Every week, Netflix delivers a bunch of new content for subscribers to stream. Watching all of it would take you more time than you have, so I start my weekend by picking three top items for the next seven days. Will the $400 million investment Netflix made in finishing Stranger Things finally pay off this week? The final season promises answers about all of the mysteries of Hawkins and The Upside Down. Tune in for that, plus a critically praised historical drama and more.
This Week on Netflix: PCMag’s Picks
Train Dreams (Nov. 21)
Based on the novella by the late Denis Johnson, Train Dreams is one of Netflix’s best hopes for awards season. The lyrical, downbeat tale of a railroad worker in the 1920s who is separated from his wife and daughter for long periods of time, only to lose everything, including his humanity, has been winning unanimous raves from critics, especially the lead performance by Joel Edgerton.
Jingle Bell Heist (Nov. 26)
Netflix really loves to slam out the holiday movies the instant Halloween is over, and November has seen it add around two dozen of them. One that caught our gimlet eye is Jingle Bell Heist, starring Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells as a pair of thieves who meet-cute when they plan to rob London’s biggest department store at Christmas. The screenplay hit the buzzworthy Black List in 2022, so it might be a cut above the usual fare.
Director: Michael Fimognari
Cast: Olivia Holt, Connor Swindells, Peter Serafinowicz
Genre: Comedy
Rating: TV-14
Stranger Things 5: Volume 1 (Nov. 27)
Clocking in between $50-$60 million per episode, the final season of Stranger Things had better pay off big for Netflix. I was a little nonplussed by the last season and its vaguely Power Rangers-esque Big Bad, but hopefully things are better this time around. Taking place a year later, the gang (now grown a bit) decides to hunt down Vecna, but when Eleven becomes the target of the military, things get complicated.
Netflix New TV Series and Show Releases This Week
November 24
Missing: Dead or Alive? – Season 2
November 25
Is It Cake? Holiday – Season 2
November 26
Stranger Things 5 Volume 1
Netflix New Movie Releases This Week
November 21
Marry Christmas
Mistletoe Mixup
One Shot With Ed Sheeran
Train Dreams
November 24
Santa Bootcamp
Recommended by Our Editors
November 26
Jingle Bell Heist
November 27
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Leaving Netflix This Week
November 22
San Andreas
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About Our Expert
K. Thor Jensen
Contributing Writer
Experience
K. Thor Jensen is a writer and cartoonist living in the Pacific Northwest. He has contributed to dozens of prestigious outlets, including PCMag, Tested, Clickhole, and Newsweek. His second graphic novel, Cloud Stories, was released in 2017.
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