Netflix is busting out the big stars this December. The platform is releasing original new movies throughout the month, like Jay Kelly, which stars George Clooney and Adam Sandler, along with Rian Johnson’s latest Knives Out mystery, Wake Up Dead Man, and Kate Winslet’s directorial debut, Goodbye June.
The streamer is also releasing several documentaries throughout the month, including All The Empty Rooms, a devastating look at gun violence in America and Breakdown: 1975, a retrospective of some of the biggest films and cultural moments from that year. The impact of journalist Seymour Hersh’s decades-long career is also examined in Cover-Up.
There are also a few great movies being added to the Netflix library this month. As of Dec. 1, you can watch Quentin Tarantino’s neo-noir classic Pulp Fiction, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and the movie that got us all thumping our chests like Matthew McConaughey, The Wolf of Wall Street. Here are some of the biggest and best movies arriving on Netflix this December.
Here’s a fun fact for you: The 2021 film Troll, a Norwegian monster movie about a literal sleeping giant that wreaks havoc on the country when he’s accidentally roused, is Netflix’s most-watched non-English-language film. That film is about a troll living deep in the Dovre Mountains who is not happy to be awakened from his slumber and seeks to destroy everything from Dombås to Dovrefjell. And this December, a new troll is in town and, just like the last troll, he’s got an angry side. Troll 2 arrives on Netflix on Dec. 1.
All The Empty Rooms (Dec. 1)
Virgin River star Alexandra Breckenridge leads the cast of the new Netflix rom-com My Secret Santa, about a single mother, Taylor Jacobson, who’s strapped for cash and gets a job as a seasonal Santa at a luxury resort. Taylor goes full Mrs. Doubtfire, designing prosthetics so she can transform into that jolly old soul in order to get the job, but her ruse gets complicated when she falls for the manager of the ski resort, Matthew (Ryan Eggold). My Secret Santa arrives on Netflix on Dec. 3.
The New Yorker at 100 (Dec. 5)
Director Noah Baumbach’s latest collaboration with Netflix is Jay Kelly, a dramatic comedy starring George Clooney as the titular character; a movie star who begins to reflect on his life during a trip through Europe with his manager Ron (Adam Sandler). The film was co-written by Baumbach and Emily Mortimer, who appears in the film. The supporting cast also includes Laura Dern, Riley Keough and Billy Crudup.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Dec. 12)
In the new Japanese-language film 10Dance, Ryoma Takeuchi and Keita Machida star as dancers who are champions in their respective fields. Fiercely competitive, the two end up teaming up for what’s known as the 10-Dance, a competition in which dancers perform five varieties of Latin dance and five varieties of Standard ballroom. As the two teach each other their specialties, their rivalry turns into friendship and eventually a deeper attraction between them develops.
Breakdown: 1975 (Dec. 19)
Director Kim Byung-woo helms this new disaster movie about the last group of survivors struggling to stay alive in the midst of a global flood. Squid Game’s Park Hae-soo and Kim Da-mi star in the film, which arrives on Dec. 19.
Elway (Dec. 23)
Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet makes her directorial debut with Goodbye June, a family drama that takes place just before Christmas as four adult siblings and their father are forced to reckon with their ailing mother, June, who is facing a health crisis. Winslet also stars in the film alongside Toni Collette, Andrea Riseborough, Timothy Spall and Helen Mirren. It arrives in theaters Dec. 12 and on Netflix Dec. 24.
Cover Up (Dec. 26)
Jodi Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke collaborated on a parenting channel on YouTube, and were arrested and later convicted of aggravated child abuse in 2023 when two of Franke’s children were discovered abused and malnourished in Hildebrandt’s home. Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story digs into the women’s relationship and Hildebrandt’s influence over Franke and her family.
