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We’re only a few weeks out from Chrismukkah, which makes this the perfect weekend to catch up on all the brand-new holiday fare that Netflix has to offer. (I hereby nominate Lindsay Lohan for the esteemed title of “queen of Christmas Movies.”) But because man—or woman, or nonbinary person—cannot live by holiday rom-com alone, we’ve rounded up five of the best movies and TV series hitting various streaming services this weekend. Don’t bother spending Friday through Sunday doing a fool’s errand like wrapping presents early (that’s what 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve is for!) when you could instead be relaxing and watching Black Doves or Sabrina Carpenter’s new holiday variety special. Below, find the five films and shows you shouldn’t miss this weekend.
Black Doves
At first glance, it’s a little hard to understand just what’s going on in Black Doves, the new spy thriller with Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw now on Netflix. Who are the good guys, exactly? Who is spying on whom? And is this whole thing taking itself seriously, or is it more tongue-in-cheek camp, riffing on the genre with every blood-splattered shoot-out? There is not so much a late-in-the-game big reveal that opens viewers’ eyes to a double agent or a secret agenda as a tangled-up situation in place from the get-go. Knightley and Whishaw are the heroes—how could these actors not be?—but also, perhaps, psychopaths.
Let me back up a moment: Knightley stars as Helen Webb, the wife of an up-and-coming British politician (Andrew Buchan) ensconced in a London townhouse that’s decked to the brim with Christmas cheer. She’s the mom to adorable elementary-aged twins, but when she’s not sewing their costumes for the holiday pageant, she’s passing secrets she purloins from her husband to the Black Doves, the shadowy spy organization that employs her. Her whole domestic set-up is, in fact, part of the act, a precarious position not helped by the fact that she has fallen in love with a civil servant (murdered in the first few minutes of the show’s opening episode, but painfully present in recurring lovemaking flashbacks).
Whishaw is Sam Young, an assassin also employed by the Black Doves, and one of the few people who know Helen’s full story. (That’s not her real name, of course.) Whishaw here is a rumpled ruin, presented as an international man of mystery (he’s been gone from the country for several years, at the bar he always has a glass of champagne in his hand, a lost lover haunts him). But Whishaw is doing something more fun and layered with the character than that archetype presumes, projecting a sort of sadness and submerged insecurity from his bag-ridden eyes even when he’s mercilessly firing bullets.
Set against these two highly entertaining performances, the plot hardly matters, and if I tried to summarize it I’m not sure it would do much good. There is that murdered lover, but also a handful of possibly connected people who are killed around the same time, a seemingly kidnapped Chinese diplomat’s daughter who may be held in some kind of outer-London drug den, and…the narrative scaffolding goes on, but it definitely doesn’t give this show much structure.
Who cares? Knightley, Whishaw, and a host of supporting characters—including, particularly, Kathryn Hunter as a delightfully nefarious crime boss and a wonderful Ella Lily Hyland as a dead-eyed, cupid-faced assassin—seem to be truly enjoying themselves in their performance, and the audience is the beneficiary. Despite all its darkness, this is a show that is lit with a highly entertaining spark. —Chloe Schama
How to watch: Stream on Netflix.
The Sticky
Is there anyone in this world who isn’t enamored of Margo Martindale? If so, I do not want to meet them, but I would encourage them to watch the legendary character actress in The Sticky, Prime Video’s new series about a Canadian maple syrup farmer who assembles an all-star team to try to pull off a massive heist targeting the country’s multi-million-dollar maple syrup surplus. Personally, I’ll watch literally any heist movie—whether the team in question is targeting vast stacks of money, jewels at the Met Gala, or, indeed, maple syrup—but seeing Martindale in a leading role is the ultimate sweetener. (No pun intended. Okay, possibly some pun intended.) —Emma Specter
How to watch: Stream on Prime Video.
A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter
It’s been, to say the least, a weird week for Sabrina Carpenter stans, as the 25-year-old pop star and actor Barry Keoghan allegedly decided to “take a break” from their year-long relationship. (Don’t they know that I wanted what they had?) In classic form, though, Carpenter appears to be laser-focused on her work, promoting a new Netflix holiday special that features music—duh—as well as guest appearances from Chappell Roan, Quinta Brunson, Shania Twain, Tyla, Cara Delevingne, Megan Stalter, and more. —ES
How to watch: Stream on Netflix.
Fly Me to the Moon
A rom-com, starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, that’s set against the backdrop of the Apollo 11 mission? Well, yes! Do I entirely buy Tatum as a NASA launch director? Maybe not, but that’s movie magic for you. This film was directed by Greg Berlanti, who brought us such gems as Dawson’s Creek and Riverdale, so I have full confidence that the onscreen chemistry between the two leads will be popping, if nothing else. (The plot is most definitely deranged, but really, isn’t that how we like our rom-coms? As someone who just watched one where the snowman protagonist literally melts at the end and is revived by the love of Gretchen Wieners, I know I definitely do.) —ES
How to watch: Stream on Apple TV+, Prime Video, or YouTube.
Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story
If you, like me, grew up coveting your better-accessorized classmates’ arrays of Lisa Frank binders and notebooks, you’re sure to take a very specific kind of satisfaction in this Prime Video docuseries diving deep into the all-encompassing girlypop phenomenon that was Lisa Frank in the 1990s. After watching interviews with more than 20 former Lisa Frank, Inc. employees as well as side characters like Frank’s ex-husband, you might not be feeling quite as ’90s-nostalgic as you once did, but hey, we can take some slightly dark new information about a once-beloved brand in stride, right? —ES
How to watch: Stream on Prime Video.
