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5 must-watch movies & TV shows streaming right now
The best of what's new streaming on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney Plus, and more.
Welcome to Boston.com’s weekly streaming guide. Each week, we recommend five must-watch movies and TV shows available on streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, and more.
Want more streaming goodness? Sign up for The Queue, our streaming newsletter featuring the latest industry news, movie and TV recommendations, and more in your inbox every week.
For even more great streaming options, check out previous editions of our must-watch list here.
New Movies Streaming
“Carry-On”
“Die Hard” had just the right amount of holiday lights and yuletide spirit to make the question of whether it’s a Christmas movie or not a worthwhile discussion. With “Carry-On,” a new Netflix film that owes John McClane a debt of gratitude, there is no debate — this is 100 percent a Christmas movie.
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Taron Egerton plays Ethan, a TSA agent whose pregnant girlfriend has been trying to get him to follow his dreams and reapply to the police academy. He’s a bit distracted when he’s suddenly confronted by a faceless criminal (Jason Bateman) who blackmails him into letting a deadly package through security. Director Jaume Collet-Serra cut his teeth on better-than-they-should-be thrillers starring Liam Neeson (“The Commuter,” “Non-Stop”), but this is his best work yet, a taut thriller with Egerton, a capable stand-in for Neeson in the harried hero role.
How to watch: “Carry-On” is streaming on Netflix.
“Hundreds of Beavers”
In the winter of 2019, independent filmmaker Mike Cheslik gathered a small team in Wisconsin to make a microbudget film called “Hundreds of Beavers.” Set in the rugged frontier of the 1800s Midwest, the comedy chronicles the misadventures of Jean Kayak, a drunken applejack salesman who must figure out how to trap and kill hundreds of beavers (played by humans in mascot costumes) — initially just to survive, but eventually to win his love’s hand in marriage from her gruff father.
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The film is a wild slapstick adventure, paying homage to the pratfalls and eye-pokes of Charlie Chaplin and the Three Stooges, the death-defying stunts of Buster Keaton, and the cartoon logic of Tom and Jerry or Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. It’s the most I’ve laughed at a movie in 2024. “Hundreds of Beavers” is free to watch on YouTube, but do yourself a favor and catch the midnight showing at Coolidge Corner Theatre on Friday for an optimal viewing experience.
How to watch: “Hundreds of Beavers” is streaming free with ads on YouTube.
“Juror #2”
“Juror #2” is the kind of mid-budget drama that used to play in theaters every single weekend 20 years ago. Instead, Warner Bros. decided to dump the Clint Eastwood-directed film in fewer than 50 theaters nationwide for a single weekend before making its streaming debut on Max this weekend.
A twist on “12 Angry Men,” Nicholas Hoult plays a juror who slowly begins to realize he may be connected to the case he is tasked with judging, and grapples with the moral dilemma that follows. Unlike the Sidney Lumet classic, there is no Henry Fonda in a white suit speaking up to be the voice of conscience. There is only Hoult asking the same question on many Americans’ minds: Are truth and justice objective, or is power the ultimate arbiter?
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How to watch: “Juror #2” is streaming on Max.
New TV Shows Streaming
“Gilmore Girls” Holiday Collection
Earlier this year, a coworker asked for a list of “cozy” TV shows to watch when the weather got cold. After some discussion, we realized that what she was actually looking for was basically a list of shows similar to “Gilmore Girls,” of which there are basically none. With our first big snowfall of the year, there’s no better show to cozy up on the couch with than Amy Sherman-Palladino’s warm, witty dramedy.
Thankfully, Hulu got the memo and curated a nine-part list of ‘Gilmore Girls” holiday episodes, so you can watch Lorelai (Lauren Graham) invite the entire town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, to the festive Bracebridge Dinner, Rory (Alexis Bledel) adjust to the addition of a new father figure at Christmas, and more yuletide fun.
How to watch: “Gilmore Girls” holiday collection is streaming on Hulu.
“Laid”
Ruby (Stephanie Hsu, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”) has her midlife crisis a bit early when the 33-year-old hears that her college boyfriend has died. She hasn’t had the best relationship luck — and as it turns out, neither have her exes, who all seem to be dying in mysterious ways.
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The eight-episode show begins to resemble a funhouse mirror version of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” when, unable to make sense of what’s happening, Ruby begins to visit her former lovers to warn them of the seeming curse that follows her.
How to watch: “Laid” is streaming on Peacock.
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