film Festival panel that he comes from a family of fishermen and his early years in Massachusetts inspired the film.

“All the characters are based on someone I knew, someone I worked with, grew up with, [or] fished with,” Helgeland said. “I wrote this script about 30 years ago — it’s the movie I could never get made.”

But he did bring the film to fruition, directing it in addition to penning its screenplay. Finestkind follows two half-brothers (Ben Foster and Toby Wallace) who reunite as adults after being raised separately.

The film takes place in the world of commercial fishing. After finding themselves in desperate circumstances, the siblings get involved with a violent Boston crime gang. A young woman (Jenna Ortega) gets caught in the middle, and the film’s trailer teases plenty of intrigue surrounding that particular role. It also shows Tommy Lee Jones as the central father of the film.

You can catch his performance alongside the work of Foster, Wallace and Ortega when Finestkind premieres on Paramount+ come December 15.

The Family Plan

If you’ve been looking for a Mark Wahlberg action-comedy that also happens to be centered on family, this one’s for you.

The Family Plan tells the story of Dan (Wahlberg), a devoted husband, father of three and thriving car salesman who loves his quiet suburban life. Little does his family know that Dan used to be an elite government assassin who neutralized major world threats.

When enemies from his past come calling, the suburbanite takes his unsuspecting wife (Michelle Monaghan) and kids on a “getaway” in the form of a cross-country road trip to Las Vegas. There, he must protect his family while trying to avoid his true identity being revealed.

Wahlberg and Monaghan deliver great performances, but you’ll also want to keep an eye out for names like Maggie Q and Ciarán Hinds when The Family Plan drops on Netflix come December 15.

Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire

We’re not saying that Zack Snyder’s upcoming intergalactic feature is going to be the Star Wars of our generation, but we’re not saying it isn’t (adding to that thought, there’s already a built-in part two coming your way next year).

“This movie — for me — existed, elementally, for 20 years,” Snyder said of the first installment of Rebel Moon. With such a long time in the making and a multi-planet setting, it’s no wonder the film is classified as an epic.

Rebel Moon is also a sci-fi fantasy adventure that takes place in a new universe far, far away. Let’s start with the peaceful moon colony of Veldt. Citizens there are forced to surrender their harvest to the military group of the Motherworld, a place governed by the ruthless Imperium. A mysterious young woman living in Veldt, however, begins a high-stakes interplanetary mission of bringing together warriors from across the galaxy to help deliver them from evil.

Sofia Boutella plays said lead in the film, and Snyder shared insight into the actor’s casting story during an interview with Tudum. “I pitched her from the beginning,” he noted. “That happens to me with casting. I’ll see someone and be like, ‘I’m going to put them in a movie.’”

Including Boutella, the star-studded Rebel Moon cast also includes names that range from Michiel Huisman to Charlie Hunnam to Djimon Hounsou. You can also keep an ear out for Anthony Hopkins voicing a robot knight called “Jimmy” when the interstellar feature drops on Netflix come December 22.

Series

My Life with the Walter Boys

If you’re looking for a coming-of-age tale that’s a blend of Dawson’s Creek and Friday Night Lights — with hints of Party of Five and My So-Called Life — your search is over.

Series creator Melanie Halsall told Tudum that those were the TV references she used when first pitching My Life with the Walter Boys to Netflix.

The TV adaptation of Ali Novak’s novel of the same name stars Nikki Rodriguez as Jackie, a straight-A student who loses her family in a terrible accident when she’s 15 years old.

Still reeling from the tragedy, the teenager has to leave everything she knows in Manhattan to go live with her guardian in rural Colorado. Jackie has to adapt to living under one roof with said guardian — her mother’s best friend, Katherine Walter — and the rest of her family, which includes one husband and 10 children.

It wouldn’t be a teen drama without a good old-fashioned love triangle. Jackie eventually develops feelings for two very different Walter brothers and struggles to remain true to herself while navigating all the twists and turns of her new life.

In addition to taking in Rodriguez’s starring performance, you can also watch for Sarah Rafferty as Katherine as well as Ashby Gentry and Noah LaLonde as the central love interests. Catch all these names and more when My Life with the Walter Boys releases on Netflix come December 7.

Archie

Many are familiar with Cary Grant, a Hollywood star of yesteryear, but fewer know his given name of Archibald Leach.

The upcoming mini-series Archie tells the story of the man behind the stage name, the person behind the movie star persona. Jason Isaacs transforms into Grant for the biographical series, playing the middle-aged version of him, when the actor was already well-known.

You can catch Calam Lynch portraying the younger iteration of the role when the Hollywood legend was still just wannabe actor Archie Leach. Harriet Walter takes on the role of Grant’s mother Elsie Leach, and Laura Aikman plays his ex-wife Dyan Cannon.

U.S. audiences can take in all the performances and casting work that includes finding matches for old-time stars ranging from Audrey Hepburn to Grace Kelly when Archie drops on the streamer Britbox come December 7.

Extended Family

To round out our list, we’re giving you a classic multi-cam with Jon Cryer and Abigail Spencer starring as ex-spouses Jim and Julia, who have remained close friends and closely collaborative co-parents after their divorce.

The first-look teaser previews their unique set-up, in which the kids stay in one place and Jim and Julia take turns spending time with them there.

Donald Faison also stars as Trey, who throws a wrench in the family’s newfound status quo after he and Julia become engaged. The ex-spouses, their children and the new fiancé have to figure out how to navigate life together with the plethora of awkward situations that come their way.

You can also keep an eye out for Finn Sweeney and Sofia Capanna playing Jim and Julia’s kids when Extended Family makes its streaming debut on Peacock — the day after its NBC premiere — come December 24.

We may have started with a family drama and ended with a family comedy, but the diverse genres in between will allow you to close out 2023 with a varied watchlist of new films and series full of notable performances to take in.

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